Dr. Brandon DeHart (RoboHub) – Robots Have No Rules: What's Actually Hard in Robotics

Fifty years into industrial robotics, there is still no certification framework for any robot that can tip over, walk on legs, or interact with people. A hospital robot is governed by the same rules as a bedpan. That gap between what robots can do and what the world is ready for runs through this entire conversation. Dr. Brandon DeHart manages RoboHub, the University of Waterloo's robotics research and testing facility, where academia, industry, and government meet. In our first Startup Grind Kitchener-Waterloo fireside, he explains why viral humanoid videos are choreographed, why manipulation is the hardest problem in the field, why sim-to-real transfer breaks, and where Canada actually stands in the global AI and robotics race. Startup Grind Kitchener-Waterloo connects the people who have hard problems with the people who can solve them, here in KW and across the global Startup Grind network of 300+ chapters, so the right connection can come from anywhere in the world. Every fireside puts real problems on the table so a founder in the room, or watching this, might be the one to solve them. Join us at the next event: https://www.startupgrind.com/kitchener-waterloo/ Subscribe for more conversations like this one. 0:00 Welcome to Startup Grind Kitchener-Waterloo 2:00 Meet Dr. Brandon DeHart and RoboHub 5:46 Physical AI, embodied AI, and edge AI 12:13 Where robotics gets hard 15:57 Ethics in robotics 19:39 No rules for robots: certification, insurance, and the bedpan problem 24:30 Remote surgery and pushing AI to the edge 27:19 RoboHub's cross-disciplinary network 31:33 How focused labs combine into full systems 32:09 AMRs vs AGVs 34:39 Manipulation and dexterity, the hardest problem 41:12 Where robots will actually land in healthcare 47:27 Simulation vs the real world 53:41 Canada's place in the AI and robotics race 1:00:25 The perpetual challenges of robotics 1:06:57 Does AI need to be sentient? 1:12:47 A day in the life at RoboHub Startup Grind Local features incredible talks with entrepreneurs from Startup Grind's world wide network. Startup Grind is a global startup community designed to educate, inspire, and connect entrepreneurs. Subscribe to Startup Grind Local: https://www.youtube.com/user/StartupGrindLocal Startup Grind on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/StartupGrind Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/StartupGrind Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StartupGrind Find a Startup Grind event in your area: www.startupgrind.com