"Can I pay you to automate this?"

Stefan Seltz-Axmacher kept getting asked the same question about automating industrial vehicles, so he co-founded Polymath Robotics.

You'll like this interview if you're interested in the challenges and opportunities for mobile robots in industrial spaces.

With Stefan Seltz-Axmacher and Ilia Baranov from Polymath Robotics.

EPISODE LINKS
- Full transcript: https://audrow-nash-podcast.github.io/transcripts/3-easy-autonomous-navigation-for-industrial-vehicles-because-people-keep-asking-for-it.html
- Polymath Robotics' website: https://www.polymathrobotics.com
- Polymath Robotics' LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/polymath-robotics/
- Polymath Robotics' 𝕏: https://twitter.com/PolymathRobots
- Polymath Robotics' Github: https://github.com/polymathrobotics
- Stefan Seltz-Axmacher LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefanseltzaxmacher/
- Ilia Baranov's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iliabaranov/
- Info on the Automate It! podcast: https://www.polymathrobotics.com/blog/podcast-launch

PODCAST LINKS
- Watch and discuss on 𝕏: https://www.x.com/audrow
- Watch or listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/74jWpWiLwsasY2QHtDcl8I
- Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/audrow-nash-podcast/id1716486786
- Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@audrow
- Main podcast site: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/audrow1
- RSS Feed: https://anchor.fm/s/e2666f60/podcast/rss
- Full transcripts: https://audrow-nash-podcast.github.io/transcripts
- Podcast Github: https://github.com/audrow-nash-podcast

OUTLINE
(00:00:00) - Start
(00:02:47) - Introducing Stefan, Ilia, and Polymath Robotics
(00:04:33) - Let's stop reinventing the wheel
(00:23:11) - Is your code open-source?
(00:26:34) - Why focus on mobile robots?
(00:29:20) - Stefan's experience starting Starsky Robotics
(00:33:45) - A good task to automate and not get lit on fire
(00:36:29) - Integrating with sensors
(00:39:15) - Approaching the problem from another side than most robotics startups
(00:42:57) - Ambitions for Polymath Robotics
(00:47:58) - Running a different kind of business with fewer hats
(00:50:22) - Stefan's bankrun t-shirt campaign
(00:54:30) - How Polymath plans to grow
(00:57:14) - How Polymath uses machine learning
(01:01:30) - Big and expensive vehicles are easier to automate?
(01:07:45) - Thoughts on AI and Machine Learning
(01:15:40) - Making safety certified systems
(01:27:12) - Live demo!
(01:31:52) - Web tools and robotics
(01:38:57) - Automate It podcast
(01:49:57) - Advice for getting involved in robotics
(01:54:27) - Stefan's former startup experience and path to Polymath
(02:00:54) - Thoughts on side projects
(02:04:50) - What Stefan and Ilia are excited about in robotics

Will humanoid robots and AI take your job?

It's a question I've been hearing a lot. So, to get some perspective, I talked with Agility Robotics' CTO, Melonee Wise.

You'll like this interview if you want to understand the bleeding edge of robotics and AI and where we'll first see humanoid robots.

EPISODE LINKS
- Full transcript: https://audrow-nash-podcast.github.io/transcripts/2-will-humanoid-robots-take-your-job-challenges-opportunities-and-timeline.html
- Agility's website: https://agilityrobotics.com/
- Agility's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/agility-robotics

PODCAST LINKS
- Watch and discuss on 𝕏: https://www.x.com/audrow
- Watch or listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/74jWpWiLwsasY2QHtDcl8I
- Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/audrow-nash-podcast/id1716486786
- Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@audrow
- Main podcast site: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/audrow1
- RSS Feed: https://anchor.fm/s/e2666f60/podcast/rss
- Full transcripts: https://audrow-nash-podcast.github.io/transcripts
- Podcast Github: https://github.com/audrow-nash-podcast

OUTLINE
(00:00:00) - Start
(00:00:31) - Episode introduction
(00:01:42) - Introducing Melonee + Agility Robotics
(00:03:44) - Introducing Digit
(00:05:17) - How’d Melonee to join Agility?
(00:09:13) - Pivoting from curb to doorstep delivery
(00:11:34) - Why Humanoids?
(00:16:18) - How does Digit compare to people?
(00:19:01) - Ethics of humanoid robots
(00:25:09) - LLMs automation and white collar jobs
(00:37:35) - Robot factory + suppliers in North America
(00:42:53) - Reestablishing a trade class in the US
(00:53:17) - Digit’s hands
(00:55:55) - Thoughts on humanoids
(01:01:45) - Timeline for humanoids
(01:05:56) - What if you had your own ChatGPT?
(01:08:35) - Best time to be in robotics or worst time?
(01:10:07) - Advice for new roboticists
(01:13:10) - Amazon trials
(01:15:27) - Agility Robotics in the next 2-5 years
(01:18:42) - Humanoids and spreadsheets? Is this the tipping point?
(01:21:20) - What are you excited about in robotics now?
(01:23:42) - Wrapping up

How would you make ChatGPT but for the physical world? That's what Electric Sheep Robotics is working on. It's an audacious goal, and to accomplish it, they're doing many things fundamentally different than most robotics companies.

You'll enjoy this interview if you're interested in how AI and robotics fit together in a real application and if you want to see a new robotics business model that will probably become very popular.

Nag Murty is the Founder and CEO of Electric Sheep, and Mike Laskey is the VP of Autonomy at Electric Sheep.

EPISODE LINKS
- Full transcript: https://audrow-nash-podcast.github.io/transcripts/1-rethinking-robotics-electric-sheep-s-journey-to-safer-smarter-machines.html
- Electric Sheep's Website: https://sheeprobotics.ai/
- Electric Sheep's X: https://twitter.com/sheeprobotics
- Electric Sheep's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/electric-sheep-robotics/

PODCAST LINKS
- Watch and discuss on X: https://www.x.com/audrow
- Watch or listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/74jWpWiLwsasY2QHtDcl8I
- Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/audrow-nash-podcast/id1716486786
- Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@audrow
- Main podcast site: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/audrow1
- RSS Feed: https://anchor.fm/s/e2666f60/podcast/rss
- Full transcripts: https://audrow-nash-podcast.github.io/transcripts

OUTLINE
(00:00:00) - Start
(00:01:32) - Introducing Nag + Mike + Electric Sheep
(00:02:51) - Large world models
(00:06:24) - Learning physics
(00:10:08) - Robot sensors
(00:17:57) - Introducing ES1 as CatGPT
(00:20:17) - ES1’s input / output
(00:21:52) - End-to-end learning for robots
(00:26:51) - Getting data
(00:27:47) - Electric Sheep’s background
(00:30:49) - Business philosophy at Electric Sheep
(00:33:19) - Sim-to-real + long tail events
(00:36:38) - ChatGPT
(00:42:01) - Building for safety
(00:49:25) - Safety with AI
(00:54:23) - Apple’s surprise new features
(00:58:06) - Generalizing learnings for other tasks, like snowplowing
(01:03:35) - AI architecture
(01:07:09) - Training to mow straight lines
(01:11:19) - Why not Robot-as-a-Service?
(01:17:08) - Boring businesses + robots + AI
(01:24:34) - How do we build the data model?
(01:29:07) - Getting into dexterous tasks
(01:30:28) - Building a monopoly
(01:31:23) - Advice for our new world of AI
(01:40:37) - Links and contact info
(01:41:33) - Hanging out