In November 2024 the robotics software company BOW announced the appointment of Liz Upton, Co-Founder and CMO of Raspberry Pi as Chair of its board. In a conversation with Upton following this appointment, she shared a mutual vision with BOW to democratise technology and make it universally accessible that had been a driving factor of her appointment.
BOW looks to make building robotic solutions more accessible through its software-agnostic development kit and platform, allowing developers the tools to program their solutions using any operating system and any operating language. As Upton described it: “By removing the need for highly specialised robotics programmers, BOW’s universal robotics platform allows companies to leverage the skills of generalist software developers and opens up valuable new use cases.”
Some of the programming languages the platform supports includes C#, Python, C++, Javascript and operating systems including Windows, Linux and Mac.
“BOW also integrates advanced features like AI-driven motion planning, inverse kinematics, self-collision avoidance and natural language processing,” Upton added.
This seems to track a growing trend in the industry to make software more accessible to those who might not necessarily have the technical skills to build applications and therefore are hindered. The rise of no-code and low-code software shows that there is appetite for simplifying this process and opening up a variety of applications by simply handing developers the tools to do so.
This desire to bring positive impact to the robotics industry was recognised by Upton as she said: “BOW is on the brink of something transformative in robotics … The company’s focus on enabling generalist software developers to create and manage robotics applications solves a critical industry bottleneck.”
In her current role as CMO as Raspberry Pi Upton has been responsible for building the brand and contributing to the sale of 60 million plus units worldwide. Earlier this year in June 2024, Raspberry Pi floated on the London Stock Exchange, an achievement the company touted as a “watershed moment” which would allow it to build products for engineers faster.
Raspberry Pi creates single-board computers that, in the hands of engineers, can be adapted for a wide range of applications: from an industrial factory to a smart home hub, its versatility and cost-effectiveness have been big drawing points – and have worked, if the company’s success is any indication.
“I joined BOW because I see the same potential for democratisation in robotics that I saw in computing with Raspberry Pi,” Upton said. “Just as Raspberry Pi made computing accessible to millions, BOW is breaking down the barriers to robotics development by allowing any software developer to build robotic applications.”
What are some of the use cases Upton predicts BOW will help to build? Well, the answer is considerably long; manufacturing and industry; energy and utilities; healthcare; and the creative industries.
“BOW is advancing robotics applications in film, TV and live events through our R&D partnership with XPLOR,” Upton detailed. “Robots can be programmed for dynamic tasks like camera operation in inhospitable environments, automated tracking and live performance integration.”
Ultimately, Upton concluded, “BOW’s ability to defragment the robotics landscape and support interoperability drives innovation and adoption.” This is an ethos she probably knows all too well.
There’s plenty of other editorial on our sister site, Electronic Specifier! Or you can always join in the conversation by commenting below or visiting our LinkedIn page.
