It's not often that a robot is the one to bring out the ribbon for a ribbon-cutting ceremony. But at MassRobotics, machines are front and center.
A rolling, one-armed robot created by TruPhysics was responsible for kicking off celebrations on Tuesday. A red ribbon was stretched taut—after a little maneuvering on the robot's part—for Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Gov. Charlie Baker, MassRobotics' directors and a few other high-powered stakeholders to mark the grand opening of the public-private incubator's newly expanded shared office and lab space.
"Welcome to the hub of the robotics universe," Tye Brady, chief technologist at Amazon Robotics and one of MassRobotics' original five founders, said in opening remarks. "Welcome to MassRobotics."
Started by industry veterans from Amazon Robotics and Vecna Robotics, MassRobotics is today an innovation hub run by and for Boston-area engineers, rocket scientists and entrepreneurs. It now leads a cluster of 350 companies and corporations, incubating some 35 startups, and partners with close to 40 corporations.
But when MassRobotics launched in 2015, it was among the first robotics incubators in the U.S.
"There really wasn't an easy way to get a robotics startup going," Cambridge Innovation Center CEO Tim Rowe, who also spoke at the ceremony, said. "Now, this is the largest shared space for robotics innovation on the planet. I've yet to see anything like it."
In 2018, MassRobotics secured $2.5 million from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to expand its space at 12 Channel St. in the Seaport District. The space was built by and for robots—machines, for example, put together a mosaic that makes up one wall at the main entrance.
The space now houses companies like Soft Robotics, Ori and Optimus Ride. Local research institutions, including the University of Massachusetts-Lowell and Northeastern University’s Robotics and Intelligent Vehicles Research (RIVeR) Laboratory, also have a presence in the space.
And their robots are there, too.
Northeastern's "Valkyrie," a 6-foot-2-inch, 275-pound humanoid robot developed by NASA with the intention of spearheading future deep space exploration and potentially heading to Mars to complete tasks before human crews arrive, occupies a warehouse-like room just one glass wall away from where the politicians and roboticists had made their opening remarks. ("Stay clear of her," a researcher advised me when I asked if I could move closer to take photos.) Optimus Ride's autonomous shuttle, which can be found around Boston, Brooklyn, N.Y. and Reston, Va., was on site for demonstrations on Tuesday as well.
"Community is the fundamental element of MassRobotics," Brady said. "It's not easy. It takes a lot of work to do this. ... With all of you, what I see is the power of community coupled with a really good idea, which is MassRobotics."
Click or swipe through the gallery below to see some resident robots.
