The Future of Labor: RoboForce’s Journey to Revolutionize Work
Imagine stepping onto a sun-scorched solar farm outside Phoenix, where the ground is so hot it could fry an egg. This was the scene that greeted Leo Ma, founder of RoboForce, as he watched workers toil away under harsh conditions to install solar panels. Having visited countless factories and drilling sites over the years, Ma often witnessed humans performing tedious and dangerous tasks, prompting a realization: “These are the kind of jobs that we shouldn’t need people to do anymore,” he shared with TechCrunch.
Thus, RoboForce was born—founded 19 months ago with a mission to craft hyper-accurate robot workers capable of performing laborious tasks like solar panel installation. Their first creation? A robot reminiscent of a larger, headless Wall-E, standing at one and a half meters tall with sleek black metal arms. Today marks a significant milestone as RoboForce announces $10 million in early-stage funding to propel Ma’s robotic vision forward.
- Notable investors include Nobel Laureate economist Myron Scholes.
- VC Gary Rieschel, formerly of Softbank, is on board.
- Carnegie Mellon University, Ma’s alma mater, lends its support.
“RoboForce is focusing on the most tedious, repetitive, force-demanding and certain risky work that shouldn’t have to be human,” Ma explained.
— Leo Ma
RoboForce represents the continuation of Ma’s lifelong dedication to AI robotics. His career includes developing autonomous driving software at Baidu USA and co-founding CYNGN, an automated driving company that went public under his guidance. “Building AI robotics is all I do,” Ma asserts confidently.
The company is beginning with the solar panel market—a sector grappling with labor shortages. In 2024 alone, worker scarcity delayed approximately 53 gigawatts of solar projects, according to Wood Mackenzie data. This year, RoboForce plans to launch one or two pilot projects using their innovative robots.
However, competition looms large. AES Corporation recently unveiled Maximo, a colossal robot purportedly capable of installing solar panels twice as fast as a human can. Yet Ma remains unfazed, insisting his product is unrivaled in precision. “RoboForce proudly stands as the first and only one in the market achieving both the AI model and robot with final action accuracy down to one millimeter,” he boasts. This level of precision empowers RoboForce robots to perform intricate tasks like tightening screws amid Arizona’s desert landscapes.
The desert is merely the starting line for RoboForce. Their ultimate ambition? “Helping build the moon base on the moon,” reveals Ma with a visionary gleam.
