Right now, as you’re reading this, somewhere in the world, a robot is being assembled. It could be happening at some manufacturing plant, or somewhere in Shenzhen, or perhaps in some facility around Gaithersburg. Someone somewhere is currently working on preparing one of 10,000 robots that are expected to be introduced to the world in November this year.
The company based in Tel Aviv, called Roboteam, has made millions of their sale of robots to militaries across the globe, and right now, they’ve set their sights on the consumer market.
These robots are going to be different than what you’d expect. The company isn’t creating battle robots, scout bots, pack-mules or bomb-removal robots, but instead, these ones will be designed to help.
Roboteam has already raised $50 million from Fenghe Investment Group, and the co-founder of the group, John Wu, who is Alibaba chief technology officer. Another one of the group’s co-founders, Matt Hu, who is also chief investment officer, has invested in the company as well. Even though it’s a big bet, the company believes that they’ll be the first to successfully enter the home market when it comes to selling these robots.
Another of the company co-founders, Yossi Wolf, has said that “Roboteam defense is probably the number one provider of tactical robots in the world,” and that they’re the only startup company in Israel to have penetrated the Pentagon.
When asked what is next for the company, Wolf said that the future will be completely different from what the company is currently about. From now on, the company’s goal is to create servant-like robots that can be used to help the elderly, or maybe even disabled.
He also said that the other robot assistants that are currently in productions are mere toys that still don’t have a valid use when it comes to regular homes.
https://youtu.be/WHlpffiCYDE
The official statement about the design or branding for the new model of robots was not yet given, but some descriptions of the robots have managed to leak. Apparently, the new robot will be three feet high, and there’ll be an interactive 10-inch display. It’ll have about 22 pounds, and it will supposedly be equipped with 40 sensors that are supposed to enable better movement, and it will even have a tray that will allow it to carry things. The plan, apparently, is to start putting them in homes even before Christmas. It’ll appear in tech shops in some of the biggest cities in America, but there won’t be any promotional campaigns.
Wolf said that the company rejects the Kickstarter model of pre-sale that later fails to deliver, and that this is the reason why there won’t be a launch before all of the 10,000 units are ready for delivery.
Wolf even said that this new model is the combination of several different technologies and that the robot will be able to move, talk, listen and understand.
The 2002 launch of iRobot’s Roomba has inspired many people to see in-home robots as a reality, and that’s no fiction anymore. The problem is that no one knows what to do with the robots, and many different models are being criticized.
Still, many people are willing to invest vast amounts of money into the robot-developing fields, and the interest in this industry is growing every year. Especially in 2015 and 2016, there has been a great increase in interest, with almost $900 million invested each year, which is a massive improvement over the results from 2014, when only $450 million was invested.
