Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

David Edwards

Opinion: Robots are proving themselves now more than ever

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By Rhys Davies, product manager for robotics, Snapcraft and Ubuntu Appliances at Canonical, the publisher of Ubuntu

The year was 1923. Forty-two thousand people in Cincinnati signed a petition to force all cars in the city to have governing devices that would shut off the engine at 25 miles per hour.

The proposal was defeated in an election referendum, but it illustrates the anxiety and suspicion that the automobile ran into around the world soon after its introduction. Some people just thought horses were better and safer.

History is littered with examples of initial skepticism around radically new technologies. When the operatorless elevator was invented in the late 19th century, many people were terrified. People in the 1930s worried telephones would electrocute them. [Read more…] about Opinion: Robots are proving themselves now more than ever

Rozum Café develops collaborative robotic system for coffee-making and serving

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Rozum Robotics has developed a collaborative robotic system for coffee-making and serving, calling it Rozum Café. (See video below.)

The labor shortage is a common challenge in manufacturing. Human-robot collaboration is a promising solution to this problem.

Production lines, where a human and a robot can work shoulder by shoulder, unite robotic efficiency and human creativity. [Read more…] about Rozum Café develops collaborative robotic system for coffee-making and serving

Airbus adds new satellite to its SpaceDataHighway constellation

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Aerospace company Airbus has added a new satellite to its SpaceDataHighway constellation.

The company says its EDRS-C satellite, the second node of Airbus’ SpaceDataHighway constellation, has completed its commissioning tests and is now ready to start operational services.

Following its successful launch in August 2019 and manoeuvring to its geostationary orbital slot at 31 degrees east, in-orbit testing has been executed and laser communication links have been established to the Copernicus programme’s Sentinel Earth observation satellites. [Read more…] about Airbus adds new satellite to its SpaceDataHighway constellation

Airbus unveils autonomous helicopter

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Aerospace giant Airbus has unveiled an autonomous helicopter.

The prototype of Airbus Helicopters’ VSR700 unmanned aerial system has performed its first free flight. The VSR700 performed a 10-minute flight at a drone test centre near Aix-en-Provence in the south of France.

The company says this is a “significant step” in the programme following the first flight in November 2019 when the prototype was tethered to comply with regulatory requirements. [Read more…] about Airbus unveils autonomous helicopter

FedEx introduces robots to ‘most difficult’ job in sorting facility

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FedEx has installed industrial robotic arms to do what is considered the “most difficult” job to automate in a sorting facility in Memphis, USA. 

As shown in the Wall Street Journal video below, FedEx has integrated Yaskawa robots and software from Plus One Robotics into a robotic system that performs a task which involves picking up parcels or envelopes from a tray and placing them on a conveyor.

While this is a simple job for a human, automating this step in a warehouse has proved very difficult in the past. [Read more…] about FedEx introduces robots to ‘most difficult’ job in sorting facility

Mighty Buildings aims to automate 80 percent of construction process

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Mighty Buildings, a startup providing automated solutions for modern home building, has launched out of stealth after graduating from Y Combinator in winter 2018 and raising a total of $30 million from Khosla Ventures, Y Combinator, SV Angel, CoreVC, and others. 

The company says it uses a combination of 3D printing and prefabrication techniques to create a production-as-a-service platform that will “automate up to 80 percent of the building process”.

Mighty Buildings says it has a unique approach that is both project- and design-agnostic, and can create “everything from small complex components to panels to full-size volumetric modules”. [Read more…] about Mighty Buildings aims to automate 80 percent of construction process

Big investor dumps all its Rolls-Royce stock

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ValueAct, a San Francisco-based investment company with more than $16 billion of assets under management, has sold all its shares it Rolls-Royce, according to a report on the Financial Times website.

ValueAct is said by Reuters to have at one stage held almost 10 percent of Rolls-Royce entire stock, which currently capitalizes at approximately $6.3 billion.

One of the most famous names in the industry, Rolls-Royce is one of the world’s leading suppliers of aircraft engines. [Read more…] about Big investor dumps all its Rolls-Royce stock

Trump to reimpose tariffs on aluminum from Canada

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US President Donald Trump says he has signed a document that will lead to the reimposition of tariffs on aluminum imported from Canada. 

Trump made the announcement during a visit to a Whirlpool factory in Clyde, Ohion, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Trump said: “Canada was taking advantage of us, as usual. The aluminum business was being decimated by Canada, very unfair to our jobs and our great aluminum workers.” [Read more…] about Trump to reimpose tariffs on aluminum from Canada

Mercedes introduces digital manufacturing platform for its plants around the world

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Automotive giant Daimler Mercedes-Benz says it has introduced a new digitalisation initiative which makes “complex vehicle production completely transparent and maximises its efficiency”.

The new digital ecosystem – dubbed Mercedes-Benz Cars Operations 360, or MO360 – comprises a family of software applications which are connected via shared interfaces and standardized user interfaces.

These applications use real-time data to support the worldwide vehicle production of Mercedes-Benz Cars. [Read more…] about Mercedes introduces digital manufacturing platform for its plants around the world

Flylogix and Cambridge Consultants to use Iridium’s satellites for drone platform

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Flylogix and Cambridge Consultants have agreed a collaboration that will use Iridium’s satellite communications to safely control unmanned aerial vehicles from a central control hub.

This will enable Flylogix to move from local drone piloting at the airfield to centrally controlled operations, massively increasing the resilience of their services to offshore installations.

The Flylogix service reduces the cost, risk and environmental impact of gathering data from offshore exploration and production activities. [Read more…] about Flylogix and Cambridge Consultants to use Iridium’s satellites for drone platform