No Pressure Too High. No Problem Too Hard.
In a world where technology meets industrial grit, Ecorobotics set out to revolutionize one of the dirtiest and deadliest jobs on earth: cleaning massive fuel tanks. Their eco-friendly, autonomous robots were built to do in hours what once took human crews days on days of dangerous, backbreaking work.
In conventional tank cleaning, workers must physically enter confined spaces filled with fuel residue and toxic vapors. Exposure risks are high, and accidents can be fatal. The pressure washers used in these conditions are so powerful they could sever limbs or worse. Ecorobotics was built to make dangerous work safer, replacing human vulnerability with robotic precision.
The company’s machines took the place of people in harm’s way, completing massive cleanings with speed and accuracy while reducing water use, waste, and disposal costs. It was innovation in motion, until the business itself needed saving.
When Ecorobotics’ parent company was sold through a traditional acquisition, the once-promising robotics division was left behind, burdened with C-suite salary commitments, dwindling profits, and dismal investment resources in the post-merger fallout. That is when Resolute stepped in to do what it does best: navigate the hard stuff.
Reprogramming the Rules
This was not a simple wind-down. Ecorobotics was formed in Louisiana, a state without an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC) statute, but operated out of Texas, which has one but has residency requirements. That mismatch meant the standard ABC structure was not an option. What began as a Financial Advisory engagement evolved into the formation of a liquidating trust, a hybrid solution that mirrored the intent of an ABC while navigating the legal gap of applicable ABC statutes.
Resolute’s team built a custom structure from the ground up, balancing governance, compliance, and creditor protection with precision. The result was a process that delivered the same core goals of efficiency, transparency, and value preservation, achieved not by the book but by ingenuity, because that is what Resolute does when the rules don’t fit the reality.
Hazards, Hardware, and Hard Truths
This was not an average cleanup. Every distressed company comes with challenges, but Ecorobotics brought a unique mix of legal, operational, and environmental hurdles that tested every part of the process.
Jurisdictional complexity
The company’s Louisiana formation and Texas operations meant navigating two sets of state compliance laws and taxes. Every filing, tax report, and transaction required cross-state coordination.
Hazardous and specialized assets
Ecorobotics’ proprietary robots were deployed across multiple job sites. Each unit had to be retrieved, cleaned, and decontaminated to meet environmental and safety standards before it could be sold. Handling the robots meant working with hazardous materials that demanded strict safety oversight.
Unwinding obligations
Payroll, open contracts, and vendor relationships tied to the parent company had to be disentangled carefully. Resolute worked through lease terminations, landlord negotiations, and vendor separations to ensure a clean transition.
Creditor claims and liabilities
The team managed executive compensation disputes, subcontractor liens, unpaid vendor bills, and state tax liabilities. Each issue had to be resolved in sequence to maximize recovery and minimize exposure.
Doing the hard things meant managing every one of those simultaneously.
The Reboot
When it came time to sell the robotics equipment, Resolute faced a defining choice:
Sell the components individually for quick cash or hold out for a buyer who saw the bigger picture.
The team partnered with Maynards, who recognized the potential to sell the robotics fleet as a complete system rather than a collection of parts. That decision changed everything.
The sale to HCP brought in over $2 million, with a substantial holdback, one of the largest recoveries for the estate. But the real payoff wasn’t just financial.
Before the transfer, the scientist who had created the robots left a handwritten message on a whiteboard for the new owners:
“The best part of my life lives inside these robots. Please take care of them and love them as I have. They can change the world. Believe in them.”
That message reminded everyone involved, including the Resolute team, that this wasn’t just about liquidation. It was about ensuring that innovation did not die in distress.
Sync Mode Activated
This case was not just complex—it came with some serious pressure.
Under the leadership of Nicole Manos, who served as trustee, and with Jessie Sheehan and Ashley Tayloe driving key parts of the process, this trio stayed wired in—steady, focused, and in sync from start to finish.
It was not luck that led to the outcome; it was timing, teamwork, and tenacity. The team not only secured the right buyer at the right moment but also preserved the core ingenuity and vision behind it, allowing that work to continue under HCP instead of disappearing into liquidation.
The result: a 96% recovery for creditors and a legacy for the inventive spirit that started it all.
Why We Do the Hard Things
The Ecorobotics case was about more than financial recovery. It was about protecting groundbreaking engineering born from a desire to keep workers safe and ensuring that life-saving advancements were not lost to financial failure.
Resolute took on the challenge because it was complex, technical, and risky.
Hardwired is how we are built. We do things because they are hard.