Press release: November 15, 2017
Rapyuta Robotics (Chuo, Tokyo. CEO: Gajan Mohanarajah) announced the beta launch of its new cloud-based drone solution, Rapyuta c.drone, which is built on rapyuta.io, their hardware-agnostic cloud robotics platform. The new drone solution is unique in that it enables customers to deploy 3rd party software, robot hardware, and sensors as their business needs scale. It was this crucial feature that led to the new distributor agreement with SoftBank Commerce & Service, and development partnerships with SECOM, Nihon Unisys, NIPPON SYSTEMWARE (NSW), and Kyoto Prefecture, who see the Rapyuta c.drone and rapyuta.io as offering domestic enterprise customers much-needed flexibility for the future.
“We are pleased to announce that SoftBank Commerce & Service will be the first distributor partner for Rapyuta c.drone,” says Rapyuta Robotics CEO Gajan Mohanarajah. “Since Rapyuta Robotics was selected for the SoftBank Innovation Program (SIP) in April 2017, we have been working closely together with SoftBank to prepare for the commercial launch of Rapyuta c.drone. Our new distributor partnership with SoftBank Commerce & Service will bring the Rapyuta c.drone and the rapyuta.io cloud robotics platform to businesses across Japan.”
The Rapyuta c.drone is named “c” for “cloud”. In addition to the ability to integrate with 3rd party hardware and software, key features of the Rapyuta c.drone include: 1) On-demand self-service that lets customers autonomously fly the drone any time they want without professional help; 2) Ubiquitous access that lets customers fly their drone anytime from anywhere, thanks to the intuitive web-based interface and programmatic APIs; and 3) a Pay-as-you-go fee structure that lets customers pay for usage without worrying about additional costs such as, support & maintenance, 3rd party liability insurance, and access to rapyuta.io.
The Rapyuta c.drone was designed to face the demands of operating in tough weather conditions and comes with a weatherproof autonomous charging station, making it ideal for enterprise applications such as security, inspection, surveying and large-scale infrastructure monitoring. Combined with the proprietary rapyuta.io cloud robotics technology, Rapyuta c.drone brings scalability, flexibility and powerful analysis to enterprise-level customers.
“Our new development partnerships with SECOM, Nihon Unisys, NSW, and Kyoto Prefecture will help us demonstrate the incredible enabling power of cloud robotics,” says Rapyuta Robotics COO Arudchelvan Krishnamoorthy. ”We are excited that a number of the leading industry players in Japan will be combining their hardware and software with our cloud robotics solution.”
SECOM will work with Rapyuta Robotics to leverage c.drone, rapyuta.io and other technologies to
develop new services relating to safety and security. Nihon Unisys will combine their IoT Business Platform with Rapyuta Robotics’ drone and cloud robotics services to develop new value. NSW will combine Rapyuta Robotics’ state-of-the-art robot control technology with their IoT system development — such as Low Power Wide Area (LPWA), image analysis, and sensing technology. Finally, Kyoto Prefecture will be working with local manufacturing businesses and Rapyuta Robotics to further their development of autonomous robotics infrastructure.
[Development Partner Quotes]
SoftBank Commerce & Service Corp. ICT Unit, Marketing & Development Division,
Hardware Division, Executive Director, Nobuyoshi Sugano
SECOM Co., Ltd. — Open Innovation, Corporate Planning Division,
Senior Manager, Seiya Hasegawa, Ph.D
As a world leader in providing safety and security systems, Secom has developed “Secom Drone,” an
autonomous drone for commercial security purposes. With the increasing sophistication of drones and their applications, we anticipate that by leveraging Rapyuta Robotics industry-leading platform with our core technologies, new innovative drone services will broaden the scope of our core services.
Nihon Unisys Co., Ltd. Business Development Initiative,
General Manager, Hideki Moriguchi
Built on artificial intelligence technologies that have been in development for over ten years, Nihon Unisys is creating a business ecosystem that solves social issues by connecting companies across various industries. By combining our core technologies with Rapyuta Robotics’ drone, cloud robotics, and state-of-the-art robot control services, we hope to to provide new value with the “Robot-as-a-Service” business concept.
NIPPON SYSTEMWARE CO., Ltd. (NSW), IT Solution Group, Business Innovation Division,
General Manager, Daisuke Takemura
NSW focuses on IoT and AI, building on expertise in system development and operation, embedded system development, and device development. By combining Rapyuta Robotics’ state-of-the-art robot control technology with our deep understanding of Low Power Wide Area (LPWA), image analysis, and sensing technology, we hope to develop IoT solutions that bring true innovation to our society.
Kyoto Prefecture Product Development Promotion Division, Department of Commerce,
Labor and Tourism, Assistant Manager, Takeatsu Ashikaga
As we enter an era of declining workforce population, robotics technologies will be an important tool for addressing Japan’s socio-economic challenges. Kyoto is home to a number of hi-tech manufacturing companies that are producing critical components for robotics, such as sensors, motors, and gears. We, therefore, believe that by promoting the use of robotics, we can also support local businesses. We have already started working with Rapyuta Robotics and Kyoto manufacturing companies as part of our policy research, and we look forward to furthering the development of autonomous robotics infrastructure.
Additional development partnerships will be forthcoming as part of Rapyuta Robotics’ Early Developer Program, which will launch on December 5th, 2017. Interested enterprise-level developers can pre-register their interest on the Rapyuta Robotics website: www.rapyuta-robotics.com/developers/.
About Rapyuta Robotics Co., Ltd.
Rapyuta Robotics Co., Ltd. is a global technology startup that builds cloud robotics solutions. Spun out of the Swiss Federal Institute (ETH Zurich) in 2014, the company has offices in Japan, Switzerland, and India.
In 2015, Rapyuta Robotics received almost USD $3M in seed funding led by Cyberdyne Inc., and in the fall of 2016 received another USD $10M in Series A funding from the Japanese SBI Investments Co. Ltd.
In April 2017, Rapyuta Robotics was selected for the SoftBank Innovation Program (SIP) to jointly develop and market test Rapyuta Robotics’ new drone service with customers in application areas such as security, surveying, inventory management, and infrastructure inspection.
For inquiries regarding this press release, please send an email to pr@rapyuta-robotics.com
