‍ ‍

Cameron Waite from Real Life Robotics presented their passenger automation platform and software solution, Passenger, which uses AI to unify various automation systems and provide economic insights through data analysis. The discussion covered the company's journey, their hardware-agnostic approach, and the challenges of automation adoption, with emphasis on the importance of collaboration over competition in the robotics industry. The conversation ended with conversations about potential partnerships, particularly in agriculture, and explored technical challenges of integrating diverse hardware systems, while also touching on funding opportunities and upcoming events.‍ ‍

Summary

‍ ‍

Real Life Robotics Platform Overview

‍ ‍

Cameron Waite from Real Life Robotics presented an overview of their passenger automation platform, highlighting his extensive experience in robotics over 20 years. He discussed the company's journey and their hardware-agnostic approach, mentioning their involvement with Velocity, Communitech, YSpace, and Creative Destruction Labs. Cameron expressed interest in exploring how their technology might fit into the agricultural sector and sought feedback from the audience.

‍ ‍

Intelligent Automation Platform Development

‍ ‍

Cameron discussed the challenges of automation adoption and the development of their software platform, Passenger, which unifies various automation systems into a single intelligent platform focused on economic insights. He explained that Passenger uses AI and machine learning to analyze data from different devices, identify relationships, and orchestrate actions, such as sending humans or robots to perform tasks based on real-time insights. Cameron shared examples of how Passenger has helped customers optimize operations and increase revenue by analyzing data from various sources, including soil sensors, golf carts, and point-of-sale terminals.

‍ ‍

Robotics Collaboration and Integration Strategies

‍ ‍

Cameron discussed the challenges and opportunities in the robotics industry, emphasizing the need for customer education, addressing integration complexities, and focusing on economic value and ROI. He highlighted the importance of collaboration over competition, mentioning the Passenger Plus initiative, which aims to enable data sharing and interoperability between different robotic systems. Cameron expressed interest in exploring partnerships, particularly in agriculture, and invited participants to contact him for potential pilot projects and collaborations.

‍ ‍

Collaboration in Agricultural Robotics

‍ ‍

Cameron presented on the importance of collaboration in robotics, particularly in agricultural applications, and discussed how his company integrates data from various systems using AI and an ingestion layer that normalizes different data formats. He explained that they work with OEMs to access data through APIs and ROS (Robot Operating System) for robots, and that successful collaboration often leads to better data sharing and opportunities for scaling. Konrad expressed interest in discussing potential collaboration for agricultural robotics, and Cameron agreed to connect with him on LinkedIn. David inquired about the technical challenges of integrating diverse hardware systems, to which Cameron explained their approach of using AI to accelerate development and leveraging existing APIs and ROS for data exchange.

‍ ‍

Robot Integration Collaboration Challenges

‍ ‍

Cameron discussed the development of a toolset for robot integration, which originated from their need to collaborate with various robot manufacturers. Dan highlighted the challenge of obtaining proprietary data from OEMs, who often prefer to keep their information private. Cameron emphasized the importance of collaboration over competition, noting that even partial data access is better than none, and shared an example of a successful partnership with Siemens. Both Cameron and Dan agreed that while full openness from OEMs is difficult to achieve, some level of collaboration can still be beneficial for both manufacturers and customers.

‍ ‍

Real Life Robotics Business Strategy

‍ ‍

Cameron presented Real Life Robotics, highlighting their focus on connecting disparate forms of data to create value for clients, particularly in automation and robotics. He emphasized the need for real-world deployments and partnerships to grow the business. The discussion included questions about marketing strategies, positioning, and potential collaborations, with Frank expressing interest in a possible merger. David highlighted the significant challenge of technology integration in agriculture, while Dan provided updates on funding opportunities and the Ag Challenge competition deadline extension. The conversation ended with announcements about upcoming events and a call for external review panelists for the Cengn program.

‍ ‍