How a 'chance tweet' has helped put this Mayo-based robotics startup on the map

THE WEST OF Ireland might not jump out as a hub for cutting-edge robotic tech, but a “chance tweet” earlier this summer has helped Mayo-based startup, Colmac Robotics, get into the prototype development game.

The company, which was founded in 2013, has recently finished developing a prototype of a computerised handbag – designed to deter impulsive spending – for American personal finance website Finder.com.

From the introduction on Twitter over the summer to the delivery of a working product, it was a relatively quick turnaround.

The project to develop the iBag2 – led by engineers Laura Hanlon, Nicola O’Sullivan and Ciarán Walsh – took roughly six weeks and was done on a “relatively small budget, according to Colmac Robotics co-founder and director Niall McCormick.

He added that the whole project all came about in “very typical Irish fashion”.

“I got a message on Twitter off a guy I know who was chatting to a woman who works over in the US. She wanted to do this robotics project and my friend thought I might be interested,” he told Fora.

“I said yes, and thought we’d see how it goes. We talked to them and they explained what they wanted to do and we thought it was interesting, different and within our skill sets so we gave it a go. So it all came from a chance tweet.”

Laura Hanlon (left) and Nicola O'Sullivan (right)

Beginnings

Colmac Robotics originally found its feet as a business by running robotics workshops for children during school holidays, with McCormick and his fellow co-founder, Colmán Munnelly, simply looking looking for a bit of money on the side while they were in college studying engineering.

McCormick said he imagined he would give up the summer and Halloween camps once he finished college, but the phone kept ringing.

The robotics camps for kids are still a big part of the business, but the work with Finder.com could see the startup branch out into more development projects, according to McCormick.

“Summer is a busy time for us because we have camps on, but I didn’t want to turn down this opportunity,” he said. “We’re definitely looking to get more stuff like this in the future.

“At the moment we’re just finding our feet at this stage and redesigning the website and doing a few other big projects before we go out looking for too much more work.”

The iBag2

Comeback

A lot of the hype around the Irish tech scene in recent years has been focused on the ‘app for that’ revolution, but McCormick said he thinks robotics and hardware are making a comeback.

He said the work of Tesla has peaked the general public’s interest and even the successful return of TV show Robot Wars has shown that people are still very interested in robotics.

“I’ve always been interested in the physical side of tech. I think it is a lot more relevant now that Tesla are making driverless cars with artificial intelligence and robotics. It’s making robotics and lot more relevant and making people think it’s no harm that we learn about this stuff.

“We’re approaching a time when we’re in danger of people not realising how the world works because up until relatively recently, if something broke in your house, you could probably have a go at fixing it.

“Now everything is based on technology and people don’t necessarily understand how their lives are being controlled. Educating kids about robotics at an early age, like we are, will help make people aware of this tech.”

Niall McCormick

Options

McCormick said the robotics camps his company runs are not just important for educating children about the world around them – the camps also serve to debunk some notions that young people have about engineering as a career path.

“We’re trying to show kids that engineering and tech is not what people perceive it to be. It’s not all about middle-aged, balding men with glasses in a room alone.

“It is for everyone and we’re particularly trying to get more girls interested – we also like to keep the gender balance in our staff.”

He added that the workshops run by Colmac Robotics keep options open for parents and allows them to send their children to a summer camp that isn’t just geared around sports.

“Not every child is the type that wants to go to a GAA camp or another sports camp,” he said.

“We have had a lot of kids who like the sports camps and our own, but there are a lot of parents just looking for something a little different.”