BC Business
B.C.'s robotics sector has legs, but a shortage of engineers is holding us back
Robots are on the move in B.C., if you know where to look. A mix of established veterans and promising startups, the province’s robotics companies are doing everything from delving into undersea exploration to teaching machines how to think like people. Some have become acquisition targets, a trend highlighted by camera maker Point Grey Research, a leader in machine vision, which Oregon-based Flir Systems Inc. bought for $253 million last year.
These businesses offer a glimpse of how lucrative the B.C. robotics industry could be if we devoted more energy to bringing it to life. “I tell everybody I know, we produce half per capita the number of engineers that our peer provinces do,” says Elizabeth Croft, a UBC professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Collaborative Advanced Robotics and Intelligent Systems laboratory. “If you don’t produce engineers, you won’t have robotics companies. You need people in computing and AI, and I think people are waking up to that investment.”
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: B.C. desperately needs an anchor tenant to take its robotics industry to the next level, but major players won’t come unless they see a stable supply of staff. “You’re going to have to produce more engineers to create the talent pool to attract the companies to develop that virtuous circle of developing the economy around robotics,” Croft says, noting that though B.C. has limited potential for manufacturing automation, other industries offer fertile ground. “There are amazing opportunities, and one of them is mining.”
Headquarters: Port CoquitlamLaunched: 1974 Founder: James McFarlaneEmployees: 100Financials: $10 million to $25 million in annual salesOrigin story: After 18 years with the Canadian Armed Forces, McFarlane retired and launched ISEBreakthrough: In 1983, the firm unveiled the first autonomous underwater vehicle to submerge solo. ISE subs became sought-after worldwide for gathering deep-sea data, including information to support Canada’s claim to Arctic sovereigntyCustomers: The U.S. and Canadian navies, oceanographic research organizations like the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, commercial clients like Shell Oil Co. and government agencies such as NASA
Headquarters: North VancouverLaunched: 2013Founders: Reza Abdollahi and Soroush KarimzadehEmployees: 13Financials: Raised $1 million this year in a seed round with Seaspan ULC and Business Development Bank of Canada participatingOrigin story: Motivated by the global shortage of qualified pipe welders, engineers Abdollahi and Karimzadeh developed a process to automate such workBreakthrough: Novarc has built what it calls the world’s first collaborative welding robot, the Spool Welding Robot, which could not only lower the cost of pipe welding but make less-skilled welders more productiveCustomers: Mainly pipe shops servicing industries including oil and gas, shipbuilding, chemical plants, water and wastewater facilities, and nuclear and other power plants
Headquarters: San FranciscoLaunched: 2014Founders: Geordie Rose, Suzanne Gildert, James Bergstra, Graham Taylor, George Babu, Ajay AgrawalEmployees: 45 (7 in B.C.)Financials: US$14 million raised from investors including Bloomberg Beta, First Round Capital and Google VenturesOrigin story: Gildert and Rose moved on from Burnaby quantum computer maker D-Wave Systems Inc. to the idea of developing software to enable robots to learn from people. From its Mount Pleasant research lab, Kindred is working with funding from Silicon Valley venture capital firmsBreakthrough: The company aims to deliver human and artificial “intelligence on tap” to any machine. One example is an industrial warehouse robot called the Orb, a robotic arm operated by a mix of human and automated controls. When a person takes over, the software adapts, with the goal that the machine will learn to perform new tasks on its ownCustomers: Kindred is looking to deploy its Orb in warehouses soon
Headquarters: LangleyFounded: 2015Founders: Michael Gibney and James KlassenEmployees: 50+Financials: More than $28 million raised from angel investorsOrigin story: Robots have always moved awkwardly because of their limited range of motion. Genesis was spun off from robotics R&D outfit Genesis Advanced Technology to tackle the problem by designing a better actuatorBreakthrough: The LiveDrive actuator, which responds like a human joint, could deliver the torque necessary to replace robots’ traditional electric motor and gearbox jointsCustomers: Genesis hasn’t commercialized its technology, but it’s working with global companies to bring LiveDrive to market
Headquarters: NanaimoLaunched: 1989 Founder: Terry Knight and Allen (Al) RobinsonEmployees: 55+ Financials:>/span> About $10 million in annual salesOrigin story: Inuktun launched as a side gig to sell remote operated submersibles for the consumer market, but industrial clients proved more rewarding. The company specializes in interchangeable components, somewhat like industrial Lego, for robots such as its flagship MaggHDBreakthrough: Inuktun’s Variable Geometry Tracked Vehicle plunged down mining tunnels, crawled through nuclear power plants and slipped into pipes. It put the company on the map and was one of four robots used to search for survivors after 9/11Customers: BC Hydro and Power Authority, Dow Chemical Co. and the U.S. Navy’s Naval Surface Warfare Centerplus the Discovery Channel, which used Inuktun’s robotic cameras and crawlers to produce Shark Week
Headquarters: SurreyLaunched: 2000Founder: Rob AntonidesEmployees: 8Financials: $1.5 million in annual sales, with 100 per cent growth for two years straightOrigin story: When Antonides moved to Vancouver from Minneapolis, his former boss encouraged the Penticton native to start his own automation business. Soon after, the electrical engineer was introduced to the bakery industry, and he’s been designing sanitary-food machines ever sinceBreakthrough: Despite years of automation in the food business, decorating cakes is still largely a manual task. Enter the Decobot, a machine that can do everything from making cupcake swirls to writing “Happy Birthday”Customers: Industrial bakeries in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.
Headquarters: VancouverLaunched: 1999Founder: Shahram TafazoliEmployees: 60Financials: Annual sales of more than $10 million; 30 per cent revenue growth in 2016-17Origin story: Tafazoli was wrapping up a PhD in robotics and intelligent systems at UBC when he saw an opportunity to tackle some of the toughest challenges in the mining industry. Since starting Motion Metrics, he’s worked on developing solutions to allow mines and quarries to operate more safely and efficientlyBreakthrough: ShovelMetrics Missing Tooth Detection is a monitoring system for mining shovels that detects tooth wear and prevents missing teeth from entering the crusher or conveyor belt and leading to dangerous and costly repair jobs. In 2015, Freeport-McMoRan Inc., one of the world’s largest copper miners, became the first company to adopt itCustomers: Some of the biggest names in mining: Barrick Gold Corp., BHP Billiton Group, Canadian Natural Resources, Goldcorp Inc., Rio Tinto and Teck Resources Ltd.