Munich Startup: What does Roboverse Reply do? What problem do you solve?
Roboverse Reply: Our goal is to help companies increase their operational efficiency and develop innovative business models by integrating mobile robotics into their operations. With a wide range of solutions based on AI capabilities, fleet management and digital twins, among others, as well as strategic partnerships with leading technology companies such as Boston Dynamics, Roboverse Reply has the technological expertise and industry know-how to accompany companies on their way into the future.
With the use of mobile robots, we help companies with a variety of challenges, such as the shortage of skilled workers to take on monotonous tasks, dirty work and hazardous activities (Dull, Dangerous, Dirty). By introducing and automating work orders, we reduce the backlog of orders in plants and their downtimes. With our solutions, we are able to detect defective pumps, motors or bearings at an early stage and automatically detect various leaks.
The collected data is processed and analyzed by the AI. In the event of an anomaly, a notification is sent via dashboards, teams or email so that the employee is in the loop and can react to problems in good time.
Munich Startup: But that already exists!
Roboverse Reply: Even though some of the technologies and solutions offered by Roboverse Reply already exist, integrating and adapting them to specific operational requirements is a complex task. As a customer-oriented system integrator, we offer customized, efficient solutions, which sets us apart from competitors who often rely on ready-made solutions. For example, our telemanipulation solution for mobile robots ensures complete control of robot fleets via a user-friendly web interface and VR glasses from anywhere in the world. Companies can use this feature to perform routine inspections remotely and interact with and manipulate the environment.
“Autonomous robotics is a complex topic for the future”
The Roboverse Reply team uses its experience to maintain a close dialog with customers on site and finds an individual solution through consultation. Autonomous robotics is a complex topic for the future, the introduction of which is already creating added value in companies today, but must be approached strategically and prudently. We support our customers throughout their robotics journey, from the development of a company-wide robotics strategy to the implementation of prototypes and the rollout of these systems – based on our accelerators and whitebox software. This makes us unique in Europe.
Munich Startup: What is your founding story?
Roboverse Reply: Our founding story begins with our acceptance as an early adopter into the Boston Dynamics partner program in 2019. At this point, we already had a certain amount of expertise in the field of robotics with a focus on data and AI. After the first tests and the evaluation of use cases, we were able to start with Proof of Concepts (PoCs), help shape the market with our developments and grow together.
Roboverse Reply works closely with Boston Dynamics
As a team, we recognized the enormous potential of combining our expertise with Boston Dynamics’ technology. When the opportunity presented itself, we decided to establish Roboverse Reply as an independent company in 2021. Today, Roboverse Reply has grown and so has our reach, as we have now entered into a variety of partnerships to offer multi-robot solutions.
In the same year, we put our skills to the test at the AIRA Challenge (Advanced Industrial Robotic Applications): We mastered the tasks, convinced the jury and won the challenge. This year, we were able to defend our title at the AIRA Challenge. We also won the Best Performance Award in the Recon Challenge at the ELROB 2024 (European Land-Robot Trial). We have thus proven that we are not only able to advise our customers strategically, but are also one of the best possible partners when it comes to implementation. A great acknowledgement that we are proud of.
With our headquarters in Munich and a strong network of robotics experts, we are in a position to help shape the future of robotics and automation. Our founding history is characterized by commitment, collaboration and a belief in the transformative power of robotics technologies for a wide range of applications.
Introducing mobile robots in sectors where they are not yet widespread
Munich Startup: What have been the biggest challenges so far?
Roboverse Reply: One of our biggest challenges was to introduce our mobile robots to industries where this technology was not yet widely used, especially large, established companies in traditional industries. Even though we were aware that our product could be very interesting for these companies, the lack of familiarity with mobile robots was a hurdle.
A practical example: some companies buy mobile robots, use them for social media posts, but do not create any added value with them because pilot projects were underestimated in terms of resource requirements or complexity, as IT security, data protection and the works council also want to have a say in these issues. Without added value through their use, but with high resource consumption, the robots did not leave a good impression internally, so these projects were not pursued further. It is a task to identify these customers and help them to give robotics another chance, focus on the right use cases and achieve a quick return on investment (ROI).
Our aim is to find and deliver the best projects for our customers’ relevant use cases. To do this, we need up-to-date, practical expertise and are therefore working internally on bleeding edge robots and sensors. For example, we are currently evaluating a humanoid robot in our test area and assessing possible areas of application. There are a lot of mobile robots, but we need to know when they are actually ready for the market, which regulatory requirements they meet, which typical specifications of large corporations they can fulfill and also test their availability so that we can consider these robots in real applications for our customers.
Consistent growth of Roboverse Reply
We have been able to overcome some of these challenges with the support of the Reply network and the industry. The resources and expertise at our disposal allow us to drive the development and commercialization of projects while overcoming the concerns and reservations of the industry.
Munich Startup: How is business going?
Roboverse Reply: Since our start in January 2022 with a team of five colleagues, we have undergone considerable development and have grown to over 25 people. One part works in the field of spatial computing, including extended reality (XR), simulation and visualization of digital twins based on Nvidia Omniverse. The other part focuses on mobile robotics, for example with Spot from Boston Dynamics. Our close cooperation with this manufacturer has made us the preferred integration partner of Boston Dynamics in Europe. This reflects our commitment, the satisfaction of our customers and our success in the industry.
We have established ourselves in key industries such as chemicals, energy, logistics, public safety and infrastructure and offer individual solutions for complex requirements. Our projects in the field of digital twins based on Nvidia Omniverse were a particularly exciting milestone. Thanks to high-quality simulation in a realistic environment, mobile robots and sensors can be validated more quickly and easily and thus introduced into operation.
Munich is “very dynamic and conducive to technology-oriented companies”
Munich Startup: How have you experienced Munich as a startup location so far?
Roboverse Reply: So far, we have perceived Munich as a startup location that is very dynamic and conducive to technology-oriented companies. The region and its surroundings are home to a large number of technology companies that have enabled us to constantly forge new partnerships and expand our network. This close-knit network in the location allows us to exchange ideas with leading minds in the industry and benefit from a diverse pool of knowledge. In addition, Munich offers an excellent infrastructure for the exchange of ideas at the highest level. We want to further expand our network both in industry and in research and development in Munich and together build a cluster of thought leaders and companies that have the courage to lead the market in this area.
Munich Startup: Outsource or do it yourself?
Roboverse Reply: We have decided to offer our customers end-to-end solutions. Since we install many things as a “white box” in our customers’ infrastructure, this requires a high degree of transparency, robustness, reliability and quality. In addition, some of our customers operate critical infrastructures that require security checks on project staff. For this reason, development is carried out in-house and not outsourced. We focus on integrating robots and sensor technology into a user-friendly overall solution rather than developing stand-alone systems.
With our platform for robotics and sensor technology, we are able to solve universal problems as well as respond specifically to individual requirements. For example, we have developed our own VR telemanipulation solution for mobile robots that contains 3D models of our customers’ premises and is simultaneously linked to internal systems to give employees a complete overview of the facility or create service tickets for tradespeople from VR. In order to protect our customers’ data in the best possible way, we avoid outsourcing and the associated risks.
