I’m from an artsy background: I actively avoided math in college and know just enough about tools to change a tire or assemble an Ikea bookcase. Yet, today, I operated a robot, one equipped with a revolutionary grasping technology that solves one of the most critical problems in robotics today – how to pick things up gently and purposefully like the human hand does. As an Executive Assistant, I didn’t expect to be operating robots, but such is the crazy, welcoming, and boundary-pushing nature of Soft Robotics. I learned, and we invite you to come in and do the same.
But first, did you know that those robots that we see in the Svedka commercials, etc., the ones with the perfectly articulated fingers, don’t exist yet on a mass scale? I used to assume that all warehouses and factories were filled with robots picking things up and putting them down, but that’s not the case. It’s very difficult to create a grasping technology that is accurate, effective, efficient, and affordable. It’s even more rare to find one that doesn’t have to be programmed to address each new type of object that may come down the conveyor belt at your standard e-commerce warehouse. Rare, as in it hasn’t been done yet, until Soft Robotics, Inc.
Thanks to a status-quo shattering breakthrough by Dr. George Whitesides’ Harvard lab, Soft Robotics demolishes these challenges with style and ease. The characteristic bright blue, puffy fingers of our grippers solved the human hand problem by mimicking something else entirely- the octopus. Using groundbreaking material science, these grippers can check boxes for gentleness, natural adaptability, affordability, and ease of use. This is explosive for warehouses, but it also translates into robots one day picking up things in your home. Because of our grippers, this future is closer than ever, and we want to share it with you.
Come see robotics history in the making as we open our doors to the public through NewCo Boston. NewCo is a two-day festival that invites participants to spend an hour with some of Boston’s most exciting companies. During our time slot, I’d like to show you what makes us special and introduce you to some of the brilliant people that make it so inspiring to work here. Come play with our grippers, see commercial applications firsthand, and even take a peek at our new project, an AI driven, robot-human alliance that represents the future of warehouses everywhere.
To sign up, visit NewCo Boston for tickets. They offer student and member discounts, and your ticket opens the doors to over seventy interesting companies. Soft Robotics will be hosting on April 12th from 10:30 am- 11:30 am; we look forward to seeing you there!
