Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

Archives for August 12, 2021

Einride partners with Bridgestone to develop electric and autonomous trucks

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Einride and Bridgestone have agreed a partnership aimed at co-creating innovative and sustainable mobility solutions for electrified and autonomous Class 8 vehicles – trucks.

The collaboration will allow Einride to collect new layers of safety and efficiency-related data from Bridgestone’s smart-sensing tires, while enabling Bridgestone to integrate its advanced mobility technologies into Einride’s onboard vehicle platforms.

Together, the companies will work to create safer and more efficient mobility solutions to drive a more sustainable future for large commercial truck fleets. [Read more…] about Einride partners with Bridgestone to develop electric and autonomous trucks

Vecna Robotics and Alta Material Handling to bring ‘high-capacity autonomous mobile robots to expanded markets’

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Vecna Robotics, the autonomous mobile robot and workflow orchestration company, is partnering with Alta Material Handling.

The partnership enables Alta MH to bring the capabilities of Vecna Robotics’ high-capacity AMRs to its customers looking for highly versatile, safe and integrated pallet-handling solutions.

Over 1.8 billion pallets are in circulation in the US each day – with billions more across the globe – but less than 1 percent of the millions of material handling vehicles moving them are automated today. [Read more…] about Vecna Robotics and Alta Material Handling to bring ‘high-capacity autonomous mobile robots to expanded markets’

Getting dressed with help from robots

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MIT has demonstrated a “human-aware motion planning algorithm” that addresses the safety gap in collaboration between robots and humans – and could be used to make robots help people get dressed. (See video below.)

Basic safety needs in the paleolithic era have largely evolved with the onset of the industrial and cognitive revolutions. We interact a little less with raw materials, and interface a little more with machines.

Robots don’t have the same hardwired behavioral awareness and control, so secure collaboration with humans requires methodical planning and coordination. You can likely assume your friend can fill up your morning coffee cup without spilling on you, but for a robot, this seemingly simple task requires careful observation and comprehension of human behavior.

Scientists from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have recently created a new algorithm to help a robot find efficient motion plans to ensure physical safety of its human counterpart. In this case, the bot helped put a jacket on a human, which could potentially prove to be a powerful tool in expanding assistance for those with disabilities or limited mobility. [Read more…] about Getting dressed with help from robots

Robots who goof: Can we trust them again?

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When robots make mistakes – and they do from time to time – re-establishing trust with human co-workers depends on how the machines own up to the errors and how human-like they appear, according to University of Michigan research.

In a study that examined multiple trust repair strategies – apologies, denials, explanations or promises – the researchers found that certain approaches directed at human co-workers are better than others and often are impacted by how the robots look.

Lionel Robert (main picture), associate professor at the U-M School of Information, says: “Robots are definitely a technology but their interactions with humans are social and we must account for these social interactions if we hope to have humans comfortably trust and rely on their robot co-workers. [Read more…] about Robots who goof: Can we trust them again?

DroneDeploy acquires Rocos to ‘accelerate job site automation’

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DroneDeploy, a mapping and drone data specialist, has acquired Rocos, a New Zealand-based robotics software company.

The acquisition will enable DroneDeploy customers in construction, energy, agriculture, and more to deploy and orchestrate both aerial and ground robots on their job sites.

This acquisition will make physical workflow automation possible, creating more efficient and safer workplaces. [Read more…] about DroneDeploy acquires Rocos to ‘accelerate job site automation’

Kiwibot and Sodexo launch robotic food delivery services to three university campuses

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Kiwibot, a robotic last-mile delivery company, is partnering with Sodexo, a food services and facilities management company, to expand its robotic fleet to “drive the future of smart university campuses”.

This August, the two companies will make robot deliveries available at three campuses in the US:

  • New Mexico State University;
  • Loyola Marymount University, California; and
  • Gonzaga University, Washington.

Kiwibot says it offers full remote and in-field customer support to businesses and integrates with any business’s point-of-sale to distribute their food products via “powerful, cute-looking robots”. [Read more…] about Kiwibot and Sodexo launch robotic food delivery services to three university campuses

Colorado launches ‘America’s largest fleet of autonomous, electric shuttles’

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Autonomous Vehicles Colorado (AvCo), a program designed to improve public transportation using advanced technologies, says it has launched “America’s largest fleet of low-speed, autonomous electric shuttles in multiple cities across Colorado”.

Service in the first of three locations officially launched a couple of days ago at Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado.

For at least the next year, the autonomous shuttle buses will connect Mines students, faculty, staff, and the general public with key destinations in the city and around campus that currently lack convenient mobility options. [Read more…] about Colorado launches ‘America’s largest fleet of autonomous, electric shuttles’

Starship Robots to launch almost 100 delivery robots at multiple new college campuses

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Starship Technologies, a provider of autonomous delivery services, says it will begin its robotic delivery services on four additional college campuses:

  • University of Illinois Chicago (UIC);
  • University of Kentucky (UK);
  • University of Nevada, Reno (UNR); and
  • Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Daytona Beach, Florida campus.

These campuses join the list of college campuses across the US where Starship robots will continue to provide deliveries this fall with its global fleet of over 1,000 robots. [Read more…] about Starship Robots to launch almost 100 delivery robots at multiple new college campuses

Startup business Q-CTRL forms group to research ‘quantum sensors’ among other new technologies

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Q-CTRL, a startup that applies the principles of control engineering to make quantum technology useful, has formated a technical advisory board drawing top talent from a diverse range of disciplines to accelerate the industry’s development.

The technical advisory board will provide strategic advice to steer Q-CTRL’s efforts in developing next-generation quantum control technologies in support of both quantum computing and quantum sensing applications. [Read more…] about Startup business Q-CTRL forms group to research ‘quantum sensors’ among other new technologies

FedEx implements Berkshire Grey’s robotic system for small package processing

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FedEx Ground, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp, has recently implemented Berkshire Grey’s Robotic Product Sortation and Identification (RPSi) systems at its station in Queens, New York.

Berkshire Grey, a developer of Intelligent Enterprise Robotics solutions, executed the RPSi systems to robotically sort the thousands of small packages that arrive daily in bulk into containers bound for other specific hubs and stations across the FedEx Ground network.

FedEx Ground plans to install additional Berkshire Grey RPSi systems at sortation facilities in Las Vegas, Nev., and Columbus, Ohio, in the coming months. [Read more…] about FedEx implements Berkshire Grey’s robotic system for small package processing