Ritukar Vijay, co-founder of autonomous delivery robot company Ottonomy, argues why pursuing a horizontal platform model in robotics is superior to narrow vertical niches.
Insight
Vijay: Early-stage startups should use patents defensively, not offensively
“Strategy for early stage startups should you know, my recommendation should never be on the offensive, that we have this patent, so you can't do it. Rather, it should be the other way around, since we have the patent, so we are, you know, legit to do it.”
Opinion
Vijay: Tesla Autopilot functions as a Level 3 autonomous system
“But the current version of Tesla Autopilot is pretty much, you know, crossing L, L three, L four, you know, area. So it remains as an L three system yet, because there is a human in the loop. You know, there's a human behind the wheel still. So that's where, y…”
Insight
Vijay: Startups should never patent their secret sauce because patents get published
“There are a few things which should not be patented, like secret sauce of the system. They should not be patented because, you know, at the end of the day, patents also get published, right? So once they are granted, everything is out. So I mean not everything…”
Insight
Vijay: Robotics autonomy levels mirror automotive levels via remote teleoperation
“When it comes to robotics world, it's like, you know, the human replaced is from a, you know, teleoperator. Right. So how much human element it is, because robots you know, are not driven by people physically, But the human element comes from a tele teleoperat…”
Disclosure
Ottonomy rovers deliver Amazon packages with DPD in Milton Keynes
“These robots are also doing last mile delivery for a customer in in London, in Milton Keynes with DPD who are actually you know, it's a logistics company delivering all the Amazon packages in Milton Keynes.”
Insight
Vijay: Commercial robotics is now a horizontal platform, not single-purpose hardware
“So, I think, ah, it is not 20 14 where we have purpose-built robot to do just one thing. Right. We are living in 2025, where, ah, it's more of a horizontal play, where you have these robots, ah, you know, running in different ODDs or, you know, operational are…”