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A panel discussion on the future of robotics between Vikas Gupta (Wonder Workshop), Rich Mahoney (Superflex) and Linda Pouliot (Dishcraft Robotics), moderated by Chris Evdemon.
The panel discusses the following topics about the future of robotics:
- Consumer vs. commercial vs. industrial robotics. Each one of the panelists introduces what their company is building and why they picked the product that they are working on.
- Short-term vs. long-term: robots with a single focused function vs. humanoid (general AI use case). What are the biggest technical constraints at the moment for the latter?
- Educational toy robots. What is the role of robots in education? Is this the best roadmap for - eventually - a kids companion robot?
- Hardware businesses are tough and the IoT / Robotics 1.0 wave has scared off investors. Hardware (eventually commoditized) vs. software (intelligence). What do the panelists plan to do differently, especially in terms of a software revenue stream or a data play to diversify from hardware?
- Labor challenges (shortages, turnover, safety) are driving service robotics innovation. Are these robots the lowest hanging fruit in terms of market deployment? Where first, e.g. agriculture, F&B, cleaning, security?
- What are the challenges with the sales process in commercial robotics?
- Production operations issues. U.S. vs. China vs. elsewhere.
- Distribution in China. How's the experience so far for Wonder Workshop?
