Who needs a robot in a recession? Apparently anyone concerned with efficiency and productivity. That’s why Seegrid Corporation has bucked the down economy and entered a new phase of growth. Seegrid, which provides distribution center,s warehouses and manufacturing facilities with industrial mobile robots, was founded in 2003 as a spinout of Carnegie Mellon University’s Mobile Robot Lab by Drs. Hans Moravec and Scott Friedman. They’ve developed a new class of affordable industrial mobile robots that can work reliably in dynamic environments and free up employees to do other work.

The robots do not require a cable or track and they come equipped with camera heads with eight “eyes” that operate on software that allows them to remember and repeat a route on the facility floor. Common functions include moving or tugging pallets. Seegrid, which received early support from Ben Franklin Technology Partners’ Innovation Works, had benefitted from strategic alliances with corporate partners that have offered expert feedback.

The company expanded in late 2009 and moved its Lawrenceville headquarters to a 30,000 square foot facility in Findlay Township near the Pittsburgh International Airport, where it houses growing operations, including design and engineering, sales, assembly and implementation. There, it expects to quadruple production capacity and bring on up to 100 new employees. Seegrid spent the early part of 2010 traveling the country and demonstrating the cost and operational efficiencies robots can bring to manufacturers and distributors.

By the spring of 2011, Seegrid had initiated partnerships with leading industrial truck manufacturers Raymond Corp and Linde Material Handling that should lead to triple-digit growth in the near term.
The company has already expanded its space at RIDC Park West from 30,000 to 41,000 square feet and expects to double its employee base to near 120 by the spring of 2013.