For the second year in a row, Farnell element14 is proud to be an official partner of Startupbootcamp IoT, an intensive three-month acceleration program for tech-based startups. We recently traveled to Startupbootcamp IoT's London headquarters to meet the participating startups for the 2017 cohort.
Introducing Robotic Solutions
Robotic Solutions is a startup from Riga, Latvia that specialises in converting existing machines into autonomous robots. Their current area of focus is the floor cleaning industry, where they are developing a tracking device to improve the operational efficiency of cleaning machines in factories and other industrial environments. They are primarily research based, consisting of a combination of experienced business developers and academics from Riga Technical University.
About the Product
The core of the Robotic Solutions tracking device includes a Raspberry Pi with a camera, a power bank, two infra-red LEDs and a cardboard marker system. Many of these components were provided by Farnell element14.
"We're creating the first prototype using off the shelf products that we can then equip with our algorithms and software" explains CEO Matiss Brunavs. "Our most important unique feature is the high precision we provide with the camera and marker system. We can offer precision of up to 2 cm for our localisation unit. Through tracking and high precision we can give detailed business intelligence back to the machine user."
Joining Startupbootcamp IoT...
Brunavs and his colleagues are hoping to use the Startupbootcamp IoT experience to look at their business from a different perspective. Through their participation in the Startupbootcamp IoT Selection Days, they have already started a dialogue with several mentors who they will be working with throughout the program. They have also had fruitful early conversations with the DLL Group, who they are hoping to work with to develop some initial pilots.
"In the first few weeks we're going to really dig deep and define our business model" says Brunavs. "It will be very important to understand the core value that we can provide to UK customers. The next part is even more exciting - talking to the clients directly, delivering our message and hopefully turning them into paying customers."
We'll be continuing to check in with Robotic Solutions and the other Startupbootcamp participants over the coming weeks, so keep checking this space for more updates. You can also learn more about Robotic Solutions on their official website and on the Startupbootcamp website.