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Vecna Robotics

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Vecna Robotics, Inc.
Company typePrivate
Industry
Founded2018
Founders
  • Daniel Theobald
  • Deborah Theobald
Headquarters36 Cambridge Park Drive,
Cambridge, Massachusetts
,
United States
Key people
  • Daniel Patt (CEO)
  • Daniel Theobald (CIO)
  • Joshua Ornstein (CTO)
Products
  • RC20 Conveyor
  • RC500 Conveyor
  • RL350 Lifter
  • RL3600 Pallet Truck
  • RT4500 Tugger
  • Tote Retrieval System (TRS)
  • Pivot.al
Services
  • Automated Material Handling
  • Hybrid Fulfillment
  • Workflow Optimization
Websitevecnarobotics.com

Vecna Robotics, Inc. is an American robotics and technology company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[1] Incorporated in 2018 as a spin-off from Vecna Technologies, the company specializes in automated material handling, hybrid fulfillment and workflow optimization for industrial applications.[2]

In December 2017, Vecna Robotics won the DHL & Dell Robotics Innovation Challenge in Troisdorf, Germany for developing the Tote Retrieval System (TRS).[3] The company’s TRS is an automated guided vehicle (AGV) capable of warehouse navigation and mobile piece-picking from conventional shelves.[3]

History

Vecna Robotics originated as a division of Vecna Technologies.[4] The latter was founded in 1998 in College Park, Maryland by MIT engineering alumni, Daniel Theobald and Deborah Theobald.[5] According to a December 2017 profile of Daniel Theobald by Forbes contributor, Frederick Daso, the company name ‘Vecna’ is derived from the Czech word věčný, fem. věčná, meaning ‘eternal’.[6] Vecna Technologies focused primarily on health-care software development, while the robotics division engaged in research for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Airforce and National Aeronautics and Space Administration.[7][8][9] The company was later based in Cambridge, MA and supported efforts to build the Massachusetts Robotics Cluster.[1][10][11]

In the mid-2000s era, Vecna Robotics received funding from the U.S. Army, DARPA and other government agencies to develop the Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot (BEAR).[12][13] The humanoid robot was originally designed to rescue wounded soldiers from the battle field, however as the company refined and adapted its robotics software, other commercial applications became evident.[12][14][15] In turn, Vecna Robotics abstracted its autonomy software or "brain" from the BEAR’s physical hardware and utilized the same methodology to develop a range of logistics robots.[14][16] In April 2012, the QC Bot, a robotic courier, was piloted in hospitals to distribute medicine and food.[17] The company's product expansion continued in April 2017 when additional logistics robots became generally available to the industrial sector.[2] Concurrently, Vecna Robotics was established as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vecna Technologies.[18][19] The separation positioned Vecna Robotics to seek outside investment as well as specialize in autonomous mobile solutions for manufacturing and warehouse applications.[18][19]

In January 2018, Daniel Patt, the former Deputy Director of DARPA’s Strategic Technology Office (STO), joined the subsidiary as CEO.[20][21] The same year, Vecna Robotics spun out from former parent, Vecna Technologies.[1] 60 existing employees transferred to positions in the new company.[1] According to a filing with the SEC, Vecna Robotics reincorporated in Delaware and raised $13.5 million in a funding round that began August 14, 2018.[22] The round was led by Columbus, Ohio-based venture capital firm, Drive Capital, and marked the first outside equity investment in Vecna’s 20-year history.[20][23]

Technology

Vecna Robotics’ automated material handling product line includes the RC20 Conveyor, RC500 Conveyor, RL350 Lifter, RL3600 Pallet Truck, RT4500 Tugger and the Tote Retrieval System (TRS).[24][25] As of October 2018, the company’s RL3600 Pallet Trucks were deployed at Milton CAT’s Milford, Massachusetts distribution center to increase fulfillment speed.[26] The RL3600 addressed the problem of retrieving slow-selling items stored at long walking distances.[26] In March 2018, a fleet of six RT4500 Tuggers were profiled by Cade Metz in The New York Times as new “robotic colleagues” at the FedEx industrial shipping hub in Kernersville, North Carolina.[27] In this warehouse application, the tuggers pull trains of carts with bulky goods such as car tires or canoes to manage a growing percentage of eCommerce orders for items unable to fit on conveyor belts.[27] In addition to Vecna Robotics’ hardware line, the company also developed artificial intelligence (AI) software designed to integrate warehouse management systems, robotics and human workflow.[18][28]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Tobe, Frank (March 24, 2018). "Quiet Inroads in Robotics: Vecna's Story". The Robot Report. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  2. ^ a b Banker, Steve (February 6, 2018). "Distinctive Warehouse Robotics Solutions Are Emerging". Forbes. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Crowe, Steve (December 13, 2017). "Vecna Tote Retrieval System Wins Mobile Picking Robot Challenge". Robotics Business Review. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  4. ^ RBR Staff (February 17, 2010). "Vecna Throws Hat into Robotics Ring". Robotics Business Review. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  5. ^ Barr, Julie (May 5, 2015). "Robot Road Race Helps Save Lives [VIDEO]". MIT Alumni Association. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  6. ^ Daso, Frederick (December 18, 2017). "Bill Gates And Elon Musk Are Worried For Automation - But This Robotics Company Founder Embraces It". Forbes. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  7. ^ Seiffert, Don (June 14, 2013). "Research grants let Vecna stay true to startup principles". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  8. ^ Bray, Hiawatha (April 3, 2017). "Vecna aims new wave of robots for warehouses". Boston Globe. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  9. ^ "SBIR Award Listing: Vecna Techologies, Inc". Small Business Innovation Research. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  10. ^ Huang, Gregory T. (July 16, 2015). "Vecna and VGo Are Now One: An Important Robotics Acquisition". Xconomy. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
  11. ^ Nickerson, Russell (2009). "Pioneering the Personal Robotics Industry" (PDF). Bridgewater State University Undergraduate Review. 5 (1): 136. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  12. ^ a b Silverstein, Jonathan (December 20, 2006). "The BEAR: Soldier, Nurse, Friend and Robot". ABC News. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  13. ^ Barrie, Allison (March 29, 2012). "Teddy bear-faced robot is built for battlefields". Fox News. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  14. ^ a b Weinberger, Sharon (November 18, 2014). "Next generation military robots have minds of their own". BBC. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  15. ^ Vallor, Shannon (2016). Technology and the Virtues: A Philosophical Guide to a Future Worth Wanting. Oxford University Press. p. 213. ISBN 9780190498511. Retrieved December 19, 2018 – via Google Books.
  16. ^ Daniel Theobald (December 22, 2017). "Boston-Area Companies Push For Robot Workers In Warehouses Under Holiday Crunch" (radio broadcast). WBUR-FM Bostonomix. Interviewed by Asma Khalid. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  17. ^ Overly, Steven (April 8, 2012). "At Vecna Technologies, low funding for BEARs leads to building Bots". Washington Post. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  18. ^ a b c Engel, Jeff (April 3, 2017). "Vecna Reorganizes, Pushes Logistics Robots in Hot Market". Xconomy. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  19. ^ a b Andersson, Thomas (February 2018). Goods-to-Person Ecommerce Fulfillment Robotics 2018 (Report). Styleintelligence. p. 24. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  20. ^ a b DC Velocity Staff (December 3, 2018). "Backed by new VC, Vecna Robotics spins off from parent company". DC Velocity. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  21. ^ Engel, Jeff (January 17, 2018). "From DARPA to Vecna: New CEO on How Automation Can "Elevate" Humans". Xconomy. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  22. ^ Vecna Robotics, Inc. "SEC Form D". United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  23. ^ Engel, Jeff (August 30, 2018). "Vecna Robotics Grabs $13.5M, Led by Drive, as Logistics Robots Stay Hot". Xconomy. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  24. ^ Britt, Phil. "10 Robots That Can Speed Up Your Supply Chain" (PDF). Robotics Business Review. RBR Insider White Paper. p. 11–12. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  25. ^ "Company Profile: Vecna Robotics". Robotics Industries Association. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  26. ^ a b RBR Staff (October 30, 2018). "Innovation at Work: Vecna Robotics Helps Milton CAT Develop a Flexible Workflow". Robotics Business Review. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  27. ^ a b Metz, Cade (March 18, 2018). "FedEx Follows Amazon Into the Robotic Future". The New York Times. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  28. ^ "Autonomous Robots Take On Dangerous Warehouse Jobs". NASA Spinoff. 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
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