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RoboTire, a robotics startup creating an automatic tire-changing system for mechanics, has filed for Chapter 7 chapter. RoboTire was based in 2018, was primarily based in Plymouth, Michigan, and gained an RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award in 2023.
RoboTire filed for Chapter 7 chapter within the Courtroom of Delaware on January 19, 2024. You possibly can learn the submitting right here (PDF). In keeping with the submitting, RoboTire has $12.7 million in liabilities and $12.3 million in property. There are 78 unsecured collectors within the case, most of that are primarily based in Michigan. In December 2023, RoboTire was sued by American Funding Providers, which claimed the robotics startup owed it greater than $130,000.
Chapter 7 chapter can also be referred to as a liquidation chapter. Companies that file for Chapter 7 have to promote non-exempt possessions and use the proceeds to repay collectors. As soon as the method is full, the rest of a enterprise’ included money owed are discharged. Chapter 7 chapter is the commonest type of chapter within the U.S. It differs from Chapter 11 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies, which govern the method of reorganization of a debtor.
The Robotic Report has reached out to RoboTire founder and CEO Victor Darolfi a number of occasions however has but to listen to again.
RoboTire makes use of an industrial-grade, six-axis robotic arm and an end-of-arm device that homes the robotic’s imaginative and prescient system, gripper, and torque wrench. Onboard cameras drive RoboTire’s automated steering system, enabling the robotic to independently discover the wheel, acknowledge socket necessities and positioning, and render 3D depth maps. You possibly can watch the robotic in motion within the video above and be taught extra about it right here.
RoboTire raised $7.5 million in Collection A funding again in 2022. The spherical was led by The Reinalt-Thomas Company, which does enterprise as Low cost Tire and America’s Tire and is the world’s largest impartial tire retailer.
“Low cost Tire is happy to assist RoboTire within the growth of recent and modern applied sciences that drive a greater buyer expertise,” the corporate stated on the time of the Collection A spherical closing. “As buyer expectations across the ‘purchase and ebook on-line’ expertise and our capability to ship lowered wait occasions proceed to develop, we’ll proceed to pursue automation and enhancements that guarantee an inviting, straightforward and protected expertise for all our prospects.”
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Three months in the past, Darolfi stated on LinkedIn that RoboTire had simply completed putting in its fifth “reside system.” The corporate put in its first system in 2022 at a Low cost Tire facility in Fountain Hills, Arizona. It put in one other system with a distinct Low cost Tire store in early 2023. RoboTire additionally labored with Creamery Tire, a domestically owned and operated tire service heart based in Pennsylvania in 1988.
In keeping with the chapter submitting, RoboTire additionally had an “open contract” with Luke Air Pressure Base in Arizona for a system that prices $348,277.57. The submitting doesn’t specify if the contract was for one RoboTire system or a number of models.
Darolfi joined episode 94 of The Robotic Report Podcast to debate the challenges and alternatives of the tire-changing robotic. You possibly can take heed to that episode right here.
It’s been a troublesome begin to 2024 for the robotics business. There have been layoffs at Locus Robotics and Vecna Robotics, amongst others. And Amazon’s $1.45 billion acquisition of iRobot was terminated because of it having no path of being accepted by the European Fee. On account of the deal falling by means of, iRobot is shedding 31% of its workers.