Like you, we are well aware of the emerging impact of the coronavirus. It is imperative that we find ways to work together to creatively mitigate the pandemic’s reach. This is an opportunity for data-driven robotics companies to contribute in meaningful ways, and we intend to do our part.
At Formant, we have put proactive measures in place to keep our own employees safe and will continue to support our customers. Robotics has been at the forefront of the technologies being used to help fight this battle. Already, robots are hard at work cleaning floors, delivering food, disinfecting hospitals (and other areas where humans congregate), and relieving humans from a variety of other potentially dangerous tasks.
In order to support and expand upon these efforts, Formant is offering full access to its platform free of charge to any organization working to fight this pandemic. We will also be offering these organizations free technical consultation and support; joining them in their noble efforts to drive progress in the fields of remote administration and automation.
Finally, we are extending the standard trial period of our observability and teleoperation platforms from 30 days to 90. This change will be made available to all companies, as a means to help accelerate robotics development while keeping our industry’s employees safe.
Formant intends to maintain these policies until this crisis has been resolved; and no sooner.
In addition to observing, managing and operating fleets of robots, the Formant platform also facilitates social distancing with a variety of remote operations tools including:
- Capture: Gather (visual) information from the field using mobile phones, without sending additional operators into the field.
- Tele-Op: Enable your employees to work remotely. Our real-time teleop allows operators to extricate immobilized or physically stuck robots, issue them remote directives, or SSH into the robot without VPN — all from afar.
- Observe: Use our remote observability dashboards to gather metrics and see what the robot sees, enabling technical teams to collaborate remotely.
At times like these, it’s important that we as individuals don’t lose sight of who we are as citizens and members of society. We sincerely hope that our efforts will provide some assistance during this crisis. And, more importantly, we hope that you and your loved ones remain safe, secure, and healthy.
Jeff Linnell
CEO | formant.io
