Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

Archives for August 11, 2016

Midea to spend billions on building industrial robots after buying Kuka

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kuka robots having a drink

Household appliance manufacturer Midea says it will spend 10 billion Chinese money (approximately $1.5 billion) on building new robots, according to a report in the South China Morning Post. 

Midea, a Chinese company which now owns 95 per cent of Germany-based industrial robot maker Kuka, will build a factory to produce 7,000 robots a year, says the report.

The announcement is said to confirm Midea’s ambition to become the leading robot maker in China. The country is estimated to have bought and installed almost 70,000 industrial robots last year.

Full story at South China Morning Post. 

The role of humans in the testing of autonomous cars

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autonomous car simulation

Ansible Motion develops driving simulators for autonomous car engineering, but with one important additional component — the human driver 

The interest in, and momentum assigned to, the introduction of autonomous cars may appear substantial to anyone catching articles in the media.

We can certainly find plenty of aspirational images of happy people reading books or watching films whilst travelling down the motorway.  Excellent.  But our lovely ‘digital living space’ will require substantial validation before we get down that road.

With hundreds of (computer) processors and sensors required to offer even simple driver assistance systems, signing off a fully autonomous car with any level of confidence is not going to be an easy assignment for vehicle manufacturers. And that sign off is going to need some human involvement. [Read more…] about The role of humans in the testing of autonomous cars

iRobot expands connected product line with Roomba 960

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irobot

iRobot has launched the Roomba 960 Vacuuming Robot starting at $699.

The second 900 Series Roomba to be introduced by iRobot, Roomba 960 extends mapping, adaptive navigation with visual localization and cloud connected app control to a wider range of consumers, says the company.

Further extending the company’s connected product line, iRobot also announced iRobot Home App availability for both existing and new Braava jet Mopping Robot customers.  [Read more…] about iRobot expands connected product line with Roomba 960

Comau to play big role at conference about industrial robots in automotive manufacturing

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comau

Comau is to play a leading role in an important event about robotics in the automotive industry, which is also supported by RoboticsAndAutomationNews.com.

On August 17-18, Comau, which is a member of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Group, will participate in Next-Generation Collaborative Robots & Automation Technologies Automotive Manufacturing (NGAM) 2016.

The event will assess the commercial benefits of implementing new robotics & automation technologies on production efficiency, cost and profitability.  [Read more…] about Comau to play big role at conference about industrial robots in automotive manufacturing

Robots planning to raid orchards: Abundant Robotics to automate apple harvests

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Agricultural technology startup company Abundant Robotics to launch a robot with a taste for apples 

SRI International, a technology research organisation, is to spin-out and launch Abundant Robotics, an agriculture technology company focused on helping make nutritious foods such as apples and other tree fruits more accessible.

Abundant will commercialize and build on several years of research initiatives in agricultural robotics at SRI.

Dan Steere, CEO of Abundant Robotics, says: “While orchard yields have significantly improved over the last two decades, labor productivity has not. [Read more…] about Robots planning to raid orchards: Abundant Robotics to automate apple harvests

Exclusive interview with Cisco Jasper’s IoT cloud exec

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A conversation with Theresa Bui, head of enterprise product marketing, IoT cloud at Cisco Jasper

Theresa Bui is an expert in cloud services as they apply to industry, in particular. Through Cisco, Bui’s work involves dealing with large, industrial conglomerates, such as General Electric, ABB and others.

With more than 20 years of strategic marketing experience, Bui is on the verge of helping make Cisco as important to the industrial sector as it is to the infrastructure of the internet.

In an interview with Robotics and Automation News, Bui provides an insight into Cisco’s approach to a range of new technologies, including industrial internet of things, robotics and automation.  [Read more…] about Exclusive interview with Cisco Jasper’s IoT cloud exec