DEV Community

Cover image for Amazon launches AWS RoboRunner to support robotics apps & much more
Adit Modi for Cloud Tech

Posted on

Amazon launches AWS RoboRunner to support robotics apps & much more

  • At a keynote during its Amazon Web Services (AWS) re:Invent 2021 conference today, Amazon launched AWS IoT RoboRunner, a new robotics service designed to make it easier for enterprises to build and deploy apps that enable fleets of robots to work together.

  • Alongside IoT RoboRunner, Amazon announced the AWS Robotics Startup Accelerator, an incubator program in collaboration with nonprofit MassRobotics to tackle challenges in automation, robotics, and industrial internet of things (IoT) technologies.

  • As pandemics drive digital transformation, enterprises are accelerating the adoption of robotics and, more broadly, automation. recently report Automation World companies have found that most of the companies that have adopted robotics over the past year have adopted it to reduce labor costs, increase capacity, and overcome the shortage of available workers.

  • According to the same survey, 44.9% of companies now consider robots in assembly and manufacturing facilities to be an integral part of their day-to-day operations.

  • Amazon — a large investor in robotics itself — wasn’t shy about its intention to win most of the robotics software market. is expected It is worth more than $ 7.52 billion by 2022. In 2018, the company announced AWS RoboMaker, A product that assists developers in deploying robot applications with AI and machine learning capabilities. And Amazon earlier this year Rolled out SageMaker Reinforcement learning Kubeflow components, a toolkit that supports RoboMaker services for tuning robotics workflows.

IoT RoboRunner

Image description

  • Currently previewing IoT RoboRunner is built on technology already used in Amazon Warehouse for robotics management. This allows AWS customers to connect robots to existing automation software and combine each type of data to coordinate the work of the entire operation.

  • Fleet robot Standardize data types such as facilities, locations, and robot task data in the central repository.

  • the goal of IoT RoboRunner is to simplify the process of building a robot group management app. As companies become more and more dependent on robotics to automate their operations, they are choosing different types of robots, making it more difficult to organize robots efficiently.

  • Each robot vendor and work management system has its own, often incompatible control software, data formats, and data repositories. Also, as new robots are added to the fleet, they will need to be programmed to connect the control software to the workflow management system and program the logic of the management app.

  • Developers can use IoT RoboRunner to access the data needed to build robot management apps and leverage pre-built software libraries to create apps for tasks such as work assignments.

  • In addition to this, you can use IoT RoboRunner to deliver metrics and KPIs to the management dashboard via the API.

  • With AWS IoT RoboRunner, robot developers no longer have to manage their robots in silos, and centralized management can more effectively automate tasks across the facility.

  • AWS IoT RoboRunner lets you connect your robots and work management systems, thereby enabling you to orchestrate work across your operation through a single system view.

AWS Robotics Startup Accelerator

Image description

  • Amazon also announced the Robotics Startup Accelerator. The company says it will foster robotics by providing resources to develop, prototype, test, and commercialize products and services.

  • The AWS Robotics Startup Accelerator delivered by MassRobotics aims to help robotics startups adopt and use AWS to boost their robotics development, as well as get hands-on support from industry and AWS experts to rapidly scale their business.

  • As the trend towards automation continues, robotics start-ups, especially industrial robotics, are attracting the attention of venture capitalists. From March 2020 to March 2021, venture companies invested $ 6.3 billion in robotics companies, an increase of about 50% from March 2019 to March 2020. according to To the data from PitchBook.

  • In the long run, investment in robotics has more than quintupled over the past five years, rising from $ 1 billion in 2015 to $ 5.4 billion in 2020.

  • The accelerator is a four-week technical, business, and mentorship opportunity open to robotics hardware and software startups from around the globe.

  • Startups accepted into the four-week program will consult with AWS and MassRobotics industry experts on business models and with AWS robotics experts for help overcoming technological blockers.

  • Program benefits for startups include hands-on training about AWS solutions for robotics and up to $10,000 in promotional credits for use of AWS IoT, Robotics, and ML services to help guide them forward.

  • Participants will gain additional knowledge through mentoring from robotics domain experts and technical subject matter experts. To get ready for life after the accelerator, startups will also get business development and investment guidance from MassRobotics, and co-marketing opportunities with AWS via blogs and case studies.

  • Startups interested in applying to be part of the program can learn more here. Applications close on Sunday, January 16, 2022.


Let me know your thoughts in the comment section about the new aws services and accelerator program 👇
And if you haven't yet, make sure to follow me on below handles:

👋 connect with me on LinkedIn
🤓 connect with me on Twitter
🐱‍💻 follow me on github
✍️ Do Checkout my blogs

Like, share and follow me 🚀 for more content.


👨‍💻 Join our Cloud Tech Slack Community
👋 Follow us on Linkedin / Twitter for latest news
💻 Take a Look at our Github Repos to know more about our projects
✍️ Our Website

Top comments (0)