Robotic arms that can perform complex, delicate tasks—from assembling electronics to picking and packing online orders in warehouses—are one of the holy grails of researchers and tech companies. Developing them is also proving to be highly risky, as the failure of another robotic arm startup shows.
Carbon Robotics, a San Francisco–based startup that has spent the past five years developing a low cost robotic arm for industrial applications, is shutting down and looking to sell its remaining assets, according to a person with knowledge of the matter and documents viewed by The Information. The company’s board of directors earlier this month decided to pursue an alternative to bankruptcy—known as an assignment for the benefit of creditors, a form of insolvency under California law in which a third party oversees the sale of a company’s assets, the documents said.
