Misty Robotics has announced the general availability of Misty II

Misty Robotics announced the general availability of Misty II, the first professional-grade platform robot. Misty Robotics is opening the world of robots to all software developers as well as educators and researchers comfortable with code by removing existing barriers in the market. The company believes that platform robots are the missing link to accelerating the use of robots in businesses, homes, research, and education. 

“There are more than 23 million developers around the world, and they are the key to unlocking the future of robots, previously only available to the world of roboticists,” said Ian Bernstein, Founder and Head of Product, Misty Robotics. “For the price of a computer, developers can bring their code to life and free it from the 2D world of a browser. We’ve already seen some of our crowdfunding backers start to solve real world problems. The possibilities are really endless, and we are excited to see what they build next.” 

Since shipping Misty II to crowdfunding backers, developers are actively building skills (robot applications) for a variety of use cases including eldercare, inventory data collection, home property inspection, environmental monitoring, autism therapy, and personal engagement.

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“When you see your code start to control something physical, you realize what is possible when you bridge the gap between hardware and software,” said Rich Walsh, Chief Executive Officer, SolderWorks, an innovation lab that provides comprehensive hardware and software engineering services. “At SolderWorks, we’re teaching our customers new use cases for robots and building new value propositions for them, such as a receptionist skill. The Misty Command Center makes it easy to quickly iterate and issue commands, which helps us prove and disprove hypotheses to our customers.”

By providing developers with robust tools, comprehensive documentation, and extensive APIs, Misty Robotics makes it easy for developers to build on the Misty platform. Her tools include a pre-built Command Center, Skill Runner, and API Explorer, which are accessible through an easy to navigate SDK interface. Developers can extend Misty II's capabilities by integrating with third party APIs such as those provided by Twilio, Microsoft, and Google. Additionally, Misty II can be expanded through third party hardware such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi and physically expanded through 3D printing. The robot is also equipped with sophisticated technology such as the 3D depth camera, microphone array, several Qualcomm processors, as well as obstacle detection and capacitive touch sensors.

“Companies like Misty Robotics are spearheading the new generation of smart, connected robots – devices that are playing larger and larger roles in people’s lives,” said Dev Singh, Director, Business Development and Head of Robotics, Drones & Intelligent Machines, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “We are happy to enable the exciting Misty II platform with cutting-edge technologies like our heterogeneous computing architecture, advanced image processing, and on-device AI in our power-efficient IoT chipsets, and we look forward to seeing what people will create with the platform.”