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Robotics Expo 2013, Moscow

by Frank Tobe

02 November 2013

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The bleak autumn Moscow day didn’t seem to have dampened the enthusiasm of the crowds of people making the journey to the 2013 Moscow Robotics (and advanced technologies) Expo http://robot-ex.ru/en at the Sokolniki Conference Centre.

Robots, kids, adults, business people, guest speakers, hobbyists, entrepreneurs, dancing robots and the media were in full attendance and full of interest and enthusiasm for all things robotic at the recent Robotics Expo 2013 in Moscow. Set in Sokolniki Park, the various conference halls are almost hidden in the woods.

Find out more about the Sokolniki Conference centre or the conference organizers SmileExpo.

The show was organized around a number of key themes:

Home automation
Hospitality/guide/remote presence
Personal transport
Education/learning toys/hobbyist
3D-printing

There were not many personal telepresence robots at the show! Given the vast size of Russia, and the difficulties of travel, I found this surprising in some ways although culturally business is done in Russia person to person. There was also little presence of drones at the show, which is not representative of the broad interest in drones by Russians for hobbies, photography/video and delivery/courier startups.

A number of the robots were made outside Russia and being shown by a Russian distributor, but many of the hospitality and education/toy robots were Russian designed and made.

The Expo was well attended, by all ages, but there seemed to be the strongest interest from 18-30-year olds.

Russians people love being photographed when they are doing activities and I would recommend if you want to have a real hit when you exhibit in Russia to integrate this into your promotion in some way.

All loved the dancing robots! This display was set to traditional Russian songs, cause Gangham Style is just so done!

For those tired of walking and talking there was a beanbag and film area to chill out and enjoy Star Wars robot battles.

There was plenty local media and bloggers present giving entrepreneurs a chance to get their message out.

Solving public issues using robots, robots for business, research of humanoid robots and investing in robotics were some of the well attended talks given at the conference part of the Expo.

Home automation:

iClebo intelligent cleaning robot – iRobot Roomba has a strong retail presence in Moscow and represents a good market for competitors like iClebo to enter. Find out more at http://iclebo.com/english/

Windoro auto window cleaner – There seemed little interest for this product from visitors, unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to discuss the robot with the distributors. Find out more at http://www.windoro.co.uk/

Robomow lawn mower – was generating strong interest. Whilst the majority of Muscovites have no garden, many have a dacha (country house) that have gardens and turning up there to find tidy lawns will be a strong selling point. Find out more at http://www.robomow.com/en-USA/

The Bosch Indego robotic lawnmower. Despite having the largest stand at the show there was not a lot to see! More at http://www.bosch-indego.com/gb/en/

Nanosematics provides website customer support chatbots. Whilst they were demonstrating a home solution with their videos, their client list is heavily targeted at business. Find out more at http://nanosemantics.ru/

Hospitality/remote presence

r.bot were showing a range of hospitality, guide and telepresence robots. The smaller dome shaped robots were using Android based tablets as a display on the mobile ‘arm’. The drinks hospitality and remote presence robots (shown here) were very active around the stand. Note, there is a small wheel at the back; they are not a self-balancing (Segway type) robot. Find out more at http://rbot.com/

Wicron were showing a Nintendo wii-mote controlled remote presence robot that appeared well developed and robust in operation. Find out more at https://wicron.com/en They were also promoting MATE Mobile Application Technology Expo which will run in April 2014 in Moscow. More at http://www.mate-expo.ru/en

Personal transport

Segway Point provides Segway hires which appears quite popular in the Moscow parks in the summer. Find out more at http://segwaypoint.ru

IPS have developed a single wheel gyroscope balanced personal transport which was one of the stars of the show for me allowing quick mobility around a city then easy stowage under a desk or in a home cupboard. Portable and highly stable even with only one foot on, the reps could easily navigate through the busy show. Find out more at http://ips-shop.ru/

Education/learning toys/hobbyist

This sector probably had the most representation at the Robotics Expo. With the strong theoretical and technical education in Russia, I’m sure parents want to support this, and the kids also seemed engaged at what they saw.

Skygadget – Skygadget is a drone distributor. The only product they had on display was the Parrot AR Drone and they have a very small selection of other drone products for sale. Find out more at http://skygadget.ru/

Always popular, always versatile, capable of some very technical projects, fischertechnik did not disappoint with the range of projects on display. Note the use of a Siemens PLC for control of this more complex ‘automation’ project. They were also demonstrating Arduino integration in other projects. Find out more at http://www.fischertechnik.de/

RobotBaza are a reseller of robotics and electronics education products. Their product range includes Lego Mindstorms, Arduino kits, fischertechnik and bioloid humanoid robots. Find out more at http://www.robotbaza.ru/

Trik provides a complete robotics and automation education system. Reminiscent of Mecanno they had a range of robot projects on display from diggers to self-balancing Segway style robots and a well developed software development environment. I also noticed some Trik t-shirts and products at Open Innovations 2013. Find out more at http://www.trikset.com/#!home-en/c12um

Examen Technolab – They produce their own plastic and metal construction sets including robotics kits and are also a reseller of education products including Bioloid. Find out more at http://examen-technolab.ru/

Hobby lab are a reseller of a wide range of electronics and education kits. Find out more at http://www.hobbylab.ru/

I’m not sure if these guys were hobbyists or students but their robots showed a lot of ingenuity and passion.

3D printing

As expected there were a few 3D printing stands and always a good crowd of interested people at each wanting to find out more.

Printers 3D provide 3D printing services as well as selling printers and consumables. Find out more at http://printers3d.ru/

tags: c-Events, Russia

Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.

Robotics Expo 2013, Moscow

Home automation:

Hospitality/remote presence

Personal transport

Education/learning toys/hobbyist

3D printing

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