Gravis Robotics

Gravis Robotics, founded in 2022, develops a retrofit autonomy platform that converts conventional heavy construction machinery - excavators, loaders and other earthmoving equipment - into autonomous robots. The company was spun out of ETH Zurich's Robotic Systems Lab following a decade of research, and was established by a team of roboticists addressing labour shortages and declining productivity in construction. It has raised $23 million in funding and reports deployments across seven countries within three years.

Its approach is to augment machinery already on site rather than replace fleets. The Gravis RACK is a rooftop sensor suite combining LiDAR, cameras, GNSS and learning-based control systems; it uses hydraulic sensing data to 'feel the soil', giving the machine information about the material it is working through. The Gravis Slate tablet interface allows operators to switch between autonomous operation and augmented remote control.

The technical work spans robotics, autonomous systems, computer vision, GNSS, learning-based control, hydraulic sensing and remote teleoperation, applied to earthmoving machinery retrofit automation. The company targets the construction, earthmoving and infrastructure sectors, including building projects, and reports productivity improvements of up to 30%, with site safety a stated priority alongside output.