Star Robotics has launched Watchbot 2, the newest model of its autonomous robotic designed for safety surveillance and inspection.
The brand new system was launched throughout a livestreamed occasion on April 16, with the corporate positioning it as a major improve geared toward enhancing reliability and efficiency in real-world environments resembling knowledge facilities, energy services, and public areas.
Watchbot 2 builds on the earlier era with a give attention to longer working time, improved sturdiness, and enhanced sensing and navigation capabilities.
Based on Star Robotics, the robotic can now function for as much as 16 hours per day, supported by a redesigned battery system that the corporate says doubles capability in contrast with the sooner mannequin.
The unit has additionally been engineered to face up to harsh situations, together with heavy rain, mud, and temperature extremes starting from -25°C to +50°C.
The corporate has additionally upgraded the robotic’s sensing and communication techniques. Watchbot 2 options improved low-light efficiency by enhanced lighting and a brand new 360-degree digital camera module, whereas up to date audio {hardware} is designed to ship clearer communication in noisy environments.
Upkeep has additionally been simplified, with a modular design meant to make it simpler to interchange key elements resembling motors and batteries.
A key a part of the replace is what Star Robotics calls “Watchbot Intelligence”, a redesigned navigation and notion system supported by a major improve in onboard computing energy.
The corporate says the robotic now has six occasions extra computing capability than its predecessor, enabling extra superior real-time processing.
This consists of the introduction of GPS-based positioning for outside use, alongside improved sensor protection that removes earlier blind spots and enhances detection of each obstacles and hazards resembling drops, stairs, and uneven terrain.
The system additionally generates what the corporate describes as “multimodal” maps of its environment, permitting the robotic to higher interpret and navigate complicated environments.
Star Robotics says the brand new platform displays classes discovered over a decade of deployments, with the corporate marking its tenth anniversary this yr.
In 2025, it expanded its accomplice community throughout 5 nations and deployed Watchbot techniques in a variety of environments, together with industrial and industrial websites.
The corporate says Watchbot 2 is designed to help steady monitoring operations the place reliability and autonomy are vital.
