The grand winner for Robot Launch was Leka, a developer of intuitive and intelligent toys for children with autism. Their product, Moti, is a robotic ball that is sensitive to its environment, moves on its own and changes colours to emote feelings; autistic children learn to regulate their own emotions by playing with Moti. Robot Launch judges said they picked Leka as the Robot Launch Grand Winner because they were ready for market and could have an immediate impact on autistic children if their product were widely available.

“As Ultimate Champion, we won mentoring from experts,” said Leka CEO and Co-founder Ladislas de Toldi, who is hoping the prize will help bring Moti to market soon. “Thanks to the tests we have been running with children parents and caregivers [of autistic children], we have shown the relevance and usefulness of our robot. But we hadn’t crash tested our product. RobotLaunch [was] the perfect opportunity for us to challenge our robot and get feedback from real experts. The judges’ feedback really helped us to formalize our project.”

The competition’s global reach gave startups from around the world a unique opportunity to network on level footing with investors and experts located in faraway technology hubs.

“[Robot Launch] was a platform to showcase our robots in Silicon valley – something nearly impossible for a startup based in India,” said Fahad Azad of Robosoft Systems, a startup that makes duct cleaning robots. Robosoft was a finalist in the competition, and took home one of the three Lean Startup Awards, alongside Odd I/O of Portland Oregon, and Tandemech Engineering of San Francisco. The Best European Startup Award went to DoBots, from the Netherlands, and the Grand Prize winner Leka is based in France.

“The global competition elevated my own robot’s exposure and allowed me to learn more about what others are doing around the world,” said Odd I/O‘s Vivek Mano, who won the Indiegogo Crowdpleaser Award in addition to the Lean Startup Award. “It’s great to know that there are so many others out there with an earnest passion for robotic electronics to make the world a better place.”

“Robot Launch 2014 is opening up a very important outlet to help identify and showcase some groundbreaking business and technology ideas, not only in the Silicon Valley but throughout the world,” said Glenn Luinenburg, a Partner at WilmerHale, a Silicon Valley law firm that works with robotics companies, and which awarded a legal startup package worth more than $25,000 USD to Tandemech Engineering, maker of wall-climbing robots.

“Our goal with Robot Launch is to grow the robotics ecosystem, and the awards we’re offering are exactly what a robot startup needs to accelerate their growth,” says Andra Keay who, as Director of Silicon Valley Robotics, spearheaded the competition.

Robot Launch prizes included money, mentoring, meetings and free legal and startup services from Robohub, Silicon Valley Robotics, Indiegogo, WilmerHale, Grishin Robotics, Bosch Ventures, Lemnos Labs, Robolution Capital, and Luxr. And since exposure is so crucial for any startup that is trying to get noticed, three of the Robot Launch competitors were selected to showcase at O’Reilly’s SOLID conference last week.

“SOLID was a who’s who of the maker movement, robotics and connected devices,” said Steve Glovsky, EVP of Robotic Technologies of Tennessee, one of the three startups that got to showcase at the event. “We made amazing contacts, discussed possible collaborations and were serendipitously asked to participate in ‘once in a lifetime’ projects. We even made the 11 o’clock news! Robot Launch 2014 allowed us to connect with people imagining and solving similar challenges in ways we might have missed without participating in the contest and SOLID.”

“It’s now easier, cheaper and faster to develop robots, which in turn means that more robots will see the light of the day,” says Cyril Ebersweiler, founder of HAXLR8R and one of the Robot Launch 2014 judges. “Putting the spotlight on those who are spear-heading the robolution is essential for supporting and encouraging entrepreneurs to go robotics. I was looking for entrepreneurs who will use robots to make a better tomorrow. Needless to say we have a beautiful winner.”

See all our Robot Launch news here: Robot Launch 2014
Follow Robot Launch on Twitter and stay tuned for next year’s event: #RobotLaunch

Winners by Category 

• Leka (@WeAreLeka), developer of Moti, a social robot for children with autism; France

• Robotics Technologies of Tennessee (@mobile_robots), maker of welding robots; USA

• Tandemech Engineering (@Tandemech), maker of wall-climbing robots; USA

• Odd I/O (@wiglbot), developer of Wigl, a musical educational toy robot geared towards young children; USA

• DoBots (@BotsDo), developer of an add-on autopilot software that enables mobile machines to navigate autonomously; Netherlands

• Jessiko (@jessiko), maker of robot fish; France

• Robosoft Systems (@azad2fm), maker of duct-cleaning robots; India
• Odd I/O (@wiglbot), developer of Wigl, a musical educational toy robot geared towards young children; USA
• Tandemech Engineering (@Tandemech), maker of wall-climbing robots; USA

• Robotics Technologies of Tennessee (@mobile_robots), maker of welding robots; USA
• RoboTar (@robotarkevin), maker of a robotic chord hand for guitar; USA
• Tandemech Engineering (@Tandemech), maker of wall-climbing robots; USA

• DoBots (@BotsDo), developer of an add-on autopilot software that enables mobile machines to navigate autonomously; Netherlands
• Leka (@WeAreLeka), developer of Moti, a social robot for children with autism; France
• Odd I/O (@wiglbot), developer of Wigl, a musical educational toy robot geared towards young children; USA
• Robosoft Systems (@azad2fm), maker of duct-cleaning robots; India
• Robotics Technologies of Tennessee (@mobile_robots), maker of welding robots; USA
• Tandemech Engineering (@Tandemech), maker of wall-climbing robots; USA

• 3DOF Robotics, developer of a vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle capable of shared autonomy; Australia
• Avidbots (@Avidbots), maker of next generation smart commercial cleaning robots; Canada
• Cloudy Robotics, developer of a cloud robotics platform for consumer robotics; Canada
• Gimball (@fly_ability), maker of a flying robot with a protective cage that lets it remain stable after collisions; Switzerland
• Jammster, maker of a dual-arm human-friendly robot assistant for quadriplegics; USA
• Jessiko (@jessiko), maker of robot fish; France
• Mighty Mount, developer of an autonomous mobile robotic camera mount for filming dynamic video in action sports; USA
• Plug and Wear (@plugandwear), maker of textile strain and pressure sensors for robotics applications; Italy
• RoboTar (@robotarkevin), maker of a robotic chord hand for guitar; USA
• Sproutel (@sproutel); maker of Jerry the Bear, a robotic bear that helps kids manage their diabetes; USA

And of course we’d like to thank the award sponsors and all our judges:

• Indiegogo
• WilmerHale
• Luxr
• Lemnos Labs
• Robolution Capital
• Bosch Ventures
• Khosla Ventures
• Haxlr8r
• OATV
• Lux Capital
• Grishin Robotics

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

•  Minesweepers: Towards a landmine-free world
•  Introducing the Cybathlon
•  Flying Donkey Challenge announces 33 entrants for first subchallenge
•  Loving your #startup to death

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.

While developing these robots, Avidbots must iterate rapidly through designs. Two key facilitators of this fast development cycle are ROS and Gazebo. ROS’s communication system promotes a simple modular design, while Gazebo provides for accurate simulation testing. Modular software design and thorough simulation testing enable Avidbots to achieve its rapid development goals. This strategic use of ROS and Gazebo is significantly accelerating Avidbots’ entry into the robotic services space.

Here’s their story:

http://youtu.be/ioGui_OSAKg

Watch the live stream from the 2014 Robot Launch Finals, starting today May 20 at 10AM Pacific. From over 60 entries from all around the world, our judges have narrowed it down to six finalists: DoBots, Duct Inspection Robot from Robosoft Systems, Leka, Odd I/O, Robotic Technologies of Tennessee and Tandemech Engineering. These startups will make an expanded 5 minute pitch and do a live Q&A session with our judges, who will decide the ultimate winner. Follow on Twitter #RobotLaunch. Don’t forget that you can still vote for your Crowd Favorite until 10AM Pacific!

Twitter

Tweets about “@RobotLaunch OR #RobotLaunch”

Awards

Schedule

(All times Pacific. Live stream begins at 10AM.)

The Judges

It’s just a few days until the RobotLaunch Finals on May 20, where our remaining six teams will battle it out in front of a live panel of judges. So we thought we’d recap some of the expert advice we gleaned from the speakers at the Robots2014 event at MIT last month to help our startups prepare. Co-organized with Swissnex Boston, the event brought researchers, startups and VCs together under one roof. Here are some of our favourite sound bites from the ‘Imagination to Market’ event:

On filling a need

“One question people don’t ask enough is: why do I need a robot to solve this problem?”

-Chris Moehle, National Robotics Engineering Center – CMU

“Business doesn’t get excited about complex things – they get excited about simple things that solve problems.”

– Daniel Theobald, Vecna @Vecna_Tech

On attracting investors

“Four things matter to every VC:
1) World Class Team
2) Big Problem
3) Great Traction
4) Bold Vision.”

– Ben Einstein, Bolt @BenEinstein, @BoltBoston

“People often have a hard time talking about the benefits to the customer instead of talking about the technology.”

– Elaine Chen, Martin Trust Center, MIT @chenelaine, @EshipMIT

“You want to avoid taking VC investment as long as you can. The further you get on your own, the more you will retain.”

– Daniel Theobald, Vecna @Vecna_Tech

“A disagreement with your VCs can set you back a year. Make sure you are on the same page.”

– Miriam Bekouche, Indiegogo @miriam_leia, @Indiegogo

On pathways market

“Going out and talking to people is what tells you whether you have a product that can get to market. Think of commercialization while you’re doing your research. And do it early.”

– Chris Moehle, National Robotics Engineering Center, CMU

“Successful commercialization hinges on thinking of robots as a new media platform through which companies will place recognized brands into the home.”

– Cynthia Breazeal, MIT Media Lab @medialab

On patents

“Your first problem isn’t that someone is going to steal your idea, it’s getting people to use your idea at all.”

– Kate Darling, MIT Media Lab @grok_

“Patents are expensive and hard.”

“The actual value of a patent is incredibly difficult to pinpoint, but the perceived value of a patent can be important.”

-Ben Einstein, Bolt @BenEinstein, @BoltBoston

On liability

“One of the major concerns that startups should have is liability. That’s the big issue.”

 – Kate Darling,  MIT Media Lab @grok_

On crowdfunding

“There are so many different points at which crowdfunding can be helpful. It’s  not just a great way to get dollars, it’s a great way to get feedback on your product. ”

“A good time to crowdfund is about 6 months before you’re ready to go into production.”

– Miriam Bekouche, Indiegogo @miriam_leia, @Indiegogo

“One use of crowdfunding is as a vehicle to test acceptance and interest. With crowdfunding you are testing a prototype, not selling a product, so it’s a great way to get around regulatory issues.”

– Elaine Chen, Martin Trust Center, MIT @chenelaine, @EshipMIT

On manufacturing

“They call it HARDware for a reason.”

-Ben Einstein, Bolt @BenEinstein, @BoltBoston

See video footage and tweets from the Robot14 event.

Today we announce the six finalists from Robot Launch who will be presenting their pitches online live to a panel of expert judges on Tuesday May 20 at 10am PDT. Join us then to see who takes home the ultimate champion crown! The six highest scoring startups from our Top 30 are (alphabetically): DoBots, Duct Inspection Robot, Leka, Odd I/O, Robotic Technologies of Tennessee and Tandemech Engineering. In the meantime, Robohub readers can also vote right here for the “People’s Choice” startup from the Robot Launch competition.

Here are the most popular videos from the preceding three weeks of reader polls. This is your chance to vote on the startup you think is best! The online poll will run until 10am [PDT] May 20, when the live finals judging commences. The startup winning the People’s Choice award will receive $500 from Robohub. All awards will be announced during the live finals. The most popular videos are (alphabetically):

3DOF Robotics | australia

3DOF Robotics have a VTOL aerial vehicle capable of shared autonomy for inspection of vertical structures difficult or dangerous for human inspection.

Axon Robotics | usa

Individuals and business owners are in constant need of ways to increase their productivity. We are addressing these demands with a capable robotic tool.

https://vimeo.com/92486548

Aisoy | spain

Aisoy makes technology feel. We create smart social robots for making our lives easier and more fun.

http://youtu.be/bqcxlF00yI8

Cubotix | usa

Cubotix builds service robots for everybody and targets domestic and professional use cases. Our goal is to squeeze years of autonomous robot research into affordable consumer platforms – first as an educational platform for advanced robotics, then for dedicated tasks in homes and in the field. We take the complexity out of robotics software and enable everybody to use our robots.

http://youtu.be/5sh-fm1HKNc

DoBots | the netherlands

DoBots builds services for groups of robots. Our software allows the robots to coordinate and cooperate and report their progress to human supervisors. The first service that will be commercially deployed is a coordination service for robots that are cleaning a supermarket.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2QYfEPpGa8

Duct Inspection Robot | india

DuctBot is rugged toy-car-sized robot used for cleaning and inspecting air duct in central air conditioned environment like ships, submarines, operation theaters, clean rooms, home and offices.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86aYpZLIC1c&feature=youtu.be

GimBall | switzerland

We are developing Gimball, a game-changing flying robot that can be flown indoors and in complex environments: it can stay stable after collisions with obstacles and can thus go where other robots can’t. Furthermore, it is safe to fly close to humans. This innovation turns robots into real partners for humans and truly unleashes the potential of flying robots by enabling countless new applications.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOLy4070Xa8

Jammster | usa

In the US alone, over 140,000 quadriplegics require the constant attention of expensive in-home caregivers. Our mission is to create an affordable mobile robotic assistant that will provide these people with greater independence and an improved quality of life. We have a prototype, called Jammster, that consists of a dual-arm human friendly robot that has been mounted on a mobile base.

Jessiko Robot Fish by Robotswim | france

Robotswim is a start-up whose objective is to put artificial life in aquariums and pools around the world. The flagship product, Jessiko, is 22 cm long and can swim in a school of 10 or more robots, to create entertaining aquatic choreography and light effects.

Inf Robotics | usa

We have developed an affordable home health care robot for seniors that can provide telecommunications to doctors from the safety and security of their home, assistive features such as medication reminders and safety features in the event of an emergency.

Leka | france

Leka is a young startup that develops smart and innovative toys for children with communication and social disabilities.

Sproutel | usa

At Sproutel we use emotional robots to make patient education friendly for children diagnosed with a chronic illness. Our first product Jerry the Bear, is a completely interactive teddy bear that enables kids with Type 1 diabetes to master their medical procedures, ultimately resulting in smiling faces and improved outcomes.

RoboTar | usa

RoboTar is the first Portable robotic chord hand for guitar. It is a device paired with software running in a laptop or Android device to play guitar using only a one hand to strum or pick and a foot pedal or single push button to change chords.

Tandemech Engineering | usa

Tandemech Engineering is a California-based robotics startup, focusing on wall-climbing robotic platforms. The technology we have developed has allowed our proof-of-concept to outperform any wall-climber ever developed. We hope to continue to adapt our technology into vehicles to deploy testing, inspection, and potentially even manufacturing equipment into places that have previously been prohibitive to access.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLmMCTVpFqk

CAST YOUR VOTE FOR “PEOPLE’S CHOICE”

VOTING CLOSES ON TUESDAY MAY 20 AT 10AM [PDT]

For the next three weeks, Robohub readers can vote for the “People’s Choice” startup from the Robot Launch competition. Each week, we’re going to publish 10 videos from our Top 30 and during our live final on May 20, we’ll announce the ultimate “People’s Choice” winner. Four startups are moving through from last week’s round; Jessiko Robot Fish, Axon Robotics, GimBall and Duct Inspection Robot. Only 4 spots left! This week’s videos (in alphabetic order) are:

Aisoy | spain

Aisoy makes technology feel. We create smart social robots for making our lives easier and more fun.

http://youtu.be/bqcxlF00yI8

Caspian Robotics | germany

Guardians of tomorrow.

Cubotix | usa

Cubotix builds service robots for everybody and targets domestic and professional use cases. Our goal is to squeeze years of autonomous robot research into affordable consumer platforms – first as an educational platform for advanced robotics, then for dedicated tasks in homes and in the field. We take the complexity out of robotics software and enable everybody to use our robots.

http://youtu.be/5sh-fm1HKNc

E2U Robotics | germany

E2U will offer an easy to use robot product family for research institutes, universities and R&D departments working on robot technologies. The individual members of the product family, starting from a simple omnidirectional mobile base equipped with a sensing unit up to a complex mobile manipulating robot with over 25 degrees of freedom, can be combined flexibly. Modularity, agility and safety are key aspects for the design of the robots to ensure their applicability in real world environments.

Inf Robotics | usa

We have developed an affordable home health care robot for seniors that can provide telecommunications to doctors from the safety and security of their home, assistive features such as medication reminders and safety features in the event of an emergency.

Leka | france

Leka is a young startup which develops smart and innovative toys for children with communication and social disabilities.

Octopus Robotics | usa

We build torque sensing compliant smart actuators that are research grade and ship within a week.

Plug and Wear | italy

Textile pressure sensors have proven to be very accurate for robotics. Our idea is to produce strain and pressure textile sensors for robotic applications. Soft sensors will be used as a sefety device or a a soft interface, similar to human skin.

Sproutel | usa

At Sproutel we use emotional robots to make patient education friendly for children diagnosed with a chronic illness. Our first product Jerry the Bear, is a completely interactive teddy bear that enables kids with type 1 diabetes to master their medical procedures, ultimately resulting in smiling faces and impr

CAST YOUR VOTE FOR “PEOPLE’S CHOICE”

VOTING CLOSES ON TUESDAY MAY 13 AT 6PM [PDT]

For the next three weeks, Robohub readers can vote for the “People’s Choice” startup from the Robot Launch competition. Each week, we’re going to publish 10 videos from our Top 30, and during our live final on May 20, we’ll announce the ultimate “People’s Choice” winner. Four startups moving through from last week’s round are; 3DOF Robotics, Jammster, RoboTar and Tandemech Engineering. Only 6 spots left! This week’s videos (in alphabetic order) are:

Abracadabra Robotics | israel

The company develops Personal Social Assistive Robots for stroke rehabilitation.

Axon Robotics | usa

Individuals and business owners are in constant need of ways to increase their productivity.  We are addressing these demands with a capable robotic tool.

https://vimeo.com/92486548

Connected Robotics | australia

Connected Robotics develops light, powerful and precise robots by using our SmartCord retractable tether system that provides both power and position.

http://youtu.be/zBcKnsYNVKU

Duct Inspection Robot | india

DuctBot is rugged toy car size robot used for cleaning and inspecting air duct in central air conditioned environment like Ships, submarines, operation theaters, clean rooms, home and offices.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86aYpZLIC1c&feature=youtu.be

GimBall | switzerland

We are developing Gimball, a game-changing flying robot that can be flown indoors and in complex environments: it can stay stable after collisions with obstacles and can thus go where other robots can’t. Furthermore, it is safe to fly close to humans. This innovation turns robot into real partners for humans and truly unleashes the potential of flying robots by enabling countless new applications.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOLy4070Xa8

Jessiko Robot Fish by Robotswim | france

Robotswim is a start-up whose objective is to put artificial life in aquariums and pools around the world. The flagship product, Jessiko, is 22 cm long and can swim in a school of 10 or more robots, to create entertaining aquatic choreography and light effects.

Mimic Robotics | hong kong

We focus on teach programmable automation robots. Program a robot in seconds without learning complex software.

Origami Robotics | usa

Makers of Romibo, an engaging little robot used in autism therapy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TM64bLzyuY

Robotics Technologies of Tennessee | usa

Developer of mobile robotic manufacturing platforms supporting field fabrication and inspection. Our systems enable fabrication applications like welding, cutting, gouging and other surface preparation applications.

The Educated Robot | usa

The Educated Robot is dedicated to providing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) opportunities to students by providing hands-on learning with robotics. We design fun and educational robotics oriented kits and the corresponding curriculum that make learning science and math fun.

CAST YOUR VOTE FOR “PEOPLE’S CHOICE”

VOTING CLOSES ON TUESDAY MAY 6 AT 6PM [PDT]

For the next three weeks, Robohub readers can vote for the “People’s Choice” startup from the Robot Launch competition. Each week, we’re going to publish 10 videos from our Top 30 and during our live final on May 20, you can vote for the ultimate “People’s Choice” winner. This week’s videos (in alphabetic order) are:

3DOF Robotics | australia

3DOF Robotics have a VTOL aerial vehicle capable of shared autonomy for inspection of vertical structures difficult or dangerous for human inspection.

Avidbots | canada

Avidbots is automating the most labor and time-intensive portion of commercial floor cleaning. This automation will make commercial floor cleaning more efficient and cost-effective than ever before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv7KWr01NTo

Cloudy Robotics | canada

Cloudy Robotics aims to build a cloud platform for consumer robotics. Much like cloud platform solutions are becoming available for the Internet of Things (i.e. Xively, Thingworx and Carriots) robotics needs an open platform for its specific needs like real-time telepresence control, offloaded processing and code updates.

DoBots | the netherlands

DoBots builds services for groups of robots. Our software allows the robots to coordinate and cooperate and report their progress to human supervisors. The first service that will be commercially deployed is a coordination service for robots that are cleaning a supermarket.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2QYfEPpGa8

Erle Robotics | spain

At Erle Robotics we are designing the first open, low cost Personal Drone, the next generation of flying computers that will be used to teach, learn and research about flying robots.

Jammster | usa

In the US alone, over 140,000 quadriplegics require the constant attention of expensive in-home caregivers. Our mission is to create an affordable mobile robotic assistant that will provide these people with greater independence and an improved quality of life. We have a prototype, called Jammster, that consists of a dual-arm human friendly robot that has been mounted on a mobile base.

Mighty Mount | usa

Although technology has allowed advances in video recording devices, the technology enabling more advanced camera mounts has been lagging. The solution is an automated camera mount that records moving objects for you, be it yourself or your friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaz003F6Jrs

Odd I/O (Wigl) | usa

Wigl is an educational interactive robot with a musical ear (developed right here in Portland). The idea is that Wigl can “hear” notes and responds with different movements (and dances). My goal is to have children enjoy the positive physical feedback that they receive while playing an instrument (e.g. a recorder) and make a connection with a toy that fully appreciates their musical talents!

RoboTar | usa

RoboTar is the first Portable robotic chord hand for guitar. It is a device paired with software running in a laptop or Android device to play guitar using only a one hand to strum or pick and a foot pedal or single push button to change chords.

Tandemech Engineering | usa

Tandemech Engineering is a California-based robotics startup, focusing on wall-climbing robotic platforms. The technology we have developed has allowed our proof-of-concept to outperform any wall-climber ever developed. We hope to continue to adapt our technology into vehicles to deploy testing, inspection, and potentially even manufacturing equipment into places that have previously been prohibitive to access.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLmMCTVpFqk

CAST YOUR VOTE FOR “PEOPLE’S CHOICE”

(ok, voting is getting a little crazy so this is a new more robust poll – old votes still count and we’re also going to give favorable weight to positive comments for startups left in the comments section below the poll)

VOTING CLOSES ON TUESDAY APRIL 29 AT 6PM [PDT]

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

• Robot Launch 2014: Announcing the top 30
• Loving your #startup to death
• Introducing the Cybathlon
• Flying Donkey Challenge announces 33 entrants for first subchallenge
• € 7M EuRoC competition opens call to ignite EU manufacturing industry
• Minesweepers: Towards a landmine-free world

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.

We had a some amazing entries in Robot Launch 2014 across a wide range of fields, and not all of our favorites made it through to the Top 30. So we’d like to share some highlights of the First Round robot startups.

Seeburger Robotics and Design have created a humanoid robot with 3D printed parts that integrates with smartphones and has many applications. Their robot will be selling this summer in Europe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=X5W31SWBKUw

Qoltics is a Mexican startup focussed on improving quality of life for people with disabilities. Qoltics’ first product is a robot named HelloSpoon – an affordable robot that looks like a baby elephant, and which helps to make meal times happy and fun for kids with upper limb difficulties and special needs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lMZe0Vdpng

Quadplane is a Silicon Valley based startup that is developing a hybrid multirotor/fixed wing airframe to be used as a VTOL UAV. The end result will be a platform that is as mechanically simple as a quadrotor, while providing many of the benefits of a fixed wing aircraft such as speed, range and endurance. Their design requires no control surfaces, and is much more resistant to crosswinds than tail sitters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpoySoRj7qw

Robocoding is a German startup that aims to bring a robot to every school and university around the world. “Computer programming has become so essential that we want everyone to have access to learn it in the most fun and interactive way. Institutions who can’t simply afford the platform, we will provide with a online service, where the students can program the robots in our lab.” [robocoding.com]

Runfun is a German startup that has developed a robotic running coach called RUFUS, which helps runners to optimize their training, improve their performance, and avoid overstraining. RUFUS is an automatically guided outdoor vehicle that drives ahead of the runner like a pacesetter. It measures the runner’s heart rate, and sets its own velocity such that the runner’s heart rate stays within a healthy interval.

Domedica is a young mechatronic development company from the Netherlands that has developed a low-cost, high functionality two-fingered robotic gripper. This development was driven by the need for low-cost service and personal care robots, which require low-cost manipulators.

FuVeX is a Spanish startup developing a new concept of helicopter, HeliKar. The process will involved two unmanned vehicles and will be finished with the third manned one, HeliKar, with capacity for 4 people.

NBE (or Non Biological Entity) is a team from Pakistan that is building an open source, low-cost, feature packed Robotics and Vision Lab on Wheels.

Rapid Robot Prototyping (R2P) is an open source hardware and software framework aiming at reducing time and effort needed to develop real robotic systems.

The development of complex robotic systems requires multiple skills and quite a high initial investment; with R2P, robots can be implemented by assembling low-cost, open source, off-the-shelf components, easily programming their interaction without the need for domain-specific knowledge in electronics and low-level control. R2P combines a simple programming model and high performance hardware modules, enabling companies, research labs, students, and enthusiasts, to easily develop novel robotic applications.

Wearable Robotics, a university spin-off in Pisa, Italy, commercializes wearable exoskeletons for human power assistance, like rehabilitation material handling purposes. Key factors are our lab’s 20+years experience in exoskeletons, simplicity, lightness and low-cost of our devices, and an hybrid actuation system recently patented with benefits in terms of energy consumptions, simplified control and safety for the users.

Project Omega is a Swiss startup that makes fast unmanned ground vehicles that can transport heavy stuff in very rough terrain and places dangerous for humans.

Gleipnir Robotics’ unique and innovative grasp planner operates on polygon soup meshes and is able to synthesize human-like power grasps. As the grasp planner does not require complex preprocessing such as shape segmentation and medial axis computation, it is particularly suitable for the fast computation of grasps in the context of human-robot interaction and interactive synthetic characters.

TREx (Teleoperated Robotic Exomorph) is currently being prototyped in Canada. An all electric, tetherless quadruped robot weighing approximately 4kg, 35cm high at the shoulder, and can run at 7km/h. A common robotic skeleton can be overlaid with different exterior soft shells to make different small animals such as teddy bear, cat or rabbit. Software behaviours can be loaded to mimic each of the exterior looks. Completed assemblies can be sold as high end toys for various ages, or skeleton with basic locomotion software can be made available to academic institutions to develop advanced software algorithms.

Next week, we’ll start voting for Robohub Reader favourites – stay tuned!

Are you ready to find out who the semifinalists are in our first Robot Launch global startup competition for robotics? With 76 applications from 19 different countries, and entries covering industrial, service and consumer robotics, it’s clear that robotics is entering a period of strong growth. The judges did not have an easy job, but here are the TOP 30!

(in alphabetical order)

• Abracadabra Robotics
• Aisoy
• Avidbots
• Axon Robotics
• Caspian Robotics
• Cloudy Robotics
• Connected Robotics
• Cubotix
• DoBots
• Duct Inspection Robot
• E2U Robotics
• Erle Robotics
• GimBall
• INF Robotics
• Inkyu
• Jammster
• Jessiko Robot Fish
• Leka
• Mighty Mount
• Mimic Robotics
• Modular Science
• Octopus Robotics
• Origami Robotics
• Odd I/O
• Plug and Wear
• RoboTar
• Robotic Technologies of Tennessee
• Sproutel
• Tandemech Engineering
• The Educated Robot

All the judge’s scores were totaled and the 30 startups with the highest cumulative scores have progressed. All the startups in the Top 30 are eligible for awards, with the top 8 going through to a live online final judging event. Over the next few weeks, we’re going to feature all of the Top 30 with a poll, so that Robohub readers can vote for the ‘Robohub Readers Award’.

Next week we’re going to revisit some of our first round favorites – startups that really impressed us for a whole range of reasons but sadly didn’t move forward at this time.

A very big thank you to our judges who gave up their whole weekend (or longer) out of a belief in the potential of the robotics community. Bringing their expertise to the Robot Launch competition were representatives of several major VC and investment firms, engineering consultants, designers, IP lawyers, specialists in enterprise technology, crowdfunding and robotics, including several successful robotics entrepreneurs.

ENTER HERE

IMPORTANT DATES

• Round One closes Mar 30 midnight (PST)
• Top 30 announced April 10
• Finalists announced April 30
• Final Showcase (TBC) May 20

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#robotlaunch

So far, the geographical leaderboard looks like this:

• USA – 12
• * California (7 of the 12 US startups)
• Australia – 3
• Germany – 3
• India – 2
• Spain – 2
• Switzerland – 2
• France – 2
• Bulagaria – 1
• Canada – 1
• Egypt – 1
• Denmark – 1
• Holland – 1
• Hong Kong – 1
• Israel – 1
• Mexico – 1
• Sweden – 1
• Turkey – 1

What sort of robots will come from such diverse backgrounds? That’s something we look forward to finding out when the judging starts on March 31, and we’ll post more in depth coverage of the semifinalist startups to Robohub. We can already see that there is a range in verticals, with service robotics well represented alongside hobby, educational and industrial robotics.

Robohub and Silicon Valley Robotics are joined by many exceptional mentors and judges for this competition and we’d like to thank: Indiegogo, WilmerHale, Grishin Robotics, Bosch Ventures, Lemnos Labs, Robolution Capital, Luxr, Lux Capital, OATV, Khosla Ventures, Haxlr8r, and O’Reilly’s Solid conference.

ENTER COMPETITION HERE

Robot Launch 2014 is open to any robot startup pre/partial Series A, from anywhere in the world. We’re looking for startups with prototypes and business models. But we’re also interested in any great robot startup idea … it could be a robot or an autonomous mobile manipulator … an appliance or connected device … or a sensor, actuator or even AI that makes robots better.

We will be keeping everyone up-to-date and posting more information about the judges, competitors and awards right here, so stay tuned for more dedicated coverage on Robohub!

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

• What does it take to get from imagination to market?
• Loving your #startup to death
• Announcing the new Drone Social Innovation Award
• Flying Donkey Challenge announces 33 entrants in first subchallenge

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Crowdfunding is not new of course. The principles of crowdfunding are extensions of existing cultural practices. In 1720, the author Jonathon Swift created a low income loan scheme in Ireland that at peak was used by approximately 20% of the population. Dr Mohamed Yunus launched a microfinance program in Bangladesh in 1976 that became the Grameen Bank. The Grameen Bank now has more than 8 million borrowers, primarily women. You can call it a systematic approach to ‘small, short and unsecured’ loans, and the internet has made microfinance possible on a whole new level. Although artist-oriented crowdfunding sites started as early as 1997, Indiegogo was one of the first of the massively popular crowdfunding sites that came after 2006, when coincidentally, Dr Yunus won a Nobel Prize for the Grameen Bank.

ENTER HERE

IMPORTANT DATES

• Round One closes Mar 30 midnight (PST)
• Top 30 announced April 10
• Finalists announced April 30
• Final Showcase (TBC) May 20

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#robotlaunch

Today, Indiegogo is partnering with Silicon Valley Robotics and Robohub to bring you Robot Launch 2014, the first global online startup competition for robotics. Robotics is still an emerging industry and Robot Launch 2014 is a way of bringing together early-stage startups to receive top quality mentoring and other assistance. One of the awards will be for the most popular startup and one of the rewards will be assistance with an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign.

As Kate Drane, Indiegogo’s hardware lead says, it’s all about giving people access to funds and resources that are out there, creating community and empowering people to do things for themselves. Indiegogo ran their first hardware startup workshop recently, have an hardware entrepreneur in residence and are building up a library of resources to help crowdfunding campaigns for hardware and robotics startups. Sadly fewer than 50% of campaigns meet their targets – but as platforms take a % of your campaign funds, it’s in their best interests to help you become successful.

Indiegogo is carving out a niche as a supporter of hardware projects and not just creative endeavors. In some respects this seems to be a riskier business – you have to trust that at the end of 6 months or a year, the project that you funded will  go from imagination to product, and become a solid, working reality. Producing new, real devices that work as claimed and don’t cost significantly more than projected is not easy. However, compared to, say, a new band producing a CD where the physical object may be easier to create, the risk is still as great in part because the final result is still going to be unknown.

That’s where story telling is important. How well can you explain your vision to the rest of the world and capture their imagination? Robot Launchpad has collected some good resources for storytelling. There are templates for a pitch deck and a one-page investor summary. There’s also a link to Nathan Gold, the DEMO coach and now Kauffman NEXT coach, and David Rose’s TED talk. I really believe that telling the right story is the secret to creating a good product.

Read more answers →

So how do you get from imagination to market? Here’s what our experts have to say …

The world may be a harsh critic, but most good ideas die because they are given too much love. If you’ve got a startup or project, you’re probably loving it to death right now, and your friends and family are supporting you in this too. But the more time you spend working on your project, the more likely you are to kill it. And this is exactly why you should enter Robot Launch 2014.

#perceptionfail

Something I hear myself say, and I also hear it from startups all the time, is: “I just need to fix this so that you can understand my idea.” Usually followed by some variation of: “You just don’t understand the vision!” As if it’s #perceptionfail on the part of the audience. It’s always a good idea at this point to take a step backwards and recognize that we’re learning valuable lessons here. Criticism is our real best friend. And yet we still #perceptionfail most of the time.

But if we ever get past the idea that our critic is a complete idiot who just doesn’t get it, or worse, is just trying to mess with us, then we’ll usually fall back to blaming #techfail or #communicationfail. And we’ll do it in the order in which we see the best chance for a solution. For most of us that means #techfail is to blame. Because #techfail is something we enjoy fixing.

#techfail

Sometimes there is tech risk in a project that demands a lot of time building and fixing. The flip side of this risk is building something that no-one else wants at the end of the long and expensive process. Sometimes, we are just more comfortable fixing things: who doesn’t like sitting in their own workspace, stringing bits or soldering bots?

But if someone wants to take their idea from working in the lab to working in the real world, the sooner you test real interest the better. That means engaging deeply with your potential users. It’s rare that an idea is meant solely for the use of people that we already know. But many of us just aren’t comfortable engaging with people we don’t know. So we don’t do it. That’s when we need to find a team with complementary skills, otherwise #techfail turns into #teamfail.

#teamfail

There are some domains where we know what we know and we know what we don’t know. There are other domains where we just don’t have a clue. Unknown unknowns. Unfortunately #teamfail often happens when a startup doesn’t see the need for communicators on their team. Or they don’t value them highly. They just freelance a writer or videographer to polish things up for their crowd funding campaign. Usually that ends in #crowdfundfail, which is blamed on the bad marketing team or on #communicationfail.

#communicationfail

You can’t polish a pig. #communicationfail is when you don’t have a story to tell. Not story as in ‘fiction’. Story as product/market fit, i.e.: “Here are 100 people who have already paid money for the first versions of our product, and this is why they really really like it.” At this point, the circular logic starts. How can I market something that isn’t built? How can I build something that doesn’t have a market? How can I tell if there’s a market when there’s nothing to show yet?

The secret of startup success is being the fastest to find out if people actually like what you’re building. Before you build too much. It’s called ‘getting out of the building’. It’s not easy. It’s not comfortable. There are reasons why people make a lot of mistakes doing it and lots of reasons why there are experts writing books about it. Are we listening? #communicationfail.

***

Grandma said “You’ve got two ears and one mouth for a reason”. We need to do less telling and more listening in the early startup stage. And still be ok with hearing a lot of people saying no to our idea. Hating on every part of it. Because if we can’t find other advocates for our ideas out in the wild, then they are never ever going to leave home and eventually we’re just going to smother them with love. And in the end, that’s the only #fail.

So ah … just go ahead and enter Robot Launch 2014  #robotlaunch :)

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

• Robot Launch 2014: The first global startup competition for robotics is here!
• Announcing the new Drone Social Innovation Award
• Flying Donkey Challenge – entries close Feb 28th

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.

We were really excited to see so many entries in the first days of Robot Launch 2014. What most people don’t realize is that you can enter the startup competition immediately but still keep updating your answers until the March 30 deadline. The only part of your entry that is public is your abstract and team bio. And that’s where the early birds will catch the ‘worm’ – getting extra attention for their startups and maybe also getting a head start for the ‘most popular’ startup award. We’ll be announcing more information about awards and judging over the next few weeks.

There is already a strong range in our entries, both in terms of robotics verticals and the geographic location of teams, which range from Australia, India, Mexico, the USA and France. Service robotics is well represented and also hobby and industrial robotics. Stay posted for interviews with our amazing judges and mentors about what they are looking for in a robotics startup, like today’s full interview with Valery Kommissarova from Grishin Robotics. Grishin Robotics guarantees priority consideration to the finalists and one hour of personal mentoring with a selected startup.

“As one of the few focused investors in the robotics field, we are always looking for opportunities to partner with organizations and projects, aimed on fostering the hardware entrepreneurship. This robotics startup competition is a great idea, which should help many promising startups to get much needed additional exposure as well as, hopefully, establish plenty of useful connections. We look forward to learn more about the contestants and help winners to build strong business out of their ideas,” says Kommissarova.

Plus, we are still adding mentors and awards to what’s on offer for robot startups. Top quality mentoring from investors and leaders in the field is an incredible advantage for an early stage startup – so get your entry in… early!

Ready, set, launch! Is your prototype the next breakthrough in home robotics? Or are you developing a smart device, sensor, component or software that will help build the robots of the tomorrow? Robohub is partnering with the tech cluster Silicon Valley Robotics to launch the first global startup competition dedicated to robotics. So show us your stuff!

Robot Launch 2014 is open to any robot startup pre/partial Series A, from anywhere in the world. We’re looking for startups with prototypes and business models. But we’re also interested in any great robot startup idea … it could be a robot or an autonomous mobile manipulator … an appliance or connected device … or a sensor, actuator or even AI that makes robots better.

Prizes include money, mentoring, meetings and free legal and startup services from our supporting organizations, including Silicon Valley Robotics, Indiegogo, WilmerHale, Grishin Robotics, Bosch Ventures, Lemnos Labs, Robolution Capital, Luxr, a showcase at O’Reilly’s Solid conference and media coverage by Robohub.

Our goal with this competition is to help you get in front of investors early and increase your chances of getting funding. So don’t wait to enter – the sooner you do, the more likely your project is to be featured on Robohub and catch the attention of judges and investors. The competition is open as of today and runs until midnight PST on March 30, 2014.

In Round One, a 60-second video is optional, but all Top 30 and Finalists will be asked to prepare a 2 minute pitch video. Competition finals will be judged live on video and published on Robohub. Pitch deck templates and other startup resources are available at Robot Launchpad — but remember, DO NOT disclose confidential information.

We will be keeping everyone up-to-date and posting more information about the judges, competitors and awards right here, so stay tuned for more dedicated coverage on Robohub!

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

• Announcing the new Drone Social Innovation Award
• Flying Donkey Challenge – entries close Feb 28th

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.