Robotiq, a Quebec City-based robotics firm, has developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform named IQ to hasten the deployment of robots in factories, potentially doubling installations and reducing friction.

Co-founded by CEO Sam Bouchard in 2008 as a spinoff from Laval University, Robotiq builds robotics components that help automate repetitive manual handling tasks, such as grippers and sensors, and workcells. Robotiq is also the developer of Contact Core, its software for training physical AI.

“What we do is systems that can both automate the manual tasks, but at the same time are easy to deploy and to program by the people on the factory floor,” Bouchard said in an interview with TechNX.

IQ, he said, was made to “collapse the whole workflow” of adding robots to factories. Traditionally, that demands a laborious, time-consuming series of actions, Bouchard explained. To shorten this, Robotiq fed data from its past projects to IQ, training it to automate and streamline the workflow.

Now, the process can be shortened from months to days. “You can really deploy faster, first and foremost,” and “do it without the need of the experts,” Bouchard said. “People can do more on their own.”

Speeding up workcell integration in factories

The development of IQ was prioritized in the last six months, Bouchard said, but the knowledge base to train the AI was assembled over the last 18 years.

IQ is based around a workcell, the packaging of human interaction, hardware and software that enables robotics to function in a manufacturing environment. There are dozens of factors integral to workcells, such as product constraints, the size of the site and customer demands.

Integrating a workcell in a factory, Bouchard said, typically ends with 60 per cent of the time spent waiting for more information about the system or making tweaks, not on productive work.

IQ can be used to shrink this inefficiency by first addressing questions, such as whether a robotics system can perform the desired task in the factory.

Next, the AI platform gathers and organizes project information via automated data capture from voice notes, file uploads and 3D site scanning; assists with project coordination through machine learning; and creates digital twin models to validate workcell performance before deployment.

The efficiency boost from using IQ means eliminating delays in workcell integration. Using IQ can translate into installing twice as many robotics systems with the same amount of resources, Bouchard said. The platform can reduce the errors and delays during installation, he continued, resulting in a higher return on investment, enhanced productivity and better customer satisfaction.

Currently, IQ is available for only pallet applications, which Bouchard said is a “fundamental building block” of the logistics chain. But the company aims to extend the AI platform to other sectors.

Robotiq envisions IQ being used by companies in the food and beverage, consumer products and industrial goods industries.

Despite fears of AI replacing many white-collar professionals, Bouchard does not envision IQ causing engineers to lose their jobs. The platform is “automating a lot of the grunt work” such as taking notes, he said, and would be helpful in upskilling young engineers.

Canada needs more robots, Bouchard says

Founded as a team of three, Robotiq has grown to a company of 130 employees with an office in Europe. Its products are used in tens of thousands of factories, Bouchard said, and are found in countries around the world.

Most of its clients are in manufacturing, the auto industry, electronics, and food and beverage, he said. Robotiq counts firms such as Haribo, Lindt, Procter & Gamble and Mars as clients, Bouchard added, as well as Fortune 500 companies.

Manufacturing will play a pivotal role in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s plan to boost Canada’s economy, he explained, as it has a vital role between the country’s abundant natural resources and educated workforce.

Robots are critical to boost productivity in manufacturing, yet Canada is not using enough, Bouchard said. Canada’s robot density has been sliding over the years, he continued, while other nations are moving ahead.

This trend, Bouchard said, will hobble the country’s economic productivity if it continues. He urged Canada’s manufacturing sector to raise its spending into robotics to compete with the world.