42 days ago, I left my job as a founding engineer at a @ycombinator robotics startup and moved back to Oregon to start my own robotics company. Here's how we got here. I started HIRO (Humanoid and Intelligent Robotics Organization) as a club at Oregon State because I believed advanced robotics should be accessible to everyone, not just a handful of well-funded labs. I had preordered a robot from @kscalelabs, but when the company shut down, I reached out to its founder, @benjamin_bolte, about buying one of their prototypes. Instead, Ben talked me out of driving down to Palo Alto and encouraged me to build our own robot for the club. That conversation stuck with me. Earlier this year, I graduated from Oregon State and moved to San Francisco to work at Nori Robotics. Over the summer, we went through three iterations of robots and multiple public launches. I learned a ton about what it actually takes to build and ship hardware. On September 1st, I came back to Oregon and went all-in on @hiroindustries with my cofounder, @ethan_marreel. In just six weeks, we've brought Origin, our first two-armed robot, to life. From designing and assembling hardware to getting it moving and sharing our first demos. There's still an enormous amount to figure out. The hardware isn't perfect, the software is a work in progress, and Ethan's teleoperated beaver throw could use some practice. Six weeks ago, Origin was still an idea. Today, I get to watch it move in my apartment.

Hometown of Newport got reduced to "coastal Oregon city" 😐

If you're going to say you're doing something in stealth, please just don't say anything at all. Kind of the point of being in stealth

The groundwork has been laid. Now, it's all about scale. This is a big milestone for us. More to come soon

Today was a big day

Brick by brick, until this robot can do everything

I find a lot of motivation in seeing this above the lab. 42 years ago, @JensenHuang graduated from @OregonState with a degree in electrical engineering. Today, he leads the world’s most valuable company. I earned the same degree at the same university. Now I do research in a lab bearing his name. It’s easy to see yourself as a product of your circumstances. But when you realize you can build the world around you, things get a lot more exciting.

I don’t think you should start a robotics company unless you’re capable of building the entire robot yourself, if you had to

No hardware shortcuts will be taken. If you want to build a good robot, start with good parts.

Help! Is there a robot doctor in the building??