47 reports dissect and examine the robot industry

The robotics industry has graduated to be big business -- at least for research firms. 47 different reports on subjects ranging from broad to very drilled-down views of the industry are analyzed and...

04 April 2016, by Frank Tobe

March fundings, acquisitions, IPOs and failures

Funding for robotics startup companies rose dramatically in 2015 reaching record highs in deals and dollars. CB Insights, a VC database provider, reported similar findings as seen in their quarterly f...

04 April 2016, by Frank Tobe

3D Robotics undergoing layoffs and other challenges

3D Robotics unveiled sweeping changes by closing its San Diego facility, reducing staff at its Berkeley headquarters and in Austin, TX, and acknowledging that co-founder and president Jordi Muñoz ...

29 March 2016, by Frank Tobe

Harvest Automation stumbles with warehouse robot

In a Boston Globe story by Scott Kirsner, it was revealed that Harvest Automation's CEO has departed, as have 3/4 of the 30 employees that worked there in 2015. The company is attempting to sell it...

19 March 2016, by Frank Tobe

Collaborative robots are broadening their marketplaces

Universal Robots, the Danish manufacturer of a line of collaborative robots (also called "co-bots"), recently published financial statements which provide valuable insights into the growth potential ...

08 March 2016, by Frank Tobe

Robo-Stox: A dream come true

Throughout my 35-year career in the computer business, I always read and thought about what disruptive technology was ahead. When I had an IBM mainframe, I was looking at the DEC mini-computers and ev...

23 October 2013, by Frank Tobe

Is open source a good business model for robotics?

Open source vs. proprietary software is an age old question. Since the advent of robotics, we also have the question of open source hardware. In academia, where robotics researchers look to open so...

09 October 2013, by RBI Editors

Long view required to keep economic policy in step with developments in robotics

Policy is really about long-term thinking — a process we should do but don't do for various reasons. Though China is a notable exception, very few governments make long-term planning a priority. ...

16 July 2013, by Frank Tobe

What do policy-makers need to do to keep pace with economic development in robotics?

Economic policy may not jump to mind as a hot topic for roboticists, but it is a fundamental and influential driver behind the failure or success of the robotics community as a whole. After all, econo...

15 July 2013, by RBI Editors

Frank Tobe on “What do policy-makers need to do to keep pace with economic development?”

[RBI Editors] As an active robotics investor, a leading authority on the business of robotics, and the author of The Robot Report and Everything Robotic, you are at the pulse of the field's econ...

15 July 2013, by RBI Editors and Frank Tobe

Frank Tobe on “What funding scheme is the most conducive to creating a robotics industry?”

Funding new robotic projects in America is mostly done two different ways: (1) strategic funding from NASA, DARPA, DoD, NSF and other government organizations to do the pure science involved in sol...

15 February 2013, by Frank Tobe

Frank Tobe on “If you had a EUR 100M investment fund, into which robotics technology or field of robotics would you put your money?”

As the robotics industry continues to grow, enters new industries, and provides new applications, strategic focus is necessary or the overall industry will develop haphazardly and spread out around th...

15 January 2013, by Frank Tobe

The Robot Report startup map

Frank Tobe’s ‘The Robot Report’ has just launched a great map of global robot startups and he’d like your robot startup information… Please add to our list of global robotic start-up compan...

07 July 2012, by Andra Keay

Frank Tobe