"I sat at America's Tires for three hours and thought, hey, we use robots to put tyres on at the factory," the founder of RoboTire explained. "Why don't we bring robots into the service industry?"
A frustrated waiting period of three hours inspired Victor Darolfi, former spark Robotics CEO, to start a venture called RoboTire-a Bay Area based robotics company which he founded in 2018.
This robot has reportedly created shock waves in the industry due to its ability to mount car tyres in a fraction of the time that most mechanics take. It's important to note here that we are not talking about changing a flat but removing a tyre off the wheel of a car and then mounting a new tyre on it. This process normally takes a mechanic about 60 minutes to do a set of four.
The new startup can radically reduce the time that tyre service stations take to replace tyres on cars, thereby decreasing costs spent on labour and also increasing efficiency 6 fold!
The start-up is now raring to roar as part of the latest batch of Y Combinator startups. RoboTire has already generated massive interest in the industry among investors as well as major tyre companies for its ability to change car tyres in a fraction of the time that most mechanics.
"We can do a set of four tyres, put in to pull out, in 10 minutes," Darolfi explains. "It normally takes about 60 minutes for a human operator to do a set of four. Some can go faster, but they really can’t do that eight hours a day."
via techcrunch.com
Partnering with Mitsubishi robotics, RoboTire has designed a system that currently costs around $250,000, which it's looking to license to service centers, dealers and other outlets. For those who get in early as part of the company’s pilot, the company will charge around $5 to $7 per tyre. When a more final product rolls out, that number should jump to around $10 to $15.
Also See: Bridgestone’s Lunar Rover Tyres To Mimic Camel Hooves?
RoboTire's analysis of revenue estimates predict that the robot would generate around $10,000 a month, thereby earning back the cost of a unit in just about two years.
Although, the startup has been in discussions with a number of high-profile companies, including Bridgestone, the first partner to pilot its product is San Carlos, Calif.-based auto repair shop, Toole’s Garage.
After raising $170,000 in February of last year, RoboTire closed a million-dollar seed round with Type One Ventures and Backend Capital, prior to getting into YC. The founder further added that the company is targeting a "very substantial round" in the near future to generate the funds required to build eight systems for piloting.
The systems will be manufactured and assembled in Darolf's native Detroit, an area brimming with automotive and manufacturing talent, but infamous for a dearth of job opportunities.
Source: techcrunch.com
