Alum's robot to help reduce wildfire risk in remote areas

Friday, August 25, 2023

Enerza, a robotics engineering company, is creating a beetle-like robot that can predict power outages and mitigate wildfires.

Co-founded by Waterloo Engineering alum Anson Maitland (PhD ’19, systems engineering) and James Aein, Enerza's technology provides autonomous on-wire robots that will transform utility inspection processes to reduce the risk of conflagration from power line issues. 

North America has 10 million kilometres of overhead power lines, and when vegetation come into contact with one, it can be like tinder to a flame.

“Once they come in contact with trees, the risk of forest fires increases,” said Maitland. “With our robot, utilities can spot vegetation risks, corrosion or birds' nests near the line and send out a team to handle it.”

Go to A robot to help reduce wildfire risk in remote areas for the full story.