⭐26 TALPA-Inspection: Robotic Scans
4 min read - Protecting us from hidden corrosion 🔍🧱
TALPA-Inspection, a startup from ETH Zürich, builds tools to detect hidden corrosion in concrete without drilling or damaging the structure.
🔍 The Problem
Much of the world’s concrete infrastructure is over 50 years old, and a hidden threat is silently weakening it from within: the corrosion of steel rebar. The real problem isn't just the corrosion itself, but the fundamentally broken way we try to find it.
Traditional inspections require an inspector to physically touch the concrete with a handheld probe: a slow, dangerous, and costly process requiring cranes or scaffolding. An inspector might get a few dozen readings across a massive bridge pier.
This data sparsity makes it impossible to see the bigger picture or reliably track the progression of corrosion over time, leaving asset owners blind to the real condition of their structures, and forcing them into a costly and dangerous reactive cycle, fixing problems only after they become visible and severe. When issues are missed, it can turn deadly.
🔬 The Solution
TALPA-Inspection changes how we inspect aging concrete structures. It uses a small sensor that reads corrosion levels through a water-based connection, with no drilling or damage needed.
🤖 The sensor fits on drones and other robotic systems, allowing it to reach tough spots without closing roads or setting up scaffolding and cranes.
⏱️ The technology is 10x faster than conventional methods, including planning and execution.
📊 Project data is displayed on a digital twin, allowing you to overlay bridges to see how corrosion has propagated and enable predictive maintenance.
This gives owners a clear, continuous picture (not just random test points) so they know exactly where to act. It’s fast, flexible, and built to spot problems early, long before they become dangerous.
📈 Market Potential and Scalability
Globally, we spend $25–28 billion a year just to inspect for damage. Over 1 million bridges, tunnels, and retaining walls need regular checks. TALPA-Inspection’s approach enables more frequent, larger-scale, lower-cost inspections.
Their market strategy begins with performing inspections in-house, tapping into the $6B corrosion inspection services market. Over time, they plan to transition to leasing their hardware on a subscription basis to inspection service providers.
🚀 Stage
🧪 First pilot (2022): Successfully scanned the critical area of a retaining wall in Switzerland without drilling or lane closures.
🧱 Since then, they’ve carried out additional pilot inspections in Swiss cities, focusing mainly on retaining walls and scanning over 1 km of structures.
✅ Successfully completed inspections on three bridges in Switzerland using drones and other robotic carriers.
💰 Funding
Non-dilutive support: Raised just below CHF 1 M through ETH Pioneer Fellowship, Venture Kick, Innosuisse Innovation Project, Gebert Rüf Stiftung, and SNSF & Innosuisse BRIDGE.
Now raising: CHF 1 M (reach out if you’d like an intro!)
👥 Founder Team
🔬 TALPA-Inspection was officially launched in May this year by two ETH Zürich engineers.
👨🔬 Dr. Federico Martinelli-Orlando (CEO and co-CTO) is an expert in electrochemistry and corrosion science, and now leads business strategy development and oversees the company's technological roadmap.
🛠️ Lukas Bircher (COO and co-CTO) is an expert in hardware development for corrosion inspection, and now leads engineering and field operations.
📊 The team: three full-time and two part-time members.
Together, they bridge cutting-edge lab research with real-world testing, having worked hands-on on bridges, retaining walls, and test sites to create a tool by engineers, for engineers.
