Kitchener’s Clearpath Robotics, provider of self-driving vehicle technology and services, was named a Silver Winner for their OTTO 1500 self-driving vehicle by the  Edison Awards.

The award program celebrates 29 years of honoring the best in innovation and excellence in the development of new products and services.

The announcement was made at an annual award gala on April 21 at The Capitale in New York City.

“The OTTO self-driving vehicles leverage new technologies to enable factory operators with a more cost-effective, safe, and efficient method of moving materials in their facilities. We’re thrilled to be named a winner and to see that the Edison Awards recognizes the potential of our OTTO solution,” said Simon Drexler, Director of Industrial Solutions at Clearpath.

The ballot of nominees for the Edison Awards was judged by a panel of 3,000 business executives including past winners and academics.

“Our judges recognized the OTTO 1500 self-driving vehicle as a true innovation out of the many products in its category,” said Frank Bonafilia, Executive Director of the Edison Awards.

The awards are named after Thomas Edison.

Clearpath Robotics this week announced its first self-driving warehouse robot: Otto.

The announcement was made at RoboBusiness 2015 in California. 

Modern factories and warehouses need to be reconfigurable, responsive, and efficient to survive. Designed to address these conditions, Otto uses the same underlying self-driving technology popularized by the Google self-driving car. 

Otto does not rely on external infrastructure for navigation, making implementation hassle-free and highly scalable, according to the Kitchener-based startup.  It can transport 3,300-pound loads at speeds up to 4.5 miles per hour while tracking along optimal paths and safely avoiding collisions.

 

 

“Traditional automation is saturating.  But what about the more complex tasks too difficult or expensive to automate?” asks Matt Rendall, CEO of Clearpath Robotics.

GE has collaborated with Clearpath on service robot development since 2013 and recently became one of Clearpath’s first Otto customers. GE Ventures has become a strategic investor in the company for an undisclosed sum.

“We believe robotics will drastically improve the industries that GE serves,” said Ralph Taylor-Smith, Managing Director of GE Ventures.

 

Kitchener’s Clearpath Robotics announced today it has raised a $14 million Series A financing round led by RRE Ventures with participation from iNovia Capital.

With this first round of institutional investment, the company “dedicated to automating the world’s dullest, dirtiest and deadliest jobs with intelligent service robots” will expand its robotics portfolio from autonomous vehicles that traverse air, water and rugged terrain to more industrial applications.

“Throughout history, people have turned to technology to improve our quality of life, and that has always been Clearpath’s goal. We believe in using service robots to make the world a better place,” said Clearpath CEO and co-founder Matt Rendall. “With this funding, we will produce intelligent industrial robots to do the jobs that humans shouldn’t do.”

RELATED: Clearpath Named Among Most Influential Robotics Companies in World

McKinsey & Co. estimates that the application of advanced robotics across healthcare, manufacturing, and services could generate a potential economic impact of $1.7 trillion to $4.5 trillion per year by 2025, and the use of advanced robots for industrial and service tasks will match the output of 40 million to 75 million full-time workers.

Businesses in developing economies will be among the biggest buyers based on the current rate of automation, but the ability of robots to be more productive at lower costs will also enable North American businesses to draw more manufacturing back onshore because they would no longer have to chase cheap labor, while also providing jobs to domestic workers in developing, servicing, or working with the robots.

“Robots are changing the way industrial work gets done,” Ellman said. “Organizations are realizing that automating dull and dangerous work is not only the right choice for workers, it’s also more efficient and saves money. Clearpath has the vision, talent and track record to lead the service robotics industry.”

Founded in 2011, Clearpath is already established and profitable.

Known for being the first robotics company to join the Campaign To Stop Killer Robots, Clearpath will now extend its ethical robotics philosophy to factory floors to do more dull, dirty and dangerous jobs that people shouldn’t do.