Image credit : Neubility
Neubility, a last-mile robotics startup, plans to increase its fleet of autonomous delivery robots without lidar to 400 by the end of this year, up from the current 50 in operation. The Seoul-based startup has undergone multiple pivots since its establishment six years ago but recently closed a Series A funding round of $26 million. As part of its ambitious growth strategy, Neubility aims to introduce a new security robot alongside its existing delivery models.
Previously known for creating a haptic glove device for video games, Neubility shifted its focus to developing hardware and software for delivery robots in late 2019.
In a competitive industry with players like Starship Technologies, Coco, Cartken, Kiwibot for self-driving delivery robots, and Knightscope for security robots, Neubility differentiates itself by building its in-house products, leading to cost-effectiveness and low maintenance. They take ownership of robot hardware, software platforms, and core technologies such as visual simultaneous localization and mapping (V-SLAM) and sensor fusion.
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Unlike using expensive lidar, Neubility employs V-SLAM, allowing their autonomous mobile robots to perceive their surroundings and obtain visual data from the physical world. This data enables the robots to build a 3D map of their environment and navigate accordingly. According to Neubility’s CEO, Sangmin Lee, having proprietary control over the hardware is vital for self-driving technology.
