Robots are rising in San Antonio.<\/p>\n
That may sound like a cheerleaders refrain from economic development talking points, but when it comes to robots, San Antonio keeps winning.<\/p>\n
With the late April news of Plus One Robotics $33 million funding round and expansion, germ-zapping robot maker Xenexs explosive growth and several other companies like Reckon Point, Xyrec and Renu Robotics gaining momentum, the South Texas robot business is booming.<\/p>\n
And dont forget Southwest Research Institute and Toyota, San Antonios heavyweights in the robot game.<\/p>\n
Then theres the SATX Robotix Meetup, a group of more than 430 people whore either in the business or interested in the industry. Erik Nieves, chief executive and co-founder of Plus One Robotics at Port San Antonio, said the group is better attended than Austins version.<\/p>\n
San Antonios special strain of robots are for business or industrial use. These are business-to-business robots, not humanoids like C-3PO or the Terminator. Nor are these machines with household applications like a Roomba or automatic pool cleaner.<\/p>\n
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Think robots at work on large-scale disinfecting, building trucks, unpacking pallets, sorting packages, lasering paint off aircraft, mapping building interiors or industrial-sized lawn mowers for solar panel farms.<\/p>\n
Consumer robots might come from Asia, or at least Boston, but the application of robot tech to industrial problems is what SA does best, Nieves said.<\/p>\n
Before we can riff on the areas robobiz, its worth thinking about what exactly a robot is. The best definition my brain concocted was a machine that performs a task autonomously.<\/p>\n
Im no expert, so I turned to some San Antonio robot gurus for their perspective. As it turns out, the answer is, well, complicated.<\/p>\n
The definition of robot is not a settled question, said Nieves, whose company specializes in helping robots hand-eye coordination. Many different morphologies, many different applications, but one thing they all have in common is that they have a semblance of programming and move through physical space.<\/p>\n
The latter distinction, moving through space, is why appliances like dishwashers and refrigerators arent considered robots, he said.<\/p>\n
Perhaps defining robots is akin to (Supreme Court) Justice Potter dealing with obscenity, he said. I cant give you all the rules, but I know it when I see it, and I know what it isnt.<\/p>\n
Kris Kozak, principal at Hatchbed, a robotics consulting firm at Port San Antonio, said its a tough question and the lines quickly get blurry.<\/p>\n
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Besides humanoid and industrial robots, he cited other categories that could be included. Kozak has worked in robot research and development for more than 20 years, so hes self-admittedly pretty inclusive in his definition.<\/p>\n
His list includes self-driving or autonomous vehicles, aircraft and boats, as well as robotic mechanisms like the cable-driven receiver that hangs over a 500-meter telescope in China.<\/p>\n
The one bright line that Id draw is that a fundamental attribute of a robot is that it must be able to physically interact with its environment, he said. I guess you could say that a robot has to have a body of some sort, so Alexa and Siri are not robots ... yet.<\/p>\n
Peter Boeijink, Xyrecs chief executive, checked in from the Netherlands. His company has a division at Port San Antonio thats pioneering automated painting and paint removal for aircraft and other large equipment.<\/p>\n
I like to define a robot as a programmable machine to automate the use or application of a physical process with a high degree of flexibility in movements, he said. By this, a robot can be used in many situations.<\/p>\n
All efforts in robot development are to use robots for more applications and make it easier to program the robot for its movements.<\/p>\n
Near the airport, Xenex manufactures robots that blast germs including the coronavirus with ultraviolet light. Its seen exponential growth during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
Morris Miller, Xenexs chief executive, said his firm defines a robot as a machine programmed by a computer that is capable of carrying out actions automatically.<\/p>\n
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And he introduced a new term to our conversation: cobot.<\/p>\n
Our LightStrike robot is moved from one location to the next for example, from a patient room to an operating room by a trained technician, so we also like the term cobot to describe the relationship between the robot and its human operator.<\/p>\n
So, like so many questions that seem simple at first, the answer to the robot question is nuanced and, apparently, still in debate.<\/p>\n
But, whats not in debate is that robots are a growth industry on the rise in San Antonio. Is there a Robocity, USA, yet? Were working on it.<\/p>\n
Brandon Lingle writes for the Express-News through Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. ReportforAmerica.org. brandon.lingle@express-news.net<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n View post: <\/p>\n Robocity, USA? With the rise of robots in San Antonio, were heading that way - mySA<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Robots are rising in San Antonio. That may sound like a cheerleaders refrain from economic development talking points, but when it comes to robots, San Antonio keeps winning. With the late April news of Plus One Robotics $33 million funding round and expansion, germ-zapping robot maker Xenexs explosive growth and several other companies like Reckon Point, Xyrec and Renu Robotics gaining momentum, the South Texas robot business is booming Continue reading