early 2000s the robotics industry is shining with Innovation and ambition among the Pioneers the was rethink robotics a company that dared to redefine how robots and humans work together but despite its groundbreaking Vision R robotics ultimately failed today we explore the timeline of these company's rise and fall un covering the critical lessons for the startups in [Music] robotics it All Began in 2008 when two renowned figures in robotics Rodney Brooks and an weaker founded hairland robotics in Boston their mission to create collaborative robot or cobat that would safely work alongside humans in industrial settings a
revolutionary idea at the time the company raised an initial $7 million in funding and began developing its first robots they introduced an Innovative concept called the serious elastic actuators unlike traditional rigid actuators these type of actuators used Springs to absorb shocks and sense the force making the robots safer and more cost effective the serious elastic actuators act like a buil-in shock up stobber they are cautioning anded impacts and even can sense how hard the robot is pushing or pulling that's a brilliant idea safer robots and cheaper components however this Trav spring trick came with a
catch it made the robot slower and less precise which we'll see later became a big problem fast forward to 2012 the company was renamed reink robotics starting a new chapter of their history that September they launched the first collaborative robot backer with its two arms and animated eyes boxer was designed to be using user friendly and affordable it was priced at just $222,000 and that included a year of software updates and warranty Baxter was unique in several points apart from its special type of actuators Baer could be programmed by simply guiding its arms to teach
its tasks I I personal tested myself at one of the exhibitions and I can tell you that the experience was very smooth and cool it was a very Innovative way of introducing collaborative robot in the automation sector by that time Rony Brooks was appearing in most important media of the time like for example 60 Minutes the New York Times and other prominent Outlets promoting how carot could work safely around humans and reshape the manufacturing industry by June 2012 before it even sold a single robot reink had already raised $62 million in early 2013 sales were
moving slow although they have received many inquires by March only a several dozens of boxer robots were already sold in April the company introduced the Boer research robot which included a software development kit this version was a attacking the academy and corporate research and development department in order to win more clients this SDK leverage Ross the Robot Operating System it Ed it to enhance programmability and customization making it appealing for researchers exploring Advanced robotics applications while this using Ross helped sustain interest it it legal to address the challenges in industrial adoption despite the struggles in
2014 rein robotics secured an additional 26 millions in a serious defunding however fundamental issues persisted the serious elastic actuators while being cost effective they lack the Precision and reputability manufacturers were requesting because of the series elastic actuators backer was neither precise nor smooth and that besides safety was the main concern for clients apart from preciseness manufacturers also found bastard to undesign in Practical most of them were used to single arm robots and couldn't figure out how to use how to make profit of the two arms approach additionally bter had a close architecture limiting the integr
of third party Elements by that time competitors like Universal robots with their open systems and precise single arm robots began to overshadow re thing robotics in 2015 reink robotics launched Sawyer a single arm robot designed to address backer shortcomings priced at $29,000 Sawyer was more precise and compact targeting in the electronics manufacturing industry particularly in Asia Sawyer also Incorporated Ross compatibility to provide greater flexibility and enable developers to create custom applications while saw was an improvement from Baxter it still relied on serious elastic activators limiting its competitiveness and its speed and accuracy the improve it
from backer but the improvements only were applicable to A reduced set of applications despite raising over $150 million reink robotics struggled to turn its innovative technology into sustainable sales mounting losses and competition from faster more precise robots sealed its fate in October 2018 the company shut down and its assets were acquired by Hand Group the story of reink Robotics offers three crucial lessons for Robotics and startups first understand your customers rethink prioritize easy of use and flexibility but manufacturers value precision and reputability startups must align the product with customer needs and do it quickly I
don't think think robotics ever understood the demands of the customers since they have the opportunity to rectify with Sawyer but they decided to double down with the same type of technology in it I suspect they may have thought that the way of doing things would finally impose but at the end it didn't happen second open architecture matters while reink robotics opted for a Clos system competitors like Universal robots Thrive by allowing third party customization fostering broad adoption of their robots reink opted for adding Ross to the robot and that was a good thing and allowed
them to get introduced into the university World many universities bought back for teaching and research I personally saw them in many universities around the world but the problem is that the university is not a market big enough to sustain such kind of a company and third Hardware development is hard developing Hardware takes time and money without a strict Financial discipline even the most promising startups can run out of money very quickly as a personal thought I personally saw rethink at several important robotics conference around the world with many people of their team in their Booth
conferences are very expensive and need to be carefully evaluated the return that the company is going to get from attending one 150 millions of dollars is a lot of money but it goes quickly if there is no strict control on it with think robotics May no longer operate as an independent company but its Vision leaves on through the H Group which acquired its assets and intellectual property the H group has continued to explore opportunities to integrate rethinks Innovative software and Designs into new robotic Solutions potentially Paving the way for future breakthroughs thanks for watching if
you like the video please give us a like subscribe and stay tuned for more episodes of why robotics startups fail but wait a minute if you are inspired to create the next breakthrough in robotics and want to build a foundation in robotics software then there is a crucial skill that you need to master Ross the Robot Operating System and that's where the construct robotics Institute comes in the construct offers comprehensive Hands-On courses to help help you learn Ross from the ground app whether you are just a starting or looking to deepen your knowledge with our
step-by-step tutorials real life simulation projects and expert guidance you can gain the skills needed to become a proficient robotics developer don't let your vision become another and T potential start building smarter more adaptive robots today visit the construct platform and explore their extensive range of courses on Ross and other robotics Technologies Empower your journey from concept to Creation because in robotics knowledge and preparation are as critical as Innovation itself [Music]
