ABB Robotics announces T-Robotics, Mbodi as 2024 AI Startup Challenge winners

ABB Robotics declared T-Robotics and Mbodi the winners of its 2024 ABB Robotics AI Startup Challenge, marking a significant milestone in advancing artificial intelligence offerings for industrial robotics.

Selected from over 100 global applicants, these startups will help transform how industrial robots understand, learn and adapt to complex manufacturing environments through breakthrough AI offerings.

T-Robotics, Mbodi hone in on AI

The ABB Robotics AI Startup Challenge is part of ABB’s wider Innovation Ecosystem, driven by collaboration and the transformative potential of emerging technologies. Through initiatives designed to identify, support and scale-up promising startups across all industries, ABB partners with pioneering businesses to accelerate innovation. These collaborative efforts bring new offerings to market, advancing ABB’s mission to create a more sustainable and productive future.

“Today’s manufacturing challenges demand solutions that combine simplicity with sophisticated AI capabilities”, said Marc Segura, president of ABB Robotics. “T-Robotics and Mbodi demonstrated groundbreaking innovations and by collaborating with both, we will accelerate the development of more intuitive, adaptable and easier-to-use robotic solutions that will make business more efficient, flexible and resilient.”

T-Robotics has developed physical AI models that allow operators to program robots through natural conversation while maintaining precision through industry-specific skill models. This approach significantly reduces programming time while ensuring optimal performance across various manufacturing scenarios.

“The convergence of robotics and physical AI will transform how manufacturing operates," said Asad Tirmizi, founder of T-Robotics. "We're thrilled to partner with ABB in pioneering this transition towards a future where robots become intelligent assistants helping us produce better.”

Mbodi’s AI platform introduces real-time skill acquisition capabilities, enabling robots to learn and adapt to new tasks on the fly, through written and spoken natural language and demonstration. Their technology represents a major advancement in making robotic automation accessible to businesses of all sizes, particularly those seeking flexible solutions for high-mix, low- volume production environments.

“We’re augmenting the industrial robotics experience through cutting-edge generative AI that fulfils evolving customer needs," said Sebastian Peralta, co-founder and CEO of Mbodi. "As an industrial leader, ABB's enthusiasm for disruptive technologies like ours will be instrumental in driving this transformation.”

Both winners will receive $30,000 in project funding and will collaborate directly with ABB to develop market-ready offerings. T-Robotics and Mbodi will also receive a six-month membership to SynerLeap, ABB’s startup accelerator. Both T-Robotics and Mbodi expect to launch their first commercial application with ABB in 2025.

"The disruptive potential of Generative AI in robotics is vast, but requires focused scrutiny," continued Marc Segura. "By focusing on three pivotal areas - natural language programming, skill learning and autonomous decision-making - we identified two key solutions that position us to accelerate AI-driven, market-ready industrial products. This approach aligns with ABB’s vision of creating robots that are more intuitive, adaptable, and efficient, paving the way for a new era of AI-powered robotics innovation.”