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“Robots are attracted.”
That’s a bold statement for a startup founder aiming to work with robots — or, more accurately, software to help turn a tractor, tiller or forklift into an automated vehicle. But Stefan Seltz-Axmacher, who previously founded and ran the now-shuttered autonomous vehicle startup Starsky Robotics, is trying to make a point.
“They’re really difficult, they break all the time and it’s very difficult to get to a stable product,” Seltz-Axmacher said in a recent interview. “Everybody starts building almost everything from scratch.”
To make matters more complex, robots used in warehouses, mining, agriculture, and other industrial environments have a variety of applications that are structured and often perform thousands of repetitions. In other words, a farmer in Iowa, a yard truck operator in Florida, and an e-commerce giant with 100 warehouses spread across the country have unique needs that no one else does.
Seltz-Axmacher, co-founder Ilya Baranov and his new startup Polymat Robotics hope to tap into it. The pair has created plug-and-play software and a companion SDK that enables companies to quickly and cost-effectively manufacture industrial vehicles. Think of it as SaaS for industrial robots.
Image Credits: Polymath Robotics
Polymath Robotics, which came out of stealth Friday and is a Y Combinator Summer 2022 team, aims to be the Oracle of the robotics world. The startup is building the foundation. Total autonomy designed to automate the 50 million or more industrial vehicles operating in closed environments today.
The San Francisco-based startup is software hardware and business model agnostic and focuses on all the features a company needs to operate its own robot, tractor or forklift, including route planning; It handles threat detection, feature trees, human detection, remediation and security.
Polymath, led by Baranov (he is CTO and previously led the robotics teams at Clearpath Robotics and Amazon Lab 126), as well He created Caladan, a free tool that allows users to build beyond the company’s software through simulation, and it’s just been released. And unlike other sims, this one can be viewed and created on an internet browser. According to the company, it doesn’t need to install other tools like ROS, Gazebo or Linux.
The Polymaze Robotics software platform allows another startup, warehouse owner, farmer or mining company to bypass the often lengthy process of building an autonomous, security layer and front-end application. Seltz-Axmacher says the software allows these users to focus on the application, connecting to a REST API and commanding a virtual tractor, forklift or other type of robot via SIM.
Polymat is already working with unmanned driving and potential customers. But technical teams interested in seeing how it works can start building for free by simulating through the API.
The Polymath API is what a robot needs to do, whether in the simulation tool or in the real world. For example, this TechCrunch reporter was able to control a tractor in a dusty field in Modesto, California with an Internet browser while sitting at her desk in Arizona.
Of course, software alone cannot turn a tractor into an automated vehicle that operates without a human. Polymat has partnered with Idaho startup Signal Technologies to help with the hardware side of things by providing rewired upgrades.
Josh Harting, CEO and founder of Signal, knows a thing or two about automated vehicles and drive-by-wire systems. His former startup PolySynnic, which has since shut down, developed an automated vehicle software platform as well as drive-by-wire kit that several other startups use in their own AV displays.
This time, Hartung and co-founder Trey German developed a drive-by-wire kit designed with controls for the accelerator, brakes and steering and proprietary shifter technology. And fleets and commercial deployments – not demos – are built in mind. After years of experiencing the buzz around AVs and seeing several startups, including his own, get caught up in demonstration cycles and proof-of-concepts for funding, Hartung believes the industry is finally moving toward reality.
“I believe that the next level of autonomy is returning to the principles of business, Hartung said. Polymath seems to be well adapted to this change.
A number of angel investors seem to have already noticed the 10-person team at Polymath.
Seltz-Axmacher wasn’t ready to share exactly what the company has raised, but he did list some of the company’s angel investors, all of whom have experience in autonomous vehicle technology, software and robotics. The team includes Catapult Ventures Managing Director Darren Liccardo, Thursday Ventures General Partner Matt Sweeney, Cruise Co-Founder and CEO Kyle Vogt and Oliver Cameron, former Co-Founder and Voyage CEO Seltz-Axmacher.
“What we’re hoping is to make robotics match SaaS in terms of how quickly you can get in and out,” he added.
Sweeney, who previously worked at Neuralink and led product and engineering at Uber before starting Thursday Ventures, believes the startup has the right product at the right time.
“What’s attractive about this approach is that I can see the future of a robotics company like Oracle,” Sweeney said. “All kinds of businesses come to Oracle for hardware and software solutions for their business and can plug it into their operations with minimal configurations. If you look ahead 10 to 15 years, that’s a very audacious goal, but I think it’s going to continue to pay off down the road.”
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