Intrinsic and Siemens to partner on AI-based robotics

Siemens has announced that it has teamed up with Intrinsic, an Alphabet company, to explore integrations and interfaces between Intrinsic’s robotics software, which is designed for easy use of AI-based capabilities, and Siemens Digital Industries, with its open and interoperable portfolio for automating and operating industrial production.

Siemens says Intrinsic has developed a strong footprint in advanced perception, machine learning and reinforcement learning, while Siemens’ automation engineers and software developers have domain know-how in automation technology in the industrial space.

Currently, the development and runtime environments for AI-based robotics and automation components differ significantly in their development paradigms and make integration cumbersome. For example, deploying advanced robotic capabilities such as pose estimation, robot manipulation or automated path planning are complex processes that typically require teams of domain experts to operationalise. The two companies intend to investigate new methods to seamlessly bridge the gaps between robotics, automation engineering and IT development.

Siemens expects bridging both worlds will speed up the development process of flexible, AI-enabled robot work cells and facilitate their seamless operation. This will make industrial robotics more accessible and usable for more businesses, entrepreneurs and developers — particularly for new market segments like small and medium-sized companies.

“Intrinsic’s mission is to democratise access to robotics. However, robotics is rarely decoupled from the production environment, where the most value is created today,” said Wendy Tan White, CEO at Intrinsic. “That’s why working with Siemens Digital Industries, an industry-leading automation expert, is an exciting opportunity to bring joint solutions to the market in the future, so many more businesses can benefit from the value that robotics and automation can offer.”

“Siemens is dedicated to bringing IT and OT closer together — the key principle of our Industrial Operations X portfolio”, said Rainer Brehm, CEO of Factory Automation at Siemens. “We are impressed by Intrinsic’s open approach to industrial robotics and we are excited to explore with Intrinsic how coupling of AI-based robots and automation technology can be further accelerated.”

Image: Intrinsic.