Agile Planet Inc., a leading developer of intelligent software and hardware engineered to dramatically improve the performance of industrial robots, has changed its name to Yaskawa Innovation. Yaskawa America, Inc., Motoman Robotics Division (Yaskawa Motoman, motoman.com) acquired all outstanding shares of Agile Planet, Inc. in June 2013, to strengthen its global leadership position in the advancement of “next generation” automation solutions.

“The name change is intended to better communicate the value that Agile Planet brings as part of the larger Yaskawa family and the purpose behind the organization,” says Steve Barhorst, president and COO of Yaskawa Motoman.  “Yaskawa Innovation will develop robotic controls solutions for the Americas and will work closely with our parent company, Yaskawa Electric Corporation in Japan, to drive advancements in the company’s global automation offerings.”

Yaskawa Innovation moved to 9233 Waterford Centre Blvd. in Austin, Texas on March 1, 2014. This location is strategically near the J.J. Pickle Research Center at the University of Texas. Yaskawa Innovation plans to collaborate with the Research Center on a variety of projects designed to generate advances in robotic controls. 

“Our job at Yaskawa Innovation is to make high-quality Yaskawa products easy to use so our customers can experience rapid ROI,” says Chetan Kapoor, PhD, senior director of technology innovation for Yaskawa Innovation.

“We purchased Agile Planet to offer new and unique approaches to robot control,” says Roger Christian, vice president of marketing, Yaskawa Motoman. “This strategic acquisition will allow easy integration of robotics into semi-structured and eventually unstructured areas of manufacturing, logistics, bio-medical and beyond.”