READY Robotics, maker of ForgeOS, shuts down

READY Robotics, a Columbus, Ohio-based company founded in 2016, has shut down. It was best known for its ForgeOS robot-agnostic operating system, but it recently branched out into automation consulting and launched a palletizing system. Multiple sources told The Robot Report a funding round fell through at the last minute, which caused the company to lay off its staff and close its doors.

Silicon Valley Disposition is auctioning off equipment from READY Robotics between August 13-15. This includes nearly 50 robots from various industry-leading robotic arm companies, CNC machine tools, and much more.

Silicon Valley Disposition told The Robot Report the auction is being conducted as an assignment for the benefit of creditors (ABC). The American Bar Association describes an ABC as a business-liquidation device that is an “alternative to formal bankruptcy proceedings. In many instances, an ABC can be the most advantageous and graceful exit strategy.”

The former headquarters for READY Robotics is available for lease.

The Robot Report reached out multiple times to READY Robotics co-founders Benjamin Gibbs and Kel Guerin but never heard back.

What went wrong

READY Robotics set out to make it easier to program and control robots from all the major robotic arm brands. Back in 2021, Gibbs said the goal was for ForgeOS 5 to do for robots what Windows did for PCs and Android did for smartphones.

“This is how we go from hundreds of thousands of robots sold to millions,” he said.

At the time, READY Robotics said ForgeOS 5 was compatible with 250-plus robot arms and a growing list of accessories such as cameras, force sensors, grippers, and more.

So where did things go wrong? A big problem, according to multiple sources, is that robotics manufacturers have their own operating systems, many of which have become easier to use over the years. And it’s in their best interest to be exclusive.

Bob Little, chief of robotics strategy at Novanta and co-founder and CEO of ATI Industrial Automation, said READY’s selling point was that a facility could run multiple robot brands with one OS. He pointed out two problems with that approach.

1. A company has to buy the robot company’s controller and robot that includes the software. But it also needs to buy READY’s software and an additional PC, which leads to more expenses.
2. Companies such as FANUC, Rockwell, and others have extensive educational systems for learning programming. So there are a lot of programmers out in the industry, and instruction is readily available.

“For READY to succeed, they needed to find big fish who bought into their programming language, and the two [aforementioned] problems prevented this,” said Little. “You can add the problem of aligning with a small company with low experience and high risk of failure.”

Another source told The Robot Report it needed software updates to be pushed through on ForgeOS earlier this year, but it took “months” to get a hold of anyone at READY Robotics.

Little said there’s always risk working with small companies due to the high-failure rate of startups. He also pointed out the efforts some large industrial robotics companies, including FANUC and Rockwell Automation, put into training on their software.

“People are not aware of the scale these companies have created in training – it is massive,” he said.

Little also cited GrayMatter Robotics, which has developed an “application OS” for sanding automation. GrayMatter uses machine vision to scan parts and software to create the motion-control plan for the task.

“I agree we need to make it easier to program robots,” Little concluded. “I see the AI/digital twin/sensor fusion route as the solution versus a universal robot OS.”

Pivoting to palletizing

According to Crunchbase, READY Robotics raised at least $41.5 million, with its latest funding coming via an undisclosed corporate investment from Rockwell Automation, according to Crunchbase. The startup closed a venture round from NVIDIA in 2022, a $23 million Series B in 2020, a $15 million Series A in 2017, and a $3.5 million Seed round in 2016.

In March 2023, READY Robotics said its platform enabled the programming and control of more than 3 million deployed robots.

Also early in 2023, READY Robotics introduced a palletizing product called READY Cells. The system was robot-agnostic, thanks to ForgeOS. Rockwell Automation signed up to distribute READY Cells.

“READY started to pivot to creating applications with the palletizing software they recently released,” Little said. “I looked at the program, and it wasn’t as effective as I thought it would need to be to capture many customers.”

One source told The Robot Report READY Robotics had a healthy customer pipeline, but also mentioned that a funding round fell apart at the eleventh hour.

READY Robotics is not alone

One source said READY Robotics went out of business “mostly due to the ongoing softness in the robotics market, in the U.S. and elsewhere.” Industrial robot sales fell 30% in 2023 and were down to start 2024, too.

Unfortunately, READY Robotics isn’t alone in its struggles. Other robotics startups that have recently shut down include Bossa Nova Robotics, Dextrous Robotics, Dorabot, and Small Robot Company.

Bedford, Mass.-based Soft Robotics this week divested its soft robotic gripper business to Schmalz. Soft Robotics was reportedly 100% dependent on robot sales. It spun out a new company, Oxipital AI, that is using 3D vision and AI for inspection tasks, and it will heavily focus on applications that don’t involve robotics.

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