Abstract: Robotics occupies a special place in our imaginations as well as in the tech industry. Yet, the history of robotics startups has tragically few success stories. Both the technical and business aspects of the robotics problem create extra obstacles compared to other tech startup companies (both hardware and software ones). In this talk, I share the insights I have gained after working at four different robotics and automation startups at various phases of maturity, and I share what to look for if you're interviewing at or starting a robotics company.

Bio: Ross Knepper holds a Ph.D. in robotics and a B.S. in computer science, both from Carnegie Mellon University. He is currently the Director of Software at Tortuga AgTech, which makes a robot that can harvest multiple types of fruit that are only commercially harvested by human labor today. Before his most recent stint in industry, Ross's academic career brought him to Cornell University as a professor from 2014 to 2020. There, he researched human-robot interaction, multi-robot algorithms, and robot motion planning and control.

Please join us in ECCR 265 or on Zoom at https://cuboulder.zoom.us/j/91008309605.