Left: Vivian Chu and Andrea Thomaz, the co-founders of Diligent Robotics; right: Kathleen Brandes and Ros Shinkle, the co-founders of Adagy Robotics. | Sources: Diligent Robotics, Adagy Robotics

Almost half of all startups that began in 2021 were formed by women, according to human resources cloud software company Gusto. Within the robotics industry, however, it’s a different story. Women make up only 34% of the STEM workforce, according to the National Girls Collaborative Project, and they hold only 16% of robotics and engineering roles. 

Those numbers, however, don’t tell us how many women start robotics companies. There isn’t a lot of data about the number of startups that begin every year or how many robotics companies are operating, in general. Let alone about the backgrounds of the founders behind them. 

To get a picture of how many women are founders of robotics companies, I combed through our 2024 February and March funding recaps. Of the 78 robotics companies that raised money during those two months, and whose founders could be identified, only 10 had a woman on their founding team, just 12.8%.

Of course, this metric doesn’t tell us how many robotics companies in general have female founders, but it does give us a better idea of what that breakdown might look like. This is why I spoke to Ros Shinkle and Kathleen Brandes, the founders of Adagy Robotics, and Andrea Thomaz and Vivian Chu, the founders of Diligent Robotics, about their experiences within the industry. 

Founders talk about the early days of a startup

Diligent and Adagy are in two very different places as companies. Adagy launched earlier this year, and it specializes in remote intervention services. Shinkle and Brandes are at the beginning of their journey as founders and are part of Y Combinator, a startup accelerator. They’re currently the only employees of the company. 

“Adagy Robotics is currently a remote intervention service for rescuing robots,” said Brandes, the company’s chief technology officer (CTO).

“For example, when a tractor robot fails in the field, instead of calling out to the farmer who has a lot more important things to do in his day, that tractor robot can now call out to our trained operators,” she said. “They’ll take over, drive the robot to safety, and allow it to resume its autonomous operations.”

Adagy looks to a future with AI

Today, Adagy Robotics is starting out with fully human-driven operations, said Shinkle, CEO. In the future, however, the company is interested in layering machine learning and generative AI techniques to assist human operators and allow them to do their jobs more efficiently. The company is also exploring error-prevention techniques for robots. 

“We’re really excited about logistics and manufacturing right now,” Shinkle said. “In particular, I think AMRs [autonomous mobile robots] are widely used in logistics. And although they’re widely used, they still continue to face the same kinds of problems.”

“For example, they often rely on these sort of dense visual clues called fiducials or APR tags to help localize in a facility,” she noted. “If one of those is scuffed or torn or falls down, the robots can get lost. This is a great example of a situation in which we could come in and help the robots get back safely. We’re also excited about manipulation and failed picking tasks as well.”

Shinkle and Brandes described the early days of running a startup as challenging but fun. Every day is about putting out the most urgent fire, said Shinkle.

Ros Shinkle and Kathleen Brandes, the founders of Adagy Robotics, met at Boston Dynamics. Source: Y Combinator

Bringing a startup to maturity 

On the other hand, Diligent Robotics was founded in 2017. Like many robotics companies, Diligent started in a research lab. Thomaz, the company’s co-founder and CEO, was running a robotics lab that Chu, its co-founder and CTO, joined as a Ph.D. student in 2012.

The start of the company was slow, Thomaz said. She was still a professor and Chu a graduate student. Tomaz’s lab earned two National Science Foundation grants that gave Tomaz and Chu the opportunity to learn from around 150 people in the healthcare industry. 

“I don’t know that we would have been able to start this company as two men,” Thomaz said. “Because the thing that we did, for two years at least, was go and embed ourselves in nursing teams, with a robot, and ask nurses, who are 80% women, ‘What would you have this robot do?’”

“I’m not sure we would have been as accepted in that community as a couple of guys with their robot,” she continued. 

Once they had found a use case that would address the needs of the industry, Thomaz and Chu said they spent a summer pitching and looking for venture capital. In total, Thomaz said they spent a year and a half in the research stage before officially launching the company.

Last year, Diligent hit 90 robots working in the field. Its flagship robot, Moxi, aids hospital staffers by performing non-patient-facing tasks like running supplies, delivering lab samples, fetching items from a central supply, distributing personal protective equipment (PPE), and delivering medications. Moxi is now opening 100,000 doors every month across its various deployments.

Diligent is dedicated to diversity

As Diligent Robotics has grown, Thomaz and Chu said they’ve actively tried to keep the company diverse. 

“Early on, we recognized that it’s not only important to have a diverse team, but to have a diverse team at all levels,” Thomaz said. “It’s really good to make sure that your most junior people aren’t the most diverse, and then your more senior people are all one type of person.”

Chu also said the team focused on making job postings well-known among all intersections of the robotics community, instead of just relying on the applications that passively came in. Shinkle echoed similar sentiments when talking about building Adagy’s team as it grows. 

“We believe that diversity is a strength,” Shinkle said. “Diversity of background and diversity of thought leads to stronger problem solving, so that’s definitely a closely held company belief.” 

Female founders find community within the industry 

All four of the women I spoke to both emphasized the importance of finding mentors and a community within the industry. 

“One thing that’s been really helpful is the amazing community, unity, and friendship that women have within the industry,” Brandes said. “We’ve become great friends and are now starting a company together, as one example. And I think fostering that community and having that community continue to grow and expand has been a big component.” 

“For me, it was fantastic seeing these role models that blaze through all of the stereotypes,” Chu said. “It really gives me the confidence to do the same.”

“I’ve had friends that obviously didn’t have that experience, and it’s hard hearing what they’ve had to go through,” she acknolwedged. “I’ve been very lucky to have some amazing champions throughout a lot of my career.” 

The founders also had advice to share with women who are considering starting a robotics company. 

“Reach out to as many people for advice as possible, because there’s so many that have gone through the startup journey,” Chu said. “If you collect a wide variety of people that you can reach out to … you can just continually ask questions.”

“My advice would be to just do it,” Brandes said. “Be confident that your are strong enough and successful enough to do this.” 

“I think robotics is a great place for female leadership,” Thomaz said. “Historically, there’s been a lot of really great trailblazers, and some people who’ve really defined the field like Manuela Veloso and Maya Tarik, and there are a bunch of other people that I’m not naming.”

“But I think that in and of itself makes robotics a great place for women to lead the way in commercialization as well,” she concluded. “It’s a big, broad systems-level problem, which I think requires a diverse solution, and so that’s ripe for a really diverse team.”

Editor’s note: The Robotics Summit & Expo this week will be hosting a Women in Robotics Breakfast and the MassRobotics Engineering Career Fair, among other networking events.

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The 2024 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards have recognized the Mushiny Intelligent 3D Sorter. Source: Mushiny

WTWH Media has named Mushiny Co. a 2024 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award winner this month. It recognized the Suzhou, China-based company for its Intelligent 3D Sorter as an innovative technology.

“This recognition highlights China’s global innovation and marks a significant step for Mushiny in smart warehouse logistics,” said the company.

The annual RBR50 awards honor the top 50 robotics companies for their leadership in automation hardware and software, business models, and emerging applications.

“The incredible products of this year’s RBR50 winners represent the cutting edge of robotics technology and also raise the bar for the industry,” stated Steve Crowe, WTWH’s executive editor for robotics. WTWH Media produces The Robot Report, Mobile Robot Guide, and the Robotics Summit & Expo.

3D Sorter pioneers efficiency, flexibility

Mushiny has publicly shown that its Intelligent 3D Sorter can overcome sorting challenges beyond the capabilities of traditional methods, including handling spikes in business, sorting soft goods, documentation, fragile items such as books, and traceable pharmaceuticals and food. It said the system is innovative for the supply chain industry in three ways: high sorting efficiency, strong flexibility, and optimal return on investment (ROI).

The company cited the following potential benefits:

• Improvement in order-fulfilment efficiency, with the highest efficiency exceeding 10,000 picks per hour (up to 14,400 items per hour)
• Sorting efficiency increased by three to five times.
• Better ROI
• Save 70% of space compared with the traditional cross-belt sorter

“Mushiny’s Intelligent 3D Sorter automates the picking process and enables warehouse operations to grow their batch or wave sizes,” noted The Robot Report. “The Intelligent3D Sorter could fulfill many orders concurrently, as robots continuously transfer completed orders and buffer them as needed before dispatching. The combination of robots and human pickers could increase retail and e-commerce productivity, as well as efficiently process returns.”

Meet Mushiny at the Robotics Summit & Expo

Founded in 2016, Mushiny is a leading global provider of intelligent systems for logistics. The company operates across more than 20 countries and regions, with overseas markets making up 50% of its business.

Mushiny Intelligence has two business divisions: The Intelligent Warehousing Division offers clients bespoke intelligent intralogistics systems and guarantees 60-day delivery worldwide. The Standard Products Division specializes in customizing robot chassis, delivering a range of software and hardware services to partners and clients with development capabilities.

The company said it empowers global partners and users in e-commerce, postal and courier, automobiles, new energy, household appliances, 3C (computers, communications and consumer) electronics, and many other industrial and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) applications.

Mushiny will be at Booth 448-3 at the Robotics Summit & Expo, which will be on May 1 and 2 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. The event will also include keynotes by industry leaders, more than 60 speakers in 40 sessions, 200 exhibitors, several networking opportunities, a MassRobotics Engineering Career Fair, and the co-located Digital Transformation Forum and DeviceTalks Boston.

This year’s RBR50 honorees will also be celebrated in the inaugural RBR50 Gala and a showcase on the expo floor. Registration is now open for next week’s summit.

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HowToRobot is combining its marketplace with Gain & Co.’s expert advice. Credit: Adobe Stock

HowToRobot.com ApS, a provider of a global automation market platform, and Gain & Co., a robotics and automation advisor, announced a merger last week. The newly formed company has also received an investment from Sagitta Ventures, which will be taking a seat on its board. 

Now operating under the name “HowToRobot,” the combined company said that while the need for robotics is stronger than ever, most businesses still struggle to automate. By combining its automation market and vendor-independent advice, HowToRobot said it will support businesses with every aspect of their automation journeys.  

“Businesses need automation and robotics like never before to make up for labor shortages and supply chain disruptions and simply to protect them in the long run,” stated Søren Peters, now co-CEO of HowToRobot. “But without help, only few are able to fully take advantage of the technology. The merger and investment allow us to extend that help to every business that needs it.”

Founded in 2017, HowToRobot said it offers companies with an overview and easy access to automation and robotics suppliers globally. It also offers advisors that give guidance on everything from getting started with automation to technology selection and implementation.

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HowToRobot to help companies keep up with innovation

Global robot installations have more than tripled over the past decade, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). This demand has resulted in more innovation, making it difficult for prospective customers to keep up with the industry, said Peters. 

“Robotics is developing so fast that it can easily seem overwhelming,” he said. “What most need is often just someone to talk to who knows the market and who they can trust for reliable and impartial advice. By letting our two companies join forces, we can now provide all that in one place.”

The Copenhagen, Denmark-based company claimed that the new HowToRobot provides the support that businesses need when looking to automate. At the R-24 event earlier this year in Odense, Denmark, Gulshan Akhtar Din, a senior advisor then at Gain & Co., explained how it worked with hospitals to properly integrate automation with both physical infrastructure and business processes.

Despite global robot installations hitting a record high in 2022, according to the IFR, HowToRobot said it has found that the average business has explored only about 5% of its addressable potential for automation. Peters asserted that this is mainly due to limited expertise and knowledge about automation. 

“Most businesses have still only scratched the surface of what is possible and makes sense to automate,” he said. “With the right guidance and easy access to potential solutions, robot adoption can reach a whole new level.”

Inside the merger

With the merger, Peters, the former CEO of HowToRobot, and Søren Pap-Tolstrup, the former CEO of Gain & Co., will serve as co-CEOs. The company did not disclose financial details of the merger or investment from Sagitta Ventures. 

“The world of robotics is still new to many, and most need help to some extent – from technical advice to finding solutions and building the business case or simply finding the best place to start,” noted Pap-Tolstrup. “When combined, our platform and advisory have the depth, reach, and flexibility to support businesses where and when they most need it.”

HowToRobot said its latest investment will enable it to expand its platform, advisor team, and partner network across the world, adding expertise and the capacity for conducting on-site automation screening. The company said it also plans to broaden its market understanding of robotics and automation to better provide expert advice.

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InOrbit has joined the Open Source Robotics Alliance to support community software development. | Source: InOrbit

InOrbit Inc. this month joined the Open Source Robotics Alliance, or OSRA. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company said it is a milestone in its commitment to fostering collaboration and innovation within the robotics community.

“Having members like InOrbit is crucial to us because it’s an indicator of support from long-standing community members for our vision for the future of the ROS ecosystem,” stated Vanessa Yamzon Orsi, CEO of the Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF). She referred to the Robot Operating System. 

The OSRF last month launched the OSRA as an alliance of companies aimed at strengthening the governance of open-source robotics software projects. The OSRA said it has a mixed-membership, meritocratic model inspired by organizations such as the Linux Foundation. 

The OSRA invites community stakeholders to participate in the oversight, direction, development, and support of key open-source projects, including ROS, Gazebo, Open-RMF, and their infrastructure.

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OSRA supports shared goal of industry collaboration

By joining the OSRA, InOrbit said it is reaffirming its commitment to advancing open-source projects and promoting collaborative innovation in the robotics industry.

“The open-source community has enabled great advancements in the development and deployment of robotics solutions in the past 15 years,” said Julian Cerruti, co-founder and chief technology officer of InOrbit. “As the robotics industry grows, it’s increasingly important to create the space and organize ourselves properly to support a consensus-based advancement of these technologies that multiple companies depend on.”

“At InOrbit, we greatly appreciate the work that OSRF has done over the years to support and promote this effort and are happy to lend our support by sponsoring and participating in this initiative,” he added about the OSRA.

InOrbit said its cloud platform enables efficient robot operations (RobOps) and provides observability through secure, real-time analytics and data collection, robot performance monitoring, incident response, and root-cause analysis.

Open-source is key to interoperability, says InOrbit

InOrbit said it has been working with open initiatives since its inception, supporting ROS and ROS 2, among others. The company said this supports its approach to interoperability.

As the landscape changes for mobile robot makers and users, interoperability is becoming a concern, noted InOrbit. The company said that as robot fleets grow, and organizations add more automation to work alongside or with existing systems, they need a new level of orchestration. 

InOrbit said interoperability as key to realizing more complex tasks and safely managing interactions with human collaborators and other robots in a given space. This need goes beyond traditional fleet management, it claimed.

The company added that it is a driving factor behind its ongoing support for emerging interoperability standards and tools like the Open Robotics Middleware Framework (Open-RMF). 

Last year, InOrbit announced the availability of the open-source InOrbit RMF Fleet Adaptor. The adaptor is available on GitHub and was created with Ekumen Labs, another OSRA member.

As a silver members of the OSRA, InOrbit said it expects to contribute to shaping the future of robotics and to exploring opportunities for advancing RobOps with the alliance.

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Magna International will manufacture more delivery robots. Source: Serve Robotics

Serve Robotics Inc. today said it has expanded its existing partnership with Magna International Inc. to increase production of Serve’s sidewalk delivery robots. Under the terms of the new production and purchase agreement, Magna is the exclusive contract manufacturer of Serve’s autonomous systems, supporting its plan to deploy up to 2,000 robots on the Uber Eats platform across multiple U.S. markets.

“Magna is excited to continue collaborating with Serve, leveraging our manufacturing and technical expertise to help fuel Serve’s growth potential,” stated Matteo Del Sorbo, executive vice president for New Mobility globally at Magna.

Aurora, Ontario-based Magna is one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers. The new agreement extends a previously disclosed agreement effective Feb. 20, under which Serve granted the company a non-exclusive license to its technologies and expertise, enabling Magna to further develop new products in the robotics and logistics space.

Serve Robotics builds on IPO

The announcement came less than a week after Serve Robotics went public, raising $40 million.

“Serve is a leader in creating robots that navigate complex human environments,” said Ali Kashani, CEO of Serve Robotics. “Following our successful public offering, we are excited to start working to scale our robotic fleet with Magna’s world-class manufacturing capabilities.”

“This collaboration supports the natural progression of our business beyond food delivery and positions our proprietary robotics technology as a platform upon which new robots can be built,” he added. “Magna is a valuable partner in this effort.”

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Investors, customers fuel delivery robot rollout

Redwood City, Calif.-based Serve Robotics spun out of Uber Technologies Inc. in 2021. The company claimed that its low-emissions robots using artificial intelligence for Level 4 autonomy will make delivery more sustainable and economical. It has backing from NVIDIA and Uber subsidiary Postmates, among others.

Since 2022, Serve said it has completed thousands of deliveries for customers including Walmart, 7-Eleven, and Uber Eats. The company offers its mobile robots through a robots-as-a-service (RaaS) model.

The global market for robotic last-mile delivery could grow from $70 million in 2022 to $670 million by 2030, predicted ABI Research. It attributed this expansion to labor and vehicle costs, improving autonomy technologies, inflation, and consumer expectations of rapid service.

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New offerings include the igusGO AI-driven app and more low-cost automation. Source: igus

At its annual press conference last week, igus GmbH previewed numerous new products in advance of the Hannover Messe trade show. The Cologne, Germany-based company announced 247 new products, including  lubrication-free drives using motion plastics and new robots for educational, service, and industrial applications.

“We’re offering a mobile manipulator for small companies,” said Alexander Mühlens, head of automation technology and robotics at igus. He touted the company’s low-cost automation approach.

“ReBeL on Wheels” combines a collaborative robot arm with an autonomous mobile robot for €17,999 ($19,202 U.S.). An educational version is available for €14,699 ($15,682). igus said that is 10x more affordable than other models, and it is starting to offer the systems in the German market. 

The company, whose U.S. headquarters are in Rumford, R.I., won a 2024 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award for a finger gripper to go with the ReBeL cobot. igus will be exhibiting at next week’s Robotics Summit & Expo at Booth 414 in Hall C in the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

In addition, Mühlens will present a session at 2:45 p.m. EDT in Room 50 on Wednesday, May 1, on “Automate Your Factory for $2,799.” Registration is now open for the event.

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Tools make robots easier for SMEs to configure

Users can easily add sensors, the igus Robot Control programming software, and a sound bar to ReBeL on Wheels, said Mühlens. The mobile manipulator includes gearboxes using the company’s patented motion plastics.

To help people “try before you buy,” igus allows for free remote testing. “You can scan a QR code into your mobile phone for to test the robot butler,” Mühlens noted.

In addition, the “Envisioner” in igus Robot Control can help robotics developers and integrators, he said. The Configurator in the RBTX online marketplace shows the center of gravity for every part in a delta robot cell, allowing the system to easily pick and place them.

“It automatically knows the center of gravity, and you can just buy the webcam for under €100 [$106.67],” said Mühlens. “We’ll be picking RBTX chocolates at Hannover Messe.”

“Everyone is looking for solutions for screwing and gluing in the furniture industry, for instance,” he said. “Now with RBTX and our 3D machine planner, you can combine robots with grippers and conveyors into cells for one fixed price.”

In fact, igus uses AI so that if a user uploads a photo, it can give a 3D recommendation.

“With the Configurator, a customer can take a few steps and get a live price,” Mühlens explained. “For example, you could choose ReBeL and a gripper for a cell, get measurements within the program, download files, and check out all the parts and prices. You can also choose an installation and buildup service or do it yourself.”

igus said its new machine planner offers small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) the ability to define cobot workspaces, build around its robots, and choose robot housings.

Motion-plastic parts get four-year guarantee

Machine failures due to insufficient lubrication cost $750 billion annually, and more than 24 million tons of lubricant seep into water and soil every year, according to igus. The company said its self-lubricating, high-performance polymers, as well as the use of artificial intelligence and virtual reality in design, can reduce such costly waste.

This year, igus is extending its four-year product guarantee to all of its dry-tech products. It also offers free replacement of bearings, drives, 3D-printed parts, and linear actuators.

These moves demonstrate the company’s confidence in their long service life and consciousness of the importance of sustainability in Industry 4.0, said Stefan Niermann, vice president and head of the drylin division, and Rainer Rössel, vice president and head of the chainflex division at igus.

“The performance of motion plastics is often underestimated,” added Lars Butenschön, business unit manager for iglidur bearings at igus. He cited their utility in construction and agriculture. The company is also offering new high-load bearings for heavy machinery in its “Zero Lubrication” range. 

In addition, lubrication-free bearings are suitable for food and packaging applications, said Michael Offner, vice president and head of industry management at the family-owned company.

“An enormous range of applications could use them,” noted Tobias Vogel, igus’ CEO of bearings and linear technology. With the igusGO app, machine builders can use voice controls and AI chat to configure excavators with such parts, he said.

As electrification garners more interest worldwide, particularly in e-mobility, battery production, and shore power, motion plastics can be an enabling technology, asserted Martin Tiling, head of igus’ shore power business unit.

igus reports €1.13B turnover, launches bike brand

After generating €1.15 billion ($1.23 billion) in 2022, igus reported €1.13 billion ($1.21 billion) for 2023. While the global economic slowdown affected the company, it is still approaching its goal of 1 million industrial customers per year, stated Michael Blass, managing director of e-chain systems.

“We are therefore pleased that we have at least come a little closer to this goal in a difficult year,” he said. “We have invested €433 million [$464.6 million] in this plan over the last three years, €210 million [$224.8 million] of which at the Cologne site.”

igus has invested in expanded production in Germany and the U.S., accelerating fulfillment of orders to within a few days, and continuing research and development, according to Blass. It is also planning construction in China, Taiwan, India, Italy, Spain, Poland, Mexico, and Turkey.

To demonstrate its motion plastics at human rather than industrial scale, the company has developed the igus:bike from recycled materials. The bicycle, which won’t rust and can be recycled itself, is now going into serial production under the new brand name RCYL. It will go on the market in Germany for €1,200 ($1,284) this year.

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The PUDU T300 mobile robot dis designed for use in tight aisles with heavy payloads. Source: Pudu Robotics

Pudu Technology Co. said today at Hannover Messe that it is expanding from service robots into supply chain applications with the new PUDU T300 mobile robot. The Shenzhen, China-based company said its new robot offers maneuverability, a “map-and-go” feature, and flexible deployment to help manufacturers worldwide.

“There is a huge demand from industrial clients for automated, flexible robotics solutions that can operate continuously to meet high production rates and improve operational efficiency,” stated Felix Zhang, founder and CEO of Pudu Robotics.

“As manufacturers struggle to attract and retain talent, the T300 fills the immediate gap by seamlessly integrating with facilities’ current processes, as well as optimizing operations to spur sector-wide innovation,” he said.

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Pudu said that it holds nearly 1,000 patents worldwide and that it has shipped more than 70,000 units to retail, dining, hospitality, healthcare, entertainment, and education customers. The company also specified the following capabilities:

• VSLAM+ navigation: The new mobile robot can adapt to environments with ceilings up to 30 m (98.4 ft.).
• Internet of Things (loT): PUDU T300 includes secure door access, elevator control, a self-configuring network with call options, and production-line material requests via an app for integration into production processes.
• Multimodal interaction: High-brightness operation-indicator lights and traffic-signal lights display PUDU T300’s position and cruising intentions, with customizable buttons for collaboration and audible alerts for reminders.
• Efficient charging: Pudu said the T300 features automatic recharging in about two hours and quick battery-swapping capabilities, allowing for continuous 24/7 operation to cater to different customer requirements.
• Safety compliance: PUDU T300 adheres to ISO 3691-4 industrial safety requirements and includes lidar, depth camera, collision-protection edges, and emergency stop buttons.

Zhang replied to the following questions from The Robot Report:

Pudu Robotics sets its sights on manufacturers

Since there are already numerous mobile robot providers serving manufacturing and warehousing, why did Pudu decide now to get into that space?

Zhang: Pudu Robotics decided to venture into the industrial mobile robot market due to the recognition of a significant demand for lightweight material transportation within industrial settings.

These environments often present complex challenges such as narrow pathways, mixed-traffic scenarios with both humans and machines, and areas with suspended obstacles that require robots to operate safely and flexibly. Unfortunately, there is a gap in the market, as existing products do not adequately fulfill the needs of these specific applications.

Our experience in the foodservice industry, where similar demands for safety, flexibility, and advanced navigation exist, has allowed us to accumulate a wealth of technical expertise, such as SLAM technology and a robust supply chain system. We believe that these skills and resources are directly transferable and highly beneficial to the industrial domain.

Moreover, the industrial robotics market presents several favorable conditions for Pudu Robotics:

• The market potential is vast.
• The frequency of item delivery in the industrial sector is much higher, with a stronger need for such services. A single robot can perform over 200 delivery tasks per day compared with the food service industry, where a robot performing over 70 tasks a day is already considered significant.
• The acceptance of robot deliveries in the industrial sector is higher due to the commonality of automated transportation and manufacturing processes.
• Our market research and practice have shown that by selling standardized products, we can successfully cater to industrial customers.

What was the biggest difference in developing mobile robots for manufacturing in comparison with the service robots that Pudu is known for?

PUDU T300 moving a box in standard mode. Source; Pudu Robotics

Zhang: The biggest difference in developing robots for manufacturing in comparison to service robots lies within the distinct market needs and opportunities of the industrial sector. Manufacturing allows for more standardization, higher frequency of use, and stronger customer demand than the service industry.

Yet the value-added is similar. Both manufacturing and service industries turn to automation to alleviate labor shortages, bolster workplace safety and productivity, and adapt to an evolving market. Pudu can easily leverage its expertise in one to innovate within the other.

What’s the biggest differentiator between the T300 and other companies’ robots?

Zhang: PUDU T300 features automatic recharging and quick battery-swapping capabilities. This allows for continuous 24/7 operation and allows customers to expedite production.

With its ability to navigate through spaces as narrow as 60 cm [23.6 in.], the T300 can shuttle between production lines, delivering supplies without hindrance.

T300 also supports several key functions like PUDU VSLAM+, a fusion of laser SLAM and visual SLAM for positioning, which PUDU has extensive experience in, this lets the robot adapt to its environment and update its map in real time.

PUDU T300 can tow a cart. Source: Pudu Robotics

PUDU T300 will work with PUDUlink platform

What’s the new robot‘s payload capacity? What sorts of goods is the T300 designed to move — machine parts, pallets, or something else?

Zhang: The PUDU T300 has a payload capacity of 300 kg [661.3 lb.] and is specifically designed to serve in the material logistics of discrete manufacturing, handling tasks like delivering supplies to production lines, transferring materials between different production areas, and assisting in the delivery of samples for quality inspection.

The PUDU T300 is capable of transporting raw materials, cardboard boxes, material bins, material racks, and more.

PUDU T300 in lifting mode. Source: Pudu Robotics

Since the new robots are designed for narrow aisles, are they capable of backing up if they encounter obstacles?

Zhang: The T300 has exceptional maneuverability, remaining agile if it encounters obstacles. The robot is able to cross 0.7 in. [1.7 cm] thresholds and 1.3 in. [3.3 cm] gutters, as well as to leverage laser and visual SLAM for positioning in spaces up to 200,000 sq. m [2.1 million sq. ft.].

In addition to these capabilities, the T300 is also designed with a reverse function, enabling it to back up and disengage from any impediments it may encounter.

In addition to the VSLAM capabilities, how will Pudu’s latest robots be monitored — will the company offer fleet management software, or will it work with third-party platforms?

Zhang: The PUDU T300 will be monitored using our proprietary distributed scheduling system, which allows for efficient management and coordination of the robot fleet.

Additionally, the T300 supports PUDUlink, a platform developed by Pudu Robotics for remote device management. This platform enables operators to monitor, control, and update the robots from a centralized location, ensuring smooth operation and quick response to any issues that may arise.

Furthermore, for those clients who wish to integrate the T300 with their existing third-party fleet management or scheduling systems, the T300 is designed to be compatible with third-party APIs [application programming interfaces]. This ensures that our robots can be seamlessly incorporated into a wide range of industrial and logistical environments, providing flexibility to users who already have established systems in place.

What customers did Pudu work with in developing this robot, and is it in trials or is it already available?

Zhang: T300 was developed specifically for customers within the industrial sector. Target customers include entities within manufacturing, such as 3C [computer, communication, and consumer] electronics manufactures, automotive parts processing facilities, metalworking and hardware processing enterprises, and more.

PUDU T300 in shelf mode. Source: Pudu Robotics

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Serve Robotics mobile robots maneuver on the sidewalk to make local deliveries. | Credit: Serve Robotics

Serve Robotics Inc. went public on the Nasdaq yesterday under the symbol “SERV,” opening at $4.75 and closing the day at $3.11. It said it expected its initial public offering of 10 million shares of common stock to generate $40 million in gross proceeds, before underwriting discounts and offering expenses.

“Serve’s transition to a publicly traded entity marks an important moment in the robotics landscape, showcasing our role as one of the first to commercially deploy AI-powered robots in urban settings,” stated Dr. Ali Kashani, Serve’s co-founder and CEO. “With the backing of strategic partners, including Uber and NVIDIA, we believe Serve is at the forefront of delivering sustainable last-mile automation at an unprecedented scale.”

Learn from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and many more.

Serve Robotics continues partnership with Uber Eats

Serve Robotics builds and maintains its fleet of robots for customers as a robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) business. The Redwood City, Calif.-based company currently has about 100 robots in its fleet and plans to expand that fleet. 

In 2021, Serve Robotics spun out of Uber, and it has maintained an operating contract with Uber Eats for local delivery in select locations.  Other big customers have included Walmart and 7-Eleven.

“Our entry into the public markets will fuel our plans to roll out up to 2,000 robots on the Uber Eats platform in multiple U.S. markets under our existing agreements,” Kashani said. “We look forward to executing on our business plan and to our growth as a public entity.”

Serve said that with the latest funding round, it will deliver with Uber Eats in new cities including Vancouver, San Diego, and Dallas. In addition, it plans to hire additional resources to operate the fleets in the new cities.

In February 2024, Serve entered into a strategic partnership with Magna New Mobility USA, Inc., a subsidiary of Magna International Inc., under which Serve grants Magna a non-exclusive license to its technology in support of Magna’s autonomous mobile robot (AMR) projects.

Nasdaq listing completes an alternative public offering

Serve’s largest stakeholder and strategic partner, Postmates LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uber Technologies Inc., participated in the offering.

Serve was previously listed on the OTCQB Venture Market under the ticker symbol “SBOT” and will no longer trade on that market. However, this was all part of a multi-stage alternative public offering (APO) that started in August 2023, when Serve Robotics raised $30M through a reverse merger with Patricia Acquisition Corp. Serve became a wholly owned subsidiary of Patricia.

The OTCQB offering period was an interim step required for the APO process. APOs can take anywhere from three to six months to complete.

With the public offering, the company has raised a total of $93 million in funding over six rounds, according to Crunchbase.

Competitor Starship Technologies raised $90 million in a funding round in February. The market for delivery robots is dynamic, including other companies that have developed and deployed outdoor delivery robots including Cartken and Ottonomy.

Serve Robotics said it intends to use the net proceeds from its IPO for research and development of future iterations of its robots, manufacturing operations, growth into new regions, working capital, and other general company needs.

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Chinese and U.S. companies led March 2024 robotics investments. Credit: Eacon Mining, Dan Kara

Thirty-seven robotics firms received funding in March 2024, pulling in a total monthly investment of $642 million. March’s investment figure was significantly less than February’s mark of approximately $2 billion, but it was in keeping with other monthly investments in 2023 and early 2024 (see Figure 1, below).

California companies secure investment

As described in Table 1 below, the two largest robotics investments in March were secured by software suppliers. Applied Intuition, a provider of software infrastructure to deploy autonomous vehicles at scale, received a $250 million Series E round, while Physical Intelligence, a developer of foundation models and other software for robots and actuated devices, attracted $70 million in a seed round. Both firms are located in California.

Other California firms receiving substantial rounds included Bear Robotics, a manufacturer of self-driving indoor robots that raised a $60 million Series C round, and unmanned aerial system (UAS) developer Firestorm, whose seed funding was $20 million. For a PDF version of Table 1, click here.

March 2024 robotics investments

Drones get fuel for takeoff in March 2024

Providers of drones, drone technologies, and drone services also attracted substantial individual investments in March 2024. Examples included Firestorm and Gather AI, a developer of inventory monitoring drones whose Series A was $17 million.

In addition, drone services provider Preneu obtained $11 million in Series B funding, and DRONAMICS, a developer of drone technology for cargo transportation and logistics operations, got a grant worth $10.8 million.

Companies in U.S. and China received the majority of the March 2024 funding, at $451 million and $100 million, respectively (see Figure 2, below).

Companies based in Japan and the U.K. were also well represented among the March 2024 investment totals. Four companies in Japan secured a total of $34.7 million, while an equal number of firms in the U.K. attracted $13.5 million in funding.

Nearly 40% of March’s robotics investments came from a single Series E round — that of Applied Intuition. The remaining funding classes were all represented in March 2024 (Figure 3, below).

Editor’s notes

What defines robotics investments? The answer to this simple question is central in any attempt to quantify them with some degree of rigor. To make investment analyses consistent, repeatable, and valuable, it is critical to wring out as much subjectivity as possible during the evaluation process. This begins with a definition of terms and a description of assumptions.

Investors and investing

Investment should come from venture capital firms, corporate investment groups, angel investors, and other sources. Friends-and-family investments, government/non-governmental agency grants, and crowd-sourced funding are excluded.

Robotics and intelligent systems companies

Robotics companies must generate or expect to generate revenue from the production of robotics products (that sense, analyze, and act in the physical world), hardware or software subsystems and enabling technologies for robots, or services supporting robotics devices. For this analysis, autonomous vehicles (including technologies that support autonomous driving) and drones are considered robots, while 3D printers, CNC systems, and various types of “hard” automation are not.

Companies that are “robotic” in name only, or use the term “robot” to describe products and services that do not enable or support devices acting in the physical world, are excluded. For example, this includes “software robots” and robotic process automation. Many firms have multiple locations in different countries. Company locations given in the analysis are based on the publicly listed headquarters in legal documents, press releases, etc.

Verification

Funding information is collected from several public and private sources. These include press releases from corporations and investment groups, corporate briefings, market research firms, and association and industry publications. In addition, information comes from sessions at conferences and seminars, as well as during private interviews with industry representatives, investors, and others. Unverifiable investments are excluded and estimates are made where investment amounts are not provided or are unclear.

Learn from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and many more.

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Mentee Robotics co-founders include Lior Wolf, CEO (left); Amnon Shashua, chairman (middle); Shai Shalev-Shwartz, chief scientist (right). | Credit: Mentee Robotics

Mentee Robotics came out of stealth today and unveiled its first bipedal humanoid robot prototype. An experienced team founded the Herzliya, Israel company in 2022. It includes Prof. Amnon Shashua, the chairman of Mentee Robotics, an expert in AI, computer vision, natural language processing and other related fields.

The company‘s founders also include Prof. Lior Wolf, the CEO of Mentee Robotics and formerly a research scientist and director at Facebook AI Research, and Prof. Shai Shalev-Shwartz, a computer scientist and machine learning researcher. 

Prof. Shashua is also the founder and current CEO of Mobileye, a public company that is developing autonomous-driving and driver-assist technologies and harnessing advancements in computer vision, machine learning, mapping, and data analysis.

The company joins a growing list of robotics developers that have launched competing humanoids in the past year, including Figure AI, Sanctuary AI, Apptronik, Tesla, 1X, and others.

The Menteebot humanoid can take verbal instructions and then execute a mission. | Credit: Mentee Robotics

Leveraging Sim2Real training data

Mentee Robotics is developing a humanoid robot that it said will be capable of understanding natural-language commands by using artificial intelligence. The growth and evolution of large language models (LLM) over the past year is the foundation for this capability.

The prototype of Menteebot that was unveiled today incorporates AI at every level of its operations. The motion of the robot is based on a new machine-learning method called simulation to reality (Sim2Real). In this method, reinforcement learning happens on a virtual version of the robot, which means that it can use as much data as it needs to learn and then respond to the real world with very little data. 

NeRF-based methods, which are the newest neural network-based technologies for representing 3D scenes, map the world on the fly. The semantic knowledge is stored in these cognitive maps, which the computer can query to find things and places.

Mentee’s robot can then figure out where it is on the 3D map and then automatically plan dynamic paths to avoid obstacles.

Learn from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and many more.

Mentee Robotics has more work to do

The prototype that was unveiled today demonstrated an end-to-end cycle from complex task completion, including navigation, locomotion, scene understanding, object detection and localization, grasping, and natural language understanding.

However, Mentee Robotics noted that this is not the final version that is ready for deployment.

The company also told The Robot Report that is it targets two primary market initially with the Mentee humanoid. One of these markets is household, with a domestic assistant adept at maneuvering within households, capable of executing a range of tasks including table setting, table cleanup, laundry handling, and the ability to learn new tasks on the fly through verbal instructions and visual imitation. The second industrial market is in the warehouse, with a warehouse automation robot designed to efficiently locate, retrieve, and transport items, and a capacity to handle loads weighing up to 25 kg (55 lbs).

The robot includes custom-engineered motors to deliver torque, design life, and efficiency. | Credit: Mentee Robotics

Production units to come in 2025

Mentee Robotics said it is planning to release a production-ready prototype by Q1 2025. The system uses only vision-based cameras for sensing the world around it.

In addition, the company’s engineering team developed proprietary electric motors to support the robot’s dexterity requirements.

“We are on the cusp of a convergence of computer vision, natural language understanding, strong and detailed simulators, and methodologies on and for transferring from simulation to the real world,” said Prof. Amnon Shashua, chairman of Mentee Robotics. “At Mentee Robotics, we see this convergence as the starting point for designing the future general-purpose bipedal robot that can move everywhere — as a human — with the brains to perform household tasks and learn through imitation tasks it was not previously trained for.”

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Locus says its systems are now involved in picking 6 million to 7 million units per day. | Source: Locus Robotics

Locus Robotics Corp. today announced that it has surpassed 3 billion total picks across its global customer deployments. The company reached this milestone just 33 weeks after it recorded its 2 billionth pick. It claimed that the achievement underscores its continued rapid growth and solidifies its position as a leader in autonomous robotics automation for the warehouse. 

The Wilmington, Mass.-based company said its 3 billionth pick was a Carhartt T-shirt. The pick occurred at a Carhartt facility in Hanson, Ky. Just milliseconds later, other items were picked at more than 300 Locus customer sites around the world. 

“Surpassing 3 billion picks across our global deployments is a significant milestone that reflects the trust our customers have placed in our innovative robotics solutions,” stated Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics. “As we continue to push the boundaries of innovation, we remain focused on our mission to revolutionize the supply chain industry and empower our customers to drive operational efficiencies and productivity gains in order to thrive in an increasingly complex and demanding fulfillment landscape.”

Founded in 2014, Locus Robotics provides autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) that collaborate with human pickers to increase warehouse efficiency. Locus serves the retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and third-party logistics (3PL) industries and offers a robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) model.

Locus continues to ramp up operations

It took nearly seven years for Locus to reach its first billion picks. Since then, the company’s growth has accelerated rapidly. It reached 2 billion picks just 11 months later, and now 3 billion just 33 weeks later. Locus received a 2024 RBR50 award for hitting 2 billion picks. 

“I first saw a demo of the Locus bots the year the company was founded. I instantly understood the potential this system had,” said Steve Banker, vice president of supply chain services at ARC Advisory Group. “Their impressive growth trajectory is a clear indication of the value their proven solutions bring to customers, enabling them to improve productivity, lower costs, and stay ahead of the competition.”

During the 2023 peak holiday season, LocusBots picked more than 331 million units. This is a 66% increase compared with the 2022 peak holiday season. In all of 2023, Locus picked a total of 1.2 billion units, an 82% increase over the previous year. 

As the industry continues to evolve, Locus Robotics said it remains committed to driving innovation and delivering cutting-edge robotics systems that enable its customers to scale and meet growing demand. The company asserted that its focus on research and development ensures it is well-positioned to continue to grow rapidly. 

Despite its growth, Locus has also seen some recent setbacks. In January, the company confirmed it had a “small, targeted RIF,” or reduction in force. It did not specify how many employees were affected by the layoffs. Faulk said that Locus overhired and overestimated how much business it would get after the COVID-19 peak. 

Locus Robotics at the Robotics Summit

Sean Pineau, head of 3PL segments at Locus Robotics, will be speaking at the Robotics Summit & Expo, which takes place on May 1 and 2 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Pineau will present a session on “AI in the Warehouse: What You Really Need to Know” at 1:45 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 1. He will discuss the considerations and potential benefits and impacts of implementing AI in the warehouse.

Locus will also take part in the RBR50 Showcase in Booth 448 on the show floor. The showcase will feature current and past RBR50 winners and their innovations. 

The 2024 Robotics Summit & Expo will be the largest ever, according to WTWH Media, which also produces Mobile Robot Guide and The Robot Report. It will include up to 5,000 attendees, more than 200 exhibitors, various networking opportunities, a Women in Robotics breakfast, a career fair, an engineering theater, a startup showcase, and more! Registration is now open for the event.

Learn from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and many more.

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This week, we announced the honorees for the 2024 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards. On the podcast episode this week, the entire The Robot Report editorial staff brings its opinions, observations, and highlights of the 2024 awards program. Host Steve Crowe discusses the awards with editors Mike Oitzman, Eugene Demaitre, and Brianna Wessling.

Listen as the editors discusses some of their favorite robotics companies and products from this cohort of honorees. You’ll learn what impressed the editors about several of the winners and what’s notable in this year’s program.

Digit named Robot of the Year

2023 was the year of humanoids, and Agility Robotics has taken an early lead with commercial trials. The company’s Digit humanoid stole the show at ProMAT, where it demonstrated its ability to pick up totes from a shelf, walk over to a conveyor, and place the totes onto the conveyor.

Autopicker wins Application of the Year

Cincinnati-based Brightpick, which spun out of Photoneo, was named the inaugural Application of the Year winner. In 2023, Brightpick unveiled Autopicker, which it said is the first commercially available AMR that can pick and consolidate orders directly in warehouse aisles.

Electric Sheep is Startup of the Year

San Francisco-based Electric Sheep’s unique business model allows it to bring in revenue as it takes its time deploying its technology. This business model led to it being named Startup of the Year.

Note that the rules for the RBR50 state that innovations have to be announced within the calendar year. Keep that in mind as your organization plans its product roadmap, and be sure to submit your nomination the next iteration of the RBR50 later this year.

Come celebrate at the 2024 RBR50 Gala

We introduced three new categories in 2024 – Robot of the Year, Application of the Year, and Startup of the Year – and will be holding the inaugural RBR50 Gala on May 1 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the end of Day 1 of the Robotics Summit & Expo.

The gala offers a chance to connect with the world’s leading robotics innovators. It’s also an evening of celebration to honor leading roboticists and their impressive achievements.

Tickets to the gala are available through Wednesday, April 17.

Learn from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and many more.

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The Phoenix humanoid robot is being developed to enable embodied AI and support general-purpose applications. | Credit: Sanctuary AI

Humanoid robot developer Sanctuary Cognitive Systems Corp., or Sanctuary AI, is entering a new strategic partnership with automotive components supplier Magna International Inc. Through this expanded partnership, Sanctuary plans to equip Magna’s manufacturing facilities with general-purpose AI robots.

The Vancouver-based company also plans to engage Magna to manufacture the Sanctuary Phoenix robots under contract in the future. Aurora, Ontario-based Magna has been an investor in Sanctuary AI since 2021, and it acquired autonomous vehicle startup Optimus Ride in 2022.

Yesterday’s announcement with Magna follows Accenture’s recent investment in Sanctuary for an undisclosed amount.

Phoenix includes human-like design, AI

“We founded Sanctuary AI with the goal to become the first organization in the world to create human-like AI,” stated Geordie Rose, co-founder and CEO of Sanctuary AI. “World-changing goals like these require world-changing partners.”

“Magna’s position as a world leader in the use of robots today makes this partnership an essential advancement for our mission,” he added. “We’re privileged to be working with Magna, and believe they will be a key element in the successful global deployment of our machines.”

Sanctuary Phoenix includes human-like dexterous hands and arms. Since it launched the robot in May 2023, the company has invested heavily in the development of manipulation capabilities, perception features, and artificial intelligence models that control the humanoid robot.

In December 2023, Sanctuary secured patents for numerous technologies developed both internally and through strategic acquisitions from external sources. The company acquired the latest assets from Giant.AI Inc. and Tangible Research.

Sanctuary is iterating on humanoid design by perfecting hand-eye coordination and AI model training. | Credit: Sanctuary AI

Sanctuary AI builds relationship with Magna

“The intent of the relationship [with Magna International] has always been threefold,” Rose told The Robot Report. “One is that they were an investor.”

“Another would be they would participate in manufacturing the robots at some point,” he said. “And the third would be there could be a consumer of the robots as a customer. So all of those three things are obviously related to each other. All of them are good for both parties.”

“So we’ve continued to impress [Magna] with our velocity and acceleration in terms of developing the technology from something that was a twinkle in our eyes six years ago to something that can actually perform real-world work tasks,” Rose noted.

The workflow opportunities for an agile humanoid at Magna are endless, according to Rose. “The key to getting a good fit in the short term is understanding how to overlap that type of analysis with the type of capability that you can deliver,” he said. “So this is a difficult thing for companies that are early stage, including us, because of the ‘drinking your own Kool-Aid’ phenomenon.”

“A lot of companies will release a whole bunch of hype both to their customers, their investors, and internally in themselves — they start to believe that they can do things they can’t, and they make bad decisions about how they position their technology,” Rose continued. “So we have to be clear-eyed about what’s actually possible with our [robot] and then be very diligent in trying to understand the details of how the workflow actually works in practice, and then overlap the two.”

“When you do that with this type of technology, what you find is that the first use cases all fall into the following categories: There is an aspect of mobility, that’s best treated with wheels, where the robot has to move from place to place within an environment. And then there’s the aspect of manipulation,” he explained.

Magna also said its team is excited about the possibilities for intelligent mobile manipulation. It said it expects to automate various tasks and to improve the quality and efficiency of its manufacturing and logistics processes.

“Magna is excited to partner with Sanctuary AI in our shared mission to advance the future of manufacturing,” said Todd Deaville, vice president of advanced manufacturing innovation at Magna. “By integrating general-purpose AI robots into our manufacturing facilities for specific tasks, we can enhance our capabilities to deliver high-quality products to our customers.”

Learn from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and many more.

A key success factor for robotics startups

As Sanctuary AI begins the process of commercializing Phoenix, it plans to contract with Magna for the production of part or all of the robot going forward. Sanctuary asserted that finding the right manufacturing partner to build its robots at high volumes is best outsourced and that manufacturing should be non-core for any robotics startup.

Many robotics startups often fail when they attempt to manufacture their systems in-house, observed Rose. He said he has sought to find the right production partner since the inception of the company.

Sanctuary employs embodied AI and foundation models

Embodied AI is core to the future of Sanctuary AI, which said it is spending all of its intellectual energy on engineering and training the smartest models for these robots. Rose said he is amazed at the evolution of embodied AI over the past decade.

The real race, according to Rose, is to find a way to gather the immense amount of data needed and put the robot into the necessary training situations for the AI models to learn and grow in confidence.

This is where the enhanced relationship with Magna comes in. The product roadmap for the Sanctuary over the next year is to deploy all of the production runs of Phoenix robots into real-world manufacturing environments at Magna facilities. In simple terms, Phoenix will learn by executing tasks every day and gathering training data.

“In the run that we’re about to begin with Magna, we’ll be able to collect data in a commercial environment of the sort that will train a production robot,” Rose said. “So the progression of this, from our perspective, is the ability to collect training data to generate autonomous behaviors. The systems that we’re building this year are going to be consumed in data collection.”

In 2025, Sanctuary said it will iterate on a version of the robot for broader use and sale. Similar to the model used at Rose’s prior company, Kindred, there will be a human in the loop to help robots resolve edge cases while minimizing any impact on day-to-day operations.

Rose summed up the current state of development: “We can go from data collection to a trained policy in less than 24 hours now, where the train policy does as well or better than the people who are doing the task for simple tasks. So that is an amazing thing that I was not expecting — these new transformer-based models are spectacularly good at moving robots, way better than I thought they would be.”

“I think it’s an echo of my surprise that how well large language models can generate text; who would have thought that predicting the next token would allow you to be a coherent understander of the world?” he said. “But it seems like that’s the way they work. And in the space of moving robots, if you’ve got enough data, what can’t you do? You can just talk to the robot and say, ‘Do this thing,’ and it will just do it. It’s magical.”

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The FoxBot ATL moves pallets in loading docks for Walmart. Source: Fox Robotics

The word’s biggest retailers are continuing to add automation. Walmart Inc. today announced that it has entered into a multiyear agreement with Fox Robotics Inc. In addition to its initial rollout of 19 FoxBot autonomous forklifts, Walmart has invested growth capital for a minority stake in Fox Robotics.

“At Walmart Distribution Center 6020 in Brooksville, Fla., we’re used to pioneering new technology,” wrote Maurice Gray, general manager for the Walmart distribution center, in a blog post. “In fact, 6020 was Walmart’s first high-tech DC. Once again, innovation is afoot in our facility, where associates have been working alongside a new autonomous forklift system that’s bolstering their skills and bettering their jobs while building our business.”

“After a 16-month proof of concept, I’m proud to announce Walmart is taking another step into the future, rolling 19 autonomous forklifts across four high-tech DCs, with the potential for more as we evaluate the benefits to our associates and operations,” he said. “As our facility has worked with Fox Robotics, the developer of autonomous forklifts, we’ve learned a lot. But I can sum it up easily: Automation isn’t just good for business – it’s good for our associates too.”

Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart is the largest private employer in the U.S., according to Statista. The company has worked with other robotics suppliers, and it acquired grocery fulfillment provider Alert Innovation in 2022.

Walmart deploys FoxBots to unload pallets

When trucks arrive at the Brooksville distribution center, Fox Robotics’ Autonomous Trailer Loader/Unloaders (ATLs) use artificial intelligence, machine vision, and dynamic planning to safely and accurately unload pallets, said Gray. The forklifts then move the pallets to be inducted into an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS).

Gray likened the warehouse associates’ evolving role to playing Tetris. “Instead of unloading the pallets manually, associates become conductors – considering the best, most efficient way to unload trailers based on their own experience,” he said.

For example, Jose Molina, a 26-year associate, has received training to shift from unloading trucks to managing autonomous lifts and tripling productivity, added Gray.

Walmart said that it could roll out more systems from Fox Robotics, pending the continued performance of the FoxBots.

Fox Robotics pulls ahead in dock robot race

“As the leader in autonomous trailer loading and unloading, Fox Robotics is pleased to deepen its relationship with Walmart as a key customer and investor,” stated Marin Tchakarov, president and CEO of Fox Robotics. “We see this collaboration as the latest massive validation point of our technology and product capabilities, solidifying our leadership position in the warehouse shipping and receiving dock automation space.”

In January, Fox Robotics said its autonomous forklifts had autonomously pulled 2.5 million pallets. Founded in 2017, the company said at the time that its installed fleet had doubled in the prior 12 months and that its revenue nearly tripled between 2022 and 2023.

Austin, Texas-based Fox Robotics also has financial backing from BMW i Ventures and Zebra Technologies Corp., raising $20 million in 2022. Its customers include DHL Supply Chain.

“Fox Robotics has unlocked the final step of the fully end-to-end automated warehouse of the future with its FoxBot autonomous loader/unloader capabilities,” added Till Reuter, board member of Fox Robotics and former CEO of Kuka Robotics. “The logistics space is the single biggest market for automation for the next five to 10 years, and the shipping and receiving dock — the gateway to the warehouse — will see a disproportionate share of that growth due to its virtually entirely unautomated present state.”

Other companies working on automating loading-dock operations include Boston Dynamics, Dexterity, Gideon, Honeywell, Mujin, Pickle Robots, and 2024 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award winner Slip Robotics. See the RBR50 honorees at the RBR50 pavilion and RBR50 Gala at the Robotics Summit & Expo.

Learn from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and many more.

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Electric Sheep is vertically integrating its field operations team with autonomous mowers. | Credit: Electric Sheep

This year, the annual RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards added new categories: Application of the Year, Startup of the Year, and Robot of the Year. We received numerous submissions for some incredible startups innovating in some interesting markets. The Robot Report‘s team chose autonomous landscaping company Electric Sheep Robotics as the inaugural RBR50 Startup of the Year.

The San Francisco-based company has a novel business plan that is immediately bringing in revenue while it takes its time to evolve the underlying technology. This is different from many robotics businesses, which simply sell or lease systems to integrators and end users.

“We are honored to be recognized by WTWH Media’s Robotics Group with this inaugural award. I want to also acknowledge our dedicated team at Electric Sheep that are passionate about creating the most advanced robotics that can change an often overlooked industry,” stated Nag Murty, co-founder and CEO of Electric Sheep. “We are doing things differently than other robotic companies by using AI and ML at a higher level for localization and high-level control. We are scaling physical agents across the country to care for our outdoor spaces.”

Founded in 2019, Electric Sheep has grown to over 100 employees, and it has raised more than $25 million in funding to date, according to Crunchbase.

You can also learn more about Murty’s entrepreneurial philosophy and Chief Technology Officer Michael Laskey’s design principles on a recent episode of The Robot Report Podcast.

Acquisitions add data for autonomy AI

Electric Sheep develops autonomous robots for outdoor maintenance. Its flagship robot is an autonomous mower backed by the company’s ES1 foundation model.

Based on recent advances in generative AI, ES1 is a learned-world model that enables reasoning and planning for the Verdie robot. ES1 powers both the RAM robot for mowing and now Verdie for edging and trimming lawns and bushes and blowing leaves.

In addition, Electric Sheep acquired four landscaping companies last year and said that this is a key part of its long-term plan. This strategy isn’t just about revenue. The businesses it acquires can also use ES1 and provide crucial data to make the model more effective.

This information can help improve Electric Sheep’s operations, enabling its robots to start working as soon as they arrive at a job site. 

Since taking this two-pronged approach to development and business, the company reported that its sales have grown eightfold. Electric Sheep has set itself apart from other startups by making sure it always has money coming in and by finding a unique way to get important data about its business.

Meet Electric Sheep at the Robotics Summit & Expo 

This year’s RBR50 award winners will be celebrated at the Robotics Summit & Expo, which will be on May 1 and 2 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Electric Sheep will be demonstrate its newest robot powered by ES1, Verdie, the RBR50 showcase on the expo floor.

Attendees at the 2024 Robotics Summit and Expo at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center will have an opportunity to meet members of Electric Sheep’s executive team. Co-founder and CEO Nag Murty will present a session titled “Startup Survival Guide to Lean Times” at 2:30 p.m. EDT on Thursday, May 2.

Murty will be joined by Oliver Mitchell, partner of ff Venture Capital; Fiona O’Donnell McCarthy, principal of True Ventures; and Steve Crowe, executive editor of robotics at WTWH Media. This panel will share tips from experienced investors and robotics companies on what they’re looking for and attendees will learn how organizations can navigate the challenging path to commercialization.

In addition, tickets are available for the first RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards Gala, which will be at the end of Day 1 of the event. The Robotics Summit & Expo will be the biggest yet, with keynotes and sessions from leading companies, more than 200 exhibitors, up to 5,000 attendees, a Women in Robotics Breakfast, and a Robotics Engineering Career Fair.

Co-located events include DeviceTalks Boston, which focuses on medical devices, and the inaugural Digital Transformation Forum. which will focus on manufacturing. Registration is now open for the Robotics Summit.

Learn from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and many more.

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