Our specialty is building the brain that does autonomous navigation. At some point, we may build a robot in the future, but right now, our business is delivering this value to OEM manufacturers who make these robotic devices that want them to be autonomous. Watch the video below as Tom explains what we do and what we do not do.

What We Do

We do not do indoor navigation right now. Our focus is on outdoor autonomous navigation systems. We take on situations where there is a complex problem that the customer needs to solve within that mission, and they need a sophisticated autonomy platform to do that.

We heavily focus on ground mobile robotics with a specific mission and a relatively complex mission. It is not to say we have not considered applications in marine environments where it involves near shore and flat-water environments. However, the primary focus is commercial-scale ground robotic vehicle applications, the OEM manufacturers, and the customers inside those markets.

What We Don’t Do

If it is a low-cost consumer robot, then we are probably not the best fit. It is not easy to get a sophisticated autonomous navigation system into a consumer device while making it affordable. Our ideal market is commercial companies that make larger robotic vehicles, and we can use a cost structure to deliver the highest value to the customer.

In Conclusion

It is important to clarify that most outdoor applications are going to rely on GPS or radar or something of the sort for their navigation. The issue is what happens when you get into environments where the GPS signal is denied or degraded. We at Inertial Sense can rely on visual odometry, lidar, and even wheel ticks coming off the device itself.

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Video Transcript

A Little About Inertial Sense

So what do we and what we don’t do. Our specialty is building the brain. We build the brain of autonomous navigation systems. We don’t build the robots themselves. At some point, we may build an interesting robot in the future. But right now, our business is delivering this value to OEM manufacturers who make these robotic devices that want them to be autonomous. So we’re focused on providing that brain as a service to that OEM manufacturer. 

What We Do

So we’re definitely looking at commercial companies making sort of larger robotic vehicles, where there’s a cost structure we could work with and still deliver the highest value to the customer.

We are very heavily focused on just ground mobile robotics that have a specific mission and a relatively complex mission. If you have a robot that just has to go point to point, there’s plenty of other solutions out there that will do that. But if you’ve got a mission that has multiple boundaries and activity within those boundaries, and sophisticated navigation that needs to take place, we’re great at that.

And we are focused exclusively on ground mobile robotics. We have looked at applications in marine environments where it involved near shore and flat water environments. So we do have the capability to extend to those platforms. But right now, we’re focused mostly on sort of commercial-scale ground robotic vehicle applications and the OEM manufacturers, and the customers inside those markets.

So when I say outdoor, I think it’s important to clarify that most outdoor applications are going to rely on GPS or radar or some kind for most of their navigation. The real issue is what happens when you get into environments where that GPS signal is denied or degraded. And again we’re excellent at that. We’ve got, the platform handles a whole bunch of different other sensors that then come into play if the GPS signal is denied. We can rely on visual odometry. We can rely on lidar. We can rely on wheel ticks coming off the device itself. So having always-on access to the GPS signal is not something that’s a requirement for us. So we’ve got plenty of other things that can fill in the gap when that GPS signal is denied or degraded for some reason. So we don’t do indoor, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t function within GPS to night environments

What We Don’t Do

So I’ve talked a lot about what we’re good for. I’ll talk about a couple of things where we may not be applicable. First of all, if it’s a low-cost consumer robot, then we’re probably not a good fit. It’s very difficult to get that type of sophisticated autonomous navigation in a consumer device, and actually have it be affordable by anybody. 

Indoor applications, we don’t do indoor. We’re specifically focusing on outdoor. There are other applications where if you’re just sort of doing point-to-point navigation. There’s not anything within sort of a boundary or pattern or a mission that’s more complex. You can kind of get other robots to do that and do that relatively effectively for very simple missions.

We’re more about taking on things where there’s a complex problem that the customer has to solve with that mission, and they need a sophisticated autonomy platform to do that.

So if you’ve got questions about what the luna platform can do for you and your business and your customers, click on the link below or call us. We‘ll be happy to help you out.