Alphabet Launches Industrial Robotics Platform, Chooses First Partner

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has launched the first product under its industrial robotics business unit Intrinsic. The company has also announced industrial robotics supplier Comau as its first project partner.

The company’s latest product, Flowstate, is described as an “intuitive, web-based developer environment” where companies can create robotic workflows, giving users the foundation to begin building robotic systems, as well as simulation capabilities to test designs. 

In particular, the platform is aimed at helping non-experts understand and leverage robotic systems.

“Industrial robots are incredible productivity tools that remain out of reach for millions of people and businesses who could benefit from them,” the team said. “We’re working to make advanced robotics and AI simple to use, including for non-experts. 

“We’re building with future roboticists and developers in mind too, bringing modern software development practices such as object-oriented and visual programming to the robotics and automation industry.”

The Flowstate platform is currently in its beta stages, and will reportedly be made available to only a small number of companies initially.

Alphabet demonstrated Flowstate in a product keynote this month, where it also announced its collaboration with robot manufacturer Comau, its first industry partner. Under the partnership, Comau has tested Flowstate, creating a modular solution for the assembly of a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle module.

“The development of Intrinsic Flowstate has been expedited through Comau’s willingness to innovate together on solving hard problems in new ways,” said Wendy Tan White, Intrinsic’s CEO.

“Looking forward, we will continue to leverage the synergies with Intrinsic and our expertise in collaborative, mobile, wearable, and safe robotic solutions,” said Pietro Gorlier, Comau’s CEO. “Mov[ing] closer to achieving software-defined, AI-enabled robotics, which is indispensable for all industries and areas with low automation levels.”