Author: Techtime

“Power Companies recognize the potential of our technology”

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Six month after announcing joint pilot, Israel Electric Company (IEC) announced a strategic investment in Prisma Photonics Company from Tel-Aviv, the developer of fiber based monitoring solutions. No further details were given regarding the extent of the investment, but it is estimated at millions of dollars.

Prisma Photonics’ technology is based on a physical phenomenon in which part of the photons within the light pulse are being scattered, and a small fraction of the traveling pulse’s energy is reflected back, holding information about the fiber’s environment. The solution used by the IEC is capable of detecting maintenance and safety events along the power lines, such as attempts of equipment sabotaging, people climbing on power towers, partial discharges, short circuits and even weather conditions that endanger the power lines such as wildfire, strong winds or lightning strikes.  

Till now, within this pilot, which was officially announced six months ago but has actually been going on for more than a year, the IEC uses the solution to monitor several segments of its network, in a total length of more than 100 km. Aside from the financial aspect, this investment marks an expansion of the cooperation between the two companies.

Eitan Elkin, Prisma Photonics’ Director of Marketing, says to Techtime that during the pilot, the system successfully identified in real time faulty components and problems related to the insulation between high voltage lines, and to locate the exact power tower. “It is about great saving in time, manpower and resources. The immediate detection assists also in preventing power outages and further damage. The intention now is to expand the coverage. IEC is highly advanced, technology-wise, and most of its power lines are already accompanied with optical fibers, which is an optimal situation for our solution”.

“Having your strategic customer as your strategic partner is the strongest vote of confidence a company can hope for,” added Dr. Eran Inbar, Prisma Photonics’ CEO. “As an innovative corporation, IEC started collaborating with us six months ago. The current investment supports its commitment to advancing Israel’s power supply industry through innovation. To date, our system has transformed the optical fiber infrastructure deployed on IEC’s high-voltage grids into a sequence of extremely sensitive sensors that identify issues and track their precise location down to the nearest power tower level in real-time and with no need for placing additional sensors along the transmission lines”.

The cooperation with the IEC is added to similar cooperation with New York Power Authority, who also uses Prisma Photonics’ solution, and to other investment made by the German E.ON global electric utility. “Power companies recognize the potential and added value which Prisma Photonics’ technology offers”, says Elkin.

“Listen” to the fiber

Prisma Photonics’ technology is based on a physical phenomenon in which part of the photons within the light pulse are being scattered, and a small fraction of the traveling pulse’s energy it reflected back, holding information about the fiber’s environment. This way, the fiber is used as an active sensor and detector. Analyzing the scattered energy allows for detection of environmental events, similar to the way radar works. The main challenge is that the back-scattered signal is very low – typically, as low as 1 billionth of the transmitted pulse, makes it hard to differentiate between different signals and build a clear picture of the outside environment. This is the reason why most solutions currently in the market are having problems to reduce false positive and negative alarms.

Prisma Photonics’ solution uses patented laser-based optical interrogator for ultra-sensitive and intelligent-learning detection, producing “acoustic signature” of each event, later used for a smart event identification and classification.

According to the company, its solution is 100 times more sensitive than the other solutions currently in the market. It can identify changes in pressure, temperature and vibrations outside the fiber at resolution of one millionth of a millimeter, and build a precise detailed picture of the events based of these changes, providing dramatic reduction of false alarms.

Another advantage is the ability to monitor up to 100 KM using a single Optical Interrogator unit. Based on this technology, Prisma Photonics developed a variety of solutions for the infrastructure world, such as locating leacks and theft attempts from oil & gas pipes, damages and sabotage attempts to submarine cables, hazards and people crossing railways, peripheral defense and detecting trespassers along border lines.

Google selected Oriient’s Micro-Location solution

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Google choose Oriient’s Micro-Location solution to be included in its Cloud’s integrated package solution for retailers. Oriient’s solution makes it possible for shoppers to easily and precisely navigate indoor such as shopping centers and huge retail stores, with no hardware installation required. Google Cloud’s customers will be able to use this solution in order to enables capabilities like search by product and shopping route optimization for their shoppers. It will also assist grocery pickers to locate items in the storehouse.

Oriient’s solution, which utilizes the sensors that already exist in every smartphone, is based on mapping the unique distortions which large buildings generate in the earth’s magnetic field due to amount of iron inside the building. Oriient’s solution “learns” the inner structure of the building based on those magnetic distortions, and creates a dynamic map, similar to Google map. This map, in turn, assists the user in navigating to the desired item, room or counter, at 1 meter (3 ft) accuracy.

No hardware is required to be installed in the customer’s site for Oriient’s solution to be used. Currently, the company provides services for retailers for developing navigation-bases applications, such as directing the shopper by a product or by shopping list. In addition, the platform provides comprehensive analytics regarding customer behavior in the store, in order to learn shopping patterns and routes, optimize the store layout and create things like contextual promotions. The platform is capable of recognizing items on the shelf, based on a database composed of item scans performed buy the shoppers’ smartphones.

Oriient Company, founded in 2017, has completed the development of its solution last year, and started to commercially introduce it to the industry. Significant customer lately announced is the delivery app Instacart, reportedly generated $1.8 billion revenue in 2021. The app, similar to Wolt, gained a great boom at the COVID-19 era, allowing shoppers to order groceries from supermarkets and grocery stores. Implementing Oriient’s solution in Instacart allowed pickers to easily and quickly locate the items in the order and provide the shopper with a better shopping experience. 

[Pictured above: Mickey Balter]

vHive Raises $25 Million in Series B Led by PSG

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vHive, a software solution that enables enterprises to deploy autonomous drone hives to create Digital Twins of their assets, announced today that it has secured $25 million in Series B funding. The funding round is led by PSG, a leading growth equity firm partnering with software and technology-enabled services companies to help accelerate their growth. Previous investors Octopus Ventures and Telekom Innovation Pool (TIP), Deutsche Telekom’s strategic investment fund advised by DTCP, also participated in the round. Ronen Nir, Managing Director at PSG, has joined vHive’s board of directors.

vHive’s software platform provides end-to-end solutions that enable organizations to autonomously capture data using drones to create Digital Twins of their assets, such as cell towers, cranes, and structures. Its AI and computer vision algorithms were built on comprehensive data and hands-on field experience with global top-tier customers to deliver performance and capabilities that vHive believes are hard for others to replicate. The company believes its ability to connect the physical and the digital world provides enterprises with a new way to digitally transform their field assets, visually access information, and rapidly reach actionable business insights.

PSG’s investment in vHive aims to further accelerate the company’s expansion of its global customer base and enable the company to scale up operations in key markets, as well as to enter new ones. The investment is also intended to help bolster vHive’s enterprise digitization platform market leadership and product offerings, which include autonomous drones, data analytics, computer vision, and AI, and fuel the development of new solution capabilities for key markets.

“We believe vHive has built one of the industry’s most advanced and comprehensive digitization solutions, and we are excited to seek to replicate our success in the telecom and crane markets in new market verticals,” said Yariv Geller, CEO and Co-Founder of vHive. “We are thrilled to partner with seasoned investors who share a common vision to advance the company’s mission, extend its reach, and scale its customer base.”

“vHive’s solutions for capturing and digitizing physical assets have enabled the company to build a reputation as a strong partner of choice for top-tier enterprises going through digital transformation – a global trend that is sweeping through multiple industries. Its customers can experience measurable success using vHive’s solution, impacting their operations and workflows,” said Nir. “We have been impressed with the company’s rapid growth and are excited to propel it to the next level.”

vHive is a global leader of Digital Twin software solutions. vHive accelerates enterprises’ continuous digital transformation, enabling them to make better decisions based on accurate field data, analytics, and insights. vHive is a leading software solution that enables enterprises to deploy autonomous drone hives to digitize their field assets and operations.

Credit photos: vHive

Three Israeli drone companies are on the fast track to receive permanent FAA license 

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[Pictured above: Aerobotics’ Optimus EX-1 drone]

First time in the autonomous Unmanned Aircraft industry, the FAA is close to issue a global certification for drones, similar to manned ones. As no unified standards exist for unmanned aircraft, the FAA has developed a designated Durability and Reliability verification process to establish criteria as an element of the proposed certification. The FAA has published last month the Airworthiness Criteria for Special Classes of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), following public comments, which includes 10 drones of several companies, among them three Israeli companies: Airobotics, Flytrex and Percepto.    

Percepto Company has received a final criterion for its 2.4 UA drone, designed for monitoring and lookout missions. This certificate will allow the drone to fly over populated areas at an altitude of 393 ft and 28 mph. Flytrex Company has received a final criterion for its FTX-M600P drone, designed for delivery of packages. This criterion covers a relatively low altitude – 230 ft and a speed of 34 mph. Airobotics Company has received a final criterion for its Optimus EX-1 drone, allowing it to fly over populated areas at an altitude of 393 ft and 31 mph.

The process of gaining the approval in front of the FAA has started for Airobotics at September 2019. Currently, in order to fly a drone it is required to request a waiver for each mission and each area cell where the drone is expected to operate. For example, if an infrastructures company is interested in flying an autonomous drone over it site for monitoring and security, it requires requesting a special approval. Gaining a “type certificate” will make it possible to operate the drone under the label of its type, without the need to request a special approval, in the same way it is done for manned aircrafts today. 

Flytrex delievery drone

Global certificate, similar to manned aircraft

Getting the final certificate will extend the drone’s usage capabilities, and will shorten the bureaucratic processes required to operate it. Airobotics VP Aviation and Regulation, Niv Russo, explains in a conversation with Techtime that up to date, no aviation authority had issued such criteria for unmanned aircrafts, “Surely not for a vehicle characterized by high level of autonomy such as our drone. Airobotics’ model has received a highly expanded criterion.  We gathered many hours of flying an experience that made it possible for the FAA to define the safety level of the vehicle. We have completed all the tests and proofing and we are in the final bureaucratic phases. I guess we are in the most advanced phase within this process’.

According to Russo, “this is a defining moment for the whole global drone industry”. Airobotics’ Optimus EX-1 is used for surveying, mapping and lookout missions. This model is intended to operate in demanding environment conditions and is completely autonomous. It navigates its position at a 1cm resolution and is able to perform its mission autonomously and independently return to its docking station. Back in the docking station, the drone is capable of autonomously performing a full process of switching battery and payloads. One of the drone’s safety facilities is an emergency parachute developed by the Israeli ParaZero Company, assuring safe landing in case of a fault. 

Percepto’s patrol drone

Esti Felba Hermesh to head CodeValue off-shore arm

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Software development services company CodeValue has announced that Esti Felba Hermesh has been appointed as CodeValue’s Offshore Director and will lead the company’s operations in Eastern Europe.

Esti is 45 years old and has over 15 years of experience in business development, customer management, project management and sales in a wide range of companies in the field of Technology Services. As part of her role, Esti will be responsible for building and managing the Offshore operations of CodeValue in Eastern Europe, building a tailored service package, mapping tech capabilities in different countries, defining requirements, building an entity, creating collaborations with local vendors, programming software acquisition programs and IT.

In her previous role she served as the Director of the Medical and Industry Security Division and was responsible for managing the Delivery team and building bootcamps to grow the next generations of developers. Esti holds a BA in Film, Television and Education from Tel Aviv University

Tali Shem Tov, CEO of CodeValue: “CodeValue Offshore is sort of a  start-up within CodeValue we see it as one of our main growth engines for the expansion of the company’s operations around the world. The need for developers is massive, SCALE has become a common term spoken among executives in tech companies and one of their great painpoints. Due to lack of developers in Israel and in view of the ever rising need, extending CodeValue reach to encompass talented developers in Eastern Europe is the best solution for our customers. Esti brings with her a lot of experience and talent, and I have no doubt that she will reach the fulfillment of our business goals in no time. ”

CodeValue, founded in 2010, is a services company delivering supreme architectural and technical expertise and in-depth consultancy. We integrate product & design research in our development process, provide managed software and cloud solution, and offer customized training programs to bridge knowledge gaps.

Radiaction Receives FDA Clearance for its Radiation Protection System and Secures $10M

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Radiaction Medical, which has developed a device to protect medical staff from scattered radiation in interventional cardiology and electrophysiology sectors, announced FDA 510(K) clearance for the marketing of its Shield System in the US.

In addition, the company has completed a $10 million round of financing led by current investors, InnovaHealth Partners. Proceeds will be used to launch Radiaction’s Shield System in the US and to further commercialize in Europe.

Individuals working in catheterization laboratories (“cath labs”) are exposed to high levels of scattered radiation generated from the use of X-ray fluoroscopy. The medical teams wear heavy lead aprons for protection, but their heads, arms and legs are unprotected, leading to an increase in risk for brain tumors, cognitive degradation and other radiation-related illnesses. In addition, the heavy lead aprons can cause severe orthopedic injuries. A significant part of the radiation is scattered throughout the cath lab by its interaction with the patient’s body and X-ray table. Mounted directly on the C-arm, Radiaction’s Shield System blocks and captures the scattered radiation at the source. Clinical studies demonstrate that the device reduces radiation in the entire cath lab by over 90%, with even higher reduction rates to the head and upper body of all personnel in the room.

Jonathan Yifat, Radiaction’s CEO, said, “We are very pleased with the FDA clearance of our device and look forward to protecting the physicians and medical personnel performing interventional procedures in the US. This financing will drive our commercialization in the US and Europe, and allow us to build our team and market presence. We are excited to take this next step with our long-time partner, InnovaHealth Partners, who has tremendous experience backing the fast commercial growth of technology companies.”

Tested in a real-life clinical environments, Radiaction’ system demonstrated an entire room scattered radiation reduction performance of 91.2% in IC procedures and 93.3% in EP procedures. These rates are on par with the protection provided to the body’s core by lead aprons. Importantly, Radiaction is protecting heads, arms, long bones and feet which are outside of the lead apron and are exposed and subjected to harmful cumulative radiation damage. This clinical experience also demonstrated high physician satisfaction with the integration into the clinical workflow.

Radiaction was founded by Amir Belson, MD and its lead investor is InnovaHealth Partners, LP.

Intel to Acquire Israel-based Granulate

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Intel Corporation announced an agreement to acquire Granulate Cloud Solutions, an Israel-based developer of real-time continuous optimization software. The acquisition of Granulate will help cloud and data center customers maximize compute workload performance and reduce infrastructure and cloud costs. Deal terms are not being disclosed, but it is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022. At that time, Granulate’s 120 employees will be integrated into Intel’s Datacenter and AI business unit.

Sandra Rivera, GM of the Datacenter and AI Group at Intel, said that Granulate’s autonomous optimization software can be applied to production workloads without the need to make changes in the customer’s code. Greg Lavender, GM of the Software and Advanced Technology Group at Intel, explained that Granulate’s real-time optimization software complements Intel’s capabilities by helping customers to gain performance and reduce Cloud costs.

How It Works

Granulate’s real-time continuous optimization is a new approach to optimizing production workloads by leveraging resource usage patterns and dataflow to automatically adapt kernel level and runtime level resource management to better fit the application needs. It automatically learns the application’s specific resource usage patterns and data flow to identify contended resources, bottlenecks and prioritization opportunities, and then tailors OS-level scheduling and prioritization decisions to improve the infrastructure’s application specific performance.

Accelerating Legacy Packages

While cloud computing and microservices have created a new era of flexibility in distributed applications and deployment scalability, modern architectures have introduced more complex performance issues that are not easily managed by traditional operating systems and runtimes. Additionally, customers often deploy older Linux distributions and application libraries that are not up to date with the latest advancements in today’s high-performance CPUs.

Granulate’s autonomous optimization service solves these issues by reducing CPU utilization and application latencies, by learning the customer’s application and deploying a customized set of continuous optimizations at runtime. This enables deployment on smaller compute clusters and instance types to improve application performance and drive down cloud and data center costs, without the developer intervention. Thus, optimizations for the latest CPUs can be applied even on legacy Linux distributions and runtimes.

Optimizing Xeon deployments

Asaf Ezra, co-founder and CEO of Granulate, said: “As a part of Intel, Granulate will be able to deliver autonomous optimization capabilities to even more customers globally and rapidly expand its offering with the help of Intel’s 19,000 software engineers.” Intel and Granulate’s relationship began in late 2019, when Granulate was part of the first graduating class of Intel® Ignite, the startup accelerator program that taps into Intel’s resources.

Over the past year, Intel and Granulate have worked together under a commercial agreement to collaborate on workload optimization on Xeon deployments. This collaboration resulted in gains in performance and decreases in costs for customers running on Intel processors. With the acquisition of Granulate, Intel will rapidly scale Granulate’s optimization software, including across Intel’s data center portfolio.