In their short, shared history, electrical and computing technology have fundamentally altered the way we live and work. Documents are sent in a flash, and goods are produced more efficiently than ever. While that efficiency tends to increase productivity, raise wages, and create new jobs, it also imposes costs in transitions for workers in affected industries. In this episode of Hardly Working, I am joined by Clinton Smith, co-founder of RIOS, a company that delivers robots-as-a-service to manufacturing companies. RIOS seeks to alleviate labor shortage and reduce human wear and tear, especially in fields like manufacturing. We discuss Clinton’s path to industry as well as the benefits and challenges created by his company’s product in on our increasingly-automated economy.

Mentioned in the Episode

Georgia Tech Computer Science

Princeton Electrical Engineering

Clinton Smith

Clinton Smith Dissertation

PARC

SPIR Grant

ARPA, DARPA, IARPA Grants

IOT Distributed Sensing

McKinsey Report: A Future that Works

Bernard Casse – RIOS Co-founder

Haptics

Mechanoreceptors, in fingers

Deep Learning

RIOS Website

RIOS Case Study: Hit Promotional Products

RIOS VULCAN Robot Workcell shows the possibilities of Pack Out to Box

Robots as a service (RaaS)

Who Made the Pencil?