United Robotics Group: Presentation of their companies 2/2
On May 18, 2022, the United Robotics Group presented itself at a major event. It bundles the knowledge of very different robotics companies, whose cooperation is intended to create added value. The first part introduced the group and its member Rethink Robotics. In this article, the - currently - seven other "members" are presented. The photo above shows Julia Astrid Riemenschneider, Director Business Development North America at United Robotics Group, and Tim Schuster, CEO of Humanizing Technologies GmbH. Both moderated through the event.
Humanzing Technologies Ltd.
The company, based in Olpe and with offices in Cologne and Vienna, develops software designed to make robots more human. Various software platforms are offered for this purpose. Collaboration or interaction with robots, but also with avatars, is made possible. A well-known use case is the "Pepper" (see below). In addition, telepresence robots as well as service robots are operated. This applies to the group's own models as well as to the widely used catering robots from Pudu.
ENTRANCE Robotics GmbH
Based in Witten, ENTRANCE Robotics GmbH also develops software. In contrast to Humanzing Technologies, however, it is designed to support and relieve nursing care. The target customers are nursing homes. The hardware is largely the same as the robots developed by Humanzing and also the Sawyer. As is well known, the Sawyer is already being used in institutions for the disabled.
United Robotics Group Health & Food
The company, based near Bremen, is listed in the above overview as "RobSolutions". It is a process automator. Combining perfectly adapted hardware with easy-to-use software to develop robotic solutions for non-industrial services and collaborative tasks from a single source is the goal. One milestone is likely to be the world's first automation of a hospital laboratory. This was carried out in collaboration with Siemens Healthineers.
RobShare GmbH
The Frankfurt-based RobShare is quite well known. It rents out "social" robots incl. a robot café for trade fairs and other events.
GEENIAL - Society for Engineering and Industrial Automation Solutions mbH
GEENIAL is located in Dortmund and thus in the immediate vicinity of the group's headquarters and Rethink Robotics as well as ENTRANCE Robotics. Within the group, GEENIAL is responsible for individual automation solutions including software. The service focus of GEENIAL mbH is on industrial robotics, mechatronics and software in the production environment. From design to simulation to cell realization, services are offered across all development phases within the scope of automation projects. Customized software solutions include, for example, assistance, control and simulation systems as new developments or extensions for existing software.
SoftBank Robotics Europe/ Aldebaran
The Paris-based company is probably the best-known member of the group, along with Rethink Robotics. SoftBank Robotics Europe makes such well-known social robots as the Pepper, the Nao as well as the Whiz (vacuum cleaner robot for companies, on the market since 2019). United Robotics Group acquired the French company only in April. In return, SoftBank Robotics Group Corp. reportedly received a minority stake in United Robotics Group, according to the press release. This has not yet been entered in the commercial register. The number of employees alone - 500 worldwide - shows that SoftBank Robotics Europe should have a special position within the group. In the future, the company will again bear its old name, Aldebaran. That was the name until the takeover by SoftBank.
Conclusion/ Outlook
I think the group has great potential, especially if the new cobots from Rethink Robotics, which will probably be presented in the fall, are well received. In my opinion, the idea of strong social use of robots is most similar to the approaches of F&P Robotics (Switzerland) or Neura Robotics. The market is very large and can only be developed with staying power. Here, the United Robotics Group has clear advantages, thanks to its integration into the RAG Foundation. In general, I find it remarkable how early the former Federal Minister of Economics and later RAG Chairman Werner Müller recognized the potential of robotics, even at an advanced age. I find the consistent further development under his successor Bernd Tönjes equally remarkable.
There will certainly also be setbacks. A service robot of our own for the food service industry could be one such candidate. The Chinese market leader Pudu already has a good market position in Germany along with interesting references and should always have an advantage in this price-sensitive market simply because of its purchasing advantages. Regardless, there are innovations here as well, as the United Robotics Group has shown: Instead of manually entering the table to be operated (which is quick, however), their model can be spoken to.
Ultimately, it is important to be aware of what the speaker Karl-Heinz Land (photo below) pointed out in his very good presentation: technical progress is growing exponentially.
Are we networking? LinkedIn
-> To the Cobot group on LinkedIn (Link) .
In my own right/advertisement
The author of this blog is significantly involved in the AI/robotics project Opdra. He advises robotics companies and investors on market analysis and funding/subsidies. More about him can be found here.
