RoboForce’s RF-04 dual-armed mobile manipulator. | Source: RoboForce
RoboForce on Monday emerged from stealth with $10 million in early-stage funding. The startup offers a dual-armed mobile manipulator, called RF-04, targeting the solar and space industries. The company said it aims to begin deploying its system this year with early customers.
The company said its robot can fulfill labor shortages in harsh outdoor conditions, complete hazardous tasks, and increase project efficiency and cost savings. It said the robot is capable of 1 mm-level accuracy in performing fine motor skills like picking, placing, pressing, twisting, and connecting. The company said the RF-04 also offers all-terrain mobility, learning, communication, and safety compliance capabilities.
The funding round included support from investors such as Nobel Laureate Myron Scholes, co-founder of SoftBank VC (SBVC) Gary Rieschel, and Carnegie Mellon University. Founded in 2023, RoboForce’s team is made up of tech leaders from CMU Robotics, Michigan Robotics, Amazon Robotics, Tesla Robotics, Google, Waymo, Apple, and Microsoft.
RoboForce casts wide net for initial applications
The startup’s target industries include solar, space, manufacturing, and mining, sectors the U.S. Bureau of Labor said are among the most impacted by injuries and loss of labor. This loss of labor emerged from unsafe summer temperatures and other work-related hazards.
“Labor shortages and decarbonization are the two largest trends that are happening at a global scale, and RoboForce is uniquely positioned to address both,” said Myron Scholes, Nobel Laureate for Economic Science, investor, and the Frank E. Buck Professor of Finance, Emeritus at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. “RoboForce has a great team working on innovation very valuable for the world.”
RoboForce’s first customers are developing commercial and utility-scale solar projects and are struggling to hire and retain skilled workers. Their struggles stem from extreme temperatures in remote locations where most large-scale solar projects are being developed, RoboForce said. By providing robots that can withstand harsh and extreme environmental conditions throughout years-long project durations, RoboForce said it’s helping solar developers complete the construction and installation of large-scale projects faster or on schedule, and at a reduced cost.
Mobile manipulators gaining traction
As humanoid robots have dominated recent conversations in robotics, wheeled mobile manipulators have increasingly emerged as a less complex alternative. Like humanoids, these robots can autonomously navigate and grab objects.
Grand View Research estimated the mobile manipulator market was worth $385.9 million in 2023. It will grow at a CAGR of 23.9% from 2024 to 2030. In particular, Grand View predicts these robots will gain traction across manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and agriculture.
In November 2024, Collaborative Robotics, a startup founded by Amazon’s Brad Porter, unveiled its Proxie mobile manipulator publicly for the first time. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company said Proxie can safely and affordably work alongside people in varied manufacturing, supply chain, and healthcare workflows. Earlier in the year, Collaborative Robotics closed a $100 million Series B round toward commercializing the robot.
Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR) recently introduced its MC600 mobile manipulator. The MC600 combines the MiR600 AMR with the UR20 and UR30 collaborative robot arms from Universal Robots A/S. Both companies are owned by Teradyne. MiR said it can handle payloads up to 600 kg (1,322 lb.) and automate complex workflows in industrial environments.
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