While the world watches humanoid robots dance, this founder thinks we’re missing the point

Healthcare is the company’s most profitable sector. In the US, robots placed in nursing homes are equipped with tools such as stethoscopes and blood pressure monitors so doctors can diagnose residents remotely. “When a patient requests a doctor, the robot goes to their bedside and starts a video consultation,” Lim explains. The medical data—encrypted and not stored on the system—is sent directly to the doctor, who can then issue a prescription for pick-up at a nearby pharmacy. He adds that the model cuts the time, cost and travel usually required to receive care.

Lim says this telemedicine model will become one of the major focuses for RoboTemi Global following its strategic investment from Q-Run Holdings, a subsidiary of Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn Technology Group. Q-Run acquired a 6.6 per cent stake in August last year through a US$10 million investment, part of a package worth up to US$30 million contingent on performance milestones this year and next.

“We’re creating technology to help humans,” Lim says. “We just haven’t fully imagined how robots can improve efficiency and create new jobs.” He likens anxiety around robotics replacing humans to the fears surrounding early commercial computers in the 1970s—concerns that ultimately gave way to productivity leaps enabled by tools such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. He sees similar opportunities today, from hiring students to program robots for labour-intensive tasks to enabling bed-bound individuals to work as cashiers by remotely controlling a robot in a restaurant. 

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Lim’s drive to ease human workloads with robotics stems from his time modernising his family business, Tung Hing Automation, the largest distributor of industrial robotic arms from international brands such as Mitsubishi Electric Automation from Japan. “Beyond digital transformation, I wondered how we could create higher value, like inventing our own machines,” he explains.

In 2014, after reading about a deadly explosion in eastern China’s Kunshan county, caused by metal dust igniting in a polishing workshop, he spent two years developing an automated polishing machine that could remove workers from hazardous environments.

Now, Lim has his eyes on an even bigger step: taking Robocore public within three to five years. His team is building new features that will allow robots to self-program using AI, autonomously learning how to assist humans without manual input. Another priority, he says, is connecting the company’s robots to a broader range of external systems, such as patient management software, hotel platforms and restaurant point-of-sale systems. “Once we connect all these systems, we become a global hub—a central node where everything can be controlled through our robots,” he says.

It’s an ambitious vision, but not surprising from someone whose earliest inspiration was a robot: Doraemon, the Japanese robotic cat who could always pull out an ingenious gadget when a situation demanded it. 

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