My guest is Ákos Dömötör, CEO of OptoForce, Hungary.

Ákos Dömötör, with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and two Master’s in Management, started out in the global graduate program at LEGO, then taking up a position in Denmark. He then left the creative space in Denmark in 2014 to be the CEO of his venture, OptoForce, in his native land, Hungary. In 2015 OptoForce, producer of force/torque sensors for industrial and service robots, gained a huge revenue growth of 600% and now works with some of the most important robotic companies, universities in the world.

In this episode we bring you the world of robotics closer to you, discussing how they feel, i.e. how they touch, trends in the robotic field, how Ákos and his team differentiates their company from competitors, how they iterated on the business model a number of times to reach the current version that works. We talked about manufacturing aspect, challenges and many more.

In this episode we elaborate on the robotic sensing, the highlights as seen below.

Balint’s introduction - [1:47]
OptoForce’ technology defined - [2:44]
Motivation for joining the company - [3:54]
Field of robotics today - [5:28]
Differentiation of company from competitors - [9:23]
Sensing using light - [11:08]
Technological maturity when Ákos joined the company - [14:03]
Iterating on the business model - [17:40]
Major challenges at the early phase - [19:57]
Keeping manufacturing in-house or outsource? - [23:07]
Advice to his younger self, while being satisfied with himself - [26:05]
The book that most impacted his career - [26:01]
His effective morning routine - [28:24]
Cultural difference against which he spoke up and the difference he embraces - [30:00]

#009 - Commercializing the first robotic touch sensing that uses light, with Ákos Dömötör of OptoForce, Hungary