SAN DIEGO – Brain Corp and RPS Corporation yesterday announced a technology partnership that will help create an autonomous, ride-on scrubber in the commercial cleaning equipment space. RPS manufactures equipment under the Factory Cat and Tomcat brands.
“The industry is moving towards robotics because of the value it offers to customers and their janitorial staff, and we are proud to partner with Brain Corp on this important strategic milestone for our company,” said Sean Goff, CEO of RPS Corp. “As an organization that endeavors to deliver quality and reliability to our customers, we recognize the value in partnering with Brain Corp on a project that is otherwise beyond our capabilities. BrainOS enables us to meet our quality and innovations tandards, while also addressing the range of cleaning needs across our diverse customer base.”
An example of a Factory Cat rider-enabled floor scrubber that could be made autonomous through BrainOS Image: Factory Cat
The Factory Cat and Tomcat brands offer several commercial and industrial cleaning systems, including floor scrubbers, floor sweepers, burnishers and floor scrubber-sweeper machines.
The company also aims to deliver “green clean” options, with machines that use zero emission battery power, and that carefully control water and soap output with chemical-free solutions, such as ZerO3. The brands include customers in the industrial, manufacturing, and distribution space, as well as government agencies.
Adding BrainOS for autonomy
The BrainOS platform is a cloud-connected operating system for commercial autonomous robots. Machines powered by BrainOS navigate autonomously, operate in dynamic and complex environments, manage data, generate utilization reports, and interact with end users. In addition, the BrainOS uses a “teach and repeat” process that allows customers to deploy and incorporate it into existing cleaning processes without the need for onsite engineers. Adding BrainOS to the Factory Cat and Tomcat systems will address a diverse set of applications, while also adhering to the brand’s quality standards, the company said.
“The partnership between Brain Corp and RPS Corporation is important because it demonstrates that manufacturers of every size can become a player in the shift towards robotics,” said Christian Cornelius-Knudsen, Senior Vice-President, Global Sales and Services, Brain Corp. “BrainOS unlocks the expansive market opportunity that robotics offers by enabling OEMs to successfully produce, deploy, and support robots at scale. Instead of being responsible for engineering the entire technology stack and funding that development process, OEMs can focus on their core business and product differentiation, greatly streamlining time-to-market.”
Brain Corp, an RBR50 2019 honoree, made its BrainOS commercially available in 2015. BrainOS-powered robots currently operate globally in operating environments that include retailers, airports, shopping malls, school campuses, assembly and logistics centers, and health care facilities.
