Electric Sheep Robotics, based in San Francisco, has announced the introduction of Verdie, a new robotic solution aimed at enhancing outdoor maintenance through automation. Verdie is designed to autonomously perform tasks such as edging and trimming lawns and bushes, and leaf blowing, leveraging the company's proprietary artificial intelligence, ES1. This technology allows Verdie, along with Electric Sheep's RAM lawnmowing robot, to operate in various outdoor environments without predefined paths.
The company plans to deploy Verdie to customer sites throughout 2024, enhancing its fleet of robots capable of performing autonomous outdoor services. Verdie and RAM utilize Electric Sheep's ES1 AI for spatial reasoning, enabling them to understand and efficiently care for lawns. This advanced AI system, similar in concept to ChatGPT but focused on spatial AI, facilitates complex, real-time decision-making and adaptation to environmental changes.
To develop Verdie's capabilities, Electric Sheep utilized simulation techniques, including reinforcement learning, to train the robot in tasks like string trimming. This approach, supported by NVIDIA’s ISAAC simulation and reinforcement learning, allows Verdie to handle tools and execute tasks with precision.
Electric Sheep's robots are designed to be user-friendly and operational immediately upon arrival at a property, requiring no on-site engineers. The company's strategy includes acquiring traditional outdoor service providers to integrate its software and robots into existing operations, using the data from these acquisitions to further refine its AI models.
With a fleet of 40 RAM robots already operational across North America, Electric Sheep plans to expand its services with Verdie in the second quarter of 2024. The company's business model, which involves acquiring landscaping companies to immediately generate revenue and gather data for AI training, has led to significant growth. Electric Sheep credits its success to its innovative approach to autonomous AI agents for sustainable outdoor work and anticipates further expansion in 2024.
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