Why should we choose WCB Robotics? Most companies burn through millions of dollars and die trying to find product market fit. Our experiences with our prospective customers have shown that we have product market fit, along with a huge market. We believe market risk is minimal, while technological risk has been almost entirely eliminated. The only remaining area is execution risk. With our strong technical team and world-class group of investors that are willing to continue to support our growth objectives with capital and connections, we believe we are the ideally positioned to dominate the market in a few years’ time. Further, our technical capabilities have enabled us to overcome most of the technical challenges
How do you calculate the time to clean a building? The cleaning speed of the robot is approximately 5000 sqft./ hour. Depending on the height and structure of the glass facades, the cleaning time would vary.
Can E.L.M.O. clean over metal and stone panels? E.L.M.O. excels in the cleaning of metal claddings too, showcasing its effectiveness in maintaining their pristine condition. However, it is not equipped to handle the cleaning and navigation of stone panels
What is the maximum temperature and wind speed that E.L.M.O. can operate in? E.L.M.O. can work in temperatures as high as 50 C/ 122 F and wind speed of 80 kmph/ 50 mph
Does the company have a high/low complexity? We can be categorized as both depending on the aspect you focus. From a tech perspective, we are a high-complexity company with multiple patents and multiple complex technologies working in harmony to make ELMO clean a variety of facades with high quality and safety. From a business model perspective, we are a low-complexity company as we are similar to most businesses selling a product with hefty AMC contracts on these products. We will also be going for a subscription model in some markets.
What makes your technology difficult to copy? ELMO has multiple systems that work in perfect sync to make it work. The first important element is the suction system. The suction system needs to be very reliable and energy efficient in order for ELMO to work off of batteries. The system we use is the most efficient non-contact system in existence and we have patents filed and granted for this in multiple countries. ELMO has to maneuver on vertical surfaces which requires very sophisticated traction control systems. Our early prototypes which did not have these were always unstable and difficult to control. People who saw us testing ELMO to inquire about any planned enhancements for the robot to adhere and clean the surface. Which is precisely what we did. Our new prototypes have these traction control systems and enable very steady maneuvering, so much so that we don’t even get questions around the robot falling or losing control during the demo. ELMO has a state-of-the-art redundancy system in its electronics along with very detailed health monitoring systems. These systems are necessary for good safety and took a lot of time and engineering to develop. ELMO has a water-based cleaning system which is guarded by multiple patents and offers highest cleaning quality on glass façade while maintaining minimum weight. While developing this system countless different concepts were tried but only this method provided us with the unique set of requirements, we had for the cleaning system.
What is the plan to fold your competitors of the stick? Our façade cleaning robot has many advantages, some of these were premeditated but some were also accidental. While demoing to a large company interested on buying multiple ELMOs I realized one of the accidental advantages. This company had contacted many companies from all across the world to inquire for a solution to its façade cleaning needs. Many of these companies had responded back with lengthy power point presentations. But even this large company was having difficulties in getting demos from these companies. This was because they wanted a free demo which would be extremely resource-intensive for a company which would have to send their product in cargo, get through expensive and lengthy customs process, deploy and setup their machine on a building (this process can take days if not weeks) only for a free demo.
Does it have a Tether? Is yes, what are the tethering requirements from the building operator? Yes, we plan on installing Tether options for E.L.M.O. The building needs to have either a top or bottom access. For the top access, the building needs to have a protrusion where the winch could be connected. It should be easily able to hold a load of 20-30 Kilograms (44 lbs.- 66 lbs.) from top of the building. However, in circumstances where there is no protruded structure on top of the building, we would place the winch on a metallic cart, and add extra weights (around 100 kilograms~220lbs.) inside it.
What is the maximum temperature and wind speed that E.L.M.O. can operate in? E.L.M.O. can work in temperatures as high as 50 C/ 122 F and wind speed of 80 kmph/ 50 mph. In our case, we could travel with our robot with us on a flight. We had zero installation and just showed up to the site and did our demo. The ease of setup and portability of the device proved to be extremely useful in the sales process. ELMO has more features and capabilities than any product existing on the market and it is very salesman friendly enabling our customers to make decisions after experiencing the product on their own infrastructure. ELMO also beats out all existing solutions in cost and ROI.
What advantages do your competitors have over you? Our major competitor today is still humans hanging from ropes. A detailed survey of competitors who are attempting to replace humans shows that they are mostly robots that also use ropes to hang from the building and clean the buildings. Also, most of the robots in the market are much bigger and heavier than ELMO. And much more expensive. We have been contacted by several prospective customers, distributors, strategic investors, and research teams from across the world. The research teams mentioned here are teams hired by big companies to do market research looking to deploy automated façade cleaning tech on their buildings. Most of these companies decided to wait for us rather than go for the existing solutions on the market especially after a demo from us using our early ELMO prototype. We believe we have managed a perfect combination of automated façade cleaning with robots, without ropes
How cost effective is E.L.M.O. ? Our robot, E.L.M.O., can reduce labor costs, minimize the need for specialized cleaning equipment, and potentially decrease insurance expenses associated with human workers at high altitudes. Additionally, it does not require BMU and other installations for our robot to operate.
How do you operate E.L.M.O.? E.L.M.O. is operated using a Radio Controller. It can operate from a distance of up to 1 kilometer. There will be technicians who will have to undergo 20 hours of training which would be 5 hours of theoretical and 15 hours of practical training on operating the Radio Controller.