We all know that robots are the gateway to STEM education, so what’s not to love about getting 4 robots in a box, complete with lessons preloaded on a tablet. As both the US and UK undergo core curricula changes to better reflect the changing workforce and education needs, the market potential for robotics in education grows. As well as workng in the consumer and cloud robotics space, Elad Inbar is the CEO of RobotsLab, a new educational robotics company, who launched their “BOX” of robots today at the TCEA education convention in Austin TX.

The BOX contains 4 robots; AR.Drone, Sphero, Armbot and Mobot; that demonstrate core concepts in algebra, physics, geometry, trigonometry and calculus. The BOX also contains accessories and a tablet preloaded with 50 lessons, all thoroughly tested by an expert teacher panel in classrooms prior to the launch.

“You can open the box, turn-on the preloaded tablet and within minutes explain quadratic equations with a Quadcopter” explains Prof. Peter Stone, UT Austin. “You don’t need to be experienced with robotics or have a degree in computer science, just an enthusiasm for your subject area.”

I have seen quite a few robot startups entering trying to enter the education sector recently, but few have the strategies or resources to tackle the incumbents, like Lego. One problem for the sector is the lack of market data specific to robotics. Robotics statistics agencies like IFR don’t seem to offer useful figures specific to this vertical and market leaders in the education space don’t share their data. New and emerging companies face an uphill battle gaining initial investors as they move from the research and prototype stage (usually supported by universities) into the commercialization stage. At the same time, they have to learn how to crack the tough customer nut that is the education system. Still if robotics can sell into defence and health, then education is achievable. And presumably, once you’ve broken into the market, you gain a lot of traction as an incumbent.

I interviewed Elad Inbar about robot startups entering the education sector:

[Elad Inbar] “The IFR (International Federation of Robotics) does not provide data about this market in this level of granularity and most of the companies don’t really share data about their sales, it is hard to figure out the actual value. Based on my experience in the educational robotics market in the past 4 years and our understanding of the market, I can say that the market (hardware sales – including robotic kits from DIY, VEX and LEGO, over to all kinds of robotic arms and similar robots and all the way to advanced robots for research such as NAO, Q.bo and DARwIn) is roughly $50-60 million\year. If you include services such as training, courses, development, after hour classes, etc. then the number will go up to roughly $150-200\year.

To me, the market has not yet reached even 10% of its potential, as educational robotics are mainly focused on computer science, robotics, artificial intelligence and such. There are many other niches in the education that can definitely benefit from robotics – such as our product that teaches Algebra, Geometry and science.”

[Elad Inbar] “We want to bring this unique experience to every school, we crafted state-of-the-art lessons that teachers and students love, and created an aggressive pricing and warranty, ensuring that every school will be able to get this revolutionary teaching-aid tool.”

[Andra Keay] And what differentiates you from other products in the area?”

“[Elad Inbar] All the educational robotics lessons are focused around computer science, robotics (building or programming), artificial intelligence and similar advanced topics. However, if students don’t understand the basics of math, they won’t be able to handle any advanced topic. No other product is using robotics to teach Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry and Calculus that are the foundation for SLAM (Simultaneous localization and mapping) as an example.

We believe that the BOX and its lessons (apps) can make the difference for so many students who are struggling with the basics of STEM.”

I interviewed Elad Inbar, CEO of the RobotAppStore, just before the announcement that Grishin Robotics was investing $250,000 in this cloud robotics market play.

For Grishin Robotics, the future is in the clouds. Grishin Robotics are investing $250,000 into RobotAppStore, an online marketplace for robotics applications. It seems that Grishin is betting on the robotics industry following the same patterns as the smartphone or personal computing industry. But can robotics be compared to either personal computing or smartphones, given the lack of a unified robotic platform or even a common robotic function?

Elad Inbar, the founder of RobotAppStore believes that we are seeing the same sort of convergence in robotics as happened in the mobile phone industry. In the early days of the phone industry, developers used to have to build a different ring tone for every single model of phone, even phones from the same company. This convergence in robotics owes a lot to the development of ROS and the increasing use of COTS or common technologies.

RobotAppStore and Grishin Robotics also have infographics on robot apps and cloud robotics.

Read more from our Startup Series.

For Grishin Robotics, the future is in the clouds.

Grishin Robotics are investing $250,000 into RobotAppStore, an online marketplace for robotics applications. It seems that Grishin is betting on the robotics industry following the same patterns as the smartphone or personal computing industry. But can robotics be compared to either personal computing or smartphones, given the lack of a unified robotic platform or even a common robotic function?

Elad Inbar, the founder of RobotAppStore believes that we are seeing the same sort of convergence in robotics as happened in the mobile phone industry. In the early days of the phone industry, developers used to have to build a different ring tone for every single model of phone, even phones from the same company. This convergence in robotics owes a lot to the development of ROS and the increasing use of COTS or common technologies.

Since opening in 2011 in San Francisco, Elad and RobotAppStore have built up an inventory of hundreds of apps for dozens of different robots, from the Roomba vacuum cleaners, to Spheros, AR Drone quadcopters and humanoids like the Aldebaran Nao robots. The apps range from the entertaining, like a Roomba delivering a birthday cake and singing “Happy Birthday”, to the eminently practical, like an app giving an early overheating warning for the Nao.

The market feedback is that consumers who purchase one robot app, go on to purchase all the available apps for their robot. Inbar also finds that many people who contact the RobotAppStore don’t have a robot yet, but see the AppStore as a gateway to learning more about robots, so he’s launched Robopedia, a ‘wikipedia for robots’. Another way that Inbar is building the ecosystem of cloud robotics is by providing support for robot app developers, creating documentation to help developers make a career out of writing software for robots.

The personal robotics market is a rapidly growing industry – estimated by ABI research to hit the $18 billion mark in 2015. According to RobotAppStore estimates, based on figures provided by UNECE, IFR, ABI Research and BCC Research, more than 30 million programmable robots have been sold to date.

“Robotics is a combination of good hardware and software – thus, the important role of a project like the RobotAppStore in the market ecosystem is unquestionable. The concept of ‘Cloud robotics’, which implies ability of all robots to connect to the internet, share a common knowledge database and seamlessly upgrade their functions in real-time, is a soon-to-be future; one reminiscent of the of personal computer industry. We believe that the strong team behind RobotAppStore coupled with their ability to leverage the advantages of having strong community already built around the product, can make this future closer”, said Dmitry Grishin, founder of Grishin Robotics, Co-Founder & CEO of Mail.Ru Group.

“The support provided by Grishin Robotics is a great vote of confidence in our plans for the company,” said Elad Inbar, Founder & CEO of RobotAppStore. “It shows their belief in our vision and the importance of the marketplace for robotics applications. The robotics industry has reached its tipping-point with broad market acceptance, usability of robots, and the ability to extend the robots’ capabilities. Being a part of Grishin Robotics’ portfolio provides high synergy with other robotics companies and better resource utilization. We are excited to use this funding to secure our place as THE market-leader of the consumer and educational robot-apps industry. I would like to thank our community of developers, and invite awesome and creative developers to join us!”

I interviewed Elad Inbar, founder of RobotAp Store, for the Robot Startup Series, where he speaks in more depth about Grishin’s investment in RobotAppStore and the synergy of their vision of cloud robotics.

For Grishin Robotics, the future is in the clouds.

Grishin Robotics are investing $250,000 into RobotAppStore, an online marketplace for robotics applications. It seems that Grishin is betting on the robotics industry following the same patterns as the smartphone or personal computing industry. But can robotics be compared to either personal computing or smartphones, given the lack of a unified robotic platform or even a common robotic function?

Elad Inbar, the founder of RobotAppStore believes that we are seeing the same sort of convergence in robotics as happened in the mobile phone industry. In the early days of the phone industry, developers used to have to build a different ring tone for every single model of phone, even phones from the same company. This convergence in robotics owes a lot to the development of ROS and the increasing use of COTS or common technologies.

Since opening in 2011 in San Francisco, Elad and RobotAppStore have built up an inventory of hundreds of apps for dozens of different robots, from the Roomba vacuum cleaners, to Spheros, AR Drone quadcopters and humanoids like the Aldebaran Nao robots. The apps range from the entertaining, like a Roomba delivering a birthday cake and singing “Happy Birthday”, to the eminently practical, like an app giving an early overheating warning for the Nao.

The market feedback is that consumers who purchase one robot app, go on to purchase all the available apps for their robot. Inbar also finds that many people who contact the RobotAppStore don’t have a robot yet, but see the AppStore as a gateway to learning more about robots, so he’s launched Robopedia, a ‘wikipedia for robots’. Another way that Inbar is building the ecosystem of cloud robotics is by providing support for robot app developers, creating documentation to help developers make a career out of writing software for robots.

The personal robotics market is a rapidly growing industry – estimated by ABI research to hit the $18 billion mark in 2015. According to RobotAppStore estimates, based on figures provided by UNECE, IFR, ABI Research and BCC Research, more than 30 million programmable robots have been sold to date.

“Robotics is a combination of good hardware and software – thus, the important role of a project like the RobotAppStore in the market ecosystem is unquestionable. The concept of ‘Cloud robotics’, which implies ability of all robots to connect to the internet, share a common knowledge database and seamlessly upgrade their functions in real-time, is a soon-to-be future; one reminiscent of the of personal computer industry. We believe that the strong team behind RobotAppStore coupled with their ability to leverage the advantages of having strong community already built around the product, can make this future closer”, said Dmitry Grishin, founder of Grishin Robotics, Co-Founder & CEO of Mail.Ru Group.

“The support provided by Grishin Robotics is a great vote of confidence in our plans for the company,” said Elad Inbar, Founder & CEO of RobotAppStore. “It shows their belief in our vision and the importance of the marketplace for robotics applications. The robotics industry has reached its tipping-point with broad market acceptance, usability of robots, and the ability to extend the robots’ capabilities. Being a part of Grishin Robotics’ portfolio provides high synergy with other robotics companies and better resource utilization. We are excited to use this funding to secure our place as THE market-leader of the consumer and educational robot-apps industry. I would like to thank our community of developers, and invite awesome and creative developers to join us!”

I interviewed Elad Inbar, founder of RobotAp Store, for the Robot Startup Series, where he speaks in more depth about Grishin’s investment in RobotAppStore and the synergy of their vision of cloud robotics.