As the new year approaches, it’s time to reflect on the events of the past year. From Probot’s perspective, we can affirm that this year has been full of momentum, energy, and vision!
In 2023, Probot has seen significant growth and continued its expansion after overcoming the challenges posed by the pandemic. The highlights of the year include our Open House event at the new assembly hall and the unveiling of our first robotic product, Dolly™, at the Technology 23 fair. Perhaps we had the pleasure of meeting you at one of these events or at the various others we participated in throughout the year?
During the year, we have secured important new customer projects in a wide range of business areas, from specialist projects to equipment construction, product sales and robot integration in industry. Internationally, we’ve strengthened our presence by delivering robotic cells to two Finnish companies, with commissioning and training taking place at their clients’ factories in Canada and Mexico. As usual, we’ve been actively involved in several EU projects, more details of which are below.
The Probot Team Continues to Grow
Our team has also grown with three new talented professionals. Production engineer Risto Kotajärvi, software developer Aki Panuma and mechanical engineer Mika Taskila joined our team. Which of them can be prepared for anything and who can drive three electric scooters at the same time? Find out more from our personal introductions on our website!
Both this year and the next, we continue as KUKA’s Official System Partner and OMRON Certified Partner. Our collaboration with Cajo Technologies persists, and we represent Unitree Robotics’ robotic dogs. Additionally, we’ve initiated a closer partnership with the Canadian company Kinova, serving as their distributor for robotic arms. Kinova’s robotic arms are well-suited for integration with our mobile robot, Dolly™.
Dolly™ Shines Bright
Ahem, may we share a bit more about our versatile Dolly™ mobile robot?
The result of our long-term development is an easily customizable mobile robot that moves agilely in offices, factory environments, indoors, and outdoors. Ramps and small thresholds are no challenge for Dolly™. Could Dolly™ solve your challenges in logistics, distribution, collection, inspection, maintenance or measurement?
In addition to more details, we recommend checking out Dolly’s introduction video on our website. The well-received video was produced by our longstanding partner Huuru Media. Special thanks to Ewona Oy, experts in insulation and acoustics, whose premises we used for filming.
EU Projects at the Interface of Robotics
We act as a link between the research world and industry in EU projects, developing and creating the latest technological solutions with other top European experts to build a more sustainable future.
From EU projects completed this year, we’d like to mention the interesting RIM project under MIND4MACHINES, which investigated the automation of industrial processes, especially in tasks requiring dexterity. In this project, we utilized Kinova’s robotic arm, Siemens’ multi-finger gripper prototype, and MAGOS’ haptic control glove.
In the FlexiGroBots project, we applied our field robot for weed control in fodder crops.
This year marked the beginning of two new EU projects. In the Agrarsense project, we focus on reducing the environmental impact of greenhouse production through more efficient management of greenhouse automation and robot-assisted greenhouse logistics.
In the topical and significant Recirculate project, the main goal is to enhance the life cycle of electric vehicle batteries. Together with Centria University of Applied Sciences, we explore whether battery condition inspections can be conducted using automation, remote-controlled robotics, and sensor technology, implementing a battery discharging cell that utilizes these technologies.
You can read more about our EU projects on our website and blog!
Big Thanks and a Deep Bow!
“Year 2023 has, in many ways, been even more wonderful than the previous ones! We’ve strengthened our team with new talents, delivered robotics outside Europe for the first time, and, above all, launched our own mobile robot, Dolly! We eagerly look forward to the coming year 2024.”
Matti tikanmäki
We want to express our warm thanks to our partners and customers for the year 2023. Together, we’ve achieved remarkable things, and we’re already looking forward the new year ahead. Let’s continue our journey together in the coming year!
The Probot Team wishes you a peaceful Christmas and a new year filled with excitement! See you again next year – with new adventures and projects!
Probot Oy – Specialist in robotics.
