Robotics engineering · Santiago, Chile

What has no off-the-shelf answer

Vessel Robotics designs, develops, and builds custom technology in robotics, automation, embedded systems, and artificial intelligence.

Let's talk See our projects
  • Robótica industrial
  • Sistemas embebidos
  • Ingeniería de hardware
  • Consultoría tecnológica
  • Visión computacional
Open-pit mine: benches, haul road and a service camp in the distance.
2026
Founded in Santiago
End to end
Concept to deployment
Mining
Software in production
Aerospace
Where we're headed
Capabilities

We engineer what can’t be bought

When what an operation needs can’t be bought ready-made, it has to be engineered. We work end to end, from concept to deployment, and we also advise when what’s needed is engineering judgment rather than a finished product.

  • Industrial robotics

    Machines and manipulators built for the operation they serve, not adapted from a catalogue.

  • Embedded systems

    Firmware and hardware designed together, from board bring-up to field deployment.

  • Computer vision

    Detection and measurement pipelines running on real production footage.

  • Hardware engineering

    Electronics, enclosures and integration engineered for harsh environments.

  • Automation

    Control logic and tooling that removes the manual step nobody wanted to own.

  • Technology consulting

    Engineering judgment when what you need is a decision, not a product.

Projects

What we are building today

Milestone 1 delivered NeumaDiesel Servicios Industriales

Automatic wear monitoring for OTR tyres

On a mining site, tread wear is measured by hand today, with a ruler, intermittently and without traceability. Without reliable history there is no way to anticipate the right moment to change a tyre: too early wastes the life of an expensive asset, too late exposes the operation to a failure in the field.

We designed a passive sensing system embedded in the tyre structure. A sacrificial element wears down together with the tread and changes a measurable electrical property, read wirelessly by a reader on board the truck, with no battery and no active electronics in the module. The data reaches the backend and is shown on a web dashboard.

  • Passive RFID
  • Embedded systems
  • Edge computing
  • Backend and dashboard
Three people in protective equipment inspect stacked OTR tyres; one points at the tread.
  • No battery and no active electronics inside the tyre.
  • Readings happen automatically during the truck’s regular stops, with no change to the operator’s workflow.
  • Per-tyre history to anticipate the moment of change.
Status

Phase 1 closed: technical feasibility, system architecture, sensing technology selection and validation plan. In progress: experimental bench validation.

How it is measured today, how we measure it

Six readings a year against a continuous curve

A ruler gives one isolated reading each time somebody walks the site. The sensor gives the whole curve. The difference between the two is the margin the operation loses today.

Tread 0 30 60 90 mm Removal limit · 25 mm 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 Operating hours · h Optimal moment of change 6,630 h Next manual reading 7,200 h
  • Manual measurement with a ruler Isolated points. Between one and the next, the operation assumes.
  • Continuous embedded sensing A reading at every stop the truck makes. No intervention.
  • 570 h Operating hours below the limit before a ruler reveals it

The sensor registers the crossing the moment it happens. The manual record holds the last measured value until somebody next walks the site, and that difference is operating time below the limit that nobody is watching.

Illustrative schematic of the measurement principle. The curve is a wear model, not field data.

In development B2B client

B2B platform for time and people management

A B2B platform for time management and people management. It will have artificial intelligence built in.

  • B2B
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Custom software
Note

We build custom software for companies only. Further detail is shared under agreement.

How we work

From the technical question to a system in operation

  1. 01

    Diagnosis

    We learn the operation and the problem on site. If what you need can be bought, we’ll say so.

  2. 02

    Concept engineering

    We define requirements, constraints and architecture. We evaluate the alternatives and discard the ones that don’t hit the number.

  3. 03

    Prototype and validation

    We build a working prototype and test it against a staged validation plan, on the bench and in representative conditions.

  4. 04

    Deployment

    Installation, integration and commissioning in the real operation, with the engineering support it needs.

Specialties
  • Robótica industrial
  • Sistemas embebidos
  • Ingeniería de hardware
  • Consultoría tecnológica
  • Visión computacional
Start a conversation
Who we are

An engineering team, not an agency

Engineers from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile with experience in robotics, industrial IoT, embedded systems and artificial intelligence.

  • Iñaki Gacitúa

    Electrical Engineer PUC, PhD candidate and industrial IoT specialist.

  • Ignacio Gajardo

    Computer Engineer PUC, director of Caleuche UC and RobotX USA semifinalist.

  • Guillermo Carey

    Industrial Engineer, Robotics Major PUC and robotics lecturer.

  • Gustavo Blanco

    Electrical Engineer, Robotics Major PUC, with experience in AI.

  • Matías Houston

    Electrical Engineer, Robotics Major PUC.

Contact

Got a technical challenge that doesn’t come ready-made?

Write to us and we’ll look at it. Thirty minutes with an engineer, not a salesperson.

Location
Santiago, Región Metropolitana, Chile