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Biography


Steve Cousins is founder and CEO of Savioke, the leader in developing and deploying autonomous robots that work in human environments to improve people’s lives. Before founding Savioke, Steve was President and CEO of robotics incubator Willow Garage, where he oversaw the creation of the robot operating system (ROS), an open source software suite that has become the standard tool among robotics researchers. Also at Willow Garage, Steve launched the industry's first personal robots including the PR2 and the TurtleBot. Prior to that, Steve was a member of executive teams at IBM's Almaden Research Center and Xerox PARC. He’s active in the Robots for Humanity project and holds a PhD from Stanford University, BS and MS degrees in computer science from Washington University, and earned a micro-MBA while at IBM.  

The Complexity of Simplicity: Why Intuitive, Friendly Robots are Critical for Team Adoption

A new generation of autonomous, collaborative robots promise to increase efficiency and productivity for thousands of different tasks in myriad industries. However, like most new technologies, these robots will never gain widespread traction in human environments if they’re too complicated and unapproachable. In this session, renowned robot expert and Savioke CEO Dr. Steve Cousins shares his expertise on how to successfully integrate sophisticated collaborative robots in business environments so they work alongside teams to improve workflow and productivity. Steve will share lessons learned over three decades building robots, demonstrating the value of robots like Savioke’s autonomous delivery robot, Relay, which is not only easy for non-technical employees to learn and operate, but also widely accepted as a ‘team member’ in the hospitality and other environments where it’s deployed. Come learn what to look for in the next generation of collaborative robots to ensure success for your teams and companies.