Listen to this articleBelow is our recent interview with Robyn Sands from ST Robotics:
Q: Could you provide our readers with a brief introduction to ST Robotics?
A: ST Robotics builds and sells industrial robot arms. It was founded by myself, David Sands, in 1989 after 4 years of development with the maxim “robotics within reach”- within reach financially, and within reach technically. Our technology is accessible and easy to use.
ST actually stands for Sands Technology, which was the original incarnation of the company name, and not for “saint robotics” as many assume to our amusement!
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Q: Who are your clients and what are some of the key challenges you’re helping them solve?
A: We’ve served an incredible variety of businesses, the most well known of whom include Motorola and Nasa. An ST robot is a multi-use product, similar to a laptop or a work tool, so the end use has varied from testing buttons on electronic devices to picking fruit and veg decked out with a specialised vision system.
The biggest thing in common that we do for our clients is that we offer a simple and affordable entry in to automation, and all of the efficiency and financial benefits that brings for a business. Any task which is too monotonous, too expensive, too exact or occasionally even too dangerous for a human employee to do can be a problem for a business, and an ST robot can offer an individualised solution.
Q: How hard is it to program your robot?
A: It’s super easy. We really pride ourselves on how accessible our robots are- you don’t need to know a coding language or anything about robotics to use an ST robot. Our robots are coded in forth, which is a really simple language so anyone can learn the basics. It’s been designed to be interactive, so that when a user types a command they get an instant response.
Our robots are even used in schools and colleges across the world to teach the basics of robotics programming to students- they’re that simple.
Q: Can you give us insights into your robots?
A: The simplicity of our robots is what enables us to keep them low cost and easy to use. Simplicity equals reliability. Nothing about an ST robot is more complicated than it needs to be, and they’re simple to fix if something goes wrong- our robots come with full warranty and tech support, but our customers hardly ever need to use it! Extra technology can be added to the robot to perform certain tasks, such as vision systems for use in picking strawberries and cucumbers.
Q: What are some of the specific use cases or scenarios you can share on how consumers can leverage your robots?
A: The applications are very broad, from erecting and gluing boxes to laser removal of skin tags. Automation can dramatically increase a business’ profitability. One of the more exciting applications we’ve been seeing recently is in agritech, where our robots have been used to pick fruit and vegetables. Harvesting costs can account for 60% of the total cost per hectare for farmers, and harvesting technology such as picking robots can dramatically reduce labour costs and increase profit margins. With a global labour shortage in agriculture and increasing demand for food, we’ll see a lot more use of technology to solve the worlds problems.
Recommended: Q: What are your plans for the future?
A: Our plans for the future now are partly around increasing brand awareness. After 34 years of product development in the industry, our robots are one of manufacturing’s best kept secrets. As an engineer I’ve spent the last three decades perfecting our robots until we have a product that sells itself- most sales come in through word of mouth or a google search! Our current product range is even stocked by RS Components.
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