The world of micro-robot systems just got bigger.
Edina-based
ReconRobotics, the fast-track robotics company that's been growing quickly, announced that it has established an international headquarters in Lugano, Switzerland.
The move is part of the company's multi-year global expansion plans, and the HQ there will oversee all sales, marketing, and customer service for operations outside of North America.
ReconRobotics has seen a robust amount of traction within the past couple years, garnering some major contracts from U.S. military and law enforcement agencies. Now, the company intends to broaden its international footprint, according to President and CEO Alan Bignall.
The Lugano subsidiary, known as RRI Global SAGL, will expand the company's international reseller network, which currently extends to 33 countries.
Formed in 2006, ReconRobotics started as a way to commercialize technology developed at the University of Minnesota Distributed Robotics Laboratory, with funding from the National Science Foundation and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), among others.
The company's mini-robots are particularly attractive to the military and law enforcement, since they can be sent into dangerous situations and navigated remotely in order to collect intelligence. For example, a SWAT team can throw one into a house and use the robot's cameras to assess a hostage situation.
"These robots are just the beginning of what we're seeing in terms of capability," Bignall says. "There are so many applications for this technology, and we're seeing expansion in both geography and in usage."
Source: Alan Bignall, ReconRobotics
Writer: Elizabeth Millard