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Designing for the Robots as a Service Model
The robots as a service, or RaaS, business model is alive and well as a way of conserving upfront capital.To get more news about Robotics as a Service, you can visit glprobotics.com official website.
With the explosive growth in cloud-based storage, computing, and commerce, SaaS (software as a service) business models are already a fact of life in business.
The advantages are many, including more predictable costs, less upfront capital outlay and in many cases, easier and less costly deployment and maintenance and support costs.
Providers of SaaS solutions offer management, analytical, and other data-related services along with the base level services provided.
The robotics industry is no exception, with a number of companies also offering RaaS business models. From drones to perform surveys for agriculture and mobile telepresence robots used for security, to mobile robots for healthcare and more, many robotics suppliers are expanding their businesses.
Robots as a service enables them to lower the technical and financial barriers to implementation and deployment.
“The general trend among many technology providers is a long-term migration away from selling products to selling services beyond the usual incremental revenue from support, maintenance and upgrades charges,” said Dan Kara, practice director for robotics at research firm ABI Research. He will also be delivering a Market Forecast on the state of the robotics industry at RoboBusiness 2017.
“Services are recurrent revenue and are looked on favorably by both technology providers and the investment community,” he added. “Like the technology sector at large, suppliers of robotics technologies have adopted robotics-as-a-service business models, and this trend is accelerating.”For example, if the robot is mobile, you may want to include GPS/location tracking so that the provider can track (and perhaps monitor) the location of the robot, much like automotive companies track leased vehicles.
As the service provider is also likely going to be responsible for maintenance of the robot, monitoring the health of key components or subsystems of the robot will also likely be required. This requires communication capability back to the service provider.
In cases where uptime for the robot is a critical factor, or where access or repairs to a robot could be very expensive, designed-in redundancy for critical systems should also be considered where feasible.
Service providers can also enhance their offerings by providing metrics to help the client. For example, warehouse robots could be monitored for how and where inventory is being accessed within the warehouse, along with how long it takes to access the inventory.
This data could be used to optimize the location of higher-volume inventory within the warehouse, reducing access time and improving efficiency.
Robotics as a Service providers can take advantage of scalable cloud-based computing platforms to provide a wide range of computational power. By capturing and analyzing data gathered by robots in their environment, they can give valuable real-time insights into business operations. This cloud-based approach is viewed far more favorably by customers compared with purchasing hardware that they own and would need to maintain.
Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS) Business Models in the Market Today (2022 edition)
In this 2022 report on the Robot-as-a-Service landscape, we look at the diverse business models employed by different Robot-as-a-Service players in different market segments.To get more news about RaaS, you can visit glprobotics.com official website.
The top five segments for robot-as-a-service (RaaS) plays are delivery robots, cleaning robots, factory robots, warehouse robots and security robots. These are markets where there are clear existing cost models, such as performance fees, like pay-per-delivery fees, or hourly labor wages such as pay-per-hour wages for cleaners and security guards.These cost models serve as a competitive basis for robotics offerings to supersede and supplant. Can the total monthly operating cost of a security robot be lower or on par with their human counterparts, while providing superior and tireless surveillance and monitoring? Can delivery robots provide better reliability and shorten time of delivery through smart optimization to earn the same delivery fees or even reduce the fees?
RaaS Benefits. Robot as a service offers compelling benefits to both customers and robotics firms. Customers can immediately put these robots to production without hefty upfront expenses, freeing up capital for other projects. RaaS providers gain a sharp edge over CAPEX-based competitors in terms of customer acquisition, accelerate market share and strengthen their foothold onto the customers’ operations.
In other words, the RaaS strategy can help robotics companies acquire customers with higher success and at a faster pace.
RaaS is a moat. However, the underlying challenge is that RaaS companies require a higher startup capital vis-à-vis CAPEX-based built-to-order robotic firms. Yet, for companies that have implemented RaaS successfully, it is this exact challenge that creates a widening moat for competitors that lack the financial and operational wherewithall to run with this strategy.RaaS 101. Aside from research and development challenges, these are the some considerations that startups grapple with at the outset of their robotic ventures.
Target Market — Are we inventing a new service category or disrupting an existing one? Is the demand for our RaaS offering ripe, premature or soft? What is the size of the addressable market?
What are the legal liabilities and insurance requirements of operating a robot fleet? What are the regulatory limitations across countries, cities and jurisdictions? The different states in the U.S. are in various stages of approving PDD (Personal Delivery Devices) for sidewalk and on-road use in their legislation.
Financing — Do you raise investment or tap into debt financing? What are the initial robot production costs and the expansion costs for team and operations? How do we sustain negative cash flows in the initial months and for how long?
PILOTING IS ALWAYS NEEDED
Unfortunately, answers to the above are not easy to come by. Thus, most startups begin with a pilot or a trial to discover the answers.
"Consumer" Pilots — For consumer-oriented businesses, startups may need to work with supply partners such as a grocery chain or an e-commerce brand. For wide-area pilots, startups will need to identify suitable locations with friendly local authorities who would permit the deployment of the autonomous robots on the streets.
Founded in late 2018 by a leading roboticist, a software engineer, and a California farmer, Verdant has raised $21.5 million to develop the industry’s first multi-action, autonomous farm-robot capable of millimeter-accurate spraying, laser weeding, and AI-based digital crop modeling. Together with farming partners, Verdant uses these tools to deliver better outcomes: larger produce, greater yields and significant savings.
Verdant has already contracted to service approximately 40% of the U.S. carrot market exclusively for the next five years and is currently scaling to meet the needs of the U.S. multi-billion-dollar fruit and vegetable industry.
“Farmers told us not to give them more data, but to figure out what to do with the mountains of data they already have, or better yet just go do it,” said Gabe Sibley, PhD., co-founder and CEO, who brings more than 20 years of experience in geo-spatial computation and AI. “They want a complete solution that takes action in real-time and keeps farmers in control – all while improving profitability and automating dangerous, back-breaking field work.”
Investment into farm robotics as an enhancement to labor, profitability, and sustainability has been building for years. Agricultural robotic startups brought in $491 million in investment during the first half of 2021, a 40 percent increase over the same period in 2020, according to AgFunder, but to-date, actual on-farm robotics has mostly been on a trial basis.
Following successful large-scale roll-out over the past 18 months, Verdant logged thousands of hours in 2021 and is already proven on multiple crops. “Today, Verdant machines are in the field all-day, every-day helping farmers achieve superhuman efficacy,” said Sibley.
Combining multiple technologies, the company’s 6-row and 12-row commercial implements can treat up to 4.2 acres per hour, achieving a higher weed-removal rate per acre than other technology or human ability, and reducing chemical usage by up to 95 percent. Simultaneously, its autonomous software system collects data and uses machine learning capabilities to optimize yield and growing outcomes, ultimately unlocking new revenues to help farmers reach profitability and sustainability goals.
“Verdant Robotics’ ability to digitize the farm enables precision technology at a level never before possible for specialty crops, removing the choice between environmental stewardship and profitability,” said Cannon Michael, a sixth-generation California farmer and CEO of Bowles Farming Company. “With the unique combination of automation and insight, farmers can collectively manage precious resources – like water – while maintaining or improving yields.”Verdant’s computational robotic and autonomous software systems combine decades of advancements in scientific fields – including computer vision, artificial intelligence, robotics, GPS-denied navigation, chemistry, and soil and plant sciences – to achieve the next generation of crop production.
Verdant’s platform stands apart due to its integrated software and hardware that is applicable across a variety of high value crops,” said Steve Jurvetson, co-founder of Future Ventures and early investor into Verdant Robotics. “Drawing on expertise from Google X, NASA and several autonomous vehicle companies, the team has quickly delivered solid technology that ensures a growth path capable of addressing the global $8 trillion food and agriculture market and positions them well to meet the needs of farmers in adjacent markets and geographies.”
“Together with their customers, Verdant is driving a shift in agriculture akin to the transformation we’ve seen in aerospace and automotive when computation is brought to bear,” Jurvetson added.
Verdant leveraged investments from leading agriculture investors, including AgFunder, Autotech Ventures, Cavallo Ventures, DCVC Bio, and Future Ventures, among others. Building upon these investments, the company is expanding its platform with plans to commercialize a precision multi-action machine for orchards by 2023 – delivering another first for the specialty crop industry.
Over the next several years, Verdant Robotics aims to deliver complete robotics solutions globally to help improve the quality, profitability and stewardship of important food crops and thereby feed growing populations more sustainably and nutritiously.