FEWER BREAKDOWNS, LOWER COSTS

Launched in 2019 at the initiative of Ciril GROUP, APOLLO is an ambitious research and development project aimed at players with a large heritage base. The project aims to reduce the volume of curative maintenance on legacy networks and infrastructures through the development of predictive models and automated recognition of infrastructure defects, using innovative methods based on technologies such as machine learning and computer vision.

Perceiving the real technological breakthrough promised by the project, GÉRÉDIS expressed its keen interest, linked in particular to specific needs for vegetation management on its power network, and its desire to use predictive maintenance to reduce breakdowns and cut maintenance costs.

A multi-disciplinary team was formed around APOLLO, comprising Ciril GROUP, with its technological know-how, GÉRÉDIS, for its business expertise and data input, and LIRIS, a CNRS laboratory in Lyon, involved in the launch of the project as a scientific partner specializing in artificial intelligence.

OWARDS INNOVATIVE BUSINESS USES

After 3 years of research and development, and in view of the promising results obtained, Ciril GROUP and GÉRÉDIS have decided to renew their partnership with APOLLO version 2, with the aim of continuing to improve the reliability of the solutions developed in the first version.

This new collaboration will also open up new avenues, including access to virtual and augmented reality to help GÉRÉDIS optimize defect maintenance and site preparation. These tools will bring real added value to decision-making and business management, opening up new possibilities:

• From a strictly operational point of view, it will be possible to carry out simple surveys of a specific site directly from the office, providing an exhaustive view without having to mobilize personnel or equipment, and to support interventions in the field;

• From a pedagogical point of view, these innovative technological uses open up a wide range of possibilities for agent training, thanks to the immersive nature of the experience, which means that training times can be kept to a minimum.

The renewal of this partnership augurs well for the future of the APOLLO project. It confirms the efforts made by GÉRÉDIS to optimize its maintenance costs, while guaranteeing quality of service thanks to the professional expertise of its agents, and underlines its determination to meet the environmental challenges it faces as a public energy distribution network operator.

This renewed collaboration also demonstrates Ciril GROUP's technological know-how in its ability to support innovation within companies, while offering a range of tools to limit its customers' carbon footprint.

Thierry PEUZIN, Product Marketing Director at Ciril GROUP: "The partnership with GÉRÉDIS enables us to explore new fields of use in the context of 3D, immersivity and AI, in perfect keeping with our Digital Twin strategy. And, in keeping with our genes of creativity and innovation, which have ensured the success of our products for 25 years, all the advances that will see the light of day thanks to the APOLLO project will be industrialized by Ciril GROUP for the benefit of all our GEO (GIS range) and SMART (CMMS range) customers."

Pascal LIZOT, Head of the GIS Division at GÉRÉDIS: "For GÉRÉDIS, this contract represents the continuation of an industrial partnership whose aim is to prepare the operation of tomorrow's network and thus meet our customers' expectations ever more effectively".