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Craig Milne: How Robots Can Improve Data Collection and Safety
T
he evolution of robotics is continually opening more places for exploration, research, and productivity. These can include places that would be dangerous for people to interact with in person, but that robots can reach while controlled from a safe distance. Robots can collect accurate scientific or engineering data, repair or modify existing systems, and even install new equipment safely and efficiently. Copperstone Technologies is leading the way in finding more applications for robots in mining, wastewater, and other industries. In this interview, Craig Milne, Copperstone Technologies’ CEO, tells Municipal Water Leader about how robots increase safety while improving data accuracy, the technologies that make the company’s robots unique, and future applications for robotics in the water industry. Municipal Water Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.
18 | MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER | May 2021
Copperstone's all-terrain robot can handle rough and inhospitable conditions.
Municipal Water Leader: Would you describe the robot? Craig Milne: What makes our robot distinctive is that it’s amphibious: it can float in water and drive across the hard ground. There really aren’t a lot of choices when you are looking for an amphibious robot. Our robot can operate anywhere where water and land intersect, including beaches, rivers, canals, utility ditches, ponds, and water storage facilities. The robot has a large pontoon, which allows it to float in water. The pontoon has a helical screw that rotates to serve as a propeller in water or a wheel on hard ground. It also has four-wheel drive. It works quite effectively in transitional zones that have traditionally been difficult for tracked vehicles and wheeled robots to traverse, such as swamps and snow. Municipal Water Leader: Does the robot come in different sizes? municipalwaterleader.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF COPPERSTONE TECHNOLOGIES.
Craig Milne: I’m a scientist by training, with a degree in medical sciences and a degree in finance. I’m a curious person, and I have been involved in lots of different things in my life. For the last 15 years or so, I’ve been involved in a number of technology ventures, a lot of which related to water in one way or another. About 2 years ago, I joined Copperstone. The company was founded by a couple of mechanical engineers from the University of Alberta. While completing their graduate studies, they helped some Canadian mining companies do measurements called tailings in their waste facilities. Copperstone’s founders realized that simply accessing these facilities posed a challenge; they could do the measurements, but they couldn’t get to the actual place where the measurement had to be done. They came up with the concept of an all-terrain vehicle robot that could crawl into a hazardous location, such as a mining waste facility, to take measurements. That’s how Copperstone got started. They operated for a couple of years building some prototypes, and I joined them in January 2019 with the intention of growing the company into a bigger commercial enterprise. Since then, we’ve focused on building commercial-grade robots and working with mining companies to provide them the information they need. We’ve settled on a business model of robots-asa-service. One of the things we recognized was that not everybody wants to purchase a robot, because it seems like a big investment and a complicated device. It made more sense to employ a business model based on understanding the client’s needs and then either using the robots we have or customizing one as needed. Then we send out a field team that has all the necessary safety training and certifications and collect the data on behalf of the client.
