AI-powered search and rescue technology provider Zelim, headquartered in Scotland, has agreed a partnership with data and cloud service providers Pulsant, which has offices in Reading and Fareham, and a data centre in South London, to underpin vital infrastructure requirements.
With a core vision to deliver the world’s first unmanned search and rescue capability, Zelim launched its ZOE Intelligent Detection system in 2024. ZOE employs inference AI on video feeds to provide real-time detection and alerts for passengers or crew who have fallen overboard. This technology significantly enhances search and rescue operations, making them both faster and safer.
Experiencing rapid and substantial growth, Zelim identified a need for a colocation partner. Having initially hosted its servers on-site, the company faced escalating energy costs alongside an unacceptable level of operational risk. These risks ranged from potential power outages and fire to the threats of flooding and theft.
Any disruption to the resilience of their infrastructure is deemed unacceptable, as it would impede Zelim’s ability to deliver its life-saving services. Following a review of the market, Zelim selected Pulsant thanks to its ability to give the Zelim team swift access to implement new hardware, switches, and firewalls.
The robust connectivity provided by Pulsant has enabled Zelim to operate a high-speed 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10Gb) connection with 5G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) capabilities extending up to twelve nautical miles from South Gyle. This high-speed, low-latency connection is critical for the life-saving, inference-AI data feeds.
Operationally, Pulsant has empowered Zelim to meet the intensive demands of its AI technology. Zelim’s servers require significant power and need seamless integration to effectively analyse the high volume of data streaming in from the camera feeds. Pulsant’s ability to demonstrate stringent security measures and ensure the physical separation of data has been vital in reinforcing Zelim’s services and providing reassurance to its clients.
Doug Lothian, CTO at Zelim, commented: “The second someone hits the water, the clock is ticking. Anything that makes our technology faster, more dependable and sharper means we save lives. That is the context for our move to Pulsant.”
Euan Cowie, software engineer at Zelim, said: “We initially considered centralised, hyperscale providers, but processing this volume of video data in the cloud is expensive, and we would have lost control of the environment.”
Image source: Zelim
