Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

Archives for July 5, 2019

Hahn Group strengthens its digital capabilities

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Hahn Group has established a new division called Hahn Digital as the center of excellence for digital transformation.

The company says it has a “start-up character”, and is agile, flexible and fast moving to further develop innovation and digital technologies to the benefit of their clients.

Hahn Digital combines the entire digital expertise of all Hahn Group’s subsidiaries in order to eliminate silos and refine digital solutions for customers worldwide. [Read more…] about Hahn Group strengthens its digital capabilities

Philips extends automation on its EPIQ CVx cardiology ultrasound platform

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Royal Philips, a leader in health technology,has announced new advanced automation capabilities on its EPIQ CVx and EPIQ CVxi cardiac ultrasound systems.

With Release 5.0, both systems now include automated applications for 2D assessment of the heart, as well as robust 3D right ventricle volume and ejection fraction measurements, making accurate exams faster and easier to conduct.

Together, the new applications provide clinicians with the means to confidently evaluate the heart’s function, increasing diagnostic confidence for patients with pulmonary hypertension, congenital heart disease, coronary disease and heart failure.

[Read more…] about Philips extends automation on its EPIQ CVx cardiology ultrasound platform

Mercedes and BMW launch long-term development partnership for automated driving

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Daimler-Mercedes-Benz and BMW have entered into a “co-operation” agreement on the development of autonomous cars, or “automated driving”, as the two companies call it.

Representatives from the two companies have signed an agreement for a long-term strategic cooperation, which will focus on joint development of next-generation technologies for driver assistance systems, automated driving on highways and automated parking.

The developments are intended to vehicles that are classed as “Level 4” – or “full autonomy with human” – on the SAE’s categorisation. SAE is a global engineering association which has published a “levels of driving automation” table which goes from Level 0 for no autonomy to Level 5 for full autonomy. [Read more…] about Mercedes and BMW launch long-term development partnership for automated driving

NEDO, Sharp, and Toyota to begin public road trials of electrified vehicles equipped with high-efficiency solar batteries

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NEDO, Sharp Corporation, and Toyota Motor plan to commence public road trials of electrified vehicles equipped with high-efficiency solar batteries later this month.

The trials aim to assess the effectiveness of improvements in cruising range and fuel efficiency of electrified vehicles equipped with high-efficiency solar batteries.

To facilitate the execution of this trial, Sharp modularized its world-class, high-efficiency solar battery cells (conversion efficiency of 34 percent+), previously developed for a NEDO-led project, to create an onboard solar battery panel. [Read more…] about NEDO, Sharp, and Toyota to begin public road trials of electrified vehicles equipped with high-efficiency solar batteries

Autonomous forklifts ‘raise the bar on safety’, says Seegrid

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Thousands of injuries related to manually driven forklifts are reported to US health and safety authority OSHA each year, and a fatal accident involving a manual forklift occurred approximately once per week in the US in 2018.

Many companies are adopting Seegrid vision-guided vehicles (VGVs) as a safe, efficient form of transport in their facilities.

There is no comparison between human industrial vehicle drivers and their Seegrid autonomous driving counterparts – the company claims that injury and fatality statistics prove that its technology is safer.

[Read more…] about Autonomous forklifts ‘raise the bar on safety’, says Seegrid

Traxens joins French ‘Smart Port in Med’ initiative to facilitate digital transition of Port of Marseille Fos

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Traxens, a company providing data and services for the supply chain industry, is joining the French Smart Port in Med initiative as an associate partner. Traxens is the only IoT company supporting the association.

The project was officially launched in October 2018 as part of First Smart Port Challenges by the port authority of Marseille Fos, the Marseille Provence Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Aix-Marseille University, with the aim of supporting the digital transformation of the Port of Marseille Fos.

Key strategic objectives include the economic and environmental improvement of the port and its ecosystem, the creation of new job opportunities, the strengthening of the relationship between the port and the local community, and positioning the Port of Marseille Fos as an innovative digital port in the Mediterranean. [Read more…] about Traxens joins French ‘Smart Port in Med’ initiative to facilitate digital transition of Port of Marseille Fos

How AI Could Boost Business Customer Service

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From forecasts to spam filters, artificial intelligence has long been used to help companies across industries. Within recent years, it’s begun to play a key role in a major business area: customer service. 

Though it’s widely seen as a human-led sector, this form of tech could simplify a number of B2C tasks, likely boosting overall client experience as a result. In turn, this may very well improve brand reputation as well as profit turnover.

Let’s explore the main ways in which AI stands to enhance customer service within a business. [Read more…] about How AI Could Boost Business Customer Service

DJI uses Ubuntu in drone computer

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Ubuntu, the most popular Linux operating system for the Internet of Things, is now available on the Manifold 2, a high-performance embedded computer offered by drone manufacturer, DJI.

The Manifold 2 is designed to fit onto DJI’s drone platforms via the onboard SDK and enables developers to transform aerial platforms into truly smarter drones, performing complex computing tasks and advanced image processing, which in-turn creates rapid flexibility for enterprise usage.

As part of the offering, the Manifold 2 is planning to feature snaps. Snaps are containerised software packages, designed to work perfectly across cloud, desktop, and IoT devices – with this the first instance of the technology’s availability on drones.

[Read more…] about DJI uses Ubuntu in drone computer