Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a “Q&A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of Industrial Robot Journal as a method to impart the combined technological, business and personal experience of a prominent, robotic industry engineer-turned entrepreneur regarding his pioneering efforts in starting robotic companies and commercializing technological inventions. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The interviewee is Jack Morrison, CEO and Co-Founder, Scythe Robotics. Morrison shares how he and his co-founders started this innovative company, the milestones and challenges he’s faced and his long-term goals.

Findings

Morrison received Bachelor of Arts degrees in Computer Science and German from Bowdoin College. He attended The George Washington University as a PhD student in Computer Science but left to co-found Replica Labs, a producer of software that turns any mobile phone into a high-quality 3D scanner. Morrison served as Replica’s CTO until it was acquired by Occipital in 2016, where he stayed on as a computer vision engineer until co-founding Scythe Robotics in April 2018.

Originality/value

While mowing his lawn in Colorado, Jack Morrison had a sudden insight: what if he could apply the latest robotics technology he was so familiar with to the challenge of commercialized landscaping? In 2018, Morrison teamed up with Replica Labs co-founder Isaac Roberts and Occipital’s Davis Foster, to create Scythe Robotics, a company that builds autonomous robotics solutions for the $105bn commercial landscaping industry. In June 2021, Scythe Robotics emerged from stealth with over $18m in funding with its first commercial product: a transformational, all-electric, fully autonomous mower designed to keep crew productivity high while also increasing the quality of cut and worker safety. The machine features eight high dynamic range cameras and a suite of other sensors that enable it to operate safely in dynamic environments by identifying and responding to the presence of humans, animals and other potential obstacles. Simultaneously, the machine captures valuable property and mower performance data, which helps landscape contractors improve workflow, identify upsell opportunities, schedule more efficiently and manage labor costs. The all-electric powertrain is quiet, emissions-free and radically more reliable than gas-powered manual mowers. Scythe Robotics’ business model is based on Robot as a Service. Instead of buying machines outright, customers are billed by acres mowed. This massively reduces contractors’ expenses and eliminates substantial costs. Scythe Robotics is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado and has offices in Vero Beach, FL and Austin, TX. Scythe is the recipient of the 2020 ALCC (Associated Landscape Contractors CO) Innovation Winner and the 2021 Colorado OEDIT Advanced Industries Grantee.

中文翻译：

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Pransky 采访：Scythe Robotics 首席执行官兼联合创始人 Jack Morrison

目的

本文的目的是提供由《工业机器人杂志》的乔安妮·普拉斯基 (Joanne Pransky) 进行的“问答采访”，作为一种方法，将一位杰出的机器人行业工程师转为企业家的技术、商业和个人经验相结合，讲述他在创业方面的开创性努力。机器人公司和商业化技术发明。本文旨在讨论这些问题。

设计/方法/方法

受访者是 Scythe Robotics 的首席执行官兼联合创始人 Jack Morrison。莫里森分享了他和他的联合创始人如何创办这家创新公司、他面临的里程碑和挑战以及他的长期目标。

发现

莫里森在鲍登学院获得计算机科学和德语文学学士学位。他在乔治华盛顿大学攻读计算机科学博士学位，但后来与他人共同创立了 Replica Labs，这是一家软件生产商，可将任何手机变成高质量的 3D 扫描仪。在 2016 年被 Occipital 收购之前，莫里森一直担任 Replica 的首席技术官，在那里他一直担任计算机视觉工程师，直到 2018 年 4 月共同创立了 Scythe Robotics。

原创性/价值

在科罗拉多州修剪草坪时，杰克·莫里森 (Jack Morrison) 突然有了一个见解：如果他可以将自己熟悉的最新机器人技术应用于商业化景观美化的挑战，会怎样？2018 年，Morrison 与 Replica Labs 联合创始人 Isaac Roberts 和 Occipital 的 Davis Foster 合作，创建了 Scythe Robotics，这是一家为价值 1050 亿美元的商业园林绿化行业构建自主机器人解决方案的公司。2021 年 6 月，Scythe Robotics 凭借其第一个商业产品获得了超过 1800 万美元的资金：一种变革性的、全电动的、完全自主的割草机，旨在保持高工作效率，同时提高切割质量和工人安全。该机器配备八个高动态范围摄像头和一套其他传感器，通过识别和响应人类、动物和其他潜在障碍物的存在，使其能够在动态环境中安全运行。同时，该机器捕获有价值的财产和割草机性能数据，这有助于景观承包商改进工作流程、确定追加销售机会、更有效地安排时间和管理劳动力成本。全电动动力系统安静、无排放，并且比燃气动力手动割草机更可靠。Scythe Robotics 的商业模式基于机器人即服务。客户不是直接购买机器，而是按割过的英亩数计费。这大大减少了承包商的费用并消除了大量成本。Scythe Robotics 总部位于博尔德，科罗拉多州，并在佛罗里达州维罗海滩和德克萨斯州奥斯汀设有办事处。Scythe 是 2020 年 ALCC（联合景观承包商 CO）创新获奖者和 2021 年科罗拉多州 OEDIT 先进工业受助人的获得者。