The project began with a meeting of 3 railway engineers who are experts in the design and maintenance of railway lines at SNCF Infra (formerly SNCF Réseau):
• Grégoire GOUSSU: LGV geotechnical designer and aeromodeler
• Nicolas POLLET: geologist with a passion for risk management and innovation
• Flavien VIGUIER: rail surveyor-topographer and LiDAR enthusiast
In 2006, they witnessed the first drone tests carried out on the so-called Carpathian line (Bourg-en-Bresse in Bellegarde-sur-Valserine), which was then closed to traffic (before the modernization work that allowed the passage of high-speed trains to Switzerland).
The objective was to carry out the inspection of the works of art and earthworks with the magnificent viaduct of Cize-Bolozon and the large rocky slope present in continuity of the line.
The failure of these demonstrations marked the SNCF teams, highlighting the need for technical and regulatory developments to lead to industrial use. This experience served the whole story that follows!
In France, 2011 marks the arrival of the first regulation dedicated to the use of drones, the manufacturers proposed «drone systems» that could carry a «payload» to operate via an authorisation obtained from the prefecture, which was to be based on the Directorate of Civil Aviation Safety).
Flavien, Grégoire and Nicolas have launched in «techno-push» mode with their first Helipse HE190 drone operated by Grégoire (the duo is still perfectly functional!).
Quickly, the vision was set: the drone is a tool to collect data in quality for the trades, without impact on railway operations while improving safety conditions and productivity.
This is the time of innovation carried out «in the hours lost» for Flavien, Grégoire and Nicolas.
An apprenticeship enabled by a management combining confidence and requirement in contact with benevolent colleagues «drones, ok, but don’t forget your job» (Alexandre NARCY, Bruno LANDES and Emmanuel MANIER).
Thus, the Synapses network of scientific and technical experts of the SNCF Group was born with a slogan: «OSER».
In 2013, the demonstrator is validated, comes the time of the expanded exploration of use cases sponsored by the Technical Directorate of Maintenance of the Network and the valuable support of André FAUVE-PIOT, Eric BIDON, Hugues GIGLEUX in particular.
Grégoire, Nicolas and Flavien switch to project mode, with a dedicated resource (Jérémy ZERBIB), a budget, support and a method (Gilles SAUSSINE, Dominique LAOUSSE, Cédric BROGARD, Innovation & Research, all the Synapses network of SNCF scientific and technical experts).
On January 1, 2014, the Drones Division, an engineering entity, was created.
It was directly located in the security premises to create synergies within the group and allow the emergence of the drone for the group.
The vision was confirmed with the idea of fostering the emergence of solutions, tools and operators, meeting industrial needs (at least monitoring energy and transport infrastructure).
The group of partners expands with the integration of RTE, Enedis, GRT Gaz and Engie, constituting a pool of lead contractors with the DGAC (which sets up the Council for Civil Drones whose COMEX we integrate).
April 5, 2017: filialization and creation of the legal operating structure of Altametris.
A team of 16 is already in place, the goal is changing – you need results to keep the company running and have the resources to invest.
The balance is reached after 4 years, going from 0 to several million euros of turnover.
As a spin-off of SNCF Réseau, the Supervisory Board is evolving to successfully industrialize and transform businesses through digital – just as the team is being strengthened by new skills, especially in the world of software and machine learning.
The first installed offer – SOLUTIONS – consists of services in data collection and processing by drone and helicopter (via partners).
Initially focused on topography and safety/security, the offer is enriched by specializing in business lines (civil engineering, electrical equipment, telecommunications, etc.) to bring knowledge.
Altametris is positioned in the field of digital twin, Building Information Modeling and Digital Asset Management.
2021: Altametris launches its SaaS middleware solution – Altametris Suite.
To make the link between the data collected by any agile solution (mobile, IoT) and EAM (Enterprise Asset Management type ERP) solutions, by interfacing flexibly in a SMART and virtuous approach (digitising without transforming everything).
The circle is complete, performance is assured and the future is predictive!
When the company was created, our ambition was to:
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Use the drone to collect data in quality for the trades, without impact on railway operations and improving safety conditions and productivity. .png.webp?width=25&height=24&name=Group+(6).png.webp){kind=small}
We have largely demonstrated the interest of the drone, to the point of being assimilated as "the drone subsidiary" of SNCF Réseau. However, our goal has always been to bring performance through data; beyond the vector as agile as it is.
That is why we have evolved our offer over the years, along with the needs of our customers.
Today, our ambition is to make digital accessible to all industrial infrastructure managers. Allow them to have a perfect knowledge of the condition of their installations to optimize the maintenance and therefore the service life. Finally, to create a real digital heritage.
That is why we are focusing our efforts and investments on the development and deployment of our Altametris Suite.
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