Swiss universities are a hotbed of innovation in robotics and startups are often financially supported by the government. This has resulted in the emergence of multiple companies. In fact, Switzerland has the potential to create not just startups but entire industries considering the multi-year-research-based technology these companies are developing
This comes from the main difference between Swiss and US university support. Swiss Universities are offered support keeping long-term impact in perspective US universities need to manage their investments and ensure a return over a reasonable time period , – quick returns as their target.
In the Swiss startup ecosystem, I’ve had a front-row seat in observing and supporting startups, as many founders have been my students when they transitioned to becoming entrepreneurs.
ANYbotics is one such story. This company created a four-legged robot ‘ANYmal’ that can walk in a specific route and climb steps. It is similar to the robot developed by Boston Dynamics of the US, which was recently acquired by Hyundai for USD 1.3 billion. However, there is a key difference: ANYbotics’ robot does none of the impressive stunts In YouTube promotional videos that Boston Dynamics’ has become famous for.
It, instead, identifies risks in some of the world’s most critical infrastructure, including chemical plants, offshore oil rigs, power utilities, and mining. Towards this, it has created the world’s first explosionproof robot, again focussing on addressing risk rather than clips for social media.
It provides constant monitoring of specific data points that independently may not be problematic, but together pose a risk. For example, a pipe showing an increase in temperature might not be a critical issue, but if there is an inflammable gas leak in the vicinity, it highlights a risk of fire. Both variables would be difficult to track for a person monitoring the infrastructure. But they can be identified by heat and gas sensors, gas sensors or ultrasound cameras mounted on a robot. Further, using data over time, the robot may be able to track the rate of change of these variables, and determine if the cumulative information poses a risk, providing actionable intelligence.
This example illustrates the differences between the Swiss and American approaches when it comes to startup support and development. The ANYmal has been focused on creating a stable and scalable revenue by addressing industrial challenges and risks, whereas Boston Dynamics was built to exit. To sum it up: sustained impact vs. quick exit.
There are many such examples in Switzerland. Ascento, another ETH spinoff, is a robot on wheels also focusing on monitoring infrastructure assets security, providing all-terrain coverage with an autonomy of 40 km. Swiss-based Tethys provides underwater drones for search and surveillance missions in challenging sea conditions. There are many more exciting stories, like Sono Robotics and its acoustic based catheter to address myocardial infraction (also called heart attack) due to an arterial blockage. The Sono Robotics solution breaks the thrombus, or blood clot, and extracts the thrombi, dramatically improving patient outcomes. This has the potential to replace existing treatments including open-heart surgery while ensuring that the thrombi do not lead to secondary risks like brain strokes.
What strikes us about the taglines of Swiss robot startups is that they are incredibly unsexy, since they rarely do marketing. But it’s clear that they mean business. They are not supposed to sound cool but to instil trust in their ability to deliver in the most demanding environments.
I am convinced that Swiss robotics startups will bring value to and reduce risk in multiple industries. They will drive the emergence of new industrial sectors such as early identification of insect infestations in crops due to climate change, and personal health. They will magnify our ability to create impact and bring solutions to real world, on-the-ground problems, and do so on an inclusive basis.