Standard Bots launches an AI platform to program robots from an iPad

Standard Bots launched an AI platform on Oct 15 that lets an operator program its industrial robots from an iPad, using three skills called Agent, Locate and Inspect. The Glen Cove, New York company says setup needs "no code, no fixtures, and no outside integrator."

Standard Bots is selling less setup labor, and the claim that decides this launch is Locate's 90% cut in programming time. Instead of entering coordinates waypoint by waypoint, an operator taps a part in the robot's video feed or describes it in text, and the robot finds and tracks it. The company pitches this at high-mix work, down to single-person job shops that run 25 different parts a day on one machine. Agent builds a routine from a prompt such as "Build me a machine tending routine". Inspect runs custom vision models, developed with Roboflow, to catch defects such as scratches.

Small shops are the target. Citing National Association of Manufacturers figures, the company says nearly 200,000 of America's 240,000 manufacturers have fewer than 20 employees. It also says only 6% of U.S. manufacturers use robots. "You used to have to hire an integrator; it costs a million dollars. You spend months dialing it in," said Leif Jentoft, head of applied AI.

The 90% is Standard Bots' own figure, and it measures waypoint setup inside Locate rather than a full deployment. If customers' changeovers shrink far less than that, the integrator bill stays. Customers can also plug in their own models; Standard Bots is building foundation models of its own.