Most robotic arms go from coordinate systems of point X,Y,Z to point X,Y,Z. Pick up the cup, pour the coffee, place it on the counter, rinse and repeat.
But what if that coffee cup was lying on its side? Could the robot understand its environment and make decisions accordingly? Steven King, founder of Blue Sky Robotics, wanted to find out.
“Essentially, our software helps robotic arms to be more intuitive and to make decisions on the fly,” King said. “So we started building out this technology, and all of a sudden we found ourselves where people were calling us saying, ‘Could you do this? Could you do this? Could you do this?’”
As it turns out, they could.
King, who is also an associate professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, founded Blue Sky Robotics in 2023. The startup builds robots with computer vision and AI software, creating custom solutions and cutting production costs for clients.
One of the early products was ‘Spray Bot,’ a paint-spraying robot. King said that Spray Bot could change the game for cabinet makers, carpenters and others in the furniture space who rely on repetitive, consistent work.
“I think one of the things that we’re really focused on is very task-driven intelligence solutions,” King said. “So we’re not trying to make the next humanoid robot, we’re not trying to make something that’s going to do everything. We’re going to say, ‘What is the very specific task you’re trying to solve?’ And we’re going to build a very good robot that’s very specific to doing exactly that task.”
Blue Sky Robotics built out a few MVPs to sell to clients, exploring several different use cases in warehousing and factory installations. Outside of those major verticals, King said he is planning to move into the restaurant space, capitalizing on a need for task-driven solutions and a rapidly growing restaurant sector.
The startup’s clients span the country, from Georgia to Colorado to Minnesota. It’s not about the geography, King said, but about finding interesting problems that the company can solve. The team travels to each client to set up and install the robots, and from there, they can service them remotely from the cloud. Clients can enjoy lower production costs and consistent support.
Building Blue Sky Robotics
The company makes its revenue from monthly licensing and service fees, as well as upfront hardware and customization costs. Blue Sky Robotics was initially funded by a friends-and-family seed round, and is now targeting a $3 million seed round and applying for an SBIR grant. With a team of five, King serves as both CEO and CTO.
Much of the company’s support to date has also come from King’s connection to UNC-Chapel Hill. King juggles between teaching full-time and working in the space that Blue Sky Robotics rents on Franklin Street. He brings his real-world robotics experience into the classroom, opening up student discussion about clients, ethics and industry standards.
The proximity to the university also allows King to work with talented people every day. Over his years of teaching, King said that he has built up a network of friends and connections that he can look to for advice. Even the company’s namesake points to a Tar Heel Blue sky.
“If I had tried to start this company when I was 30, right when I came to the university, it never would have worked,” King said. “But now we have this network of people here that we know and that understand the community.”
But the company wasn’t without its growing pains. When Blue Sky Robotics built its first ‘Spray Bot,’ King estimated that the installation would take about a week. It ended up taking three. While the delay was inconvenient, King said that they were working with a great client that understood the difficulties of the job and was happy to wait until they got it right.
QUICK BITS
Startup: Blue Sky Robotics
Founder: Steven King (CEO)
Founded: 2023
Team size: 5
Location: Chapel Hill, NC
Website: blue-sky-robotics.com
Funding: Friends and family; raising seed
Now, Blue Sky Robotics is a well-oiled machine (with computer vision, no less). Short term, the company is increasing sales and looking to new markets; long term, King said that he sees the company as a growing, viable boon to the area. That realization of success hit him while he was raising friends-and-family capital one day.
“There was a day where I was presenting to a friend, he made the decision that it was not a good investment for their family, and as he left, I thought, ‘He’s going to regret this,’” King said. “And that’s when I realized that I had made a turning point in my mind, that I knew we were going to be a successful company, that I know this is going to work. We still have a lot of ground to cover, but mentally, I made the shift somewhere.”
