Reckon Point, a San Antonio-based startup that specializes in state-of-the-art indoor positioning technology, is a newcomer to the Port’s growing tech community. The company’s breakthrough technology has applications to improve the operations and quality of positioning and mapping data used by many global industries, including manufacturers, architects and operators of large public spaces, such as airports, hospitals and stadiums.

Founded in 2014 in collaboration with coworking space Geekdom, Reckon Point addresses navigational and mapping issues that cannot be resolved with traditional GPS satellite data, which is inaccessible with a high level of detail inside buildings.

“We’ve developed a unique integration of robotics, sensors and machine learning to survey massive buildings—within two centimeters of accuracy,” says company CEO and founder Gabe Garza. “And can also do this with amazing speed, having mapped a 22-story building in just three days.”

To conduct this precise surveying, Reckon Point has developed a proprietary Mobile Indoor Geolocation Survey Unit (MIGSU) — a suite of services based on LiDAR scanning and artificial intelligence.

The company’s highly specialized robots use the Earth’s electromagnetic field to maneuver through a building and scan the environment, creating detailed maps of rooms, pathways, doors, windows and walls as well as smaller items, such as the location of electrical plugs and light fixtures.

“We took all these sensors and integrated them all into one mobile and highly sophisticated piece of hardware,” adds Garza. “We collect all the signals required for positions to create digital maps that are needed by many different uses—from architects to factory managers to everyday consumers.”

To prototype this technology, the company partnered with the San Antonio International Airport to create maps that are helpful to passengers — integrating indoor maps with smart phone apps allowing travelers to locate amenities such as gates, bathrooms, restaurants, ATMs, power outlets and handicapped-accessible ramps and elevators.

Now, as Reckon Point continues to grow, the company’s new site at Port San Antonio strategically places it close to peers in the tech sector and allows the company to reach national and global markets.

“Having other companies and talent nearby is beneficial; it’s one of the big things about being here.”

“Reckon Point is another important example of the type of innovation that continues to thrive in San Antonio,” says Port President and CEO Jim Perschbach. “What has been vitally important to the company is for its talented team to be able to work directly with industries in our region that will benefit from their technology—building important collaborations to ensure their products meet the needs of a local array of clients, which in turn allows Reckon Point to market their technology to the world.”