Our Innovation Analysts recently looked into emerging technologies and up-and-coming startups in Industry 4.0. As there is a large number of startups working on a wide variety of solutions, we decided to share our insights with you. This time, we are taking a look at 4 promising robotics startups in industry 4.0.
Heat Map: 4 Top Robotics Startups in Industry 4.0
For our 4 top picks, we used a data-driven startup scouting approach to identify the most relevant solutions globally. The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights 4 interesting examples out of 836 relevant solutions. Depending on your specific needs, your top picks might look entirely different.
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Soft Gripping – Universal Grippers
Multi-purpose grippers constitute an important part of logistical, assembly or sorting operations. To be effective, they should easily adjust to varying sizes and dimensions of objects as well as scalable and easily integrated into existing infrastructure.
US-based Soft-Gripping designs universal gripping robots that have a modular customizable structure and can handle objects of different sizes, dimensions, and forms. Their grippers can be programmed for multi-actor work scenarios and are easy to install and integrate into existing operations.
Deep Learning Robotics – Machine Learning
Machine learning (ML) refers to the study of algorithms that are used by machines or other computer systems to learn how to perform certain tasks without instructions, using large sets of data that are fed to them. ML is extensively used in robotics applications in industry 4.0 to teach machines how to operate certain equipment or facilitate processes.
Israeli startup Deep Learning Robotics, for example, develops a vision-based robotic controller that gives robots the possibility to observe humans in action and learn to take over the tasks performed, which is the next step compared to regular learning mechanisms used before. To achieve this, the startup designed machinery that makes 3D images of a worker performing a certain action on target subjects, after which Artificial Intelligence (AI) is responsible for making a distinction between the objects and an individual’s hands and, with the help of neural networks, the sequence of actions is converted into the robot control “language”.
Pick-It 3D – Machine Vision
Machine vision (MV) in the manufacturing industry allows facilitating automatic inspection and analysis for robot guidance in performing assembly or production tasks.
Belgian Pick-It 3D designs turnkey vision-guided robots that employ machine vision to perform various industrial tasks such as sorting, machine loading, pallet unloading and more. A robot employs a 3D camera and custom-designed software algorithms to detect the location, size, and dimensions of a product in order to guide the robotic gripper. The solution itself can be integrated into an existing infrastructure relatively quickly or be used separately for automating industrial activities.
On Robot – Smart Robots
Smart automated robots constitute an indispensable component of industrial automation and the era of the fourth industrial revolution. They are used at nearly every stage of the manufacturing or assembly process, communicate and cooperate with each other, to take over complex and time-consuming tasks from the human workforce.
The Denmark-based company On Robot focuses on producing end-of-the arm solutions, including arms and grippers for the manufacturing and logistics sectors. They have a wide product range, which includes regular and vacuum grippers, single or dual grippers, sensors, and changers, all of which can be operated interchangeably and can exchange information and data between each other.
What About The Other 836 Robotics Solutions?
While we believe data is key to creating insights it can be easy to be overwhelmed by it. Our ambition is to create a comprehensive overview and provide actionable innovation intelligence for your Proof of Concept (PoC), partnership, or investment targets. The 4 robotics startups showcased above are promising examples out of 840 we analyzed for this article. To identify the most relevant solutions based on your specific criteria and collaboration strategy, get in touch.
