# Building Security Robots: a Hardware-as-a-Service Case Study

- Show: [Over the Air](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air)
- Published: 2022-04-14
- Length: 36m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2022-04-14-building-security-robots-a-hardware-as-a-service-case-study
- Listen: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/over-the-air/episodes/Building-Security-Robots-a-Hardware-as-a-Service-Case-Study-e2l43si

## Summary

Travis Deyle, co-founder and CEO of Cobalt Robotics, explains how the company delivers security and facilities management services via a 5-foot-tall mobile robot, avoiding the need for building modifications by solving the 'impossible' problem of door and elevator articulation. Deyle details the company's founding criteria, which prioritized paying customers before build and a decade-long vision, leading to their first paid deployment within a year. He discusses the strategic shift to Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS) to align with customer OpEx budgets and the critical role of industrial designer Eve Behar in creating a non-threatening, ADA-compliant form factor.

## Chapters

- [0:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2022-04-14-building-security-robots-a-hardware-as-a-service-case-study#t=55) Introduction and Cobalt Robotics Overview
- [3:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2022-04-14-building-security-robots-a-hardware-as-a-service-case-study#t=195) Founding Criteria and Customer Discovery
- [8:08](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2022-04-14-building-security-robots-a-hardware-as-a-service-case-study#t=488) Early Revenue and Operational Moneyball
- [12:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2022-04-14-building-security-robots-a-hardware-as-a-service-case-study#t=774) Hardware-as-a-Service and Business Models
- [20:29](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2022-04-14-building-security-robots-a-hardware-as-a-service-case-study#t=1229) Solving Door and Elevator Articulation
- [24:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2022-04-14-building-security-robots-a-hardware-as-a-service-case-study#t=1451) Industrial Design and Cultural Adoption
- [33:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2022-04-14-building-security-robots-a-hardware-as-a-service-case-study#t=2016) Future of Robotics and IoT Companies

## Topics

- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Industrial & consumer product design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/industrial-design)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Robotics & autonomy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/robotics-and-autonomy)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Cobalt Robotics (company)
- Eve Behar (other)
- Boston Dynamics (company)
- Google X (company)
- Apple (company)
- Diligent Robotics (company)
- Sky Currents (company)
- Electric Sheep (company)
- Zippity (company)
- Safe Trust (company)
- Stell (company)
- Very (company)
- Shaky (product)
- Hewlett Packard (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Episode 163: Robots helping people - Aaron Edsinger](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2026-09-25-episode-163-robots-helping-people-aaron-edsinger) (Robot Talk)
- [New Business Models and User Experiences in Robotics: Highlights from Automate LIVE in Detroit, MI](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2023-05-16-new-business-models-and-user-experiences-in-robotics-highlights-from-automate-li) (Manufacturing Happy Hour)
- [Perspectives on Automation, AI, & the Future w/ Andy Lonsberry](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2021-06-08-perspectives-on-automation-ai-the-future-w-andy-lonsberry) (The Manufacturing Executive)
- [An Outcome-Based Solution for Deploying Robots w/ Saman Farid](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2024-01-30-an-outcome-based-solution-for-deploying-robots-w-saman-farid) (The Manufacturing Executive)
- [From Combat to Space: Mike LeBlanc on Humanoid Robotics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2025-12-05-from-combat-to-space-mike-leblanc-on-humanoid-robotics) (The Robot Report Podcast)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2022-04-14-building-security-robots-a-hardware-as-a-service-case-study. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Over the Air.