How Folium Sensing uses fibre networks to monitor infrastructure

What happened

Chennai startup Folium Sensing operates with laser light and machine learning to turn existing communication fibre into a sensor for bridges, pipelines and railways. Bridges, railway tracks, and pipelines often stretch across long distances, making them difficult to monitor.

Most conventional sensors measure conditions at a single point and need a power supply at that location. Chennai-based Folium Sensing is developing a way to monitor entire stretches of infrastructure without installing powered sensors along the route.

Founded in 2024 and based at IIT Madras Research Park, the startup operates with fibre-optic cables already laid for communication. According to CEO and Co-founder Sanidhya Chaturvedi, its technology can detect sound, temperature changes, and strain at points along a cable extending 100 km or more, using equipment connected at just one end.

Key facts

• Chennai startup Folium Sensing — uses: laser light and machine learning to turn existing communication fibre into a sensor for bridges, pipelines and railways
• Founded in 2024 and based at IIT Madras Research Park, the startup — uses: fibre-optic cables already laid for communication