Invictus Robotics
"Aerial manipulation breaks ordinary drones. AERAS was built to excel in it."
London start-up whose AERAS drone carries a six-axis robotic arm for contact inspection and tasks at height without scaffolding or rope access.
Invictus Robotics is a London-based start-up developing aerial manipulation robots for work at height in construction, infrastructure, energy and utilities. Its website lists its address as 4-10 North Road, Islington, London N7 9EY. The company was co-founded by CEO Osman Zuhayr, who completed an MSc in Entrepreneurship at University College London (UCL) in 2023, and Sachit Shenai, a UCL Construction Economics and Management MSc student who serves as COO.
The company's product is AERAS (Aerial Effector Robot with Adaptive Stabilisation), a quadcopter drone fitted with a six-axis robotic arm that is designed to hover and fly stably while the arm performs contact tasks. According to maxon, which supported Invictus through its Young Engineers Program, AERAS carries a payload of up to 3 kg with a drone weight under 6 kg; each of the six arm joints is driven by a maxon flat EC brushless DC motor with an EPOS4 controller, and an HD stereo vision system provides pilot feedback, object detection and depth perception. The arm carries a modular end effector that accepts different tools and sensors. Any drone pilot can operate the system: a joystick positions the drone, and once a switch engages automatic flight mode the joystick controls the arm.
Invictus describes its technology in three pillars: a whole-body neural network in which one AI controls rotor thrust, vectored tilt and arm joints; a purpose-built airframe designed for vibration, contact force and payload shift; and full-stack co-design of software and hardware. The company pitches AERAS for asset inspections that it says are 10x safer, faster and more economical than current methods because they need no rope access, scaffolding or cherry pickers, reducing asset downtime, capital expenditure and risk. Its current focus is non-destructive testing with industrial partners, with possible extension into jet washing, painting, spraying, surface cleaning, raising cables and transporting tools. Target industries listed on the website are civil and infrastructure, energy and power, and oil and gas; UCL reports that the founders also see uses in nuclear work.
Invictus won the Best Use of Remote Monitoring Technology award at the 2024 Building Innovation Awards and lists a Most Innovative Contech Startup award for 2025. The founders have presented at UK Construction Week in 2024 and 2025, including a session on automating dangerous tasks at height using aerial robotics at UKCW London on 7 May 2025, where AERAS was billed as the world's first commercial aerial manipulator. CB Insights records an angel round led by Startup Fountain in June 2024. In 2025 the company was finalising its second AERAS prototype ahead of a planned deployment on a live project.
Primary type & automation activities this supplier delivers:
AERAS (Aerial Effector Robot with Adaptive Stabilisation)
Quadcopter with a six-axis robotic arm and modular end effector for contact inspection and tasks at height; up to 3 kg payload, under 6 kg airframe.
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Contact Invictus Robotics
WEBSITE
https://www.invictus-robotics.comHEADQUARTERS
United Kingdom
Company Facts
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Manufacturer
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Europe
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