Pivoting from Autonomous Driving to Industrial Autonomous Systems for Smart Manufacturing & Warehousing: How Heex is Tackling Big Data Challenges in Robotics?
Paris, France – December 16th, 2024
It all started with a simple yet massive problem: Big Data.
When I first founded Heex Technologies with Arnaud in 2019, our focus was squarely on solving the data overload in autonomous driving. At the time, Arnaud was the director of the robotics lab at the University of Mines Paris Tech and has seen a lot of projects in that field lacking the key element to success; being market-pull and not tech push. With his deep technical expertise in robotics and my background in mobility and entrepreneurship, we both saw the same massive opportunity:
Big Data was turning into a big problem to deliver the promise of autonomous vehicles at scale, and legacy systems were not fit to solve the issue as they were also part of the problem of the “collecting all the data” approach.
For those unfamiliar, autonomous driving generates a ton of data—think of it as trying to drink from a fire hose when all you wanted was a sip of water.
Let me explain why this was (and still is) such a pain for autonomous driving teams. Picture this: autonomous vehicles are constantly gathering an average of 5TB an hour of data from sensors, cameras, and radars etc... But here’s the kicker—it’s a bit like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Teams have to sift through all this raw data just to locate the critical moments that actually matter for testing, validation, or improvements. This process is cumbersome, technically complex, and let’s be real, very expensive. It’s manual, it eats up a ton of resources, and most importantly, it slows everything down. What was supposed to be a breakthrough in tech felt more like being buried under a mountain of irrelevant data.
So we thought, “What if we could make this smarter? Instead of drowning in raw data, let’s create a process that only generate the most relevant information across an entire fleet with a distributed agent system.” Thus, Heex Smart Data was born.
It was like giving autonomous vehicles a cheat sheet for their driving tests. Our solution was so effective that we started getting attention not just from the automotive sector but from industries we hadn’t even thought of yet.
Enter Heex Smart Data.
We developed a solution that could do what every data engineer dreams of—make the process of extracting relevant data from the pile sustainable, scalable and much easier.
By deploying Agents within the targeted data source, we can seamlessly able you to configure different correlation within your data flows with different condition values to trigger relevant data recordings.
Our technology helped autonomous driving teams operate faster and more efficiently. Not only did this save them time, but it also significantly cut costs, which—let’s face it—is music to any CTO wants to ear.
Two Funding Rounds and a New Horizon
Fast forward a couple of years, and thanks to two successful funding rounds, we’ve built an absolute powerhouse of a team. With the funding, we didn’t just tweak our product—we completely re-imagined it.
This team worked tirelessly to completely re-engineer our product, taking it from “great for solving big data issues in cars” to enterprise-grade for industries beyond automotive to tackle data challenges across multiple industries.. And, trust me, re-engineering a product is a bit like trying to rebuild an airplane mid-flight—it’s not for the faint-hearted.
So what’s next for Heex? We started seeing that the same data problem affecting autonomous vehicles was happening in industries like smart manufacturing and smart warehousing. Autonomous robots in factories and warehouses were facing similar challenges: loads of data, but no efficient way to filter out the noise. Once again, there was a haystack, and we were ready to help find the needle.
Expanding to Smart Manufacturing and Warehousing
Now, we’re empowering companies in the industrial sector to streamline their operations. Whether it’s robots in a factory managing complex processes or autonomous systems running warehouses, our smart data solution ensures that these systems focus only on what’s necessary. No overload, no data bottleneck—just the critical information they need to perform at their best.
Here’s the exciting part for all you manufacturers, logistics experts, and supply chain pros: our solution can now streamline your operations. Whether it’s smart warehousing or automating an industrial process, our tech makes sure your autonomous systems aren’t overloaded with data. It’s lean, efficient, and it works—kind of like that perfectly brewed cup of coffee you get after a long day.
And let’s be honest—who doesn’t want to work with a team that’s already solved the problem for autonomous driving and is now applying that expertise to new, exciting challenges? Whether you’re dealing with an army of robots managing your warehouse or trying to optimize a complex manufacturing process, we’ve got you covered.
What’s Next for Heex?
We’re at the dawn of a new era for Heex Technologies, and we’re more excited than ever to see where our technology will take us next. Autonomous vehicles were just the beginning; now we’re ready to tackle the challenges of smart manufacturing and smart warehousing. Two funding rounds, a re-engineered product, and countless cups of coffee later, we’re here to help your business get ahead in the autonomous world.
Let’s chat—reach out to see how we can help streamline your operations with the magic of smart data. Or, at the very least, let’s have a coffee and talk about the future of robotics!
Hope to hear from you soon!
As we venture into this new territory, we’re more excited than ever about what the future holds. Autonomous driving was just the beginning for Heex Technologies. Now, we’re ready to lead the charge in smart manufacturing and smart warehousing. With a re-engineered product and an incredible team behind us, we’re ready to help your business thrive in the autonomous era.
Let’s talk—whether you want to dive deep into how smart data can optimize your operations or just grab a coffee, we’re here for it. Reach out and let’s explore how we can make your data work smarter, not harder.
Stay Tuned
If you’re interested in learning more, Heex Technologies hosted a series of webinars in November, focusing on logistics robots—a key area in the automation revolution. Don’t miss the opportunity to explore how robotics is shaping the future.
Upcoming Event: Data-Driven Scaling for Robotics
In case you’re interested, we’re hosting another live webinar on Monday, December 16th at 5 pm CT on the investment landscape, market trends, and technical challenges shaping AMR growth.