Cleo Robotics
Boston-based Cleo Robotics builds aerial robots for confined, indoor and GPS-denied environments, including the ducted bi-rotor Dronut UAV and a tactical ISR variant for the U.S. Army.
Cleo Robotics is an aerial robotics company headquartered in Boston. It develops unconventional robotic systems built to operate in challenging and inaccessible environments, with the stated aims of keeping personnel out of harm's way and reducing unplanned downtime. Its work spans UAV and drone design, ducted bi-rotor propulsion, confined space inspection, GPS-denied navigation, indoor drone operation and intelligent autonomous systems.
The company's flagship product, Dronut, is described as the world's first portable and intelligent UAV engineered for safe operation indoors, in confined spaces and in GPS-denied environments. Its completely enclosed propellers and compact ducted bi-rotor design allow deployment near people and sensitive equipment. A tactical variant, the Tactical Dronut, is being developed for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations under a $2.5m contract from the U.S. Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office.
Named validation partners include the U.S. Army, SpaceX, BAE Systems, Chevron and Dow Chemical. The company's work targets the energy, oil and gas, manufacturing, public safety, defense and aerospace sectors. Engineering effort concentrates on unconventional robotics for environments where conventional drones cannot be flown safely or reliably.