The Robot Industry Podcast

I first met Nhung Nguyen at an industry event in Kitchener-Waterloo. Her company is called Legacy Horizon. At Legacy Horizon, they believe technology has the power to transform construction, increase labour productivity and address the housing crisis.

Nhung, for listeners who don't know Horizon Legacy, can you tell us a little about the company and how you got involved?

And how did you personally go from the development side of the business to leading a company that's now developing construction robotics?

People often describe this technology as “3D printing homes,” but I know you think about it much more broadly as construction automation. What's the difference?

Building the technology — What did you actually create?

You went down the path of using six-axis industrial robots. Why six-axis robots, and how is your approach different from some of the other construction 3d concrete printing systems some industry followers may have seen?

Let's get into the robots themselves. What are VAL and DOLLY, and what do they actually do on a construction site?

If I showed up on one of your sites, what would I actually see? What happens from the time the robotic system arrives onsite to the point where you're ready to start building?

And what part of the building are the robots actually constructing? Where does robotics stop and conventional construction and trades take over?

Building a robot is one thing, but building a system that can actually operate on a construction site is another. What did you have to bring together to make that possible?

You did a lot of prototyping before putting this technology onto a real construction site. At what point did you know you were ready to move from the lab into actual construction?

That brings us to Gananoque. Your company claims it's Canada's First and Largest Neighbourhood in Canada built with robots. You took the technology and deployed it on a real 26-unit residential development. Tell us about that project and what you were trying to prove and why?

What did Gananoque teach you about deploying robotics in the real world that you simply couldn't have learned in a lab?

Walk us through this development, what are the benefits and what has the response been from the community?

Were there any surprises—technical or otherwise—that changed the way you approached the technology afterward?

What have you learned about taking construction robotics from R&D and applying it to commercially delivered buildings?

Where construction robotics fits in today's market

When a customer comes to Horizon, they aren't buying a robot—they're looking to deliver a building.

How does your robotics approach fit into that process?

Does a project need to be designed around your technology from the beginning, or can Horizon's system integrate into a more conventional construction project?

Are there certain building types or projects where the technology makes particularly good sense today?

You've come at this from the perspective of a developer and builder rather than starting as a robotics company looking f...

I have been a big fan of QNX Operating System for many years, since my early days at ATS Automation Tooling Systems in Cambridge, ON. We needed real time OS for some of the complex machines we were building. QNX filled the bill and more. QNX is now owned by Blackberry now, yes the company that brought us some of the first cell phones!

Jim Hirsch joins me today for this edition of The Robot Industry Podcast.

With over 25 years in Software sales experience in the Federal, Aerospace & Defense, Industrial Automation, Medical Device and Telecommunications and Automotive markets.

Innovative executive with leadership experience ranging from startups to fortune 100 companies. Extensive experience spanning software & solution sales, business development, executive relationships, strategic partnerships, compliance management in a number of vertical markets.

His career spans US Navy, Raytheon, multiple successful startups (IPO & acquired), Cadence Design Systems, Wind River Systems, Intel and Ansys.

Here are some of my questions to Jim:

Who is QNX, what is their history? How did the company get started?

What is a real time operating system? 

Where can I find QNX in what industries?

The current owners of QNX is Blackberry, correct?

Are automobiles more and more powered by QNX, what does it do in my car?

For some of our listeners, what is LINIX?

What is Latency?

I know that there are a lot of things that you cannot talk about, but I suspect that you are working with NVIDIA, defense, humanoid and surgical robotics?

Do you have a few examples or use cases of where QNX is being used?

Startup companies are an important part of your ecosystem, why is that?

What os QNIX everywhere program?

I know that we have talked about safety security, people and safe > are these things keeping your customers up at night?

I see that QNX is very active in education, why is that?

FDA and security and the remediation of end of life software

You have a new report that is just about to come out, can you give us a sneak peek?

How do you hire for talent? HQ is in Ottawa, correct

Did we forget about anything

Hobbies?

How can people get a hold of you?

Thx to Matthew Chandler for helping set up this interview, he is global communications at QNX Blackberry.

Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team: Chris Gray for the music, Geoffrey Bremner for audio production, and my business partner Janet. 

Special thx to my Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner and you can find more information on his Linketree:

linktr.ee/gbaudio

Be safe out the...

Welcome to The Robot Industry Podcast #164 aka Automation Matters podcast. I became aware of Kelly Boyi from my friends at ATS Automation. He is Canadian, born in Nigeria and now living in USA.

We have never met in person only online and on Teams. I was impressed with his approach to mentorship and his fearless approach to using LinkedIn and other social platforms.

I had always thought that a large engineering company would not like individuals broadcasting on LinkedIn. He broke that ceiling and started doing workshops and got hired. That's when it hit him, you can make money on speaking and guiding people.

An apology to Kelly, I got so busy that I forgot we recorded this episode and thanks to a sidebar conversation with Geoffrey Bremner, for the reminder.

We talk about consistency, bulk creative, and the importance of talking on LinkedIn.

Sharing personal stories on LinkedIn.

Growing your Network.

The visual platform of LinkedIn.

ATS Automation

Creating value.

Following companies and thought leaders in your industry.

Connecting people.

Photography and video.

The importance of attending events.

Setting up your LinkedIn, profile photos.

If you would like to find out more about Kelly, you can find him on well, LinkedIn. I suspect that Kelly will be back in Canada someday and will look forward to meeting him in person.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyboyi

Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team: Chris Gray for the music, Geoffrey Bremner for audio production, and my business partner Janet. 

Special thanks to my Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner you can find more information on his Linketree, linktr.ee/gbaudio

By the way, here is my post about Robots made in Canada.

Be safe out there!

Jim

Jim Beretta

Customer Attraction & The Robot Industry Podcast

London, ON

Notes

https://www.konsultkelly.com/kellyboyi

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 about parcels, packaging and boxes.

Deployed since?

Let's talk about the environment: dock doors weather, etc

Can you describe your robot arm, what has been updated and changed? 

Who is using the robot? What is the type of facility where you place your robot?

Languages and error correction, what are some of the adaptations that you have had to make to your system? 

What is happening in package sizes, bigger, smaller, longer, heavier?

Who are your customers?

I heard that you just hired a bunch of engineers.

What is the ROI of a Pickle robot system?

Who is the buyer?

Future of factories and delivery systems

Humanoid robot?

Have we forgotten to talk about anything?

https://www.picklerobot.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-meyer-2457594

Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team: Chris Gray for the music, Geoffrey Bremner for audio production, and my business partner Janet. 

And I would like to thank my Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner and you can find more information on his Linketree, linktr.ee/gbaudio

Be safe out there!

Jim

Jim Beretta

Customer Attraction & The Robot Industry Podcast

London, ON

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 are you different?

What is happening in sensing from a high-level perspective?

Data question.

How do people buy sensors? Distribution or direct?

Who do you sell to? Are they machine builders or end customers, end users?

What are customers looking for, and what is keeping them up at night?

Any other trends? Are people spending more money? Do you also provide any other devices for sensing like cables or sensor brackets?

What is the future of sensing?

Automate question, what are you showing at the booth? Goals for the show?

What is your booth #?

Let me know what is missing?

Leuze Electronic, Inc.

2150 Northmont Parkway, Suite N
Duluth, GA 30096

Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team: Chris Gray for the music, Geoffrey Bremner for audio production, and my business partner Janet. 

And I would like to thank my Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner and you can find more information on his Linketree, linktr.ee/gbaudio

Be safe out there!

Jim

Jim Beretta

Customer Attraction & The Robot Industry Podcast

London, ON