HausBots in 2018
We spent the Christmas break taking some time off - the first break in a VERY long time - and it was a fantastic way to recharge, relax and reflect on 2018.
In amongst the mince pies and turkey, I took some time to write down what we have achieved and have been through, on this monumental year for HausBots.
Once again, a massive thank you to everyone who has been a part of this years journey, we couldn’t have done it without you. This blog is as much for you as anyone, so we hope you enjoy reading about our updates.
Who Are HausBots?
For those of you who are new - welcome! :)
HausBots are building a Wall Climbing Painting Robot, to help building sites be Faster, Smarter, Safer.
We are building this initially for large scale painting jobs (warehousing, concrete structures, exterior walls), but our aim is to develop a system dexterous enough for interior purposes.
General Business
2018 marked the year we left the garage.
We became a LTD company and moved into our first office space in Birmingham’s Digbeth (no more hour long drives to Screwfix, its on the same road as us now!).
We closed our seed investment round, led by the British Seed Robotics Fund to take us through our trial and test phases of the wall painting robot.
We took on our first employee on the engineering team, and have 2 new starters joining in early 2019, whose expertise and skills we are extremely excited to have on board (they’re also fantastic and very smart people in general, so 2019 is already shaping up to be a great year).
We also have 2 more positions open - Mechanical Engineering Intern and Marketing Intern. So, if you’re interested drop us a line.
Harry and I (Jack), also took the leap of becoming full time on the project, a major milestone to allow us to really focus on propelling the business forwards.
Relationships
We kicked off 2018 by running some early market research. We visited painting and decorating centres all over Birmingham to build up the best picture possible of what the robot needs to look, feel and behave like.
In 2018 we opened up our ‘Early Adopter Program’, and let our first five customers see what to expect from the product, and really be involved in shaping what the robot looks like.
We have visited a plethora of construction sites and are in the process of testing with these Early Adopters, to ensure the product meets their needs.
So, throughout 2019 we will be refining the robot, with the aim of a commercial launch in October.
Press
We had some fantastic coverage this year in the papers, receiving features in The Birmingham Post, The Leicester Mercury and (extremely excitingly!) The Times. Some fantastic relationships have been built off the back of this press, and we can’t wait to break the launch of our product.
We also had our first TV appearance, with a mention on Tomorrows World (thanks Maggie!)
Awards and Support
We have had another fantastic year in terms of wider recognition, and I would like to immediately thank Birmingham as a whole for making us feel welcome with our new home, getting involved in all the support networks has been fantastic.
- Accepted on to Natwest Accelerator Program
- Joining Steamhouse, a 40,000 sqft workshop in Digbeth, a real engineers dream… and completely free! (you guys rock!)
- Nominated to be part of the 101 Top Tech Business in the Midlands
Harry Smith, our Engineering Director, also went back to the Founders Forum to give an update on our progress since winning the F Factor last year; getting a retweet from Davina McCall in the process!
Giving Back
At HausBots we truly believe that engineering and specifically robotics are going to be one of the major economic trends over the next 5–10 years.
Therefore, we want to be at the forefront of training and teaching people about this fantastic industry, and ensuring the human race has the right skillset for the future. You can join the HausBots’ BEGINNER FOCUS: Robotics, 3D Printing, Arduino, Electronics + Automation group here.
Robots aren’t coming to steal all jobs. They’re not causing mass unemployment. They’re causing re-deployment and we are beginning to help open peoples eyes and train them up.
We did four activities in 2018 to help us in our mission to achieve this goal:
We ran three workshops up and down the country on ‘How to Build Your First Robot’. With ages varying from aged 13- Late 50’s in areas of the country such as London, Blackburn and the East Midlands.
Please do get in touch if you’d like to know more.
Our final big piece of activity of the year was an appearance in the Lord Mayors Show, London, to raise awareness for young people getting interested in robotics. This was part of his Shaping Tomorrow’s City Today theme, which we did in collaboration with Founders of the Future; alongside OnSide YouthZones, Tech Nation and WhiteHat. #bitsandbots
The Year in Numbers
1 piece of national press
2 pieces of regional press
3 Build Your First Robot workshops
40,000 sqft of workshop space (Steamhouse)
£200k+ seed round investment
1 TV appearance
50k video views of our educational content
101 midlands tech list
4 Employee(s) (2 more hiring) hausbots.com/careers
1 office
15 warehouses and construction sites visited
1 engaged and agreed customer trials
So much Tea… we lost track.
1 robotic dog
What’s In store for 2019
We are finalising our controlled tests and trials and will be spending February through August trialling in real life scenarios with our Early Adopters (please let us know if you know any painting and decorating firms who may wish to see the robot in action).
In October, we will have improved and made the robot reliable enough to be commercially ready. This is Painting Robot 1.0 and the first units will be available for hire only from ourselves directly.
We are also building our first relationships with tool hire companies and are looking to strengthen these throughout 2019, for a nationwide launch in January 2020. Similarly, if you know any tool hire companies who are looking to make construction Faster, Smarter, Safer and are innovative and looking for that leading edge over their competitors, please send them our way.
Thanks
A massive thank you to everyone, there is too many to name, but you know who you are, we couldn’t be here without you.
Here’s to 2019.
From,
