The Robot Industry Podcast

Welcome to The Robot Industry Podcast #163. At Pickle Robot they are applying Physical AI to truck unloading and developing generalized autonomy that will unlock robot orchestration across entire logistics processes. Welcome back to the show AJ. Can you remind me how you got into this industry? Tell me a bit about the journey and what's happening now at Pickle Robot. Let’s go over the math again a...

Hello Everyone and welcome to The Robot Industry Podcast, #Automate2026 edition. My friend Chris Round and new friend Kojo are joining me for podcast #162. We are talking about sensors and Leuze is one of the premier safety sensor manufacturers in Europe. Who is Leuze, what do you make? What is a sensor? If I open one up what will I see? What are people interested in sensing? Is there a trend? How...

Hello everyone and welcome to The Robot Industry Podcast, edition #161. I welcome Hugo Lessnick from Averna in Montreal to the podcast. Hugo is the Engineering Manager at Averna, we are going to talk about test, automation, test software and well, all things test. Hi Hugo, welcome to the podcast. Can you tell me about Averna, the company? What kind of systems do you build: integrated, standalone?...

For this session (#160) of The Robot Industry Podcast I welcome KW's own Greta Cutulenco from Acerta Analytics (aka Acerta). According to Acerta's website: Manufacturing generates terabytes of data every day—yet most of it goes unused. The real opportunity isn’t more technology, but building a data-driven culture on the shop floor, where insights guide decisions in real time. She co-founded Acerta...

Bryan Madden is the Farms Director at Champ's Fresh Farms Inc. in Langley BC Welcome to podcast # 159. I caught up with Bryan, who is a customer of Mycionics, my client. I spent the last few days at #Mushroomdays or #Mushroom Days in the Netherlands. Here are some of my questions: How did you get into mushroom farming? Can you tell me about Apex / South Mill Champs? What is the output of the farm?...

Welcome to podcast # 158. Chuck Baresich is the Founder and President of Haggerty Creek farming operation. He is a farmer and an expert in AgRobotics. The farming operation is part of   Haggerty Creek Ltd. owned & operated by Chuck & Justin Baresich and AGRIS Cooperative since 2001  www.haggertycreek.com . He has been researching and testing various automated technologies. Haggerty AgRobot...

Welcome to #157 of TRIP, The Robot Industry Podcast. I met up with Matt in Windsor during the Windsor-Essex' Emerging Technologies in Automation & Mobility Transformation Conference & Trade Show . Matthew Hortop , P.E. is a Technical Specialist for all Things Electrification. AVL is his employer and they are a 12,000-person company focused on powertrains. They don't make engines or inverte...

Welcome to #156 of TRIP, The Robot Industry Podcast. Matt Khoshdarregi is the CEO of TetraGen Robotics. He holds a P.Eng. and Ph. D. They, TetraGen, are a Manitoba-based developer of adaptive robotic manufacturing systems for high-mix, high-variability applications. Their current focus is on welding and trimming processes. Enjoy the podcast! Some of my questions to him: Matt, How did you get into...

Welcome to #158, I have known Stephen Slothuber for a long time; in fact, I worked with him and his father at ATS Automation. The Slothubers were an institution at ATS for accuracy, dependability and getting things done. I was happy to have Steve on the podcast to talk about CRM for automation integrators and machine builders. Enjoy the podcast and if you are thinking about a CRM for your machine...

Chris Latour and I have known each other for many years, from our days at ATS Automation, and it was my pleasure to reach out to him to arrange a tour of Element5 in St. Thomas, Ontario. So if you have never heard of Mass Timber, it is structurally efficient wood that is bonded together and used to form small and large buildings: walls, ceilings, floors and is engineered to be easy to use, to look...

I had the pleasure of recording an episode with Stan Gleizer, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Integrators and OEMs. He works for Mecademic Industrial Robotics and is based in Montreal. With a background in mechatronics and over a decade of experience in aerospace and automotive robotics, Stan has spent his career working on high-precision systems involving vision, force feedback, and micron-le...

If you have been a listener to The Robot Industry Podcast, then you already know Geoffrey Bremner. His fingerprints are all over our podcast. He is my audio engineer, but he is more than that; he is a friend, a supplier, and a neighbour. Geoff is a true geek, loves recording music and podcasts. Welcome to Automation Matters Podcast with me, Jim Beretta. Have a listen. Jim Notes: https://www.linked...

I would like to introduce you to my NEW podcast called Automation Matters. In Automation Matters, we are going to concentrate on the front of the house in the automation business. The people who interface, who plan and who provide services, to the companies that build and deploy automation and robotics.  This podcast will be about marketing, sales, strategy, business development, customer attracti...

Welcome to episode #153. I was lucky to meet up with Tarek Rahim in Windsor, ON, at the Emerging Technologies in Automation conference. The conference also highlights Mobility Transportation. I wish to thank the team at Emerging Technologies for getting me involved in the day. You can find out more about the organizers (Invest Windsor Essex) at https://www.emergingtechnologies.ca/ or at https://ww...

For this edition, #152 of The Robot Industry Podcast, I welcome Caleb Appleton from Bison Ventures . Bison Ventures is a Venture Capital (VC) firm with $135M AUM for frontier tech. From AI-powered drug discovery to collaborative robotics, Bison backs bold, deeply scientific solutions that have potential for massive commercial scale. An all-engineer team, Bison believes most attractive opportunitie...

A shoutout to Windsor Essex's Wendy Stark and the team at Invest WindsorEssex . I was invited to attend their Emerging Technologies in Automation & Mobility Transformation 2025 event in Windsor, and I was lucky to be able to catch up with him. From DIN rails to terminal blocks to power supplies, Garrett Renders has seen many automation products from a young age. He is currently the Business De...

Welcome to podcast # 150! My guest for this edition is Dr. Yun Yao. Yun Yao, holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from McGill University, is a dynamic professional known for her creativity and ambition. In 2010, she co-founded Tactile Labs, a non-profit organization that advances haptics research, where her leadership has fostered innovation and collaboration. After completing her PhD, Yun became...

Hello Everyone, Welcome to The Robot Industry Podcast #149 This episode too is a little different for The Robot Industry Podcast. This episode is about sponsorships and their efficacy. Informa is a client for over 15 years (aka UBM, and Canon Communications). I have been involved in the ADM (Advanced Design & Manufacturing) Toronto and ADM Montreal shows for many years. If you know me, you may...

Hello Everyone, This episode is a little different for The Robot Industry Podcast. I have invited some of my friends from the ADM Toronto 2025 show to join me to talk about the upcoming show. Informa is a client for over 15 years (aka UBM, and Canon Communications). I have been involved in the ADM Toronto and ADM Montreal shows for many years. If you know me, you may have fielded a phone call or r...

Welcome to The Robot Industry Podcast #147. My guest for this segment is Bruce Polson whom I have known for decades. He is a very smart guy. Bruce has over 30 years of experience in automation and engineering.  He began as a process engineer and consumer of automation, establishing a background in processes such as forming, welding, material handling, joining, and discrete assembly.  In automation...

Hello Robot Friends. Welcome to edition #146 of The Robot Industry Podcast. My guest today is Vivian Chu. Vivian Chu is a roboticist with over a decade of experience in human-robot interaction. She created Moxi and Poli, and applied her HRI and machine learning expertise to platforms like PR2, Meka, and Kinova Jaco2. She has worked at Google[X], Honda Research Institute, and IBM Research. Vivian h...

Welcome to episode #145 with Shaun Ghafari. Shaun holds a Ph. D., P.Eng. Dean, Engineering at the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology (FAST) at Humber College in Toronto. Faculty of Applied Sciences & Technology (FAST) is growing to meet the needs of industry in engineering, mechatronics, robotics, information technology, data analytics, cybersecurity, sustainable design, and the skille...

Welcome to podcast edition #144. I welcome my friend Konrad Konnerth to the pod Good day, everyone, and welcome to the robot industry podcast . Thanks for joining us and for subscribing. Konrad, welcome to the podcast. Can you take a few minutes and introduce yourself to our audience? Tell me about your automation background here in southwestern Ontario (SWO). What is happening from a high level i...

Welcome to edition #143 of The Robot Industry Podcast. For this edition I am interviewing Andrew Perkins. He is a long time automation machine vision expert and is heading up TrueLight Machine Vision, a division of BOS Innovations. Andrew, how did you get into this industry? Who are your customers? Manufacturers or other integrators, robotics OEMs (or all three)? Do you have a typical customer or...

MPI Solutions is a talented group of professionals helping industries across North America with AB, Siemens and Beckhoff machine control and system integration. Scott Pytel, P. Eng is Co-Owner and VP at MPI. MPI Solutions invited me to tour the facility and chat with the founders. Kevin van der Maarel is also a Co-Owner and a mechanical engineer. He enjoys the constant change brought about by auto...