Adaptive Goal Management AppAdaptive Goal Management is an app which is a scalable and hardened control system which will allow our customers to deploy robotic systems faster and more cost-effectively. It acts as a robot fleet manager with an adaptive goal execution system for robots and drones which are connected to the internet. The platform will use Stellar blockchain as the real-time financial settlement layer allowing our customers to adopt Robotics using a service model, with an innovative progressive payment settling in real-time as each job is completed.

We have a beta version of our MVP. In terms of users we’ve had a handful of users try the platform. Our next step is to have one to three users which will stress test the platform for a number of weeks. Currently we operate in Canada. Currently we have not raised any funds to date. All efforts and development are self-funded.

PROBLEM & SOLUTION

A key factor in the introduction of automation into manufacturing is always cost. The business case has to make sense and the margins / rates in a manufacturing plant are often a challenge. There is thus a need to consider how the cost of installation, operation, and maintenance can be optimized.

Leveraging the reach and flexibility of the Internet, Command Robotics strives to solve the worlds most important challenges with robotics. At it's core, AGM (Adaptive Goal Management) is a cloud based robotic fleet management platform, built around an adaptive goal execution system which allows robotics to be applied to environments that have a large mix of tasks, very cost-effectively and within reach of anyone with an internet connection.  

How do you use Stellar in your solution?          

The Stellar Blockchain is used for:

• Asset identification & management: Each robot and workstation will be created as a unique asset on the Stellar blockchain. The account holding the unique asset is eligible for the fees earned by the asset for performing a service or job.
• The Stellar blockchain is the settlement layer for the funds required to activate a robotic service/job and to distribute the funds after the service/job is completed.

The Stellar blockchain is used alongside a MongoDB database. The Stellar blockchain is only used for the financial transactions, while the MongoDB is used for the storage of all other data.

Below aretwo diagrams showing how the Stellar Blockchain is being integrated into the AGM platform.

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TARGET MARKET                                                  

The manufacturing market is a large user of robotics and automation to increase productivity and scale complex manufacturing operations. There are a number of factors that are disrupting the manufacturing space leaving owners and operators no choice but to continue to implement technology to adapt to the changing market.

Customers who look to robotics seek the benefits of robotics driven by: (i) Shortage of labor in key high-tech manufacturing sectors; (ii) need to compensate for the deficit in manpower by improving workforce productivity; (iii) gain a technological-multiplier to maintain leadership in a more competitive export market; while (iv) offsetting effects of national-level technology-investment efforts across the globe14. Targeted national-scale investments in translating early-stage R&D efforts in robotics and automation into key manufacturing sectors of national interest -- aerospace, apparel, electronics, machining, and automotive -- would create significant opportunities for productivity gains.

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REVENUE MODEL

Our MVP plan would has 3 scenarios in which we can generate revenue:

1. Robot-as-a-service:  A customer comes to us for both the Robotic solution and the network architecture.  We generate revenue from deploying the robot and the work it completes for the customer.

2. Robot purchase and software-as-a-service:  A customer purchases the robot and leverages our app.  We generate revenue from the use of our cloud based app as they use the robot.

3. Partner/distributor:  The partner/distributor can look to offer the robot-as-a-service to the end customer.  We generate revenue from the setup of the robot into the app and the fees for using the app.  The partner/distributor will have the revenue from the robot solution.

Support, spare-parts and services

Additionally there is revenue for supporting the deployed robots, wear items and integrating new brands of robots into the platform.

PRICING STRATEGY

Our goal for price setting for a RaaS model is to cover the costs of a robot deployment within 1 year.  This will ensure a competitive and cost-effective pricing structure for our customers.  The value of a service/job will be estimated at the beginning of the installation by estimating the number of jobs per day and an update frequency of a quarterly adjustment based upon actual usage.

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SALES FORECAST

Our short-term sales goal is to earn one customer in 2022.  A more detail forecast and sales strategy will be developed as we enter the following phases of building our company.

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FINANCIAL PLAN

At this point in the life of our company there are only expenses.  Our goal for the next 6 months is not to take on any debt while earning our first customer.  

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INDUSTRY AND MARKET RESEARCH                                                    

Explain the total size and trends of your industry (is it growing or shrinking?), and target market (what share is realistic for you to obtain?), either through primary market research (information you gather yourself) and/or secondary market research (information from sources such as trade organizations and journals, magazines and newspapers, Census data and demographic profiles).

Taking excerpts from the 2020 US Robotics Roadmap describing the importance of robotics and the Manufacturing market.

Industrial robotics grew in deployments building upon a general-purpose manipulator capable of being reprogrammed flexibly for multiple tasks. While the former aspect is well-exercised, current deployments do not fully exploit the re-programmability (due to a variety of reasons including complexity). Nevertheless, sales for traditional industrial robots has grown at a CAGR of 19% from 2013 to 2019 even just in well-understood manufacturing use-case settings. In 2018, global robot installations increased by 6% to 422,271 units worth USD 16.5 billion bringing the operational stock of robots to about 2.44M units (+15%). With software, peripherals, and systems engineering included, the value is approximately 50 billion USD. For the eighth year in a row, robot installations in the United States reached a new peak level (40,373 units; +22%) but still remains in 3rd place after China and Japan.

Newer paradigms such as collaborative robots - also called cobots - (designed to work together with humans) accounted for less than 14,000 out of more than 422,000 industrial robots installed in 2018. Despite strong media attention of cobots, the number of units installed is still low with a share of 3.24% of annual installation. Their growth rate was slightly higher (23%) as compared to traditional robots for reasons including the lack-of-awareness, change-management and lack of effective technology use-case performance or business ROI evaluations.

Nevertheless, there is both considerable excitement and trepidation about the latent potential of next-generation robotics (enable shorter production runs, smaller factories, and higher productivity) to transform production-systems and its ability to power growth around the world13. AI-enhanced robotics (e.g., with better machine vision) with other technological advances (better sensors/compute/actuation), promises to see significantly improved pricing and performance over the next decade.

The “Advanced Manufacturing Partnership” (AMP) recognized robotics as a key-transformative technology that can revolutionize manufacturing and embodied/deployed via the Manufacturing USA institutes. These Manufacturing USA institutes including DMDII and ARM have sought to build out an ecosystem of industry-SMEs-academia-government constituents (~200-400 members) to develop 3-4-year horizon technology roadmaps, updated annually and deploy them in technology investment strategies. However, due to the focus on higher TRL-levels, the opportunities for cross-pollination and translation of latent unrealized potential of approaches developed in other application spaces are not being fully realized in the manufacturing setting.

You can find the full report here: https://www.therobotreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/roadmap-2020.pdf

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THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES

There remains regulatory uncertainty around blockchain which is expected to continue in the short-term. This will certainly have some of the companies investing in robotics skeptical about the use of blockchain in their facilities and business.

The COVID-19 pandemic did slow investments in robotics and automation but now that there is generally a plan and understanding of how to deal with the virus companies are investing. The pandemic has shown how important technology can be to ensuring business continuity in the manufacturing space. This has created many opportunities as companies look for solutions to support their workforce and scale their operations.

COMPETITION

At the moment Mobile Robotics and Fleet Management Apps are hot. There are a growing number of established companies and startups coming onto the seen due to the estimated market growth to come driven by new technologies and the drivers outlined.

An excellent example of a Robotic Fleet Management company is Freedom Robotics. They offer a cloud-based platform, targeted at the Manufacturing Industry, which allows you to monitor and collect data from a robot or device. They are a relatively young company and are building out features. Typically a monthly device subscription goes for around $50-100USD per month but offer free startup trials. The approach we are taking is job or goal management first, then monitoring. What differentiates our platform comes from our belief monitoring is only part of the solution. At the core and what the AGM platform does really well is a scalable AI based control system.

MARKETING AND SALES              

At this stage of our project we have chosen two target markets to start looking at. In order of priority they are as follows: 1. manufacturing and 2. medical

The reason Manufacturing is the first priority is because I have been involved in robotics in this field for 20+ years and have established excellent relationships with a wide variety of companies and people. This will be a place where finding a customer to do a proof of concept will be easier to find and the learning curve of their daily pain and life is low. For this project there are some guidelines we have for the pilot project. The customer must be local in the Montreal area and we are looking into assembly type operations.

Into the medical field I have a number of excellent contacts and have consulted in such areas as hospital sterilization. The regulatory environment is a little more complicated and the hospitals and long-term care facilities are more dynamic in nature. We want to establish a pilot project to build a voice of the customer profile and are assuming there will be gaps unique to this area.

Moving forward we hope to establish a customer persona for both areas where we can establish a customer list, geographical plan and identify key partners who we can work with to deliver as we look to build a customer base and support the customers for a long-term relationship.                  

RESOURCES AND RELATIONSHIPS

In the fields we are addressing we do have a number of important relationships which will help us to complete this project. To build the MVP we have a number of established contacts that we will be leveraging. The following areas are where we will be able to leverage our existing strategic relationships and resources:

• Pilot project in Manufacturing: we have a number of great contacts that will be more than happy to dedicate resources, test and build a case study around this project which we can use to promote what will be the new company and the Stellar ecosystem!
• Pilot project in Medical: we have an excellent relationship with a Spinal surgeon at the University of McGill that will allow us to start a pilot project. Again feedback and a case study are the goals to promote and build the next phase of our roadmap.
• Engineering resources: we have a number of companies and contacts that we will be leveraging for mechanical engineering, robotics engineering and software

Website implementation $1,500A Qii robot and robotic arm $3,500

● This is the documentation: https://github.com/mukmalone/AdaptiveGoalManagement● Discord: https://discord.gg/dhH2fmaK