Windsor entrepreneur hopes to change construction sites with a robot

A Windsor entrepreneur is hoping to change the face of automation on construction sites.

Scott Fairley is the founder and CEO of Optimotive Technologies Inc. His company's automated robot, IRIS, is designed to do the mucky, repetitive and mundane tasks construction workers would rather not do.

"We found that the most high value tasks that our little robot we created could go out and do was that of data collection," he told Windsor Morning host Nav Nanwaon Monday. "Specifically looking at things like 3D-scanning, 360 [degree]-photos and inspection."

Fairley acknowledges the concerns some people may have when it comes to technology replacing human workers in the workforce, but he says Optimotive's objective is different.

"We focus on task automation, not job automation," he said.

Organizations supporting local tech industry

Local stakeholders are playing a part in ensuring that the IRIS robot is not the only tech project that is succeeding.

Last week, Invest WindsorEssex held itsEmerging Technologies in Automation Conference and Tradeshow in-person for the first time since 2019 Wendy Stark, director of business retention and expansion, said more than 45 exhibitors and 360 registrants attended the conference.

"A lot of people were surprised at the level of the capabilities and the technologies that were available locally," she said. "We had some buyers here from Mexico who were very impressed with the breadth of capabilities that they found in this region. I don't think they anticipated quite what we had to offer."

One of the exhibitors was WEtech Alliance. Their goal was to put a focus on tech startups in the region, including Optimotive.

"We had companies ranging from furniture manufacturing to electric vehicle charging technologies to autonomous technologies to help support industries like construction, which IRIS does," said Yvonne Pilon, president and CEO of WEtech Alliance.

Pilon said the advantages for companies to base themselves in Windsor-Essex include a lower cost of living compared to larger cities like Toronto, easier access to the American market and, despite the backlog, easier and more favourable immigration policies compared to the U.S.

Stark said in an email that the Automobility and Innovation team worked "extensively" with Optimotive and will now be supporting Fairley through the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN). According to the Ontario Centre of Innovation's website, OVIN is the provincial government's "flagship initiative for the automotive and transportation sector"

Fairley said he sees IRIS robots on every construction site in the future, regardless of who the customer is.

"I can see lots of robots coming into play," he said. "One of the key elements is making sure that those robots can operate completely on their own and make it so they're like new members of the workforce."