A COLCHESTER firm is set to use artificial intelligence to expand after being handed more than £200,000 to develop drone technology.

Above Surveying, based at Tollgate Business Park, uses drones to report and monitor faults on solar farms across the country.

The drones, with their thermal imaging cameras, fly up and down the miles of solar panel arrays on each farm.

By noting temperature changes on the solar panels, they can quickly find faults.

The firm has now been handed £230,000 from InnovateUK to develop their software using artificial intelligence, also known as AI.

AI is a branch of computer sciences which emphasise the development of intelligence machines, thinking and working like humans.

Above Surveying say the move will help cut the time it takes to analyse the millions of photos they collect from their drones.

Managing director Will Hitchcock said: "This investment is about taking the human out of the loop but that doesn’t mean sacking people.

"At the moment, a typical site could take over two weeks to fully survey and analyse.

"With AI we could cut the analysis time down to a day or two, meaning we can take on more surveying work, and continue to expand, creating more jobs.”

Euro MP Alex Mayer visited Above Surveying's HQ to learn about the intelligent machines ahead of a debate on AI in the European Parliament.

Ms Mayer, who has praised the company in the European Parliament, said: “Far from this being the march of the robots exterminating jobs, here we have an example of a company that is using tech to do more, better and faster.

"The upshot is solar farms produce more green energy and more high quality jobs are created locally.”