Hardware-as-a-service (HaaS) is gaining momentum across a variety of industries. Many of the early adopters of HaaS are in robotics, offering robots-as-a-service (RaaS) to decrease barriers to entry and improve overall value to customers. Others offer machine-as-a-service (MaaS), device-as-a-service (DaaS), or equipment-as-a-service (EaaS).
Some companies pitch outcomes more than assets, offering data-as-a-service or platform-as-a-service models. From network-as-a-service to facades cleaning; managed service providers (MSPs) to managed security service providers (MSSPs); and autonomous construction equipment to diagnostic sensors, these companies are on the cutting-edge of their fields.
This post is part of a series about modern hardware companies, their business models, and the future of HaaS. For more, see posts from March, April, May, June, July, early and late August, and early September.
temi is an autonomous AI assistant robot and robotics platform designed to adapt to any setting to address workflow challenges. The company’s primary commercial robot is the temi V3 GO, a robot used by restaurants and food courts for food delivery, and by businesses for indoor package deliveries. Add-ons include Dr. temi, which is controlled remotely by a physician and equipped with a high-resolution camera for telemedicine, blood pressure cuff, pulse oximeter, digital stethoscope, and more. With its software development kit, developers can design custom applications for any function they’d like: the Eindoven Airport programmed temi not only to check travelers in, but also to tell them a joke while they’re waiting for their flight. The robots are used in retail stores, universities, libraries, museums, hospitals, nursing homes, and more.
The company offers its robots through a hybrid hardware-as-a-service (HaaS) model: Customers buy temi outright and then pay a $99 monthly subscription fee for its temi Center software. The temi Center allows businesses to manage their temi fleets—automating specific action sequences, personalizing the robot’s behavior, adding and editing temi’s paths and locations on the map, and more. Purchase prices range from $4,500 for the V3 Robot to $19,000 for the V3 GO.
“The software portion of our HaaS package is where the biggest value lies,” says Yossi Wolf, Founder and Chairman. “temi is fitted with depth cameras, 360-degree LIDAR sensors, and more. It’s collecting data all the time. And because all our robots are connected to a cloud-based neural network, they learn from each other as each robot experiences something new or masters the next challenge. Though our customers have such different use cases, that learning benefits everyone.”
ForwardX Robotics builds vision-first autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for the manufacturing, warehousing, automotive, retail, and 3PL industries. The company’s diverse robotics portfolio includes solutions for picking, packing, point-to-point transport, pallet movement, multi-floor fulfillment, finished goods movement, and storage management. ForwardX’s product family includes the Max 1500-L Slim, a point-to-point material movement robot with a 360° obstacle detection and avoidance system and a payload capacity of over 3,300 pounds. Newest additions include the Flex 300-SCB Mini and Flex 300-L Mini, specifically designed to traverse ultra-narrow aisles (800-1000 mm) safely and efficiently; and the Apex 1500, a forklift made for ground-to-ground and point-to-point scenarios that doubles as an automated pallet jack.
While ForwardX offers its customers outright sale and renting options, it also offers a subscription-based robots-as-a-service (RaaS) model. Customers have access not only to the company’s equipment, but also to its f(x) Fleet Manager software, which orchestrates the robots’ movements in concert with one another and serves up real-time fleet visibility, data, and KPIs. The RaaS model allows customers along the supply chain to innovate and upgrade their facilities without the large upfront investment typically associated with automation projects.
“Investing millions into a system with limited flexibility often isn’t an option for supply chain operations,” says Founder and CEO Nicolas Chee, “especially in a post-pandemic environment. Supply chain operations are under a lot of pressure to deliver, and our customers needed a solution better-suited to their operational goals. RaaS was a logical step to align our company with the needs of the market.”
Verobotics builds robots for autonomous facade care. The 20-pound robot walks vertically on buildings, and is equipped with cameras that scan their surfaces and autonomously detect window frames to crawl over. As it cleans with a dry brush, the robot collects data with its five cameras and 15 sensors to build a real-time digital twin of the building and monitor facade health. Building owners are alerted to window cracks or HVAC leaks so they can carry out proactive maintenance or repair. Verobotics robots work up to 10x faster than traditional workers, with less danger, and can work around-the-clock.
Verobotics offers its robots through a leasing model rather than selling them outright. The robots-as-a-service (RaaS) model makes sense for its customers, since building owners don’t need their facades cleaned every day of the year. The company doesn’t share pricing on its website, but co-founder and CEO Ido Genosar says that two cleaning cycles for a 60-floor building in the United States cost around $150k. The robot requires no additional infrastructure—such as cranes—to set up, and one operator can work up to four robots at a time.
Wilder Systems builds robots that help manufacture and maintain aircraft for both commercial and government use. The company’s Agile Manufacturing Robot (AMR) is an autonomous system with a light-duty drill unit and a programmable drill process that drills the complex holes required to build airplane wings. The AMR can also drill fuselage, defasten, strip paint and repaint, apply de-icing fluid, perform surface preparation and non-destructive inspection, and wash the aircraft. Wilder’s system can clean an entire plane in an hour, where traditional human labor requires 3-4 people and takes two days. The AMR’s features include a computer vision system, automatic work-piece docking, automated tool changing, and a state-of-the-art safety system that halts the robot if a person enters the designated safety area.
Wilder’s robotic solutions are available under a traditional capex model, as well as a robots-as-a-service (RaaS) option in which customers have access to both the AMR and its accompanying software without purchasing the AMR outright. Wilder’s software scans the aircraft and maps a 3D path as it works, executing quality checks on its own performance and serving up process data to management.
Webee’s industrial IoT platform allows organizations to access data and improve operational efficiency through plug-and-play sensors. The company’s wireless sensors can integrate with any type of industrial machinery, equipment, or power station—HVAC systems, electric motors, conveyor belts, pumps, drilling machines, refining equipment, irrigation systems, and more. Use cases include monitoring soil and plant conditions, vital signs of livestock and poultry, egg incubation and milk production, irrigation, the condition of stored agricultural products, machinery status, and temperature and humidity. Webee’s natural language processing allows users to ask questions and get answers about the state of their operations in natural language.
Customers don’t have to purchase the sensors themselves. Under Webee’s hardware-as-a-service (HaaS) pricing model, customers pay ongoing subscription fees and can scale up and down when necessary. The HaaS package includes on-site installation (where necessary), implementation, support, and training tailored to each customer’s requirements. It also includes software that allows users to design and build case-specific, no-code IoT applications to link sensor information to devices, and a Visual Data Flow Manager that represents the data in graphs, dashboards, and tables. Customers can access the platform from anywhere for real-time information and notifications.