The Robot Industry Podcast

By Jim Beretta in partnership with A3 Association for Advancing Automation.Technology Arts

The Robot Industry Podcast episodes

November 09 Legacy Horizon, Construction Automation and printing 3D homes and buildings using robots
I first met Nhung Nguyen at an industry event in Kitchener-Waterloo. Her company is called Legacy Horizon. At Legacy Horizon, they believe technology has the power to transform construction, increase labour productivity and address the housing crisis.
Nhung, for listeners who don't know Horizon Legacy, can you tell us a little about the company and how you got involved?
And how did you personally go from the development side of the business to leading a company that's now developing construction robotics?
People often describe this technology as “3D printing homes,” but I know you think about it much more broadly as construction automation. What's the difference?
Building the technology — What did you actually create?
You went down the path of using six-axis industrial robots. Why six-axis robots, and how is your approach different from some of the other construction 3d concrete printing systems some industry followers may have seen?
Let's get into the robots themselves. What are VAL and DOLLY, and what do they actually do on a construction site?
If I showed up on one of your sites, what would I actually see? What happens from the time the robotic system arrives onsite to the point where you're ready to start building?
And what part of the building are the robots actually constructing? Where does robotics stop and conventional construction and trades take over?
Building a robot is one thing, but building a system that can actually operate on a construction site is another. What did you have to bring together to make that possible?
You did a lot of prototyping before putting this technology onto a real construction site. At what point did you know you were ready to move from the lab into actual construction?
That brings us to Gananoque. Your company claims it's Canada's First and Largest Neighbourhood in Canada built with robots. You took the technology and deployed it on a real 26-unit residential development. Tell us about that project and what you were trying to prove and why?
What did Gananoque teach you about deploying robotics in the real world that you simply couldn't have learned in a lab?
Walk us through this development, what are the benefits and what has the response been from the community?
Were there any surprises—technical or otherwise—that changed the way you approached the technology afterward?
What have you learned about taking construction robotics from R&D and applying it to commercially delivered buildings?
Where construction robotics fits in today's market
When a customer comes to Horizon, they aren't buying a robot—they're looking to deliver a building.
How does your robotics approach fit into that process?
Does a project need to be designed around your technology from the beginning, or can Horizon's system integrate into a more conventional construction project?
Are there certain building types or projects where the technology makes particularly good sense today?
You've come at this from the perspective of a developer and builder rather than starting as a robotics company looking for an application. How has that influenced the technology and the way you're bringing it to market?
You've proven you can deploy the technology on a real development. When you talk about “scaling” now, what does scale actually mean for Horizon? Does this differ from modular companies using robotics?
As you look at the next generation of construction robotics at Horizon Legacy and the overall system, where is the technology heading?
What still needs to be solved—for Horizon or for the industry more broadly—for construction robotics to become much more commonplace?
You have a really multidisciplinary team. As you grow, what kinds of people and skills are you looking for?
Down the road, 10 to 15 years from now, what do you hope construction sites look like?
When you're not knee-deep in construction and robotics, what do you like to do? - Get ready for this, I call Nhung an adrenaline junkie.
And if listeners want to learn more about Horizon Legacy or connect with you, where should they go?
Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team: Chris Gray for the music, and my business partner Janet.
Special thx to my Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner and you can find more information on his Linketree:
linktr.ee/gbaudio
Be safe out there!
Jim
Jim Beretta
Customer Attraction & The Robot Industry Podcast
London, ON
519-716-2262
40 min
August 31 Physical AI and QNX with Jim Hirsch
I have been a big fan of QNX Operating System for many years, since my early days at ATS Automation Tooling Systems in Cambridge, ON. We needed real time OS for some of the complex machines we were building. QNX filled the bill and more. QNX is now owned by Blackberry now, yes the company that brought us some of the first cell phones!
Jim Hirsch joins me today for this edition of The Robot Industry Podcast.
With over 25 years in Software sales experience in the Federal, Aerospace & Defense, Industrial Automation, Medical Device and Telecommunications and Automotive markets.
Innovative executive with leadership experience ranging from startups to fortune 100 companies. Extensive experience spanning software & solution sales, business development, executive relationships, strategic partnerships, compliance management in a number of vertical markets.
His career spans US Navy, Raytheon, multiple successful startups (IPO & acquired), Cadence Design Systems, Wind River Systems, Intel and Ansys.
Here are some of my questions to Jim:
Who is QNX, what is their history? How did the company get started?
What is a real time operating system?
Where can I find QNX in what industries?
The current owners of QNX is Blackberry, correct?
Are automobiles more and more powered by QNX, what does it do in my car?
For some of our listeners, what is LINIX?
What is Latency?
I know that there are a lot of things that you cannot talk about, but I suspect that you are working with NVIDIA, defense, humanoid and surgical robotics?
Do you have a few examples or use cases of where QNX is being used?
Startup companies are an important part of your ecosystem, why is that?
What os QNIX everywhere program?
I know that we have talked about safety security, people and safe > are these things keeping your customers up at night?
I see that QNX is very active in education, why is that?
FDA and security and the remediation of end of life software
You have a new report that is just about to come out, can you give us a sneak peek?
How do you hire for talent? HQ is in Ottawa, correct
Did we forget about anything
Hobbies?
How can people get a hold of you?
Thx to Matthew Chandler for helping set up this interview, he is global communications at QNX Blackberry.
Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team: Chris Gray for the music, Geoffrey Bremner for audio production, and my business partner Janet.
Special thx to my Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner and you can find more information on his Linketree:
linktr.ee/gbaudio
Be safe out there!
Jim
Jim Beretta
Customer Attraction & The Robot Industry Podcast
London, ON
20 min
July 16 Automation Matters with Kelly Boyi LinkedIn Coach, Mentor and Advisor
Welcome to The Robot Industry Podcast #164 aka Automation Matters podcast. I became aware of Kelly Boyi from my friends at ATS Automation. He is Canadian, born in Nigeria and now living in USA.
We have never met in person only online and on Teams. I was impressed with his approach to mentorship and his fearless approach to using LinkedIn and other social platforms.
I had always thought that a large engineering company would not like individuals broadcasting on LinkedIn. He broke that ceiling and started doing workshops and got hired. That's when it hit him, you can make money on speaking and guiding people.
An apology to Kelly, I got so busy that I forgot we recorded this episode and thanks to a sidebar conversation with Geoffrey Bremner, for the reminder.
We talk about consistency, bulk creative, and the importance of talking on LinkedIn.
Sharing personal stories on LinkedIn.
Growing your Network.
The visual platform of LinkedIn.
ATS Automation
Creating value.
Following companies and thought leaders in your industry.
Connecting people.
Photography and video.
The importance of attending events.
Setting up your LinkedIn, profile photos.
If you would like to find out more about Kelly, you can find him on well, LinkedIn. I suspect that Kelly will be back in Canada someday and will look forward to meeting him in person.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyboyi
Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team: Chris Gray for the music, Geoffrey Bremner for audio production, and my business partner Janet.
Special thanks to my Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner you can find more information on his Linketree, linktr.ee/gbaudio
By the way, here is my post about Robots made in Canada.
Be safe out there!
Jim
Jim Beretta
Customer Attraction & The Robot Industry Podcast
London, ON
Notes
https://www.konsultkelly.com/kellyboyi
31 min
July 02Pickle Robot is on a mission to automate global supply chains with AI and Robotics
Welcome to The Robot Industry Podcast #163. At Pickle Robot they are applying Physical AI to truck unloading and developing generalized autonomy that will unlock robot orchestration across entire logistics processes.
Welcome back to the show AJ. Can you remind me how you got into this industry?
Tell me a bit about the journey and what's happening now at Pickle Robot.
Let’s go over the math again about parcels, packaging and boxes.
Deployed since?
Let's talk about the environment: dock doors weather, etc
Can you describe your robot arm, what has been updated and changed?
Who is using the robot? What is the type of facility where you place your robot?
Languages and error correction, what are some of the adaptations that you have had to make to your system?
What is happening in package sizes, bigger, smaller, longer, heavier?
Who are your customers?
I heard that you just hired a bunch of engineers.
What is the ROI of a Pickle robot system?
Who is the buyer?
Future of factories and delivery systems
Humanoid robot?
Have we forgotten to talk about anything?
https://www.picklerobot.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-meyer-2457594
Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team: Chris Gray for the music, Geoffrey Bremner for audio production, and my business partner Janet.
And I would like to thank my Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner and you can find more information on his Linketree, linktr.ee/gbaudio
Be safe out there!
Jim
Jim Beretta
Customer Attraction & The Robot Industry Podcast
London, ON
29 min
June 19 Automate 2026 Pre-show Edition with Leuze's Chris Round and Kojo Kyei-Baffour
Hello Everyone and welcome to The Robot Industry Podcast, #Automate2026 edition.
My friend Chris Round and new friend Kojo are joining me for podcast #162. We are talking about sensors and Leuze is one of the premier safety sensor manufacturers in Europe.
Who is Leuze, what do you make?
What is a sensor? If I open one up what will I see?
What are people interested in sensing? Is there a trend?
How are you different?
What is happening in sensing from a high-level perspective?
Data question.
How do people buy sensors? Distribution or direct?
Who do you sell to? Are they machine builders or end customers, end users?
What are customers looking for, and what is keeping them up at night?
Any other trends? Are people spending more money? Do you also provide any other devices for sensing like cables or sensor brackets?
What is the future of sensing?
Automate question, what are you showing at the booth? Goals for the show?
What is your booth #?
Let me know what is missing?
Leuze Electronic, Inc.
2150 Northmont Parkway, Suite N
Duluth, GA 30096
Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team: Chris Gray for the music, Geoffrey Bremner for audio production, and my business partner Janet.
And I would like to thank my Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner and you can find more information on his Linketree, linktr.ee/gbaudio
Be safe out there!
Jim
Jim Beretta
Customer Attraction & The Robot Industry Podcast
London, ON
21 min
May 20 Test Systems and Automation with Averna's Hugo Lessnick
Hello everyone and welcome to The Robot Industry Podcast, edition #161. I welcome Hugo Lessnick from Averna in Montreal to the podcast. Hugo is the Engineering Manager at Averna, we are going to talk about test, automation, test software and well, all things test.
Hi Hugo, welcome to the podcast.
Can you tell me about Averna, the company?
What kind of systems do you build: integrated, standalone?
How did you get into this industry?
What is "testing" to you?
Are there some big overall trends in automated test?
In our warm-up, we talked about budgeting for test equipment, and it seems that people or companies tend to underestimate the costs for testing equipment.
How do you work with customers?
Test specification documents, can they be better?
Lets talk about machine vision and AI.
Do you ever work with companies to make their test specifications better, even though it might be harder for you?
You work with automation integrators and machine builders, because machine builders really dont have a specialty around precision testing?
When you are working in some industries like for medical devices it’s tricky because a company is trying to concurrently build the automation for the device and the test system at the same time, what happens then when you have to build in flexibility to your test or fixturing?
Do you have some projects that you can talk about?
Is there a really difficult test project that sticks out in your mind?
Are cycle times getting faster or slower?
Is there an ROI for the test solution?
What about GUIs and ergonomics, does that come into play a lot? Safety?
You have to commission automation around the world, different cultures, languages that is difficult, correct?
When you are recruiting for new people, what makes a good hire? Curiosity?
What is the future of test equipment and automation?
How can people get a hold of you?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hugo-lessnick-eng-86b039115
https://www.averna.com/en/home?
Thanks for listening. Special thanks also to Amy Share the Content Marketing Team Lead at Averna for making this podcast easy, peasy.
Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team: Chris Gray for the music, Geoffrey Bremner for audio production, and my business partner Janet.
And I would like to thank my Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner and you can find more information on his Linketree, linktr.ee/gbaudio
Be safe out there!
Jim
Jim Beretta
Customer Attraction & The Robot Industry Podcast
London, ON
35 min
May 07 Advanced quality manufacturing analytics with Greta Cutulenco from Acerta
For this session (#160) of The Robot Industry Podcast I welcome KW's own Greta Cutulenco from Acerta Analytics (aka Acerta).
According to Acerta's website: Manufacturing generates terabytes of data every day—yet most of it goes unused. The real opportunity isn’t more technology, but building a data-driven culture on the shop floor, where insights guide decisions in real time. She co-founded Acerta in 2017 to help manufacturers move from reactive problem-solving to predictive operations. We’ve built an AI-powered analytics platform for discrete manufacturers, especially in automotive, that improves line performance, reduces the cost of poor quality, and enables better decisions directly at the point of production. She is passionate about Industrial AI that works in production environments—AI that scales across plants, integrates with real manufacturing systems, and delivers value to the people running the line. There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing a defect detected before it cascades or a team empowered with insights they can act on immediately. Along the way, she has been honoured as a Forbes 30 Under 30 in Manufacturing, an Industry All-Star, and a Canadian to Watch by Automotive News Canada. Greta also serves on the APMA board, contributing to the future of automotive manufacturing in Canada.
Here are some of the questions that I used in our interview:
There are lots of implementers of AI - How are you different?
You have lots of interesting conversations, what are your prospects and customers concerned about.
Are there any big trends?
What does a project look like, is there such a thing as typical?
Who do you deal with at a manufacturing company? Plant Manager, Owner, CEO, Manufacturing Engineer?
What is the ROI for your customers?
What are keeping engineers up at night?
You have been very successful with over 400 production lines online, how is that going?
Do you have any favourite Use Cases
Where does AI fit into all of this?
Let’s talk about time to market and speed to market. I know that this is like asking how long a piece of string is, but how long does it take to do a project?
Can you tell our audience about your software?
Do you work with automation integrators?
AI enabled platform > workflows data and AI
More data driven culture at scale?
What happens when something changes (in the plant), update and maintain
Do you have a bulls eye customer?
How do you engage with a new customer?
How can a manufacturer benefit from LinePulse when they have more than one location?
Have we forgotten to talk about anything?
When you are not knee deep in projects and data, what do you like to do, do you have hobbies?
How can people get a hold of you?
Thanks for listening.
Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team Chris Gray for the music, Geoffy Bremner for audio production, my business partner Janet.
And I would like to thank my Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner and you can find more information on his Linketree, linktr.ee/gbaudio
Be safe out there!
Jim
Jim Beretta
Customer Attraction & The Robot Industry Podcast
London, ON
29 min
April 26 Bryan Madden - Leading the Mushroom Growing Industry with Automation, Robotics and Mycionics
Bryan Madden is the Farms Director at Champ's Fresh Farms Inc. in Langley BC
Welcome to podcast # 159. I caught up with Bryan, who is a customer of Mycionics, my client. I spent the last few days at #Mushroomdays or #Mushroom Days in the Netherlands.
Here are some of my questions:
How did you get into mushroom farming?
Can you tell me about Apex / South Mill Champs?
What is the output of the farm? How many employees?
What is a Drawer farm, what is that and why is it important to the conversation?
1.5 million pounds weekly , production in winnipeg lot to gain
Drawer farm, Europe is (now) learning from us
NO ONE WANT to pick mushrooms, it is a really tough job.
Canada's Temporary foreign workers program?
Labour is a complex variable on the farm.
Why automation?
Beyond the labor challenge, you are going to get a lot of data?
What are some of the challenges?
You are positioning your farm to be one of the most technologically advanced automated mushroom growing operations in North America.
That must be challenging and exciting.
How did you learn about Mycionics?
Tell me about your project.
What is the ROI of automation, from your perspective?
How do you roll out automation in a farm? Is it by room?
You have purchased the Mycionics Crop Scout and robotic harvester picker. Can you tell our audience what they do
Your workers have to make thousands of picks (decisions) a day, how does (adding) this automation make them feel?
You have committed to rolling out Crop Scouts product and you have tested others, so you believe in the technology approach from Mycionics
What about the data that you are collecting? How is that going to change your operation?
You are also considering robotic picking automation, a multi arm robot on order. I know that you have had some initial success with a prototype unit? How is that experience going?
What have you had to do to get ready for automation?
How has Mycionics been to work with? Are they responsive? What about remote support?
So you are a big believer in the Mycionics approach and the Mycionics team?
You know the team from Mycionics, Ryan and Stefan, are they open to your feedback?
You deal with lots of automation vendors when it comes to mushroom harvesting, what has been the difference between suppliers?
You are piloting technology all the time, do you have a message for these evolving suppliers?
You are pretty excited about the data?
Mushroom farming in Canada, why and why now?
Future of mushroom farming is automated, would you agree?
Is there anything that separates mycionics, have they done anything special innovation
Robotics and automation are not perfected in the lab, it is in the barn. It needs people like you open to fail and to iterate.
Thanks for coming onto the podcast. Thanks for all you do for the industry!
Did we forget to talk about anything?
If you would like to get in touch with Bryan here is his LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-madden-b12a9329/
https://www.mycionics.com
Stefan Glibetic is president of Mycionics based out of Kitchener/Waterloo, ON
My friend is in charge of sales and growth at Mycionics is Ryan McCartney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandoesdeals/
If you would like to get in touch with us at THE robot industry podcast, you can find me, Jim Beretta on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimberetta/
Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team: Chris Gray for the music, Geoffrey Bremner for audio production and my business partner Janet.
And I would like to thank my Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner and you can find more information on his Linketree, linktr.ee/gbaudio
Be safe out there!
Jim
Jim Beretta
Customer Attraction & The Robot Industry Podcast
London, ON
31 min
April 08 AgRobotics, Agriculture, and Automation with Chuck Baresich
Welcome to podcast # 158. Chuck Baresich is the Founder and President of Haggerty Creek farming operation. He is a farmer and an expert in AgRobotics.
The farming operation is part of Haggerty Creek Ltd. owned & operated by Chuck & Justin Baresich and AGRIS Cooperative since 2001 www.haggertycreek.com. He has been researching and testing various automated technologies.
Haggerty AgRobotics is actively developing relationships with leading ag-technology companies to commercialize new innovations and bring them to farmers in Eastern Canada.
Here are some of my questions to Chuck:
Who is the Ontario AgRobotics Working Group?
Ag robotics adoption in Canada? What’s holding users back? What motivates them?
What is digital agriculture?
How did you get into automation….and what automation are you using?
Laser Zapper? Standard equipment?
What countries do they come from?
Service and support question (what is plan B?)
Resistant weeds and speed
Data question: Cameras and computers in every machine quality of images, etc.
Canadians are typically slow to install automation in factories…are farmers the same?
Let's talk about autonomous farming vehicles (AMRs, AGVs and logistics)
Is broadband a problem? Remote processing.
What is your advice to farmers who are thinking about automation?
Where can farmers see demonstrations?
How do we get better at putting more automation into farm?
Too complicated? Waterloo company startup example.
How can people get a hold of you?
AgRobotics Working Group
The AgRobotics Working Group comprises a diverse membership, including representatives from various levels of government, academic institutions, industry associations, and many more stakeholders in the agriculture sector. Since our establishment in March 2021, we have been dedicated to on-farm demonstrations, fostering networks, facilitating collaboration, and brainstorming innovative technology solutions. Our weekly meetings serve as a platform for discussing ideas, reviewing new technologies, applying for funding opportunities, and developing priorities for Ontario Agriculture.
Show Notes:
https://www.agroboticswg.com/memberships
https://www.agroboticswg.com/events
‍London, ON – March 23, 2026 – The future of farming will be on display at the inaugural Canadian AgRobotics & AI Summit on March 26, 2026, at The Grove, Western Fair District. As Canada’s largest agrobotics conference, the one-day event will bring together farmers, innovators, researchers, funders and industry leaders from across North America to explore the rapidly evolving role of robotics and artificial intelligence in agriculture.
If you would like to get in touch with us at THE robot industry podcast, you can find me, Jim Beretta on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimberetta/
Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team: Chris Gray for the music, Geoffrey Bremner for audio production and my business partner Janet.
And I would like to thank my Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner and you can find more information on his Linketree, linktr.ee/gbaudio
Be safe out there!
Jim
Jim Beretta
Customer Attraction & The Robot Industry Podcast
London, ON
32 min
March 28 AVL Battery and Test Systems with Matthew Hortop, PE
Welcome to #157 of TRIP, The Robot Industry Podcast. I met up with Matt in Windsor during the Windsor-Essex' Emerging Technologies in Automation & Mobility Transformation Conference & Trade Show.
Matthew Hortop, P.E. is a Technical Specialist for all Things Electrification.
AVL is his employer and they are a 12,000-person company focused on powertrains. They don't make engines or inverters, they help customers doing the technology development. Batteries have become an important part of the automotive industry, including the drivetrain.
AVL
https://www.avl.com/en/engineering/e-mobility-engineering/battery-development-electric-vehicles
Some of the questions that I asked Matt:
How did you get into the industry?
What do you do?
What do you have for an automotive OEM?
The speed of the battery industry?
How do you support your customers?
You can find out more about the organizers (Invest Windsor Essex) at https://www.emergingtechnologies.ca/ or at https://www.investwindsoressex.com/.
If you would like to get in touch with us at THE robot industry podcast, you can find me, Jim Beretta on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimberetta/
Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team: Chris Gray for the music, Geoffrey Bremner for audio production and my business partner Janet.
And I would like to thank my Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner and you can find more information on his Linketree, linktr.ee/gbaudio
Be safe out there!
Jim
Jim Beretta
Customer Attraction & The Robot Industry Podcast
London, ON
20 min

About The Robot Industry Podcast

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Podcast for the Automation, Robotics and Manufacturing Industries by host, Jim Beretta. The podcast is partnered with A3 | RIA Robotics Industry Association. We discuss trends, innovation, and…