Meet the RoboBusiness 2024 keynote speakers

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RoboBusiness 2024, the leading event focused on developing commercial robots and produced by The Robot Report, takes place Oct. 16-17 in Santa Clara, Calif. RoboBusiness will feature more than 60 speakers, over 100 exhibitors and demos on the expo floor, 10+ hours of dedicated networking time, the Pitchfire Robotics Startup Competition, and more.

Thousands of robotics experts from around the world will convene at the event. In addition to enabling tech and robotics innovation, RoboBusiness 2024 focuses on investments and business topics related to running a robotics company.

For information about sponsorship and exhibition opportunities, download the prospectus. Questions regarding sponsorship opportunities should be directed to Colleen Sepich at csepich[AT]wtwhmedia.com.

Here is a look at the industry leaders who will be headlining the event. Click here to see the full RoboBusiness agenda and the expo floor.

RoboBusiness 2024 Keynotes

Opening Keynote: New Levels of Collaboration in Robotics

Rodney Brooks, co-founder and chief technology officer, Robust AI
Oct. 16, 9:30 – 10:15 AM

Collaborative robots have been around for over a decade and widely adopted in many industries. To date, however, the word “collaborative” has not carried a lot of weight; it basically amounts to “Don’t hit the people.”

We can do better. The future of automation depends on next-level collaboration between humans and machines.

Robust.AI co-founder and CTO Rodney Brooks will describe the imminent future where people maintain their own agency while collaborating with robots, each contributing to the same task, and around those same robots that may be working on a task autonomously. Collaboration and autonomy can enhance and empower humans without compromising on flexibility, reliability, or safety.

Brooks is a legend in the robotics industry. He previously co-founded iRobot and Rethink Robotics.


Driving the Future of Robotics Innovation

Keynote panel at RoboBusiness 2024.

  • Amit Goel, head of Robotics and Edge AI Ecosystem, NVIDIA
  • John Bubnikovich, president, ABB Robotics US
  • Eric Truebenbach, managing director, Teradyne Robotics Ventures
  • Joan-Wilhelm Schwarze, senior global innovation manager, Center of Excellence Automation of Operations, DHL
  • Steve Crowe, executive editor, The Robot Report (not shown)

Oct. 16, 10:30 – 11:15 AM

This keynote panel will dive into the current state of the robotics industry. It will discuss what is working well, what isn’t working well and what has to improve to move the industry forward.

The panelists will also explore how collaborative efforts and technological advancements are driving the future of robotics innovation.


Building Robotic Foundation Models

Sergey Levine co-founder, Physical Intelligence | associate professor at UC Berkeley
Oct. 17: 10:00 – 10:45 AM

General purpose foundation models, such as ChatGPT, have demonstrated how general-purpose models trained on diverse datasets can outperform narrowly tailored specialist models, even on tasks those specialized models are specifically designed for. Can the same transformation happen in robotics?

In this presentation, Sergey Levine, one of the world’s leading minds in artificial intelligence, will discuss how foundation models for end-to-end control of robotic systems can be built, how we can gather large and diverse datasets for such systems, and how they can enable new and exciting robotic capabilities.


A Conversation with Claire Delaunay

Claire Delaunay, CTO, farm-ng
Oct. 17: 11:00 – 11:45 AM

Renowned roboticist Claire Delaunay will share her insights into the current and future state of robotics and various enabling technologies. She’ll also discuss her career journey, what it takes to build and scale startups and products, and the future of autonomous farming.

Delaunay is the CTO of farm-ng, where she leads the development of affordable, adaptable robotics and AI solutions in service of more productive and sustainable farming practices. 

Delaunay has made significant contributions to the fields of robotics and autonomous vehicles over the past two decades. Prior roles include vice president of engineering at NVIDIA, where she led the Isaac robotics initiative; co-founder of Otto, which was acquired by Uber; and robotics program lead at Google X.

She received a Master of Science in Computer Engineering from EPSI in France, underscoring her commitment to advancing the field of robotics.


Closing Keynote: Live Demo of Endiatx’s Swallowable Robot Pill

Torrey Smith, co-founder and CEO, Endiatx
Oct. 17: 3:30 – 4:30 PM

Endiatx develops swallowable robot pills for telemedicine. The PillBot is a virtual endoscope that gives doctors a real-time look inside the human body.

Endiatx co-founder and CEO Torrey Smith will take us inside the robot’s development, detail its benefits, and close RoboBusiness 2024 with a live demonstration of PillBot on stage.

Prior to launching Endiatx, Smith developed medical devices in the areas of endometrial ablation, atherectomy, therapeutic hypothermia, sleep apnea, and vascular closure.

An aerospace engineer by training, he takes an interest in the deep tech sector and is a proud mentor of up-and-coming founders at the Founder Institute. He is also the principal founder of the international arts collective known as Sextant, and he has had his art featured at the Smithsonian Institute.


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