For the past two years three teams of Waverley engineers have been working in collaboration with Jibo to create the first social robot for your home. We provide server-side, mobile, and QA expertise to facilitate user integration with the robot through native iOS and Android applications with specific attention to security and data protection.
Jibo is the first robot for home that is intelligent, helpful, and friendly. The robot can speak, see, hear, and answer, just like a living being. JIbo is the future of robotic personal assistants for individuals and families.
Founded in 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts, Jibo needed world class developers with both engineering expertise and forward-thinking ability to build the critical technical infrastructure for their invention. They chose Waverley for our breadth of experience and proven track record of happy Silicon Valley customers.
Initially Jibo needed Waverley’s engineers to quickly construct a reliable, scalable, flexible services architecture. The next step was to develop mobile apps for iOS and Android to communicate with the robot. Security was a high priority, as privacy was Jibo’s #1 concern. Jibo knew that the platform would evolve and expand over time, so technical excellence in the architectural approach was of great importance.
Waverley built 3 teams: server-side/backend, mobile, and QA. Following a fast-paced Agile methodology, we quickly defined the services needed at launch so as to implement a flexible platform:
In collaboration with Jibo, mobile applications have been designed to provide the optimal user experience on both iPhone and Android devices. To leverage native platforms, the design for iOS and Android was developed separately, using the same brand look and feel. The Android design exemplifies the best Material Design practices, while the Apple version has many elegant iOS features. Both applications are extremely user-friendly.
From the DevOps point of view, Waverley has automated every part of the robotics software development process by implementing continuous integration and continuous delivery. Our team then dovetailed this with a centralized software management system providing smooth user management, log management, and enterprise monitoring systems.
The use of microservices enables up-to-date solutions for each part of the app. Waverley has built a Docker-based Microservices Architecture to achieve the following goals:
Waverley values performance and smooth UI, keeping FPS 60+, especially on a scrollable feed with mixed content including images, audio, and texts. Cross-device state synchronization was achieved through a combination of push notifications, long polling, and pull-to-refresh. Jibo native iOS app supports versions iOS 9 and higher.
The Android app supports software versions 4.3 and higher.
It contains:
In order to achieve the highest level of security possible, the communication protocols are based on Amazon libraries and customized to fit the apps.
To achieve the maximum privacy and comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, Waverley engineers came up with an innovative approach that prevents the server and network service providers from being able to read any content taken by robots or mobile devices. Furthermore, they devised a special encryption key generation and sharing scheme. As a result, all encrypted messages and media files are stored on the server; only robot owners and their family members can get access.
For over 5 years, Waverley has been Jibo’s trusted technical partner. At different stages of the project, we provided on-demand Level 2 and 3 support services to Jibo. Our support team was hired to conduct server maintenance and ensuring general system stability.
At the post-release stage, we performed regular environment checks and implemented minor fixes to ensure stable server performance. The Waverley support team was in charge of:
We continue to provide Jibo with on-demand technical support services. Routine tasks of our Level 3 support specialists range between code refactoring and cloud migration. Waverley also provided Jibo with recommendations on establishing an in-house 24/7 Level 2 support team. The project is ongoing.
To find out more please read the client’s review on Clutch.
