Thomas Unise
The Robot Report Podcast recently featured Kevin Damoa, founder and CEO of Glid Technologies, discussing his company’s innovative autonomous road-to-rail vehicle technology. The episode also covered significant robotics news, including a Waymo accident investigation and Fauna Robotics’ new humanoid platform.
Kevin Damoa: From Military Service to Clean Energy Innovation
Kevin Damoa brings an impressive background to his role at Glid Technologies, which he founded in 2022. His career journey includes:
- Military service spanning both the U.S. Army and Air Force, including deployments to South Korea and Iraq
- 12 years supporting California’s Mobile Air Fire Fighting Systems before retiring in 2018
- Serving as flight module logistics manager at SpaceX (2012-2015), developing systems to transport rockets
- Working as integration program manager at Northrop Grumman on the F35 fighter jet platform
- Executive roles at various startups before founding Glid Technologies
Damoa holds an MBA in project management and a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering. At Glid Technologies, he’s focused on developing clean energy road-to-rail vehicles incorporating autonomous technologies.
Major Robotics News Highlights
The podcast also covered two significant developments in the robotics industry:
NHTSA Investigation into Waymo Accident
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is investigating an incident where a Waymo autonomous vehicle struck a child in Santa Monica, California. According to Waymo, their vehicle detected the child as she emerged from behind a parked SUV, applied hard braking, but still made contact. The child sustained minor injuries. Waymo reported the incident immediately and has pledged full cooperation with the investigation.
Fauna Robotics Introduces Sprout Humanoid Platform
Fauna Robotics unveiled Sprout, a humanoid robot development platform standing 42 inches tall and weighing 50 pounds. Designed with safety and approachability in mind, Sprout features:
- A dedicated safety subsystem monitoring real-time conditions
- NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin processing for advanced perception and decision-making
- Streamlined developer experience with stable APIs and containerized services
- Efficient manufacturing processes allowing scalability from research to mass production
The platform is initially targeted at research laboratories as a physical AI development platform.
The Future of Autonomous Transportation
Kevin Damoa’s work at Glid Technologies represents an important intersection of autonomous systems, clean energy, and innovative transportation solutions. By developing road-to-rail vehicles, the company aims to reduce costs and carbon emissions while leveraging automation technology. Damoa’s diverse background in military logistics, aerospace, and engineering positions him uniquely to lead this venture into next-generation transportation systems.
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