Olis Robotics, a company that produces systems to remotely manage industrial robots, announced a $4.1 million funding round led by PSL Ventures. Additional investors include Tectonic Ventures, Ubiquity Ventures, as well as several prominent strategic angel investors, including robotics pioneer Daniel Theobald, the President and Cofounder of MassRobotics and Founder and Chairman of Vecna Robotics.
The company's systems allow the remote monitoring, control, and troubleshooting of industrial robots. Such capabilities would make it easier, faster, and less expensive for manufacturers of robotic devices to provide service for their customers. That could positively affect many domestic factories and put a premium on the ability of properties to provide the necessary infrastructure.
"In the midst of a global manufacturing labor crisis, companies are adopting automation in record breaking numbers, resulting in calls from both manufacturers and integrators for robust, safe, and secure remote monitoring, diagnostics, and control solutions," T.A. McCann, partner at PSL Ventures, who joins Olis Robotics' Board of Directors, said in prepared remarks. "Olis Robotics' unique remote robot control technology answers that call; it can easily be deployed on both brand new and legacy automation, which means a dynamic and exciting market opportunity for investors."
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According to Olis CEO Fredrik Ryden, downtime for robots "can cost a large plant over $1 million per hour." That would include the cost of repair and of lost productivity.
The system, called 'Olis Connect,' sits on an edge-hosted PC, which means something running on the user company's network, providing local processing. According to Olis, the systems can work with new and legacy industrial robot arms and cells.
"The system works across robot brands, with Olis Robotics currently providing full support for robots from Universal Robots and FANUC, addressing approximately 20% of the operational stock of more than 3.5 million industrial robots deployed worldwide," the company says. "With its new funding, Olis is adding support for additional robot brands representing more than half of all industrial robots. The funding will also help expand partnerships with robot system integrators in North America and develop new software products."
The Olis equipment is "plug & play," meaning that once connected appropriately, it should take a minimum of configuration and fussing to begin working. Users can manage the system through a web browser. "If a problem occurs with the robot, Olis Connect sends out an alert via a secure connection to the user's device all without connecting to the cloud – a key consideration given the threats surrounding today's industrial cybersecurity landscape," the company says. "Users can then use the system to remotely perform error recovery actions such as releasing its grip on a part or moving the robot from its error position."
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