Documented project
PREEN Industrial AI, Robotics & IP Platform
PREEN Technologies · Nov 2020 – Nov 2022
Zero-to-scale CTO leadership spanning the patented core of a compressed-air droplet wash/dry, multi-camera vision, path-planning, and robotic apparatus, plus its 40-camera real-time 3D and 14-DoF dual-robot implementation, certification, team growth, fundraising, and IP.
Leadership mandate
- →Scaled the multidisciplinary technology organisation from 4 to more than 25 specialists.
- →As CTO, replaced a physically unscalable steam approach with a compressed-air droplet architecture designed to wash and immediately dry vehicle surfaces.
- →Owned technology strategy across robotics hardware, software, AI vision, product delivery, certification, and IP.
- →Connected hands-on engineering decisions with fundraising, commercialisation, and transaction readiness.
Hands-on technology scope
- →Specified firmware and Redis live streaming for 40 Intel RealSense cameras and an on-the-fly 3D reconstruction pipeline producing a vehicle model in about 30 seconds.
- →Directed ML-based semantic segmentation of the generated model to identify glass, doors, and other vehicle-surface classes needed for treatment planning.
- →Implemented real-time path planning for two industrial robots on linear tracks with 14 total degrees of freedom, coordinating the complete wash-and-dry sequence.
- →Directed hardware/software integration, industrialisation, testing, and TÜV/CE-related certification work.
- →Developed and protected core invention concepts through coordinated hardware and software patent work.
Selected outcomes
Published patent families
WO2022263238A1 and WO2022263239A1 publicly identify Andree Welker as an inventor and document the core cleaning-method, vision, path-planning, nozzle, drying, and robotic-apparatus inventions.
Organisation scale
Scaled the multidisciplinary technology organisation from 4 to more than 25 specialists.
Commercial and funding scope
Supported 15× valuation growth, raised more than $20M in grants and more than $10M from VC/PE investors, and licensed IP to global technology leaders.
Wash-and-dry architecture
The published patents describe pressurized gas atomizing water into accelerated droplets and compressed-air blow drying before, during, or after cleaning.
Patented 3D vision and path planning
The patent record describes an 8–64-camera vision module, optical/infrared or stereo cameras, point-cloud and mesh generation, separation into individual surfaces, neural-network analysis, and cleaning-path calculation.
Implemented real-time vision pipeline
Integrated 40 Intel RealSense cameras, firmware, Redis streaming, 3D reconstruction, and semantic segmentation to generate and classify a vehicle model in about 30 seconds.
Patented robotic apparatus
The patent record describes robot-arm-controlled nozzles, calculated cleaning paths, 7-axis actuation, rails, collision avoidance, and apparatuses with more than one robot arm.
Implemented 14-DoF robotic execution
Planned and executed real-time trajectories for two industrial robots on linear tracks with 14 total degrees of freedom for vehicle washing and drying.
Relevant executive mandates
Sources & evidence
- 1.AI vision and cleaning-method patent family: Method for Cleaning a Surface
Espacenet / World Intellectual Property Organization
- 2.Robotics hardware patent family: Method and Apparatus for Cleaning a Vehicle Surface
Espacenet / World Intellectual Property Organization
- 3.