According to UPROXX, the CEO’s of Cobalt Robotics have diligently worked to make robotic security guards a reality.
Deriving from science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines, the role of robots have entered the mind of humans for many years. While flying cars aren’t on the horizon, “robot maids”, a term coined by UPROXX, may just very well be. In fact, robot security guards currently are a thing, courtesy of the aforementioned Cobalt Robotics.
While at Y Combinator, a company that invests in startups and provides rigorous support to get businesses off the ground, Travis Deyle and Erik Schluntz, the founders of Cobalt, initially met. Deyle was helming his wife’s fashion auction site, and Schluntz had started a business to help streamline customer service surveys.
“Going through Y Combinator was like getting an MBA,” Deyle said to UPROXX. “That normally takes a couple of years, but we did it in like three months before being slapped in the face with reality.”
In the program together, the duo forged a friendship, learning the business side of innovation. However, the two went their separate ways after graduation. Schluntz sold his company, and completed a degree at Harvard University while Deyle dove right into the business, making a name for himself in the engineering field. In fact, Deyle was awarded the MIT Technology Review, “35 Innovators Under 35” Award in 2015.
The duo crossed paths again at Google X where Deyle was working on a smart contact lens and Schluntz was interning, “I left Google without having any idea of what we were going to work on,” Deyle said to UPROXX. “And, I managed to convince Erik to turn down a pretty amazing job offer at Space X to come join me.”
Astonishingly, after only a year their company is ready to begin putting security robots into the workplace.
“The robot is a tool for a very capable human security guard,” Deyle said to UPROXX. “(With Cobalt) that guard can project their presence throughout the entire organization by controlling 20 or 30 of these robots.
Another payoff story of hard work creating individuals with opportunity, it’s not far to say the next Deyle and Schluntz is potentially reading this article. It will take luck, but the common denominator in all success stories, regardless of race, is a disciplined work ethic. Anything is possible.
