On July 20, Pittsburgh-based engineering firm SKA Custom Robots and Machines announced it would be collaborating with software company PickNik Robotics to work on the development of advanced robotic systems.
SKA, known for its work in the field of robotics, would leverage its hardware engineering capabilities, while PickNik would leverage its software expertise to develop unstructured robotics environments, the companies said. SKA has previously worked on solutions at the forefront of robotics engineering including surgical robots, construction and mining robots, and a variety of inspection drones.
“PickNik has some of the best robotic manipulation engineers and technology in the world, whereas SKA has world class competence in field robotics,” Spencer Krause, President & CEO of SKA Custom Robots and Machines, said. “This partnership will enable more rapid development of dexterous robotic systems by utilizing both firms’ expertise.” Krause further emphasized the immense value of leveraging PickNik Robotics’ capabilities to address challenging unstructured robotic manipulation problems, which significantly expedites development time in their applications.”
Founded in 2015, PickNik helps companies with the technical, cost and time challenges associated with advanced robotic application development, and has worked with organizations like NASA, Google, Amazon, Samsung and others. The company is the lead developer of MoveIt and MoveIt Studio.
“We are extremely excited to join forces with SKA Custom Robots and Machines in this collaboration,” PickNik Robotics’ CEO, Dave Coleman, said. “Through the synergy of our software expertise and SKA’s excellence in custom robots, we have the potential to bring significant advancements to dexterous manipulation on purpose-built robots in many domains. Together, we will push the boundaries of what is possible in the realm of ruggedized unstructured robotics and we look to redefine the future of these industries.”