Covering Disruptive Technology Powering Business in The Digital Age

Growing up, Mohd Hazeli Rasul has always been fascinated by robots. From robots on the screen to toys, his passion and interest in robots led him to pursue a degree in mechatronics. Today, he is the CEO of Move Robotic, a start-up that focuses on developing technology for autonomous mobility robots. It aims to produce affordable and robust autonomous mobile robot technology as a solution for different industries, such as warehousing, production line, agriculture, logistics and many others.

Move Robotics is part of five start-ups that were recently announced by Cyberview, the Tech Hub Developer of Cyberjaya, for its 2021 accelerator program. Cyberview elevates local innovators and nurtures a vibrant tech ecosystem through the Cyberview Living Lab Accelerator (CLLA) programme.

Through the course of the five-month programme, these companies will fast-track the development and commercialisation of high-tech, innovative products and solutions across various fields including property and education.

Hazeli believes that robotics is the future in most industries. As businesses continue to improve their agility and productivity to meet consumer demands, robotics will play an important role in ensuring this. From manufacturing to agriculture industries, the collaboration between humans and technology is key in ensuring this efficiency is achieved.

“Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) are more useful in recent times because today we can implement AI and big data which can improve their function and flexibility. They can improve productivity while maintaining company resources. They are able to reduce mundane and repetitive tasks as well as improve safety by working on tasks that are risky for humans, especially in harsh environments. Also, robots can reduce human errors and are able to adapt to changes fast, based on working environments and scenarios,” said Hazeli.

Although the costs of AMRs are getting cheaper, Hazeli explained there are still other costs that businesses need to be aware of. This includes training and maintenance of AMRs. This is why Hazeli believes that while small businesses may want to use such technologies, they need to really be prepared for the long-term costs. However, medium, and large corporations are able to have more use cases for AMRs in their respective industries.

According to Hazeli, 75% of businesses are aware of the benefits of using AMRs in simplifying tasks and improving productivity. What holds them back is the potential ROI from this technology. He believes that more education, awareness, and skillsets on the long term returns of AMRs are needed to help businesses understand the true value of it.

While Hazeli points out that there is a shortage of skillsets in AMR, they are working closely with education and training communities to see how they can improve the demand as it will only increase in the future. The skillset required for robotic technology is normally related to computer science, programming and such and have mechanical engineering skills as they relate to robotic mechanics.

“We now have Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) whereby third-party robot providers do all the maintenance, set up and be able to assist business in the usage of the technology. Most robotics companies are now offering this as businesses have complexities in implementing robotics in their organisation. RaaS is easy to implement in many industries, from manufacturing to cleaning,” explained Hazeli.

The video below explains more about Move Robotics and what they do.

“Education is very important to implement this technology. Not all tasks can be replaced by machines. Humans are still needed to do more important tasks. They need to work alongside robots. This is why we have cobots (collaborative robots) which help humans execute tasks more efficiently. Robotics can’t duplicate creativity and can’t do complex judgement currently unlike humans. But having said that, we need to upskill employees from doing repetitive tasks. There must be a balance between humanity and machines,” commented Hazeli.

Security is also another hindrance for some organisations in using robotics. For Move Robotics, the security is quite straight forward as they don’t see the data unless the business wants to use it for analytics.

“We are unique as we developed our own architecture for robots. That’s why we serve our local Malaysian companies a product that doesn’t give them a security concern. We also work with the military. The reason they do not use any UAVs, and such is because there are concerns of the technology used,” said Hazeli.

Hazeli also shared his experience with the CLLA program which helped Move Robotics move up the ladder especially in their entrepreneurship journey. As a start-up, they needed all the help they can get to ensure the product can be successful.

The CLLA programme provides a launchpad for start-ups and innovators to accelerate their business development and growth in Cyberjaya. The entire city of Cyberjaya serves as a sandbox for these companies to conduct proof-of-concept testing of their products and solutions. They will also have opportunities to network and connect with relevant industry experts as well as access to both domestic and international markets through private and public initiatives with the support of Cyberview.

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