Alexey Poluboyarinov: "Our robots know how to drive where no one drives"
According to a study conducted by ROMIR Holding together with the School of Communications of the Faculty of Creative Industries of the HSE, 29.6% of Russians are afraid of the "robot revolution". We talked with Alexey Poluboyarinov, CEO of SMP Robotics LLC, about the benefits of machines for people, about working at a temperature of -50 ° C, as well as how robots are customized for specific purposes.
— In our country, the production of mobile robots is in its infancy. Your company has been present on the market for eight years. Can I call you the flagships in the market? Who do you consider your competitors?
— The company has been in existence since 2013, that's when we started developing autonomous mobile robots. And the first sales began in 2016. For the first three years, we worked on the development and selection of data sources for autonomous navigation, prepared a mathematical base for visual navigation, and experimented with various platforms that could be carried by computers and cameras.
As of 2022, we were the world's largest manufacturer of autonomous mobile robots, according to the Global Markets Research survey. Our street robots are massively represented in the security and oil and gas sectors. In total, several hundred products have been produced and operated around the world.
We have no serial competitors in the market, except for the Canadians of Clearpath Robotics. The American company Knightscope has another, much less passable robot, which is rather designed to stand on a flat area, rather than move around an extended perimeter. There is also OTSAW Robotics from Singapore, but it is unclear how serial they are, because so far only aggressive marketing from the company is visible.
And of course, the competitor to our robots is a human, especially in those countries where salaries are relatively low. But this competition is solved by increasing the volume of production and, as a result, reducing the price of the product and simplifying entry into the market.
From a technological point of view, we are the market leaders. Our robots travel the longest and most accurately of all, flexibly and simply integrate into any modern video surveillance systems, which opens up opportunities to use all modern video analytics functions. We have robot modifications for both cold and hot climates: they can ride on almost any surface, starting from asphalt and ending with a field or a snow-covered primer.
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| SMP Robotics mobile robots. |
| Source: https://www.smprobotics.ru/ |
— How affordable is the production of these robots in Russia? Are there enough domestic components/components from friendly countries?
— We have our own workshop within the framework of a large instrument-making plant, we cook frames ourselves, solder boards, form fiberglass housings, make small parts on industrial 3D printers. Most of the electronic components come from Asia, some of them have a long delivery time, but we keep a large warehouse in case of delays. In general, we feel good.
— Your company offers a wide range of different robots — from security guards to delivery men. What is the reason for this diversity? By requesting productions, by a visionary position, or by borrowing foreign trends?
— With a relatively wide range of models, we are looking for markets where our product can find its mass buyer. We know how to make hardware and write software, we know how to drive where no one drives. But only the people on the ground know better what to put on our platform. Our product range allows a specialist who is looking for a solution to his problem to find our company and make a choice in favor of our product.
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| SMP Robotics mobile robots. |
| Source: https://www.smprobotics.ru/ |
— How many robots do you produce per year? How has production increased during the company's existence? What has been the dynamics over the past five years?
— It depends on the year and demand: it is elastic. As a rule, the period from the first contact to the conclusion of the contract and delivery is about six months, and for large companies it can take a couple of years. On average, from 50 to 100 pieces per year are obtained. Over the past year, the company's turnover increased 1.5 times.
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| SMP Robotics mobile robots. |
| Source: https://www.smprobotics.ru/ |
— Who is the main customer of your robots? What kind of company? Are there many foreign customers?
— We have many distributors around the world who locally service and implement robots locally. These are mainly security, oil and gas and mining companies that replace full-time employees whose job responsibilities include methodical passage along the same route for inspection or inspections.
Most of the manufactured products are shipped abroad. In Russia, robots are used mainly for oil and gas inspections, control of personal protective equipment and perimeter protection of cottage settlements and industries.
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| SMP Robotics mobile robots. |
| Source: https://www.smprobotics.ru/ |
— Your presentation indicates that your robots are suitable for hot or very cold countries. Can you really give an example when your robot worked in terrible climatic conditions and coped?
— Saudi Arabia, NEOM city under construction: our robots protect the town of local specialists and workers from Bedouins and keep order. The temperature inside the robot rose to +70 °C when it was +55°C outside, but it kept moving!
Another example is the Yaraktinskoye field in the Irkutsk region, where the temperature drops to -50 °C in winter. Our robots have been successfully operated here for several years.
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| SMP Robotics mobile robots. |
| Source: https://www.smprobotics.ru/ |
— When designing robots, how important is it to take into account their aesthetic component?
— For us, first of all, it is important that the form improves the reliability of autonomous navigation and is suitable for the tasks of mass production. I think we have very beautiful robots.
— How long has your company been developing new robots and implementing design solutions?
— At the moment, we have the third generation of a rear-wheel drive robot and the second generation of an all-wheel drive one. It turns out that about once every three or four years we update the design.
— Do you practice redesigning robots? Are foreign customers satisfied with the technological and visual solutions in your robots?
— The redesign should be due to some new application or additional payload on the robot, which needs to be installed ergonomically somehow. Or if, after prolonged operation, some element is found that requires improvement to improve driving characteristics. Or by replacing the internal components of the robot, for example GPS, GLONASS receivers. Or the installation of platforms for thermal imagers or gas analyzers.
Most of our robots are customized to the brand of end users, pasted with vinyl and stickers. Everyone is satisfied with everything. We are more often asked to "finish" something in the software for a specific application than for the visual component.
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| SMP Robotics mobile robots. |
| Source: https://www.smprobotics.ru/ |
— One of your robots became a participant in the project "From idea to premiere" from Moskino. How nice was it to see your creation on the "Artistic" screen?
— Oh, it was wonderful. We've never been in a movie before. This is the first time for us
