Apera AI: Using robot vision to make factories more productive
Automation has been part of manufacturing for decades. Machines and robots perform repetitive tasks like welding, painting, assembling and inspecting across industries. They perform these tasks with incredible precision, but only if every part arrives in the exact same place, in the exact same orientation, every single time.
But most factory floors aren’t that predictable.
In real factories, materials often come in bins, totes, racks or piles. They overlap, shift, reflect light and disappear into shadows. Some are shiny. Some are transparent. Some are irregular.
These irregularities present problems for industrial robots who struggle with unstructured environments. That’s where Vancouver-based technology company Apera AI comes in.
We give industrial robots eyes and brains so that manufacturers can introduce more automation and efficiency, and better quality, to their manufacturing plants.
Sina Afrooze
Founder and CEO, Apera AI
Helping robots overcome real world variability
To overcome this problem, Apera AI has spent the past seven years figuring out how to make industrial robots understand the world the way humans do.
“We give industrial robots eyes and brains so that manufacturers can introduce more automation and efficiency, and better quality, to their manufacturing plants,” says Afrooze.
Apera’s 4D Vision technology lets robots see depth and motion the way people do so they can work reliably in messy, unpredictable environments. To do this, the company uses stereo cameras, which essentially gives robots two “eyes.” When paired with AI that interprets the video stream, robots are able to understand subtle visual cues like edges, reflections and light deformation to identify and locate objects.
Enabling robots to perceive unstructured environments opens the door to automating tasks that previously required human hands. For example, instead of relying on workers to pick, sort and place parts before machines can take over, robots can now manage the entire sequence: picking up a part from a bin, placing it precisely for downstream processing, triggering the machine and packing the finished piece.
“Our product unlocks a new level of automation,” explains Afrooze. “Manufacturers can automate 20% to 30% more in their factories.”
Manufacturers can automate 20% to 30% more in their factories.
Sina Afrooze
Founder and CEO, Apera AI
Helping companies compete in today’s world
Afrooze says labour shortages are now widespread, and many factories have open positions they simply cannot fill. Apera’s technology helps keep production running efficiently and cost effectively.
He recalls visiting a customer who had posted a $10,000 sign on bonus for entry level roles. The sign had been up for six months with no takers.
For North America’s manufacturing sector, the stakes extend beyond day to day operations. As manufacturers around the world race to automate, the ability to handle unstructured, real world environments will determine who becomes the leader and who falls behind.
The urgency of this shift is evident in Apera’s own growth. The company has increased revenue tenfold over the past three years. Growing from just two employees to more than 80 people. Last year, it ranked in Deloitte Fast 50’s top 10, a sign of how urgently manufacturers need solutions that help them adapt to tightening labour markets.
BDC Capital's Industrial Innovation Venture Fund led Apera AI's Series A round, backing the company's vision to bring human-like vision and intelligence to industrial robotics—a capability that is foundational to the future of advanced manufacturing.
That investment has helped Apera’s growth across the automotive sector— from the companies that build cars to the many suppliers that make the parts inside them—as well as with companies that make medical devices, plastics, heavy machinery and consumer goods.
We are building solutions that allow robots to perceive the world, reason about the world, and act in the world.
Sina Afrooze
Founder and CEO, Apera AI
Scaling a critical technology at the right time
Apera is now launching its latest product, VuePod, which aims to bring advanced robotic automation to even the smallest manufacturers. While the company’s 4D Vision technology powers very complex automation systems, VuePod delivers that same capability without needing to build customized systems, delivering cost and performance certainty without the overhead of managing a project.
VuePod packages everything Apera has learned from solving the hardest perception challenges—shiny stamped metal, transparent parts, deep bins and random piles—into a standalone unit that’s easier to install, integrate and scale. It is essentially an automation cell powered by Apera’s advanced robotic perception system in a “box.”
For smaller manufacturers facing labour shortages and rising costs, Apera’s new product has the potential to be a game changer, and BDC’s support has helped make it possible.
“We’re building solutions that allow robots to perceive the world, reason about the world, and act in that world.”
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