The Story of a Robot Named Narwal
Long Story Short
Simply put, we’re Narwal, and we manufactured the first self-cleaning vacuum and mop robot. But there’s so much more to us than that.
Short Story Long…
Narwal’s goal : give people time to do what they love, with who they love.
In life, only two things are certain : death, and tedium (which includes taxes). Everyone has had that moment where they’ve finally finished cleaning the house, only to realise in two days time it’ll be dirty again, meaning they’ll have to waste another few hours cleaning, again and again with no end in sight.
Here at Narwal, we hope to change that. We believe that new technology and advanced AI are key to saving people from the monotony of life, taking care of the small tasks that slowly eat away at our time and energy so that we have the freedom to enjoy life with the people who matter. In short, we believe in the power of progress to give us the chance to live life to the fullest.
Narwal started at a dinner table.
The inspiration for the Narwal T10 came to our founder, Junbin Zhang, during a family dinner. From a young age he was not only interested in robotics, but good at it too, winning a gold medal at the World Robotics Olympiad. He continued his studies at university, and in his final year of graduate school, he sent a message to the famous HKUST professor Zexiang Li, who agreed to meet with him. This would turn out to be the key to Junbin’s future success. During that meeting, he discussed his plan to start his own business, and Mr. Li agreed to help him do it. With Mr. Li’s assistance, Junbin was able to visit and learn from many startup incubators and industry-leading companies, providing a solid foundation for his own entrepreneurship. Finally, upon finishing his graduate degree, Junbin was the first talent invited to Mr. Li’s Xbot Park, a startup incubator, where he began his business with a team of less than 10 people.
The road to success was not without its bumps, though — as much as others can help, success ultimately relies on the individual. Which brings us to that fateful dinner. At the time, Junbin was working on several robotics research projects, but all of them had hit roadblocks; when he told his family about his troubles, they wanted to help out. Over the course of their dinner, each family member discussed problems in their lives that they hoped robots might someday help them overcome. His father, in particular, complained about how his back always hurt from bending down to clean the floor, and wished there were a robot which could not only mop the floor for him, but also clean itself. This was exactly the inspiration our founder was looking for, a new challenge for him to face, and better yet, an innovative improvement to the existing vacuuming and mopping robots which would improve the user experience.
Just like that, Narwal had found its purpose.
For the love of freedom.
To achieve its goals, Narwal is pioneering advancements in high-tech areas including simultaneous localization and mapping, 3D perception, AI object recognition, robotic mechanism technology, and big data applications. We have made numerous breakthroughs in multiple fields and applied for more than 100 technological patents, with new innovations always underway. After only 3 years, our team developed the world’s first self-cleaning mop and vacuum robot. Now, just 6 years after its founding, Narwal’s team of less than 10 people has reached over 1000, and we continue to grow every day.
We believe a good invention is one that isn’t simply cutting-edge, but which can actually make a noticeable difference in people’s lives. To this end, our Narwal T10 mopping robot was designed to have a groundbreaking self-cleaning function that vastly improves the cleaning experience, making it virtually hands-free. We’re not only making cleaning easier, though — we’re also working hard to build a community based on freedom and joy, with space for a diversity of ideas and lifestyles. We’re always finding new ways to involve our community members, from voting on product names to having them act as guest group moderators. At Narwal, we want to hear what matters to you, and everyone is welcome.
What’s missing? You!
What makes us human is our ability to communicate and collaborate. Narwal may create robots, but at the end of the day, the most important thing is the people we can help. As a result, we’d love to hear from you : you, who supported us in fundraising campaigns; you, who has purchased our robot; and even you, who is simply interested in making the world a better place. We’re always looking to you for inspiration, and hope you can show us the direction you want us to go. We look forward to hearing from you, here on Medium, on our official website, or our Facebook group (where you can see reviews from real users) — after all, we’re here because of you.
