TechAuto Closes Seed Round and Launches Ottobot 2.0 Autonomous Delivery Robot
Ottobot 2.0 is accessible, scalable, and modular for last-mile deliveries.
TechAuto Inc. today said it has closed its $3.3 million seed funding round and announced Ottobot 2.0, the latest version of its autonomous delivery robot. The Santa Monica, Calif.-based company said it plans to scale up its deployments of Ottobot in airports, retail stores, and restaurants.
“The team and I have been deeply vested into autonomous driving for more than a decade,” stated Ritukar Vijay, co-founder and CEO of TechAuto. “We believe fully autonomous delivery robots are not only a precursor to autonomous vehicle proliferation, but are [also] solving today’s biggest challenges like the labor shortage, enabling staff to do more with less.”
“Introducing Ottobot 2.0, we are bringing best-in-class maneuverability, accessibility, and modularity to our fully autonomous robots, which sets us ahead of our competition,” he added.
Vijay, Pradyot Korupolu, Ashish Gupta, and Hardik Sharma founded TechAuto in 2020. The company said its primary focus is on helping organizations in different industries to automate indoor and outdoor contactless deliveries.
The “deep tech” startup won the Business Intelligence Group’s Sustainability Product of the Year Award for 2021. TechAuto also showed its robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) offerings at AUVSI Xponential in April 2022.
TechAuto designs Ottobot 2.0 to be modular
Earlier this year, TechAuto claimed that its Ottobots were the world’s first autonomous mobile robots to deliver food, beverages, and travel retail items at airports. The company said it received positive responses from customers at Cincinnati International Airport (CVG), and it began partnerships with several airports across the U.S. and Europe.
In addition to expanding its curbside and last-mile delivery technologies, TechAuto is involved with Fortune 500 corporations in the retail and restaurant industry across North America for wide adoption.
The company said it has successfully completed pilots at the Newlab 5G Studio in New York using Verizon’s 5G networks. TechAuto added that the leap in capabilities will enable it to deploy large fleets and increase its footprint across North America, Europe, and the Middle East.
Ottobot 2.0 evolved from early pilots to include fully customizable modular cabins, suitable for grocery deliveries, food and beverages, and e-commerce packages. They can be insulated to maintain hot or cold temperatures and configured with multiple compartments.
TechAuto also designed the robot to be accessible by adults, children, the elderly, and people with special abilities or wheelchairs. It also includes contactless human-robot interaction for security and no-touch deliveries, unlike traditional personal identification code (PIN) access.
The Contextual Navigation Engine lets Ottobot 2.0 navigate fully autonomously in unpredictable environments both indoors or outdoors, said the company. It fuses data from 3D lidar sensors, multiple cameras, and three layers of safety sensors to ensure maximum operational uptime, daytime and nighttime operations, and fast charging, claimed TechAuto.
In addition, the robot’s four-wheel drive give it directional mobility, including four-wheel drive “crab mode.” This allows Ottobot 2.0 to maneuver in tight spaces and make zero-radius turns by moving sideways, TechAuto said.
