city climber nsf final presentation
TRANSCRIPT
city climberwall-climbing inspection robots
Total Contacts
100VIDEO
Jizhong Xiao / PI
John Blaho / IM
Mickey Muldoon / EL
team• Professor of robotics at CUNY City College
• Inventor of City-Climber wall-climbing robots
• Co-founder and Senior Technical Advisor of InnovBot
• Recipient of NSF CAREER Award, 2007
• MA candidate in Computer Science, CUNY Brooklyn College
• Experience in education technology, policy analysis, politics, teaching
• Author of chapter in forthcoming book on for-profit education startups
• Does the ‘robot’ celebration after every video game soccer goal
• NYC-based Academic Industrialist
• Served as Chief Scientific Officer of biotech start-up until 2010
• Academic basic science research faculty for over 25 years
• Responsible for CUNY Industry-University Research Collaborations
KEY PARTNERS CUSTOMER SEGMENTS
VALUE PROPOSITION
KEY ACTIVITIES CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
CHANNELSKEY RESOURCES
REVENUE STREAMSCOST STRUCTURE
• Manufacturers• Large civil
engineering firms• Military
• Continuous R&D• Manufacturing• Sales and
marketing
• Human: engineers
• Intellectual: IP• Financial: R&D
money
• Cost/risk reduction: window cleaning, painting, or building exterior inspection
• Performance: Reach difficult spaces for surveillance (e.g. tunnels, skyscrapers)
• Newness: for research and hobbyists
• Property management companies
• Property owners• Window cleaners• Military• Construction and
engineers• Academic
research and hobbyists
• Municipalities• Solar farms• Dry docks• Oil rigs
• Direct sales• Government
grant-writing• Website
• Research and development• Sales and marketing• Manufacturing• Cost of raw parts
• Unit or bulk sales• Leasing units• Direct contracts for window washing or inspection• Military/police/naval contracts• Installation revenue• IP License/royalties
• Personal support for major customers
• Automated support for cheaper models
• Communities for research and hobbyists
the first canvas
application 1: tanks and towers
Magnetic inspection crawlers already in widespread use for storage tank inspection, especially for ultrasonic thickness tests
But there are currently no non-magnetic crawlers for stainless steel and concrete inspection
from a robotic inspection company:
“We currently have some extremely promising commercial opportunities … and I would like to introduce your climber … There are at least three such opportunities I am working on right now. They are rather urgent … They have applications now. The only thing they lack is a small Climber that can be demo'd. And you have that NOW … Their revenues are in excess of $200M and they would want your Climber ideally to fully commercialize it and scale it up.”
application 3: building façades
• Real-time video feed• Follow cracks beyond
reach of scaffold• Corner buildings: check
street-facing façades where scaffold drop not mandatory
• Cheaper way to do thorough inspection where some problems found
• Impact echo analysis
• Mandatory façade inspection in NYC, Chicago, Phila, Boston, Pitt, St. Louis, Detroit, Columbus, Milwaukee, Wash DC, etc.
earlyvangelist
Rudi Sherbansky
•President, ASPA Engineering•VP, New York State Society of Professional Engineers
inspecting big flat things:here’s what we thought
Our company
Property owners
sell/lease robots
$$
Lesson 1
inspecting big flat things: here’s what we found
Ecosystem of third-party architects, engineers, and inspection companies
Other industrial inspection robots use daily rental models
Offering services on top of products is far more profitable
Lesson 1
inspecting big flat things: here’s what changed
Our company
Property owners
Sales, RentalsLeases, Subcontracts
$$$$
Inspectors
Primary contracts
Build pathway over time,will be more lucrative
Modernize local
inspection codes
Lesson 1
pricing: here’s what we thought
Technology is unique and patented
Saves over costly and dangerous human scaffold work
Other industrial “crawlers” sell for upwards of $50k
We can charge a premium:
$40-60k
Lesson 2
pricing: here’s what we found
• Customers explain that human inspectors are far more versatile and capable
• Closest competitor has run into price concerns
• Disruptive innovation, could replace centuries-old inspection techniques
• Survey: $20k is the most any engineering company would pay
Deep price savings must be a major part of value proposition
Lesson 2
pricing: here’s what we changed
Focus on low-end Minimal Viable Prototype
$5k mfg cost$20k retail$500/day rental
Lesson 2
customer discovery: here’s what we found
PotentialCustomer Segments
Bldg inspection
Industrial
infrastructure
?
KEY PARTNERS CUSTOMER SEGMENTS
VALUE PROPOSITION
KEY ACTIVITIES CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
CHANNELSKEY RESOURCES
REVENUE STREAMSCOST STRUCTURE
• OEMs• Component
suppliers• CUNY
• Continuous R&D• Manufacturing• Sales and
marketing
• Human: engineers
• Intellectual: IP• Financial: R&D
money
• Cost reduction: replaces scaffolds or human rope climbers
• Risk reduction (Safety)
• Speed improvement
• Performance: Reach difficult spaces for surveillance
• Rapid deployment
• Architecture and engineering companies
• Non-destructive testing service providers
• Direct sales• Potential
distrib./licensing partnership
• Research and development• Sales and marketing• Manufacturing• Cost of raw parts• Labor: inspection services• Warehouse space and maintenance
• Unit or bulk sales• Direct contracts/subcontracts for inspection• Extended warrantees, support• Daily rentals
• Mix of free and paid support for lessees and robot owners
• Subscription model: access to 1/2/3/4 robots at a time
the canvas today
market size
Min. $40 million spent per year in NYC for gov’t compliance, at least 25x worldwide
Frost & Sullivan, 2011
Total
$1B
$1B
Façade Inspection Services
NDT equipment
$25M
$245M+
Maybe 1/40 of market spending diverted to robots
Our robots could maybe take 1/50 of market
$20M
Target
Frost & Sullivan, 2011
NDT services$2.5B(and growing at 5%)
$100M+
Do our own inspections
$100M+
Do our own inspections
$4.5 B+
Tanks, towers, turbines
Building facades
how to get there?
SBIR and/or seed
basic commercial-grade model
Pilot test with earlyvangelists
Open small rental/sales warehouse
Mainstream usage in NYC
Expand outside NYC
Lobbying: update building code
Channel partnership in the works
$$ SE
RV
ICE
S $$
Iterate product
funding
high-end industrial product line
revenue
SBIR Phase II and/or angel Series A
serious contracts
Customer discovery/demos
Series B
<$100k $500k $2M $10M +
… other wall-climbers?
City Climber is:
• Patented• Cheaper • Simpler• More reliable• Better with rough
surfaces• Best weight-to-payload
KEY PARTNERS CUSTOMER SEGMENTS
VALUE PROPOSITION
KEY ACTIVITIES CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
CHANNELSKEY RESOURCES
REVENUE STREAMSCOST STRUCTURE
• Manufacturers• Large civil
engineering firms• Military
• Continuous R&D• Manufacturing• Sales and
marketing
• Human: engineers
• Intellectual: IP• Financial: R&D
money
• Cost/risk reduction: window cleaning, painting, or building exterior inspection
• Performance: Reach difficult spaces for surveillance (e.g. tunnels, skyscrapers)
• Newness: for research and hobbyists
• Property management companies
• Property owners• Window cleaners• Military• Construction and
engineers• Academic
research and hobbyists
• Municipalities• Solar farms• Dry docks• Oil rigs
• Direct sales• Government
grant-writing• Website
• Research and development• Sales and marketing• Manufacturing• Cost of raw parts
• Unit or bulk sales• Leasing units• Direct contracts for window washing or inspection• Military/police/naval contracts• Installation revenue• IP License/royalties
• Personal support for major customers
• Automated support for cheaper models
• Communities for research and hobbyists
March 21
March 22
KEY PARTNERS CUSTOMER SEGMENTS
VALUE PROPOSITION
KEY ACTIVITIES CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
CHANNELSKEY RESOURCES
REVENUE STREAMSCOST STRUCTURE
• Manufacturers• Large civil
engineering firms• Military
• Continuous R&D• Manufacturing• Sales and
marketing
• Human: engineers
• Intellectual: IP• Financial: R&D
money
• Cost reduction: replaces scaffolds
• Risk reduction (Safety)
• Speed improvement
• Performance: Reach difficult spaces for surveillance
• Rapid deployment
• Newness: for research and hobbyists
• Government infrastructure inspection , esp. Bridges, dams
• Nuclear power plants
• Property owners/managers/Third party evaluators
• Dry docks• Military• Construction• Solar farms• Broadcasters• Window cleaners
• Direct sales• Website• Indirect : via
partners
• Research and development• Sales and marketing• Manufacturing• Cost of raw parts
• Unit or bulk sales• Leasing units• Direct contracts for inspection• Installation revenue• IP License/royalties• Military/police/naval contracts
• Personal support for major customers
• Automated support for cheaper models
• Communities for research and hobbyists
March 28
KEY PARTNERS CUSTOMER SEGMENTS
VALUE PROPOSITION
KEY ACTIVITIES CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
CHANNELSKEY RESOURCES
REVENUE STREAMSCOST STRUCTURE
• Manufacturers• NDT research
centers and labs• Military• Large civil
engineering firms
• Continuous R&D• Manufacturing• Sales and
marketing
• Human: engineers
• Intellectual: IP• Financial: R&D
money
• Cost reduction: replaces scaffolds
• Risk reduction (Safety)
• Speed improvement
• Performance: Reach difficult spaces for surveillance
• Rapid deployment
• Building inspection and engineering companies
• Non-destructive testing service providers
• Government infrastructure inspection , esp. Bridges, dams
• Nuclear power plants
• Website• Indirect : via
partners• Indirect: NDT
equipment distributors
• Research and development• Sales and marketing• Manufacturing• Cost of raw parts
• Unit or bulk sales• Leasing units• Direct contracts for inspection• Installation revenue• IP License/royalties
• Personal support for major customers
• Automated support for cheaper models
April 4
KEY PARTNERS CUSTOMER SEGMENTS
VALUE PROPOSITION
KEY ACTIVITIES CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
CHANNELSKEY RESOURCES
REVENUE STREAMSCOST STRUCTURE
• Manufacturers• NDT research
centers and labs• Military
• Continuous R&D• Manufacturing• Sales and
marketing
• Human: engineers
• Intellectual: IP• Financial: R&D
money
• Cost reduction: replaces scaffolds
• Risk reduction (Safety)
• Speed improvement
• Performance: Reach difficult spaces for surveillance
• Rapid deployment
• Building inspection and engineering companies
• Non-destructive testing service providers
• Direct sales• NDT equipment
distributors• Indirect : via
partners• Website
• Research and development• Sales and marketing• Manufacturing• Cost of raw parts
• Unit or bulk sales• Leasing units• Direct contracts for inspection• Installation revenue• IP License/royalties
• Personal support for major customers
• Automated support for cheaper models
April 11
KEY PARTNERS CUSTOMER SEGMENTS
VALUE PROPOSITION
KEY ACTIVITIES CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
CHANNELSKEY RESOURCES
REVENUE STREAMSCOST STRUCTURE
• Manufacturers• NDT research
centers and labs• Military
• Continuous R&D• Manufacturing• Sales and
marketing
• Human: engineers
• Intellectual: IP• Financial: R&D
money
• Cost reduction: replaces scaffolds
• Risk reduction (Safety)
• Speed improvement
• Performance: Reach difficult spaces for surveillance
• Rapid deployment
• Building inspection and engineering companies
• Non-destructive testing service providers
• Federal and State Departments of Transportation
• Direct sales• NDT equipment
distributors
• Research and development• Sales and marketing• Manufacturing• Cost of raw parts
• Unit or bulk sales• Leasing units• Direct contracts for inspection• IP License/royalties
• Personal support for major customers
• Automated support for cheaper models
April 18
KEY PARTNERS CUSTOMER SEGMENTS
VALUE PROPOSITION
KEY ACTIVITIES CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
CHANNELSKEY RESOURCES
REVENUE STREAMSCOST STRUCTURE
• Manufacturers• NDT research
centers and labs• Military
• Continuous R&D• Manufacturing• Sales and
marketing
• Human: engineers
• Intellectual: IP• Financial: R&D
money
• Cost reduction: replaces scaffolds
• Risk reduction (Safety)
• Speed improvement
• Performance: Reach difficult spaces for surveillance
• Rapid deployment
• Building inspection and engineering companies
• Non-destructive testing service providers
• Federal and State Departments of Transportation
• Direct sales• NDT equipment
distributors
• Research and development• Sales and marketing• Manufacturing• Cost of raw parts
• Unit or bulk sales• Leasing units• Direct contracts for inspection• IP License/royalties
• Personal support for major customers
• Automated support for cheaper models
April 25
KEY PARTNERS CUSTOMER SEGMENTS
VALUE PROPOSITION
KEY ACTIVITIES CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
CHANNELSKEY RESOURCES
REVENUE STREAMSCOST STRUCTURE
• Manufacturers• NDT research
centers and labs• Scaffolding equip.
distributors• Component
suppliers• Robotics
companies (licensing)
• Military
• Continuous R&D• Manufacturing• Sales and
marketing
• Human: engineers
• Intellectual: IP• Financial: R&D
money
• Cost reduction: replaces scaffolds
• Risk reduction (Safety)
• Speed improvement
• Performance: Reach difficult spaces for surveillance
• Rapid deployment
• Building inspection and engineering companies
• Non-destructive testing service providers
• Federal and State Departments of Transportation
• Direct sales• Scaffolding equip.
distributors• NDT equipment
distributors
• Research and development• Sales and marketing• Manufacturing• Cost of raw parts
• Unit or bulk sales• Leasing units• Direct contracts for inspection• IP License/royalties
• Personal support for major customers
• Automated support for cheaper models