Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

Archives for September 2020

Graze unveils solar-powered autonomous commercial lawn mower

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Startup company Graze has unveiled a new solar-powered autonomous commercial lawn mower, which it plans to launch by 2021.

The company says has now expanded the design to increase efficiency and maintenance speed for mid-to-large sized commercial lawns, enhance cutting blades to perfect trim precision, add new sensor capabilities to increase safety, improve GPS based mapping and computer vision, while optimizing intelligent and applicable insights through advanced machine learning capabilities.

Analyst reports have found landscaping services in the US generated $101.7 billion in revenue in 2020, while commercial landscaping services (maintenance and general services) have been projected to range between 40 and 60 percent of the overall landscaping service industry in the US. [Read more…] about Graze unveils solar-powered autonomous commercial lawn mower

Mosaic raises $14 million to digitalize construction and bring prefabrication into the mainstream

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A startup company aiming to bring digital project management techniques to the construction sector has raised $14.25 million in Series A funding, bring the total raised to $24.7 million, according to Business Insider. 

Mosaic Construction says its fundamental offer or service is to provide a method for analyzing building plans and categorize them according to which contractor will do what task in what time frame and so on.

This could enable traditional property developers and builders to move more of their tasks into the factory for prefabrication, bringing prefabricated construction into the mainstream. [Read more…] about Mosaic raises $14 million to digitalize construction and bring prefabrication into the mainstream

Top Future Car Technologies with Great Odds

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Today, technology is the answer to everything, thanks to the many opportunities it presents. For the automotive industry, it’s been from one glory to another. Even movies and TV shows feature driverless cars.

This means the automotive industry is growing and not looking back. We saw the emergence of electric vehicles, solar-powered machines, manual and self-driving cars, among other innovations.

The trend continues as innovators look into having more technology advancements soon. As time goes by, AI might overtake human minds in operating automobiles. [Read more…] about Top Future Car Technologies with Great Odds

ForwardX Max 500 AMR earns CE mark

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ForwardX Robotics, a Beijing-based developer of visual Autonomous Mobile Robots, announced its ForwardX Max 500 robots have achieved CE mark approval and are now certified for use across Europe.

CE marking indicates that the Max 500 visual Autonomous Mobile Robots (vAMRs) now adhere to the European Union’s directives and standards for health, safety, and environmental protection.

“Our Max 500 vAMRs give warehousing and manufacturing facilities the ability to automate dangerous, time-consuming tasks,” said Viktor Wang, Senior Product Director at ForwardX Robotics. [Read more…] about ForwardX Max 500 AMR earns CE mark

US military selects Parrot as new supplier of drones

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Parrot, a drone manufacturer, has been selected to take part in the Blue Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) programme by the US Army and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU).

The DIU is a Department of Defense organisation that accelerates commercial technology for national defense.

The Blue sUAS programme is a spin-off of the Short-Range Reconnaissance (SRR) programme launched by the Army and DIU in April 2019. [Read more…] about US military selects Parrot as new supplier of drones

Karlsruhe demonstrates robotic system for custom manufacturing

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There’s been a lot of talk in recent years about what’s sometimes called “custom manufacturing”, or the “batch of one” concept.

The idea behind such phrases is to create manufacturing processes that can almost tailor-make products for individual customers.

So let’s say if you wanted a particular brand of bicycle but would like your bike to have higher handle bars or wider foot pedals, the maker should be able to provide that without having to incur significantly greater production costs or add much to your purchase price. [Read more…] about Karlsruhe demonstrates robotic system for custom manufacturing

Accerion launches ‘world’s first infrastructure-free, sub-millimeter accuracy’ localization sensor for mobile robots

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Accerion has released a new localization sensor for mobile robots and automated guided vehicles.

The company says the sensor, called Triton, “sets the new standard” in mobile robot and AGV positioning for manufacturers and logistics operators who demand the highest degree of flexibility, adaptability, speed and precision.

After months of field testing in pilot programs across the globe, Triton is robust, proven and ready for high-performance logistics operations, supporting use cases such as free navigation, high-precision docking and virtual line following. [Read more…] about Accerion launches ‘world’s first infrastructure-free, sub-millimeter accuracy’ localization sensor for mobile robots

Scientists build robot to climb coconut trees

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A group of scientists has developed a robot that can climb coconut trees and harvest the delicious fruit, or nut, or whatever it is. (See video below.)

In a paper authored by nine authors, the researchers say there is “an acute shortage of human coconut tree climbers to harvest coconuts in India and other developing countries”.

In response, the team has built a robot called Amaran, which is described as “a novel robotic coconut tree climber and harvester”, and which can be operated through a smartphone. [Read more…] about Scientists build robot to climb coconut trees

Wood that’s twice as expensive as gold? Really?

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Apparently, first-grade agarwood costs $100,000 per kilogram, which is almost twice the price of gold, currently at around $60,000 per kg.

This is according to an interesting video published on Business Insider, which we have embedded below for your viewing pleasure (hopefully it will work).

No obvious connection to robotics and automation, although we did publish an article about using robots in the furniture-making sector recently, but it’s just one of those startling facts about the world we live in. [Read more…] about Wood that’s twice as expensive as gold? Really?

Walmart considers buying TikTok in bid to tackle Amazon’s advertising dominance

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Walmart is considering buying TikTok, the Chinese-owned app and social media platform. 

While it may not seem to make sense at first, the idea is part of Walmart’s restructuring as a more digital-oriented enterprise.

Walmart is by far the America’s largest retail chain, with more stores selling more stuff than anyone else – revenue for 2017 was more than $500 billion. The second largest, Costco, generated $130 billion in the same year, while Amazon’s were almost $120 billion. [Read more…] about Walmart considers buying TikTok in bid to tackle Amazon’s advertising dominance