Bo-Christopher Redfearn, co-founder and CTO of Chargebotic.
We’re building drones that never have to land to recharge.
Kestrel perches on powerlines and harvests energy from them, turning 30-minute flights into persistent, autonomous inspection for utilities and defense.
Traction
$80K paid pilot
Live since July 2026.
Field demo
JIFX 26-4 at Camp Roberts, August 2026.
Humanmade
Backed by the Humanmade accelerator.
SAM.gov registered
Ready for government contracts.
Why me
I’ve spent a decade bringing up hardware at Meta, Cruise, and a FAANG company, validating the sensors and systems that ship to millions of people.
That work taught me where hardware breaks. For drones, it’s power: batteries end most missions in about 30 minutes.
I started Chargebotic to fix that.
Featured project: Kestrel
A drone that perches on powerlines and harvests energy from them to recharge, for persistent autonomous inspection.
Kestrel is a working prototype, proven on a mock line at JIFX 26-4. Live-line landings are next.
What I bring
Building hardware
Bring-up, test, and validation for sensors, displays, and lab systems.
Sensing & autonomy
Lidar, cameras, and the data pipelines behind them.
Selling to utilities & defense
A paid pilot, a field demo with the defense community, and SAM.gov registration.
Before Chargebotic
FAANG client (via Iconma)
Owned electrical validation of touch sensors on consumer tablets.
Cruise (via Apex Systems)
Ran lidar and camera testing and managed millions of dollars in lab assets.
Meta (via Basic Solutions)
Acting lab manager, leading a team of 3 on display validation.