Archives for March 2, 2017

UPS completes testing of drone delivery system developed by Workhorse

March 2, 2017 by Mark Allinson

UPS says it has successfully tested a drone that launches from the top of a UPS package car, autonomously delivers a package to a home and then returns to the vehicle while the delivery driver continues along the route to make a separate delivery.

UPS conducted the test on Monday in Tampa, Florida with Workhorse Group, an Ohio-based battery-electric truck and drone developer. Workhorse built the drone and the electric UPS package car used in the test.

Mark Wallace, senior vice-president of global engineering and sustainability at UPS, says: “This test is different than anything we’ve done with drones so far. It has implications for future deliveries, especially in rural locations where our package cars often have to travel kilometres to make a single delivery.

“Imagine a triangular delivery route where the stops are kilometres apart by road. Sending a drone from a package car to make just one of those deliveries can reduce costly kilometres driven. This is a big step toward bolstering efficiency in our network and reducing our emissions at the same time.” [Read more…] about UPS completes testing of drone delivery system developed by Workhorse

Echord++ produces new video showcasing its robotics research and development facilities

March 2, 2017 by Sam Francis

The European Coordination Hub for Open Robotics Development has been showcasing its innovation facilities through a new video.

The organisation likes to be known as Echord++ and offers funding to develop robotics technology for real use-cases.

The new video provides an insight of the group’s robotics innovation facilities, their technical equipment, application domains and services. [Read more…] about Echord++ produces new video showcasing its robotics research and development facilities

Rethink Robotics agrees distribution deal with Aldakin Automation in Spain

March 2, 2017 by Mark Allinson

Aldakin Automation will distribute Rethink’s Sawyer throughout the country

Rethink Robotics has reached an agreement with Aldakin Automation to distribute its collaborative robots to the entire Spanish manufacturing market.

Fresh off the launch of its new Intera 5 software, which can coordinate a work cell from a single Sawyer robot, Rethink Robotics says it aims to help manufacturers across the globe improve automation and production tasks. [Read more…] about Rethink Robotics agrees distribution deal with Aldakin Automation in Spain

Robot ethics: Three things industry can learn from new robotic standards

March 2, 2017 by Sam Francis

Graham Mackrell, managing director of robotic gearing specialist Harmonic Drive UK, explains the three things industry can take away from the new standard

The British Standards Institute recently released a new set of standards for the ethical design of robots and robotic devices.

The standards highlight the growing need for guidelines on robotic safety, contact with human beings, robotic deception, addiction and possible sexism or racism exhibited by self-learning artificial intelligence systems.

When science fiction writer Isaac Asimov wrote about the three laws of robotics in his book Runaround in 1942, little did he know they would one day become a reality for a world filled with robots.

From automated manufacturing plants, medical and pharmaceutical applications to military, agricultural and automotive systems, robots are everywhere in our modern world. [Read more…] about Robot ethics: Three things industry can learn from new robotic standards

Transport secretary Elaine Chao needs to update DoT policy, says automation expert

March 2, 2017 by Sam Francis

Newly appointed US transport secretary Elaine Chao is being asked to go out and “do better” than the previous administration and “explain in plain language” her recipe for success.

In particular, Chao is being asked to give the testing and regulation of autonomous cars a national framework rather than allow the technology to be introduced in a haphazard way, with each state making its own rules as it goes along.

This is the suggestion of many experts from the world of business and academia, including one particularly outspoken expert Timothy Carone, an associate teaching professor in the Department of IT, Analytics, and Operations in the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. [Read more…] about Transport secretary Elaine Chao needs to update DoT policy, says automation expert

Big changes from a small package for hydrogen storage

March 2, 2017 by Mai Tao

Sometimes, you have to go small to win big. That is the approach a multilab, interdisciplinary team took in using nanoparticles and a novel nanoconfinement system to develop a method to change hydrogen storage properties.

This discovery could enable the creation of high-capacity hydrogen storage materials capable of quick refueling, improving the performance of emerging hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles.

Sandia National Laboratories, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand, collaborated on the research, which was published Feb. 8 in the journal Advanced Materials Interfaces.

The work was funded by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Fuel Cell Technologies Office and the Boeing Co. [Read more…] about Big changes from a small package for hydrogen storage