Marcio Macedo, Co-Founder of Ava Robotics – Interview Series

Marcio Macedo is Co-Founder and VP of Product and Marketing at Ava Robotics, a recent spin-off of iRobot that focuses on autonomous navigating robots for enterprise, commercial and industrial environments.

Having previously worked at iRobot, what were some of the interesting projects that you worked on?

At iRobot we were fortunate to be designing and pioneering applications of telepresence, including an FDA-certified telemedicine robot for intensive care environments and the Ava telepresence product in partnership with Cisco.

 

Ava Robotics is a spinoff of iRobot, what was the inspiration behind launching a new company instead of keeping it in the iRobot family?

With iRobot's strategic focus shifting to home products, Ava Robotics spun off to operate independently and better address the needs of our nascent markets. As an independent company we gain more flexibility in meeting our customers' needs while enjoying the support of technology developed originally at iRobot.

 

The Ava Telepresence robot can be remotely controlled by users and features autonomous technology to have the robot simply move itself to a designated area. Could you walk us through the machine learning that is used to have the robot navigate through an environment without bumping into new objects?

When an Ava is installed at a location it learns its operating environment and creates a realistic topology map of the site. This map can be further annotated to force specific behaviors, such as speed zones, keep-out zones, etc.

Ava has built-in obstacle detection and obstacle avoidance (ODOA) capabilities, which leverage multiple sensors in the robot body so that Ava will not bump into people or objects in its path. Furthermore, if the most direct path to its destination is blocked, the Ava will search for and navigate through an alternative path if one is available.

 

What are the navigation sensors that are used, is it reliant on LiDAR or regular cameras?

Ava’s robotic navigation technologies use a variety of sensors (3-D cameras, LiDAR, and IMU) and they are combined for all actions, such as localization, planning, collision avoidance, cliff detections, etc. We operate in medium- and large-size spaces, so we think LiDAR is a very valuable part of a sensing package for real-world commercial spaces.

 

The telepresence robot looks like it would be extremely useful in the hospitality sector. Could you walk us through some of these potential use-cases?

Visits to Executive Briefing Centers provide access to senior-level executives and deliver value in the form of hands-on briefings, strategy reviews, product demonstrations and opportunities for relationship building. Customer Experience Centers offer organizations the opportunity to wow customers and show off their latest products and services. But with so many busy schedules, getting the right people to attend is not always easy.

For meeting planners, Ava provides the ability to “walk” the hotel and visit the meeting spaces, conference rooms and ballrooms that are available for their conference or event. In this application, the property's sales and marketing team gain a unique tool to accelerate their sales cycles.

When invitees and guests can't get to the conference or event, Ava allows them to attend and move around as if they were there. Whether it's a business meeting, conference exhibit hall, or social event, Ava provides an immersive experience with freedom to move around.

 

What are some of the use-cases that are being targeted in the corporate sector?

Businesses benefit from Ava in many ways. The robot allows freedom of movement and access to meetings, corporate training, factory inspections, manufacturing sites, labs and customer experience settings.

Natural, face-to-face, ad-hoc conversations are critical to moving a business forward. Yet today’s globally distributed businesses have employees telecommuting from home or from across the world, who miss these vital interactions. With Ava, you unlock the ability to bring everyone back together as if they’re sitting together in the office and can walk up and interact naturally.

Use Case examples include:

• Agile Product Development: Agile product development teams come together for scheduled and unscheduled meetings, looking to achieve high levels of collaboration and communication. When remote workers are part of the team, existing collaboration tools are challenged to meet the need. With Ava, remote team members can actively participate in stand-up meetings, sprint planning and demos, and project reviews as if they were co-located with the team.
• Manufacturing: In manufacturing, remote visits by management, collaboration between experts at headquarters and staff at the plant, and remote tours by customers or suppliers are frequent – and necessary – events. Ava increases collaboration between those on the design team or in engineering and those building and delivering the final product on the plant floor. Also, imagine that the manufacturing plant is experiencing a production-line problem, but the person who knows how to fix it is thousands of miles away. In such a case, the technician needs to freely walk to different parts of the manufacturing floor to meet with someone or see something. Ava can by delivering that critical physical presence right to the factory floor. Ava allows the remote person to immediately connect via the robot as if she was physically present, put eyes on the problem, and communicate with the local team on the floor. As a result, she can deliver immediate insight into the problem and quickly resolve the issue.
• Laboratories and Clean Rooms: Those who work in laboratories and clean rooms work hard to ensure they are kept sterile and clean. While necessary, this can be a time-consuming process for employees entering and leaving these spaces repeatedly during the day. Due to the risks of potential contamination, companies often limit tours by customers and other visitors. Ava brings people right into a laboratory or a clean room without compromising the space. With Ava, remote visitors can easily move around as if they were there in person, observing the work being done and speaking with employees.

 

Ava Robotics recently partnered with Qatar Airways to Introduce Smart Airport Technologies at QITCOM 2019. Could you share with us some details in regards to this event and how those in attendance reacted?

We have been fortunate to work with Hamad International Airport in Qatar and Qatar Airways via our strategic partner Cisco building applications for robots in airports for a variety of use cases. Showing our work at QITCOM 2019 was a good opportunity to expose to the IT community to the applications that are now possible through different verticals and industries.

 

Is there anything else that you would like to share about Ava Robotics?

In these times of challenges to global travel, we have seen increased demand for solutions like telepresence robotics. Customers are just beginning to realize the potential of applications that truly empower remote workers to collaborate as if they were physically present at a distant location.

To learn more more visit AVA Robotics