Ati Robotics says its India-built robots use few China-made parts

In short: A US ban on some Chinese-made robots is pushing companies to rethink where robot parts come from, and Ati Robotics says it is less exposed because it builds in India and uses fewer parts from China.

What's going on

US regulators recently banned a wide range of Chinese-made robots from being imported into the United States, citing national security concerns. The decision includes new models of humanoid robots, meaning robots shaped like people.

This matters because many robotics companies, including smaller US firms, still depend on suppliers in China for key hardware. Hardware is the physical stuff inside a robot, like motors, sensors, and batteries. Even companies that write the software often buy many of the parts from China.

Ati Robotics, founded in 2017, says it took a different route. The company designs and manufactures many parts in Bangalore, India, and assembles its robots there. Its best-known machines include a 10,000-pound tugger and a pallet mover, which are used in warehouses and factories to move heavy loads, like an automated cart you might see in a big distribution center.

Ati’s CEO, Saurabh Chandra, says the 10,000-pound tugger is effectively “China-free” except for battery cells. He also says the pallet mover uses less than 5 percent Chinese parts, although one model uses a lidar sensor, a kind of distance-measuring “robot eyesight” (like a laser tape measure that works constantly), where non-Chinese options can be limited.

What to watch

Ati says its first humanoid robot, designed to move heavy bins, will go into service later this year. The company also plans to open a facility near Detroit, Michigan, to assemble robots in the future. The bigger question is whether more robot makers can switch suppliers quickly, since some specialized parts still have few alternatives outside China.

Source: Wired