FORT launches Endpoint Controller – The Robot Report

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FORT Robotics, a company that builds products to help robot builders and users to increase productivity and accelerate innovation, has announced the launch of its Endpoint Controller. 

The Endpoint Controller is a versatile system that allows for safer, more secure control of robots and machines. It can bring safe, secure and dynamic wireless control to any machine by sending and receiving trusted safety commands over a variety of wireless networks. 

The Endpoint Controller gives users the ability to: 

• Send safety commands to up to 20 Endpoint Controller-equipped machines simultaneously, onside or from a remote location. 
• Access industry-leading security protocols and tamper-proof hardware which help to mitigate cyber risks. 
• Minimize disruptions with easy integration, IP communication, cloud-based management tools, and API access. 
• Send and receive two different safety commands, like e-stop, crawl, rest, first response, and more, simultaneously. 

The controller can be mounted to a machine or machine attachment for remote control, and it can also be integrated with input devices to send up to two commands at once. 

Last year, FORT brought in $25 million in Series B funding led by Tiger Global, bringing the company’s total funding to $41.5 million. Since then, it’s rolled out its FORT Platform, a machine communications platform. 

The FORT Platform is aimed at making autonomous machines safer and more secure. It allows for highly reliable communication to, from and between machines by fusing functional safety and cybersecurity principles. All messages sent with the platform are speedy, accurate and secure. 

The FORT Platform is the foundation for FORT’s hardware solutions, which are used by customers like Agility Robotics, Hexagon and Moog. FORT’s hardware solutions include a wireless e-stop that instantly stops machines from a distance, safe remote controls that take manual control of autonomous machines and a vehicle safety controller that can act as an input, output or bridge.