Tara Neal, Executive Editor at The Fast Mode ran a brief interview with Rayner Tan, CEO at Reachbots Automation on his experience and the company's showcases at the ongoing Asia Tech x Singapore 2022. Rayner also discusses some of the emerging use cases and some of the factors pushing the demand for mobile robotic solutions.
Tara: Can you share your thoughts on how mobile connectivity is spurring mobile robotic solutions?
Rayner: The rapid advancement of mobile connectivity such as 5G will definitely create greater stability for remotely operated robots in various industries. Lower latency and faster speeds of connectivity will ensure that operators are able to receive information from the robot at a faster rate, which enables them to have better robot control as well as almost instantaneous data transfer of information. Such improvements in connectivity will also improve communication networks in multi-robot systems. This is a very critical aspect that improves safety and productivity, particularly when such robots are operating in close proximity with humans, or in heavy industries such as petrochemical plants.
What are some of the major use cases for mobile robotic solutions?
Rayner: Mobile robotic solutions can be deployed in a very wide range of applications. Social robots are usually deployed to perform human-facing tasks such as greeting or customer service roles. Service robots are designed to assist workers in performing simple and mundane tasks such as cleaning, disinfection or serving food in restaurants. Industrial mobile robots are robotic systems designed to perform more heavy duty tasks used in advanced manufacturing or warehouses.
Tara: What role does artificial intelligence (AI) play in next-generation intelligent bots?
Rayner: AI has always been an essential aspect that drives technology advancement enabling robots to have a certain level of autonomy to carry out tasks with greater precision, speed, and effectiveness, particularly in non-homogeneous environments.
Tara: Finally, are you excited to be part of ATxSG? What are your key showcases at the event?
Rayner: We are thrilled to be at ATxSG and part of the InnovFest x Elevating Founders pavilion. It is really exciting to be able to interact and network with start-ups from across Asia and around the globe and share new technologies and ideas with each other. Reachbots will be showcasing our ultra-mobile modular magnetic crawler system that is able to maneuver in complex confined spaces and heights to perform tasks such as wireless inspection, cleaning, welding operations while the worker monitors it from a safe location. We hope to be able to also explore potential use cases with customers and see how we can customize our robot to address their needs.
Rayner has more than 5 years of R&D experience in mechatronic development and system integration ranging from UAVs to autonomous mobile robots. He has held leadership roles in multiple research projects to develop robotic solutions and has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the National University of Singapore. He is currently the CEO and co-founder of Reachbots Automation.
