Steeplejack Robotics Robots on Towers. People on the Ground.
Our mission
To eliminate the need for human climbs on telecommunications towers
by building intelligent robots that perform maintenance
safely, reliably and remotely.
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Safer by design
Protecting lives by removing people from dangerous climbs.
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Precision at height
Delivering accurate, repeatable work to keep networks performing.
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Remote capability
Enabling expert control from anywhere.
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Built for impact
Solving a critical industry problem with scalable, real-world technology.
01 / The problem
Inspection went remote.
Maintenance didn’t.
Drones and remote sensing can show an operator what is wrong. Physical remediation still requires skilled people to climb.
Drone
See the problem
Human rigger
Still climbs to fix it
02 / The approach
A measured intervention,
not just another image.
The initial system is a teleoperated climbing platform designed to place a tool at the workface, execute a defined task and return evidence of the result.
- 01Robot climbsRetained to tower steel
- 02Human operatesExpert control from ground
- 03Robot performsBounded physical task
- 04Work is measuredTool data is captured
- 05Work is verifiedEvidence is recorded
03 / Initial task set
Deliberately narrow.
We are starting with repeatable, specification-bounded interventions—not the full range of a skilled rigger’s work.
- 01Antenna azimuth adjustment
- 02Mechanical downtilt
- 03Measured bolt torque
- 04Bracket adjustment
- 05Aviation obstruction light replacement
- 06Bounded component replacement
04 / Teleoperation first
We are not waiting for general robotic autonomy.
A human expert remains in the control loop. Every intervention also creates demonstration data that can support carefully bounded assistance over time.
Capability path
05 / Safety by architecture
Designed around failure.
Safety is an architectural constraint from the first prototype. These are design objectives—not claims of certification or operational approval.
- 01Independent retentionA secondary load path
- 02Fail-safe gripHold position on power loss
- 03Tethered toolsControl dropped-object risk
- 04Loss-of-link behaviourA defined safe state
- 05Controlled recoveryPlan for a disabled machine
- 06Evidence recordingMeasured, auditable work
06 / Why the UK
A credible place to build difficult industrial systems.
Robotics engineering
Safety-critical assurance
Telecommunications infrastructure
Specialty insurance
International export potential
07 / Founder hypothesis
The 12-month objective
Demonstrate a teleoperated, measured physical maintenance task at height on real tower steel, witnessed by an industry operator.
This is an engineering programme, not a deployed commercial product. The objective is to test access, safety-case, task viability and operator value before scaling.
Read the thesis
The climb
is the cost.
The working case for remote physical maintenance on telecommunications towers: the problem, the programme, the risks and the questions that must be answered.
Two technical papers · PDF downloads