Giving Old Robots a Second Life: The Power of Retrofitting in 2025

Robots age. Software expires. Support gets discontinued.

And suddenly, a fleet of expensive machines is collecting dust in your warehouse, hospital, or logistics centre.

But here’s the good news: you don’t have to scrap them.

With the right retrofit approach, you can breathe new life into your existing robots—faster, smarter, and more cost-effectively than ever before.

The Problem: When Robots Stop Working, Operations Suffer

In the past year alone, we’ve spoken to multiple companies facing the same issue:

“We bought cheap robots from the vendor, but their software is no longer

supported.”

“Our delivery robots stopped functioning after an OS update.”

“We have great hardware, but no way to control it anymore.”

These companies were left with unusable machines and no viable plan—until they found out about retrofitting.

What Is Robot Retrofitting?

Retrofitting means upgrading your existing robotic hardware with new software, better sensors, smarter navigation, or improved connectivity—without having to buy a brand new system.

Think of it like this: You wouldn’t throw away a perfectly good car just because your GPS system died. You’d install a new one and keep driving.

Same goes for robots.

Why Retrofitting Makes Business Sense

1. Massive Cost Savings A full fleet replacement can cost hundreds of thousands. Retrofitting can save you 50–80% of that cost.

2. Faster Deployment No long lead times. We can help you upgrade robots in weeks—not months.

3. Sustainability Don’t let good hardware go to waste. Extend your robots’ lifespan and contribute to greener operations.

4. Customisation New sensors? Better path planning? Real-time monitoring? Your old robots can now have next-gen features.

How Movel AI Helps You Retrofit Smarter

At Movel AI, we specialise in upgrading legacy robots with our proprietary robotic navigation (RNS) and fleet management software (FMS).

Here’s what we offer:

Support for multi-brand robots with outdated software
Integration with your existing systems (e.g., WMS, ERP, access control)
Custom driver development for cameras, sensors, and hardware quirks
Step-by-step guides, on-site training, and remote support

Whether your robots are used for security, delivery, cleaning, or warehousing, we can help you get them running again—with smarter AI and more control.

Case Example: From Scrap to Service

A security company approached us with a fleet of robots bought from a China supplier—now unusable after the original software was discontinued.

Instead of junking them, we installed our RNS, customised the control interface, and linked them up with our cloud-based FMS. Today, they’re serving multiple clients across different sites in Singapore—as good as new.