Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

Archives for December 16, 2021

Seegrid partners with Applied Intuition for warehouse robot simulations

by Leave a Comment

Seegrid, a maker of autonomous mobile robots for material handling, and Applied Intuition, a simulation and software tools provider for autonomous vehicle development, have reached an agreement to collaborate on creating 3D virtual warehouses, factories, and distribution centers in support of accelerating advancements in autonomous technology for the material handling industry.

The partnership involves a significant investment by Seegrid and will enable Seegrid to quickly validate product innovations in more environments and use cases across the supply chain than feasible with manual testing.

Seegrid launched several new robot models in 2021 including the company’s newest AMR, Palion Lift, which the company says is “the only autonomous lift truck in the market with industry-leading 3D perception”. [Read more…] about Seegrid partners with Applied Intuition for warehouse robot simulations

NXP and Foxconn agree strategic partnership to accelerate automotive innovation

by Leave a Comment

NXP, a semiconductor company with a strong presence in the automotive market, has agreed a strategic partnership with Foxconn Industrial Internet, a subsidy company of the Foxconn group, to “transform the car into the ultimate edge device”.

NXP will provide FII with its comprehensive portfolio of automotive technologies.

The initial phase of the joint project will focus on the development of a full digital cockpit solution, based on the NXP i.MX 8 QuadMax. [Read more…] about NXP and Foxconn agree strategic partnership to accelerate automotive innovation

Fugro’s robotic space operations complex to be located in Perth, Australia

by Leave a Comment

Fugro has confirmed that its Australian Space Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Control Complex (SpAARC) will be located in the heart of downtown Perth’s central business district.

Housed in Western Australia’s largest telecommunications exchange, and thanks to an ongoing partnership with Telstra, Fugro’s world-class facility will manage robotics and remote operations in Australia, around the world and in space.

SpAARC will support the translation of terrestrial capabilities into space, while also providing innovative remote solutions here on earth. [Read more…] about Fugro’s robotic space operations complex to be located in Perth, Australia

Hexagon unveils automated platform to accelerate autonomous robotic quality assurance

by Leave a Comment

Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division, which supplies smart manufacturing technologies to giants from Volkswagen to Boeing, has unveiled its HxGN Robotic Automation, which it describes as a “pioneering robotic programming and control software” that enables non-specialist quality professionals to program industrial robots to perform fully automated quality inspection.

The platform enables manufacturers to equip greenfield factories or retrofit existing production lines with state-of-the-art autonomous optical inspection cells, accelerating time to market by eliminating historic bottlenecks while providing more complete data direct from the production line as products are made.

HxGN says its robotic automation enables manufacturers to accelerate adoption of Industry 4.0 by intelligently devising optimal inspection routines in a single step; a task that would typically demand significant time and attention from both a metrology and robotics professional. [Read more…] about Hexagon unveils automated platform to accelerate autonomous robotic quality assurance

Nvidia brings AI perception to ROS developers

by Leave a Comment

Nvidia has unveiled initiatives to deliver a suite of perception technologies to the Robot Operating System (ROS) developer community.

The chipmaker says these initiatives will “reduce development time and improve performance for developers seeking to incorporate cutting-edge computer vision and AI/ML functionality into their ROS-based robotics applications”.

Nvidia and Open Robotics, the organisation which maintains ROS, have entered into an agreement to accelerate ROS 2 performance on Nvidia’s Jetson edge AI platform and GPU-based systems and to enable seamless simulation interoperability between Open Robotics’s Ignition Gazebo and Nvidia Isaac Sim on Omniverse. [Read more…] about Nvidia brings AI perception to ROS developers

Engineers at Columbia University invent robotic lasers that cook food

by Leave a Comment

Engineers at Columbia University have invented software-controlled robotic lasers that cook food with “unparalleled precision”, retaining more moisture, and creating an entirely new, customized way to cook a tasty meal. (See videos below.)

Imagine having your own digital personal chef; ready to cook up whatever you want; able to tailor the shape, texture, and flavor just for you; and it’s all at the push of a button. Columbia engineers have been working on doing just that, using lasers for cooking and 3D printing technology for assembling foods.

Under the guidance of Mechanical Engineering Professor Hod Lipson, the “Digital Food” team of his Creative Machines Lab has been building a fully autonomous digital personal chef. Lipson’s group has been developing 3D-printed foods since 2007. Since then, food printing has progressed to multi-ingredient prints and has been explored by researchers and a few commercial companies. [Read more…] about Engineers at Columbia University invent robotic lasers that cook food

Freebirds and Now Cuisine partner to develop robotic kiosks to serve hot meals

by Leave a Comment

Restaurant technology developer Now Cuisine and the Freebirds burrito company are partnering to build robotic kiosks that serve hot meals.

Now Cuisine and Freebirds World Burrito say the pilot program will be available at new locations throughout the Dallas area using Now Cuisine’s robotic Takeout Stations.

Now Cuisine’s Takeout Stations are compact, fully-automated, AI-enabled kiosks that can be placed nearly anywhere to serve freshly made-to-order hot meals in minutes, 24/7. Freebirds has issued a purchase order to Now Cuisine which will allow its food to be served in multiple Takeout Stations in Texas as part of the pilot. [Read more…] about Freebirds and Now Cuisine partner to develop robotic kiosks to serve hot meals

Russia’s Sber Bank establishes new science award with $820,000 prize money

by Leave a Comment

Sber, Russia’s largest banking group, has created a competition to find innovative startup companies in the country, pledging to give approximately $270,000 in prize money to the winners.

It’s officially the “Year of Science and Technology” in Russia, so Sber decided to mark it by establishing the Sber Science Award, which is planned to be an annual science award to support the research and development efforts that have a considerable potential to impact the progress of science and technology.

Three winners will receive 20 million roubles (approximately $270,000) in prizes. The total prize pool of the science award reaches 60 million roubles (approximately $820,000). [Read more…] about Russia’s Sber Bank establishes new science award with $820,000 prize money