The following was written by Karissa Neely and originally printed in the Daily Herald.
One Pleasant Grove drone company’s innovative approach to structure and roof inspections has earned them 12 patents in just the last 18 months.
“When we founded Loveland Innovations, I saw a tremendous potential for drones and artificial intelligence to revolutionize the roof and property inspection world,” said Jim Loveland, founder and CEO of Loveland Innovations. “As such, we set out to create a new, intuitive solutions to the age-old problem of accurately inspecting properties and buildings. The quick recognition by the USPTO (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) in rapidly issuing a dozen of our patents is a huge endorsement of the big ideas that let us change the industry.”
Jim Loveland founded the company in 2015 after decades working in the insurance industry. Loveland Innovations harnesses the power of drones to help roofers, solar installers, underwriters, insurers and inspection companies more easily visualize and assess rooftops and structures. He explained that Loveland Innovations’ drone software and inspection platform takes an arcane process and brings it up to speed.
“You’ve got people leaning ladders against roofs, using ropes and harness systems to manually inspect each roof. It’s a cumbersome, dangerous process. It’s absolutely archaic,” Loveland said.
This process takes two hours, Loveland said, but only takes 12 minutes with the company’s platform using automated drone-based data gathering and analysis. What was accomplished by an inspector climbing a ladder and walking a roof to mark hail damage with chalk and cellphone pictures, can now be completed by a drone and artificial intelligence.
“We know the insurance industry. We know what can change the industry in a very meaningful way,” Loveland said.
The Loveland drone system was used recently after hurricanes and storms pounded the United States. Jim Loveland displayed drone footage showing a roof that suffered major hail damage. The system easily and accurately identified and marked hail hits to the roof, even on steep pitched sections.
“This level of efficiency completely changes their business model,” said Ethan Kirk, Loveland’s director of marketing. “The application of drones in insurance, roofing, and solar is massive and the potential is starting to be realized.”
Loveland Innovations originally started in Alpine, with just Jim Loveland and Leif Larson, co-founder and chief technology officer. They moved the business in June to its current 15,000-square-foot building in Valley Grove in Pleasant Grove so they can better handle the company’s growth. Loveland Innovations started 2018 with about 30 employees, and now has 65.
“Our success is largely thanks to our incredibly talented team of developers. Our patents are a testament to their inventive spirits, passion, and tenacity. We’ve come a long way, and yet we still have so many more great things on the horizon,” Larson said in an earlier press release about the patents.
Karissa Neely reports on Business and North County events, and can be reached at kneely@heraldextra.com. Follow her on Twitter: @DHKarissaNeely
