Bill Townsend
Newton, Massachusetts, United States
3K followers
500+ connections
3K followers
500+ connections
About
Bill Townsend founded Barrett Medical in 2019, making the world's most advanced robotic…
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3K followers
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Bill Townsend shared thisLast week, I had the opportunity to speak on the Healthcare Executives panel for ACHE (American College of Healthcare Executives ) Much of our conversation focused on the future of AI in robotics, healthcare, and rehabilitation. Our conversation acknowledged the rate at which AI poses a dramatic shift to the healthcare world, driving results while encouraging us all to recenter around quality. At Barrett Medical, we have always put the patient first: AI-enabled technologies won't change that approach. Very much enjoyed the panel, and enjoyed catching up with the other attendees!
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Bill Townsend shared thisThe future of motion is motors. When we built the Puck® almost 20 years ago, we built it out of necessity. The WAM® arm needed a motor controller so advanced, so capable, and so compact that anything on the market wouldn't have sufficed. The Puck® was our only solution. And I'm willing to bet that most engineers face the same tradeoffs today that we did then. They're forced to sacrifice on power, size, or quality to integrate controls. We certainly hear this at conferences -- with every new humanoid robot, there are countless tradeoffs to face. Puck® navigates those tradeoffs excellently, packing a punch well beyond its 16mm size. So... the choice is yours: sacrifice on quality or install a Puck®? Our Puck® datasheet and brochure is available for free at the link below: https://barrett.com/puck
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Bill Townsend shared thisIf you're starting a company, there's one rule to success: listen to your customers. Put simply: if your product does not have a customer, you should not start a business. As an engineer, I'm often approached by budding engineers, and asked "Will my product make a successful business?" It’s a mistake I commonly see: product-first, not customer-first thinking. We get excited about a problem... we build a solution... and we go looking for a buyer. In my 40+ years of entrepreneurship, I've learned time and time again: even with an incredible prototype, the world will NOT come banging down your door to buy. As you start talking to real customers, you’ll realize how many iterations your product needs. (spoiler alert, it's never finished!) Listening is core to Barrett's engineering process, and it's been that way from the start. ps. if you're a new engineer or entrepreneur -- I'm always happy to provide advice, so feel free to reach out.
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Bill Townsend shared thisSimply the best motor controller on the planet!Bill Townsend shared thisIf you're building a motor controller from scratch here's how: //////// just kidding //////// You don't want to do that -- if you've tried, you're probably overwhelmed. Puck P4 is smaller, stronger, and smarter... ....AND you don't have to build it from scratch. Save yourself a year of work and visit barrett.com/puck today. Starting at $499.
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Bill Townsend shared thisI’ve always been a builder. As a kid, I didn’t know what engineering was — I just knew I loved creating things. My first “project” was a treehouse that kept growing until it had a couch, a bookshelf, and even a pulley system I built to haul up supplies. I’ve also been an entrepreneur for as long as I can remember. My first business was a lemonade stand, and my first employees were the stick-ball-playing kids down the block. Today, I’m still a builder. But instead of treehouses and lemonade stands, I get to build something that changes lives. With Burt®, we’ve seen thousands of patients regain movement they thought was gone forever. And after Barrett's most recent trip -- three weeks in Southeast Asia -- I’m more inspired than ever. Barrett started 38 years ago with a simple belief — that robots could work with people. That belief has carried us from a single lab bench at MIT to therapy centers and hospitals around the world. And after all these years, I can honestly say: I’ve never been more excited for what’s next.
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Bill Townsend shared this“Robots are too dangerous for people” Back in the 1980s, the prevailing wisdom was clear: robots belonged in factories, far away from human contact. As anyone who knows me can tell you – I’m a confident dissenter: I believed the opposite. If you designed with people in mind, robots would help people, not harm them. That conviction led to the WAM® Arm, then to the founding of Barrett in 1988. At first, our technology powered surgical robots and haptic devices. But soon, therapists and researchers started adapting our arms for stroke recovery and TBI rehab. Today, Burt® is treating thousands of patients every day across the US and the world. After 37 years, Barrett still maintains our people-first approach. It’s what powers our team, our therapists, and our robots day after day. We’ve been making robots the future of motion since 1988 - and we’re just getting started.
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Bill Townsend shared thisThis patient testimonial moved me deeply.Bill Townsend shared this“You’re having so much fun, you don’t realize you’re working out.” That’s how Donna, a stroke survivor, at Gaylord Specialty Healthcare described her recovery with Burt®. In this short video, therapists and patients open up about what robotic rehab looks like—and how Burt® helps make it more motivating and measurable. Watch the full story below.
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Bill Townsend shared thisI enjoyed this podcast. I hope you will, too.Bill Townsend shared this"Recovery Robots:" Bill Townsend of Barrett Medical joined Radio Entrepreneurs to share how this medtech company develops advanced robotic arms that harness brain plasticity to help patients recover from stroke, traumatic brain injury, and other neurological conditions. Check out the podcast at https://lnkd.in/eTXUkaud #Robotics #Stroke #Robots #Rehabilitation #Recovery #TBI #Medtech
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Bill Townsend shared thisI’m proud to announce the 3rd Year Anniversary of working with Matt Rigby – Barrett’s CCO. Over the last three years, Barrett has learned so much from his clinical OT background. With his input, I’m constantly impressed by the commonalities that crop up between Barrett’s engineering teams and a healthcare clinic. Just last week, Matt told me about therapists’ IDT meeting – a weekly meeting between the interdisciplinary teams (IDT) of OT, PT, and SLP. Here, the various teams would discuss diverse solutions to tricky cases. Differing backgrounds, for example, could allow an OT to suggest new tech as a treatment to support an SLP patient. Matt was the first to point out a correlation between healthcare’s IDT and our very own interdisciplinary team – a core part of Barrett’s engineering process. Every Friday, we bring together representatives from our Engineering, Sales, Manufacturing, and Operations teams to discuss the events of the past week. For example, this Friday served as an Internal Audit covering: • Our newly renewed FDA ISO 13485 compliance • Patient input on unreleased gameplay • Tactics for Burt® deliveries in Qatar Each of these discussions needs the input of our various teams. It’s meetings like this (with clinical input from people like Matt) that helps keep our tech at the forefront of robotic therapy. I’m proud to have worked with Matt and his team over the last few years – looking forward to the future of Barrett Medical.
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Bill Townsend liked thisBill Townsend liked thisLast week, we featured Ira Renfrew and the product and people foundation behind Familiar Machines & Magic. This week, we're highlighting the engineering foundation. Chris Jones has spent his career solving some of the hardest problems in consumer robotics. Today, as co-founder and Chief R&D Officer, he leads the technical architecture behind our Emotionally Intelligent Physical AI platform—bringing together AI, robotics, motion, and hardware into a single system designed for human connection.
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Bill Townsend liked thisBill Townsend liked thisCheers to a fun and safe 4th of July celebrating the birth of our nation! Wishing our amazing team, customers, and friends a spectacular holiday filled with lots of laughs, good food, and festive fun.
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Bill Townsend liked thisBill Townsend liked thisToday marks 25 years at Rice University School of Engineering and Computing and Rice University Mechanical Engineering. I remember the excitement, emotions, and imposter syndrome I felt that summer. Rice welcomed me with open arms, fostered and supported my early career, and provided ample opportunities for professional development, I have been blessed with amazing students and postdocs, inspiring mentors, supportive advocates, and the love and unwavering support of family. I am beyond grateful.
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Bill Townsend liked thisA system unlike any others. #ZeroG and #ZeroG3D provide therapists with the confidence to challenge patients safely while reducing the physical strain that can lead to career-limiting injuries. Protecting patients. Protecting therapists. Advancing recovery.Bill Townsend liked thisWhat does truly safe, intensive rehabilitation look like? When it comes to gait and balance training, the goal is always to push boundaries without risking safety. The ZeroG Gait & Balance System is designed to do exactly that, allowing therapists to deliver high-intensity therapy from day one. 1️⃣ Comfortable Harnessing: Fast, secure, and designed to support patients naturally, giving them the confidence to move. 2️⃣ Trolley Tracking: The ZeroG robot automatically tracks directly above the patient, eliminating lag and minimizing drag. 3️⃣ Dynamic Body-Weight Support (BWS): Real-time, constant support makes the patient feel lighter while they practice complex movements like lunges, steps, and floor transfers. 4️⃣ Advanced Fall Protection: Gives therapists the freedom to step away and treat hands-free. If a patient loses balance, the system catches them instantly before a fall can happen. 5️⃣ TRiP Perturbations: Safely trains reactive balance by introducing unexpected, controlled perturbations preparing patients for the real world. By removing the fear of falling for both the patient and the therapist, ZeroG opens up a completely new level of possibilities!
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Bill Townsend liked thisBill Townsend liked thisAretech is proud to support TIGRR — Training in Grantsmanship for Rehabilitation Research — hosted by Shepherd Center, the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and the NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. TIGRR pairs early-career investigators with experienced mentors to strengthen their grant-writing skills and build competitive NIH applications that advance the field of rehabilitation research. The 2027 program will be held January 4–9 at Wild Dunes Resort on Isle of Palms, SC. Applications for 2027 mentees open July 1 and close August 14, 2026. If you're an early-career rehab researcher ready to take the next step, learn more and apply here: https://lnkd.in/gAumw2dk
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Bill Townsend liked thisBill Townsend liked thisThe employees at Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Johnston celebrated our Quarter One Clinical Ranking of 13th in the company by enjoying iced coffee and iced matcha on a beautiful day in Rhode Island. Thank you to our team and their commitment to clinical excellence.
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Bill Townsend liked thisBill Townsend liked thisHere’s how Chris Jones, Ira Renfrew, Morgan Pope, Becky Mongillo, and I landed on the name “Familiar Machines & Magic.” From the beginning, our intent was to take biological inspiration and marry it with technology, to create machines that can integrate into our daily lives, support us, and form a relationship. You come to know it, and it comes to know you. It doesn’t exactly map to anything that currently exists, yet it feels familiar. The word “familiar” was first suggested to us by Hugh Howey, the creator of Silo. It immediately resonated with us. In folklore, a “familiar” was a companion spirit, often an animal, loyal to a person. We liked that the word “familiar” held two ideas: something companionable and something known. They’re also machines (engineering, software, and hardware) and we don’t pretend otherwise. And the magic is what we get to experience as we build and interact with this new form of technology. Hence “Familiar Machines & Magic.
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This is pretty wild, especially for humanoids. I am not talking about the backflip- those have been done a billion times by a million robotics companies already. The way that the robot instantaneous *corrects it's posture to prevent itself from crashing down despite a literal piece of it breaking apart and flying out shows how far RL-based control systems have come. Future is bright and scary!
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