Taking an Industry by Storm, One Robot at a Time: Clearpath Robotics

Robotics is a rapidly emerging industry with some of the best and brightest minds in science and engineering racing to create the best robots and capture the largest share of the emerging market. Additionally, investors, as well as venture capitalists, have already poured hundreds of millions of dollars into various companies that design and build robots for a wide range of applications. For the layman, a robot is any machine that carries out specific tasks with little or no human intervention. Industries across the board have recognized the importance of such machines since they can carry out tasks that are too hazardous for people. One company making inroads into robotics is named Clearpath Robotics.

Founded by a group of like-minded enthusiasts who soon decided pursue their passion all the way, Clearpath Robotics grew from a pet project for hobbyists into a company that has established itself as a force to be reckoned with in the robotics industry.

Origin

Clearpath was started in a basement by four friends who loved building robots in university. After experiencing their own frustrations in the lab, they wanted to make robotics research easier. Persisting, failing, iterating and finally succeeding on the build of their first unmanned vehicle, Clearpath Robotics was born. Since then, the company has grown, with robots and customers all over the world. Its offices are bigger and the company has real desks but continued to hold on to the spirit with which it was founded: be genuine, listen to customers, and keep it beautifully simple. The team at Clearpath is passionate about building robots for the greater good and loves to solve problems, make innovative ideas a reality, and play the occasional game of frisbee over lunch. The company is a leader in research robotics and blazing the trail for robots in industry.

Robots

Clearpath has developed robots that operate on land and on sea along with ones for industrial applications. These robots are meant for operations that are deemed too risky for humans and so, help companies manage risk.

Moose: Unmanned ground vehicle

Moose UGV is Clearpath’s largest all-terrain unmanned ground vehicle yet. It can handle tough environments with its rugged build, low ground pressure, and 8x8 traction tires, which allow effortless mobility through soft soils, vegetation, thick muds, and steep grades.

With a large payload mounting area and accessible power and communication ports, Moose can be easily customized with sensors, manipulators and other payloads to accommodate a wide variety of robotics applications in mining, agriculture, construction, and environmental monitoring.

Warthog: Amphibious unmanned ground vehicle

Warthog is a large all-terrain unmanned ground vehicle capable of traveling on land and in water. It can handle tough environments with its rugged build, low ground pressure, and traction tires, which allow effortless mobility through soft soils, vegetation, thick muds, and steep grades.

Payload mounting plates and accessible power and communication ports allow Warthog to be easily customized with sensors, manipulators and other payloads to accommodate a wide variety of robotics applications in mining, agriculture, and environmental monitoring.

Husky: Unmanned ground vehicle

Husky is a medium-sized robotic development platform. Its large payload capacity and power systems accommodate an extensive variety of payloads, customized to meet research needs. Stereo cameras, LIDAR, GPS, IMUs, manipulators and more can be added to the UGV by integration experts. The Husky’s rugged construction and high-torque drivetrain can take your research where no other robot can go. Husky is fully supported in ROS with community-driven Open Source code and examples.

Boxer: Indoor mobile robot

Boxer is a large indoor robotic platform for prototyping and development of industrial applications. Adapted from the OTTO Motors OTTO 100 SDV, Boxer is an industrial-grade mobile robot that’s programmable and easily extensible with additional hardware.

Heron: Unmanned surface vessel

Heron is a portable, mid-sized surface vessel. The catamaran design includes anti-fouling thrusters, an incredibly shallow profile, and built-in GPS for easy access positioning data. This unmanned surface vessel features a payload bay for mounting submerged sensors or equipment on deck. Heron’s folding pontoons and quick-swappable battery make transport, launch, and retrieval a quick and easy process.

Ridgeback: Omnidirectional platform

Ridgeback is a midsize indoor robot platform that uses an Omni-drive to move manipulators and heavy payloads with ease. The omnidirectional base provides precision positioning in constrained environments and comes fully integrated with an onboard computer, front and optional rear laser scanners and an IMU. Ridgeback offers native ROS and Gazebo integration and is plug-and-play compatible with Clearpath’s wide range of robot accessories.

Meet the visionary behind Clearpath Robotics

Matt Rendall, CEO: Fueled by a potent combination of ambition and determination Matt can typically be found trying to take over the world one robot at a time. No obstacle is too large, no detail too small. Give the man a green tea and watch him go!

Developing the vision and strategic direction of this high-growth robotics company, Matt believes that robots will change the way the world works and is passionate about helping companies find rapid-ROI through the adoption of service robots. In pursuit of this objective, he is leading a transformation at Clearpath with aspirations to become the world’s first $1B service robotics company. Matt has been named Young Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young in 2013 and Profit Magazine in 2011.

“We aim to automate the world’s dullest, dirtiest, and deadliest jobs.”