Robot startups need to 'Start Telling People' plus highlights from BARS 2023
Robotics funding for October, NeRFs, news, Farm Robotics Challenge and Tangram Vision's Hi Fi Depth Sensor
This is my new Halloween thing. Robot Pumpkins!
BARS 2023, the Bay Area Robotics Symposium on Friday, was a firehose of the latest robotics research from the epicenter of innovation in robotics and AI. Even the most pure control systems people were finding ways to use transformers in their research and the pace of robotics research is pretty fast atm! A lot of this research will be presented at CORL 2023 in Atlanta GA in 2 weeks time.
The BARS keynote from Jon Barron, Google Research, about NeRFs and now NeRF 2.0 was fascinating. If you want to stay up to date in robotics research and only have time for one thing, then read up on NeRFs and why they provide great depth models for robotics, and some of the other NeRF potentials that are just emerging.
If/when the BARS videos are online, I’ll share them here too.
Did you just switch to a paid subscription? Thank you! It makes you an angel investor in the work I do at Silicon Valley Robotics as a startup advisor, and accelerator.
Focus:
I’m recommending this book (now on Audible) for any robotics or hardware startup. The author Chris Matthews has many years of experience in marketing for robotics and hardware startups and shares it all, including how to pull off a perfect demo in a wifi denied high stakes setting.
Start Telling People is an indispensable guide for technical startup founders, investors, and marketers, packed with practical advice tuned explicitly for the unique needs of emerging startups. Matthews provides frameworks, examples, and interviews that reinforce the book's central thesis: marketing is a discipline, not just an activity. From customer-centric go-to-market models, to the tips and tricks of mastering a new product demo, to content strategy and AI tools, to surviving budgeting and downturns, the book delivers practical, jargon-free ideas that blend the best in marketing fundamentals with the functional realities of fast-paced, growth-focused startups.
Table of Contents
The Art and Science of Startup Marketing From Stealth to Success
F=ma (Force Equals Marketing Times Alliance)
Innovative Positioning Strategies for Category Creation, Redefinition, and Improvement
Shaping a Startup's Success Building and Evolving a Strong Brand Identity
Crafting Exceptional Customer Experiences From Delighted Discovery to Memorable Ownership
Form is the Function Structuring and Building the Team Needed Now
Mastering Demos Crafting Compelling Stories and Ensuring Flawless Execution
Building Foundations Systems, Tools, and the Inevitability of Artificial Intelligence
Unlocking Information Marketing Data for Startups: Collection, Analysis, and Application
Budgeting to Win Spreadsheets, Chaos, and Grace
Navigating Brand Debt The Power of Marketing as a Discipline During Hard Moments
Marketing's Horizon Adaptation, Growth, and Evolution
Quick Reads:
PickNik picks up more funding for their space robotics vision - PickNik Robotics
This company envisions a future where humanoid robots are as ubiquitous as smartphones - CNN
Amazon’s Tye Brady discusses generative AI, humanoid robots and mobile manipulation - TechCrunch
The Challenges Posed by 21st Century Warfare and Autonomous Systems - CEPA
Mineral reimagines our food system using breakthrough AI and robotics - AgDaily
Versatile developing autonomous tractors - Grainews
Robotics can help food and beverage companies reach full potential, former Bai COO says - FoodDive
From Hong Kong to Japan, startup Rice Robotics brings ‘friendly’ AI bots to the service sector - South China Morning Post
California sidelines GM Cruise’s driverless cars, cites safety risk - Reuters
Uber begins offering rides in self-driving Waymo cars - CNBC
Autonomous vehicles in LA bring out protesters concerned with safety and job loss - CBSLA
Wayve’s Alex Kendall on autonomous driving, giving robots feedback and being vindicated by Elon Musk - Sifted
Honda unveils autonomous vehicle, next-gen concepts - Times of India
Geely and Baidu, in challenge to Tesla, launch autonomous EV - Automotive News
California Gov. Newsom is right. Truck drivers and autonomous trucks an thrive together - not just coexist - Fortune
SK Telecom, Mars Auto to develop autonomous truck technology - RCRWirelessNews
Leoni autonomous truck sets course for the motorway - Automotive World
Cyngn Reveals DrivMod Tugger: Fully Autonomous, Electric Tugger for Industrial Operations - Yahoo
Ati Motors: Giving autonomy on industry floors - Forbes
Why Reliable Robotics is getting into the business of building radars - The Air Current
Boeing Air Taxi Company Wisk Flies in Los Angeles - IOT World Today
1st Autonomous, Electric Aircraft in World To Get Approval For Commercial Flights - CleanTechnicaAviation
The steps to autonomous flight: How machine learning is shaping the sky’s future - T_HQ
Robotics: who are the leaders in autonomous carts for the travel & tourism industry? Airport Technology
Samsung heavy Industries and DNV in Autonomous Shipping Collaboration - MarineLink
Saildronre’s autonomous vessels reach 1 million nautical miles, advancing ocean research and climate monitoring - UpNorthLive
Callboats: Autonomous passenger ferries in Helsinki - Electrive
TideWise secures $1.9M investment to drive autonomous naval technology in Brazil - LatamList
Saronic secures US$55M funding to propel advancements in Maritime Autonomy - Jumpstart
Tribe Technology: Revolutionising mining with autonomous drill rigs - Proactive
CCAC, in Allegheny County Pennsylvania, to open $43M Center for Advanced Tech, Robotics - Government Technology
As baby boomers retire, German businesses turn to robots - Reuters
Augmented Reality, AI and Robotics: discover Poland’s Silicon Forest - EuroNews Next
How 3D printing and surgical robotics enable Stryker’s cementless knee implants - Medical Design
UBC engineers develop breakthrough ‘robot skin’ in collaboration with Honda researchers - UBC News
Paolo Dario to receive 2024 IEEE Robotics and Automation Award and Davide Scaramuzza to receive 2024 IEEE Kiyo Tomiyasu Award at the 2024 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) - IEEE RAS News
Robotics Events:
30 October - 3 Nov - ICAM, the International Conference on Advanced Manufacturing - Washington DC from ASME
1 Nov - Bots & Beer at San Jose CTE - Silicon Valley Robotics
3 Nov - AI x Robotics Hackathon - SF Schematic Ventures
4 Nov - Computer History Museum 2023 Fellow Awards - Rodney Brooks, Barbara Liskov and Thomas E. Kurtz - Online only
6-9 Nov - Future in Review - Terranea CA from The Strategic Review (I’m hosting a panel with Agility Robotics, Apptronik and 1x)
20 Nov - SVR’s Robotics Technical Network at Autodesk (are you a CTO, technical founder or senior robotics engineer? Ask for an invitation)
4 Dec - SVR’s Startup Mentor Office Hours
4 Dec - SVR’s Founders & Funders Night Out
5 Dec - SVR / AMBay Area Bots & Beer Mixer
Want to attend more science based robotics conferences?
CORL 2023 Atlanta GA 6 Nov - 9 Nov
Humanoids 2023 Austin TX 11 Dec - 14 Dec
HRI 2024 Boulder CO 11 Mar - 14 Mar
Haptics 2024 Long Beach CA 7 Apr - 10 Apr
Robosoft 2024 San Diego CA 14 Apr - 17 Apr
ICRA 2024 Yokohama Japan 13 May - 17 May 2024
ARSO 2024 Hong Kong, China 20 May - 22 May 2024
AIM 2024 Boston MA 14 July - 18 July
CASE 2024 Puglia Italy 28 Aug - 1 Sep 2024
IROS 2024 AbuDhabi 14 Oct - 18 Oct 2024
DARS 2024 New York 28 Oct - 30 Oct 2024
Humanoids 2024 Nancy FR 26 Nov - 28 Nov
ICRA 2025 Atlanta Georgia 17 May - 23 May 2025
Interesting Robotics:
Get early notification of Tangram Vision’s new HiFi Depth Sensor
Perception Pipeline For Robotics Built-In.
But it's more than that. HiFi's high-fidelity sensing stack delivers exceptional depth quality unmatched by any other 3D sensor under $3000. Just look at HiFi's depth quality versus other sensors often used by roboticists: That's because HiFi has double the resolution, plus self-calibration to maximize depth quality with sub-1% depth error across its entire range of 0.3m to 5m!
Here's what else is inside HiFi:
120° diagonal field of view
8 Tops of AI processing power for running machine learning and AI at the edge
USB-C 3.1 and Gigabit Ethernet for your choice of data and power connection
PTP hardware time synchronization
Out-of-the-box ROS streaming
Onboard SLAM
Dual active stereo pattern projectors
HiFi's compact design and multiple mounting options make it easy to add to any robot, and a front-facing status LED make it simple to understand device status at a glance
Sign up now to get notified of HiFi's launch on Kickstarter. We'll have a limited number of Early Bird specials at up to 50% off MSRP, and you'll be the first to get access to them!
Join the Farm Robotics Challenge - deadline to sign up Oct 31
Funded Robotics Startups October ytd:
Congratulations to Silicon Valley Robotics Member US Positronix for closing their first pre-seed round, $225K. See more familiar companies in the funding news for October 2023:
Wootzano - Pre Seed - ??
PixlData - Pre Seed - $10K
Bonsai Robotics - Seed Round - $10.5M
Automata - Venture Round - $40M
Bota Systems - Seed Round - $2.5M
Vayu Robotics - Seed Round - $12.7M
Nauticus Robotics - Post IPO Equity - $11.6M
Relocalize - Seed Round - $2.5M
Advanced Farm Technologies - Corporate Round - ?
Niryo - Debt Financing - €3.6M
Niryo - Series A - €2.8M
Blueflite - Grant - $1M
Donecle - Venture Round - €5.6M
Machina Labs - Series B - $32M
HullBot - Grant - ?
Syrenna - Grant - ?
RoboCT - Venture Round - ?
Huazhang Intelligent - Angel Round - CN¥100M
SliQue Robotics - Seed Round - ?
HoverWing Technology - Angel Round - ?
Accelerating Evolution - Angel Round - >CN¥10M
Saronic - Series A - $55M
Main Function Intelligence - Series A - ?
Nanoflex Robotics - Grant - CHF400K
Tethys Robotics - Grant - CHF40K
RoboWire - Grant - CHF40K
Thread - Series A - $15M
Neura - Venture Round - $16M
Formant - Series B - $21M
Shanmu - Corporate Round - CN¥10M
Milla - Seed Round - €15M
Pitch Aeronautics - Seed Round - $400K
Cyberknight - Pre Seed Round - ?
Aigen - Venture Round - $11.2M
Stial - Seed Round - ?
PickNik Robotics - Pre Seed Round - $2M
RiACT - Venture Round - ?
Qingwei Rufeng Technology - Angel Round - ?
Cook-e - Venture Round - €5M
Nanoflex - Grant - £400,000
Guangdong Shi Robot - Angel Round - ?
Robohood - Pre Seed Round - ?
LENX Platform - Series A - $6M
Zhuji Dynamics - Seed Round - ?
SliQue Robotics - Seed Round - ?
Clockwork - Equity Crowdfunding - $5.7M
Zhuji Dynamics - Angel Round - CN¥200M
Zordi - Venture Round - $20M
Osiris Agriculture - Seed Round - €2.15M
EGROBOTS - Grant - €15K
TETRA ELC - Series C - CN¥100M
Imbue - Series B - $12M
AI Build - Series A - $7M
SkyDrive - Early Stage Venture - ¥18,100M
Glacier - Convertible Note - $4.5M
Ruizhu Technology - Series A - CN¥100M
Rosiwit - Seed - ??
Pablo Air - Debt Financing - $15.5M
Strict Technology - Series A - ??
Koop Technologies - Corporate Round - $7M
Ascento - Grant - CHF150K
Goodbytz - Series A - €12M
Quantum Systems - Series B - €63.6M
Pony.ai - Series D - $100M
Garuda Aerospace - Series A - ₹250M
FlyGuys - Series A - $10M
Wire Control Technology - Angel Round - ??
Urban Matrix - Seed Round - ₹60M
Faction - Venture Round - $6M
Wastefull Insights - Pre Seed Round - $150K