Robotics Engineering Services Company

Robotics Scheduling Software

In 2020, the world changed forever because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sudden shutdown of office and work environments was a shock, and the challenge only deepened when business leaders tried to understand how to introduce employees back into their in-person commercial spaces.

Challenge

We were approached by an engineering company that specializes in advanced technologies because they wanted to explore ways to use its robotic solutions to increase health and safety outcomes in workspaces and for its customers.

This company had built a disinfection Mobile Industrial Robot (MiR) by attaching industrial-grade UV lights to an existing robotic base. Customers could activate this robot when spaces were unoccupied to sanitize and disinfect work areas thanks to pre-built software to build and run sanitizing activities.

The challenge was that there was no mechanism to schedule those sanitizing activities. Our client’s customers also needed to schedule activities in advance with frequently recurring options.

Our client needed to address the scheduling issue quickly because, with COVID-19, speed-to-market was critical.

Solution

Kopius was engaged to develop scheduling software to run alongside the MiR software. The scheduling software was developed inside a docker container which ran on the Windows-based PC installed in the MiR base.

With this software, users could connect to the disinfection robot WiFi network and easily create activities or schedules by selecting from a list of existing activities and adding options like start time and recurrence.

Users could also check the status of the robot and run other MiR utilities from the same page.

Behind the scenes, the new scheduling software periodically checked the list of scheduled activities to ensure they launched as planned. A reporting function was added so users could see what was scheduled to run and what was recently accomplished.

Technologies used include Doctor, JavaScript Express WebApp, Mongo Database, NPM Agenda Service, NPM AgendaDash Service, and MiR Robot APIs.

Results

Our client completed the UVC disinfection robot ahead of schedule and delivered this highly anticipated product to the market creating a new revenue stream and meeting an important health and safety need.

Architecture

*Kopius performed this work under its previously known business name, Valence.

United Launch Alliance

Augmented Reality Application

United Launch Alliance (ULA) is an American spacecraft launch service provider that manufactures and operates rocket vehicles that are capable of launching spacecraft into orbits around Earth and to other bodies in the Solar System.

Challenge

With a new rocket in development, United Launch Alliance needed to engage its target audience at the largest and most influential event in the space industry. This event is sponsored by large, innovative, and competitive brands, so it was imperative to differentiate from the competition with an experience within the event.

Solution

The physical size of a rocket prevents it from being transported and shared for marketing and sales opportunities, but much like a car, there’s a certain impressiveness to a rocket’s physicality.

Kopius* conceptualized, designed, and built a fun and immersive end-to-end experience. The solution included a mobile augmented reality application called ULA Anywhere that created life-sized rockets in virtual showrooms, social media photo sharing, and a mission-based game employing light simulation-based physics to demonstrate the complex rocket trajectories and satellite orbits.

By using augmented reality on mobile devices, Kopius could help ULA engage a diverse audience for sales opportunities and to increase brand awareness and affinity.

Technologies used included augmented reality, iOS application development, and Android application development.

Results

The ULA Anywhere experience differentiated ULA from its competitors, expanded the brand’s reach beyond the event’s walls, and created IP that could be repurposed for future events, increasing total ROI.

*Kopius performed this work under its previously known business name, Valence.

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Spaceflight

Book My Flight Web Application

Spaceflight is a premier launch services and mission management provider, offering routine, cost-effective access to space, helping customers to explore beyond our planet.

Traditionally, access to space has been limited to government entities due to cost. Sending satellites into orbit once required purchasing an entire rocket; however, with the growing industry of smallsats, the demand for routine, cost-effective access to space has increased exponentially. Demand, coupled with the growing number of launch vehicle providers, created an opportunity for Spaceflight to assist in identifying, booking, and managing rideshare launches.

With a straightforward and cost-effective suite of products and services including state-of-the-art satellite infrastructure, rideshare launch offerings, payload integration and global communications networks, Spaceflight enables commercial, non-profit organizations and government entities to get launched, achieving their mission goals – on time and on budget.

Challenge

Spaceflight’s services are delivered by using a network of launch providers, each with distinct booking and management processes. To be an industry leader, Spaceflight needed its customers to be able to reserve and manage satellite launches from its website. Spaceflight also needed to provide the industry with an aggregated launch schedule for all possible launches.

In addition to the website needing new functionality, the visual design of the website was not competitive and needed to be refreshed.

Further, Spaceflight was challenged by inefficiencies in its internal operations, and complicated customer communications.

Solution

Kopius* was engaged to design and develop a web application to address the booking process for Spaceflight customers. The solution allows users to make a payment, reserve their launch, and to manage all steps of the launch process through an integrated portal.

The process started with UX exercises to plot the ideal user experience and typical user requirements when incorporating this functionality into the existing site. Applying the UX and UI principles designated by Kopius’ design team, the engineering team build the web application, which enables customers to specify launch and satellite criteria, which is matched with an optimal reservation using a cloud-based serverless architecture and a React framework. Kopius used a complex launch capacity matching algorithm, coupled with multiple existing systems to speed time-to-market.

The design team re-skinned the website to deliver a cohesive and competitive visual identity along with enhanced functionality.

Technologies used include Amazon Web Services GovCloud Services, DynamoDB, API Gateway, S3, SES, Cognito, Lamda serverless-based architecture, CloudWatch, and Secrets Manager. Third-party connected services include Smartsheet, Box, Jira, and Strip.

Results

The client experienced the brand elevation that comes from a beautiful customer-centric web application, with a simple, easy-to-use experience. The web application was well-received upon introduction at a major industry conference, demonstrating how space launch services can be simplified. The effort advanced Spaceflight’s mission to offer best-in-class launch provider services.

React Framework

*Kopius performed this work under its previously known business name, Valence.

Space Needle

Virtual Reality Application

Since its grand opening in 1962, the Space Needle is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world. This treasured Seattle icon is recognized for its 520′ saucer-shaped “top house”, which offers visitors a 360-degree panoramic view of Seattle and its surrounding landscape.

The Space Needle underwent a multi-year $100M renovation, including a glass rotating floor, to preserve the landmark and inspire the next generation of visitors.

Challenge

Because the preservation and renovation project was prolonged over multiple years, the Space Needle needed to engage and excite the market about the upcoming experience, even when the first-person live experience was unavailable.

To build anticipation for its re-opening, Space Needle also needed to attract media and influencer excitement around updates like the thrilling all-glass rotating floor.

The Solution

Kopius was engaged to create a 4D Virtual Reality immersive experience that blends drone footage, 360-degree panoramas, beautifully detailed models, and digitally triggered physical elements into a custom-built stage.

The experience incorporated advanced VR locomotion techniques to give users the illusion of walking through large-scale spaces, and physical queues such as haptics and windpipes to give users the sensation of standing on a rotating floor or sitting in the open air.

Results

The Space Needle met its pre-launch press and influencer goals, driving multiple articles in technology, tourism, and local publications such as GeekWire, Facility Executive Magazine, King5 News, VRFocus, and The Puget Sound Business Journal.

*Kopius performed this work under its previously known business name, Valence.

Geekwire

“Seeing is believing, but not really—feeling is believing,” Olson said. “And that’s why we created this.” – Karen Olson, COO of the Space Needle

Fortune 10 Company

Experiential Marketing Application and Internet of Things (IoT)

Our client had established itself as a leader in enabling IoT technologies. The Internet of Things has grown increasingly complex as virtually any electronic device in any space can be used to collect and use data, resulting in a variety of services and experiences.

Challenge

As more smart home and office solutions enter the mainstream, it’s become difficult for the average, non-tech-evangelist to navigate the sea of hardware, software, and connected hub devices. Our client needed a retail experience that would allow its consumers to touch, feel, and demo smart devices to ensure they meet their needs.

Further the experience needs to showcase the tech company’s brand and showcase its leadership compared to other big brands.

The Solution

Kopius* was engaged to conceptualize, design, build, and deploy an in-person experiential retail experience showcases the connected life experience, which brings the smart home and office to life in a visually stunning, engaging way.

The in-person experience showcases technology and is supported by technology, including web applications and digital demos. The demos bridge the virtual world on screen with the environment around the consumer, showcasing a connected world by immersing the consumer in a connected world.

Customers interact with a mobile device, choosing from a variety of common “smart” scenarios. Once selected, a screen shows the scenario in action while smart light strips in retail cubbies light up the screen according to the products being used.

Technologies used include Microsoft Azure, Blog Storage, Application Insights, LifX Strip Lighting, UWP application development, and Android application development.

Results

The experience is an effective, scalable, and self-guided way for customers to understand how a variety of IoT products can integrate into and improve their day-to-day lives. The retailer sold more product to first- and third-party customers thanks to increased customer confidence and understanding from the demo and experience.

*Kopius performed this work under its previously known business name, Valence.

Leading Orthodontics Startup

Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision

The intersection of healthcare, dentistry, and orthodontics with technology has revolutionized the personal wellness industry. The direct-to-consumer orthodontics industry has been particularly transformed thanks to a convergence of digital advancements. Teledentistry uses electronic information, imaging, and communication technologies to provide and support dental care delivery, diagnosis, consultation, and treatment.

Challenge

A leading consumer-facing orthodontics disruptor needed to harness technology to deliver exciting, delightful experiences to engage and convert potential customers.

Kopius* was engaged to design and develop a pilot marketing experience that would help potential customers to envision their smile after receiving treatment. Kopius’ experience in digital retail experiences made the firm uniquely positioned to address this business need.

Solution

Kopius designed and built a mobile application that allows customers to See Their New Selfie to anticipate what was possible through teledentistry. The experience included options to share their future selfie to expand the brand’s reach.

The services to deliver this highly personalized and technology-driven experience included web application design and development, and computer vision with artificial intelligence application development. Technologies included Amazon Web Services (AWS) Lambda, API Gateway, and S3.

Results

The pilot informed the startup’s digital roadmap and received high marks from test users.

*Kopius performed this work under its previously known business name, Valence.

PrecisionHawk

Cloud Enablement

PrecisionHawk is a commercial drone and data company, dedicated to empowering enterprises with actionable intelligence about their physical assets. PrecisionHawk applies artificial intelligence (AI) to its drone footage to create aerial data. PrecisionHawk serves the agriculture industry, and in fact its name comes from the name “wine hawk” because its first drones chased pest birds from vineyards.

Challenge

PrecisionHawk needed to improve its data architecture to further optimize its AI and client results. While PrecisionHawk has an industry-leading team of internal technologists, the specific challenge with its data structure required specialized skills.

Solution

Kopius* was engaged to analyze PrecisionHawk’s data architecture and make recommendations for improvement, and then implement those recommendations.

After a discovery process, Kopius proposed an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Data Pipeline as a web service that would reliably process and move data between different AWS compute and storage services, as well as on-premises data sources, at specified intervals. We then moved on-premise ETL (extract, transform, and load) processes to an AWS Data Pipeline. The solution uses the AWS cloud for data processing and transformation in a data pipeline.

Results

The solution helped PrecisionHawk to easily create complex data processing workloads that are fault-tolerant, repeatable, and highly available. It allows resource availability, managing inter-task dependencies, retrying transient failures or timeouts in individual tasks, or creating a failure notification system. Using the cloud, it also allows the client to move and process data that was previously locked up in on-premises data silos.

*Kopius performed this work under its previously known business name, Valence.

B2B Healthcare Data and Research Company

Digital Brand and Website Development

The healthcare industry is in a transformative period, with leading organizations gaining a competitive edge through M&A activity and technology investments. Each merger is accompanied by a fast-paced initiative to align brands, communicate competitive advantages, and increase market share.

Challenge

A large non-profit healthcare system had purchased a next-generation B2B data and research company, which needed its digital identity to be updated and aligned to its new ownership’s brand. Due to the complexity of the services and organizational structure, it was critical to get the message and strategy right.

The client also did not have a website to reflect its new organization and present its story to the market.

The Solution

Kopius* was chosen to deliver a brand guideline and messaging strategy. The scope of services included a visual brand guideline, web interface designs, a messaging strategy, a content calendar, and supporting collateral templates. Kopius was also tasked with the design and development of a new corporate website.

Kopius started with brand and identity exercises that would inform the visual design for the acquired business unit. Partnering with the in-house marketing and communications teams ensured that the visual concepts were in harmony with the values and goals established for the company.

Those exercises resulted in mood boards that became the foundation for decisions regarding the visual identity and digital style guide.

The design team then provided design concepts that were translated into specific deliverables, managed by our internal project managers to ensure maximum efficiency and quality output with minimal pressure on the client’s internal teams.

As the mood boards and design concepts took shape, the Kopius design team collected brand requirements into a style guide. The style guide included logo treatments, color palettes, font treatments, design requirements for web pages and collateral, presentation templates, and guidance for the tone of voice and communication.

Simultaneously, Kopius designed, developed, launched, and populated a new SEO-friendly corporate website, built using a flexible content management system so the client could manage updates and take ownership of content as it evolved. The website emphasized partnership opportunities and was up and running on the day of the business’s launch at a large health conference, which the business sponsored.

Results

The refreshed brand communicates professional capabilities, tells the B2B business’s story, and breaks its complex solutions into easy-to-understand concepts. The client was empowered to establish itself in the market and quickly get busy growing its market share.

The website is the foundation of the company’s digital marketing strategy and supports communication, lead generation, and sales engagement efforts.

*Kopius performed this work under its previously known business name, Valence.

Nestlé Purina

Virtual Reality Application

As a global leader in pet food manufacturing, Nestlé Purina has several factories located throughout the globe.

Sales staff are required to stay on top of the latest manufacturing innovations that Nestlé Purina deploys to ensure they can properly communicate the value proposition that only Nestlé Purina can deliver on.

Challenge

Nestle Purina historically relied on factory tours and in-person training to educate its sales team. Factory tours for the sales staff require significant advanced planning and the allocation of factory staff for explanation and safety. Additionally, factory visits require costly travel.

The client needed to find a better way to educate its sales team and needed to reduce the hard and soft costs associated with its training program.

The Solution

Kopius* was engaged by Nestlé Purina to design and build a mobile virtual reality application, enabling sales staff to experience virtual tours of factories, immersing them in the environment with 360-degree views, and taking them step-by-step through the manufacturing process.

The process began with user research, UX design, and information architecture. The design team addressed personas of different user types and explored the key moments in the training process to identify key moments and interactions to recreate in the experience.

Next, the engineering team partnered with the design team to execute the concept, developing a virtual reality application.

Results

By using virtual reality, Kopius helped Nestlé Purina train its staff on the latest manufacturing processes at scale, at a lower cost, and with more efficiency.

Nestlé Purina was able to asynchronously train employees, maintain the manufacturing staff’s focus on production, and dramatically save on time and travel costs.

Employees who used the VR training reported higher engagement, and higher retention of material, making the case that the VR training was both cheaper and more effective.

*Kopius performed this work under its previously known business name, Valence.

Fortune 500 Insurance Company

Cloud Enablement and Machine Learning

Insurance companies rely on extensive historical data to predict and manage risk and establish rates. Historical data is becoming less reliable as insurance companies face simultaneous challenges of escalating climate change risks and shifting industry regulations.

Challenge

A prominent insurance company approached Kopius* seeking a way to better predict and plan for weather disasters. Doing so would help improve its risk models and allow more accurate premiums for policyholders. Given the unpredictable nature of many weather events, a solution that gave real-time information about whether a weather event had occurred or was about to occur was important.

The Solution

Kopius was engaged to develop a pilot solution using cloud-based machine learning and IoT devices to identify weather events and notify the client in real-time. We trained the machines to recognize sounds picked up by IoT devices at weather ground stations, using 10,000 audio seed files.

Results

With our algorithms and AI process, we could train the machines to recognize 12 unique types of weather events, including metrics tracking the severity of the events.

The pilot included placing 500 devices with machine learning modes at strategically selected locations nationwide. The input from the devices was found to be 85% accurate in the initial pilot. The pilot informed future strategies for the insurance company and contributed to the technology development roadmap.

*Kopius performed this work under its previously known business name, Valence.