Robotics & Automation News

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Archives for May 29, 2020

Five companies awarded $280,000 to develop mobility solutions in Michigan

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PlanetM, the State of Michigan’s mobility initiative, is awarding a round of its technology activation grant program to companies addressing the challenges presented by the spread of the novel Coronavirus.

Five companies received more than $280,000 in funding to aid in the development and deployment of solutions that address the mobility challenges Covid-19 presents in Michigan.

The five companies are:

  1. GHSP;
  2. Gatik;
  3. Penske Vehicle Services;
  4. RCO Engineering; and
  5. Pratt Miller.

The mobility challenges include contactless automated delivery within the statewide retail supply chain, disinfecting technologies in West Michigan and barriers to protect transit workers in Detroit. [Read more…] about Five companies awarded $280,000 to develop mobility solutions in Michigan

Agricultural robots and AI: A question of when and not if

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Robotics and artificial intelligence will drive a deep and transformative change in the agricultural world during the coming decades, according to a new report by IDTechEx.

Seeing, localising, and taking plant-specific intelligent action are no longer the exclusive realm of humans, says the research company.

Machines have demonstrated the technical viability and the emphasis has long shifted to the finer details of return on investment, reliability, business model, and so on. [Read more…] about Agricultural robots and AI: A question of when and not if

LG partners with Woowa Brothers to develop food delivery robots

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Electronics and household appliances giant LG is partnering with unicorn startup Woowa Brothers to develop food delivery robots.

The partnership will aim to produce mobile robots that can deliver food to people’s homes as well to the tables of customers at restaurants.

While LG is well known around the world, Woowa Brothers is a startup which achieved unicorn status – became worth more than $1 billion – when German company Delivery Hero acquired it for around $4 billion in January this year. [Read more…] about LG partners with Woowa Brothers to develop food delivery robots

Dishcraft Robotics raises $20 million in latest funding round to expand its dishwashing business

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Dishcraft Robotics, provider of a commercial dishwashing and dishware delivery service powered by artificial intelligence and robotics, has raised $20 million in Series A1 funding led by new investor Grit Ventures.

Returning investors First Round Capital, Baseline Ventures, Fuel Capital, and Lemnos also participated in the round. To date, Dishcraft has raised $46 million in venture funding.

Marc Randolph, co-founder and former CEO of Netflix, and Kelly Coyne, founder and partner at Grit Ventures, will join Dishcraft’s board of directors, joining other prominent board members including Steve Anderson, founder of Baseline Ventures. [Read more…] about Dishcraft Robotics raises $20 million in latest funding round to expand its dishwashing business

Hexagon NovAtel unveils ROS-based autonomous driving platform

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NovAtel, part of Hexagon, has released of its first purpose-built driver, powered by Robot Operating System (ROS), to support its OEM7 family of GNSS receivers.

The driver, developed by NovAtel engineers, provides an optimized interface enabling users to accelerate autonomous development projects by quickly incorporating NovAtel OEM7 receivers into custom applications.

The driver is available for immediate download through the new NovAtel GitHub repository or as a ROS Binary Package for direct installation. [Read more…] about Hexagon NovAtel unveils ROS-based autonomous driving platform

Boston Dynamics canine robot Spot gets a job as a terrifying alien sheepdog

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Sheep are often herded using a real sheepdog, clever canines which run around directing the animals into a pen on a farm. 

But a clever software company is conducting a test by replacing the dog with Boston Dynamics’ terrifying canine robot, Spot.

New Zealand is at the very edge of human civilisation on Earth, and the sheep there probably see the robot as an alien. [Read more…] about Boston Dynamics canine robot Spot gets a job as a terrifying alien sheepdog