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Robots that build large-scale solar farms! My friend and I started working on this last year and ended up starting a company. We moved to the bay area and did Y

Robots that build large-scale solar farms! My friend and I started working on this last year and ended up starting a company. We moved to the bay area and did YC last summer. We've been spending a lot of time on solar construction sites and did our first demo (part of the material handling system) on a site in March. Now we're working on a robotic factory + our team is up to 5 folks.

ducktective 4y ago
How hard is it to found a robotic HW startup? What are the roles of your team? (Mech eng, Embedded eng, etc) Do you have a PhD? Would you advise getting one (in robotics)?
atlasunshrugged 4y ago
Awesome, think I saw your launch post and sounds like an awesome project. How has the experience been with permitting and regulatory issues (not technical)? Is there a valid strategy in building at the border of hard to build states and selling electricity back to them (e.g. building a massive facility in Nevada and selling the energy to CA when they inevitably suffer another crisis to the grid)?
- justicz 4y ago
  Hey, thanks! We haven't had too much trouble with regulatory barriers. There are some other companies operating in the robotic construction space (e.g. Built Robotics) that have served as good examples for us on the regulatory front. As for your idea, you do hear about hacks like that in this industry all the time. We're operating a little bit downstream of those decisions, working with construction companies after the site has already been chosen.
FeistySkink 4y ago
Do you have a website already or somewhere else with more info?
- justicz 4y ago
  We don't have a ton of info available publicly yet, our Launch HN thread [0] and jobs board [1] are the best places to learn more for now (or email me!). [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30780455 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30780455 [1] https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/charge-robotics/jobs https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/charge-robotics/jobs
mensetmanusman 4y ago
Would this be easier if you were building solar into the ground directly to use the earth as a heat sink? Or is it cheaper to have floating panels?
dr_dshiv 4y ago
Is it more profitable to turn low cost labor into robots? (Honest question) How do you determine that?
pfoof 4y ago
So the robots that build panels or that take the panel and mount it into the ground?

ducktective 4y ago

How hard is it to found a robotic HW startup? What are the roles of your team? (Mech eng, Embedded eng, etc) Do you have a PhD? Would you advise getting one (in robotics)?

atlasunshrugged 4y ago

Awesome, think I saw your launch post and sounds like an awesome project. How has the experience been with permitting and regulatory issues (not technical)? Is there a valid strategy in building at the border of hard to build states and selling electricity back to them (e.g. building a massive facility in Nevada and selling the energy to CA when they inevitably suffer another crisis to the grid)?

justicz 4y ago
Hey, thanks! We haven't had too much trouble with regulatory barriers. There are some other companies operating in the robotic construction space (e.g. Built Robotics) that have served as good examples for us on the regulatory front. As for your idea, you do hear about hacks like that in this industry all the time. We're operating a little bit downstream of those decisions, working with construction companies after the site has already been chosen.

FeistySkink 4y ago

Do you have a website already or somewhere else with more info?

justicz 4y ago
We don't have a ton of info available publicly yet, our Launch HN thread [0] and jobs board [1] are the best places to learn more for now (or email me!). [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30780455 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30780455 [1] https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/charge-robotics/jobs https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/charge-robotics/jobs

mensetmanusman 4y ago

Would this be easier if you were building solar into the ground directly to use the earth as a heat sink? Or is it cheaper to have floating panels?

dr_dshiv 4y ago

Is it more profitable to turn low cost labor into robots? (Honest question) How do you determine that?

pfoof 4y ago

So the robots that build panels or that take the panel and mount it into the ground?