Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

Sam Francis

Tomahawk Robotics raises $2.4 million in seed funding

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Startup company Tomahawk Robotics, which aims to bring “advanced robotic control systems to enterprise markets”, has raised a $2.4 million seed round investment from leading venture capital firms and angel investors.

Participating in the oversubscribed round are: Mosley Venture Partners, which led the round, Naples Technology Ventures, Scout Ventures and Stout Street Capital.

This initial investment round will be used to further evolve Tomahawk Robotics’ Kinesis platform and expand the product development and engineering teams to address immediate deliverables for key customers.  [Read more…] about Tomahawk Robotics raises $2.4 million in seed funding

Industrial IoT startup MachineMetrics raises $11.3 million in funding

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Industrial IoT startup MachineMetrics has raised $11.3 million in Series A funding. The company says the funding will enable it to “continue leading the endeavor to bring analytics to manufacturing”.

In a circular, the company says: “We intend to use every penny to give our customers a world-class experience through faster growth, focused innovation, quick product updates, custom features, improved service – and that’s just the start.”

Most importantly, adds the company, the funding has provided it with the opportunity to “preserve the secret sauce that has made MachineMetrics who we are today”.  [Read more…] about Industrial IoT startup MachineMetrics raises $11.3 million in funding

Infineon ships ‘world’s first industrial-grade eSIM in miniaturized package’

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Infineon has started shipping what it says is “the world’s first industrial-grade embedded SIM in a miniaturized package”.

Infineon’s new chip is than 3mm x 3mm and is designed for a wide range of applications.

Machine-to-machine communication in the internet of things requires reliable data collection and uninterrupted data transmission.  [Read more…] about Infineon ships ‘world’s first industrial-grade eSIM in miniaturized package’

‘Silicon Saxony’ aims to build platform for ‘next-generation’ automotive electronics and sensor technology

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A consortium of seven technology networks with a total of 200 companies and research facilities have joined forces in the Federal State of Saxony, in Germany, with the objective of developing new sensor technology concepts and launching them on the market.

Spanning various industrial branches and technologies, the focus of the initiative will, for example, be on applications for self-driving passenger cars, lorries, buses, and trains, for the implementation of Industry 4.0 principles in mechanical engineering, and for medical engineering.

The consortium says Saxony is “unique throughout Europe”, and is an Innovation cluster for automotive electronics and sensor technology systems.  [Read more…] about ‘Silicon Saxony’ aims to build platform for ‘next-generation’ automotive electronics and sensor technology

AI, edge computing and AR/VR are ‘key enablers’ of future automation, says Frost

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Artificial intelligence, edge computing and augmented and virtual reality are “key enablers” for the future of automation and smart factories, according to new white papers by Frost & Sullivan.

“The world of manufacturing has never been as dynamic as it is today,” says the research consultancy.

Automation powered by AI, edge computing, and augmented and virtual reality are “driving a new chapter in the industrial revolution”, says the company.  [Read more…] about AI, edge computing and AR/VR are ‘key enablers’ of future automation, says Frost

Tech Soft 3D enables ‘full 3D CAD access’ for augmented and virtual reality applications

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Tech Soft 3D, a provider of software development tools and 3D PDF solutions to the engineering software industry, has introduced augmented and virtual reality support for Hoops Visualize, its graphics engine for developing high-performance applications.

Tech Soft says Hoops Visualize now enables rapid development and deployment of 3D engineering applications on the HTC Vive, Microsoft HoloLens, Oculus Rift and Meta 2.

When coupled with the rich access to 3D CAD data through Hoops Exchange, Tech Soft says software companies have a “powerful set of tools to bring their next generation of engineering software to market”.  [Read more…] about Tech Soft 3D enables ‘full 3D CAD access’ for augmented and virtual reality applications

Driving Agility and Flexibility in Material Handling Workflows

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By Daniel Theobald, CIO and co-founder of Vecna Robotics

Self-driving vehicles and their systems are driving agility and flexibility in a time of unprecedented business and labor demands. This is part two of a four-part series focused on robotic integration in the material handling value stream.

Increased customer expectations are affecting every part of the supply chain. People are spending an unprecedented amount of money, and they want more options and quicker service.

This is expanding the range of inventory, increasing inventory turnover rates from days to hours, and changing expectations from free two-day to free within the hour delivery.  [Read more…] about Driving Agility and Flexibility in Material Handling Workflows

Universal Robots celebrates 10 years of selling ‘world’s first commercially viable collaborative robot’

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Universal Robots is marking a decade of pioneering collaborative robots, now believed to be the fastest-growing segment of industrial automation.

The company says it is “poised for continued growth” as its cobots continue to lower the automation barrier within a wide range of industries.

When Linatex, a Danish supplier of technical plastics and rubber for industrial applications, bought a UR5 robot arm from Universal Robots to automate CNC machine tending in December 2008, they did something unthinkable.  [Read more…] about Universal Robots celebrates 10 years of selling ‘world’s first commercially viable collaborative robot’

Mass customisation makes itself at home alongside mass manufacturing

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While many people might credit Henry Ford with the creation of the assembly line, it was actually one of his employees, Charles Sorensen, who “examined the relationship between people, machines, tooling, and products and organized them to achieve a continuous flow of production”, according to an article by Daniel Theobald, published today on Robotics and Automation News.

Sorensen’s innovation – albeit in Ford’s employ – could be seen as the first example of a cyber-physical system which optimised, indeed launched, a new era of mass manufacturing which emphasised efficiency and productivity.

Sorensen’s assembly line enabled Ford to build a Model T car in two-and-a-half hours instead of the 12 it had previously taken – without compromising quality, and possibly even improving it.  [Read more…] about Mass customisation makes itself at home alongside mass manufacturing

Robotic Solutions: The Next Phase of Lean Manufacturing

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By Daniel Theobald, CIO and co-founder of Vecna Robotics

This article takes a deep dive into the history and present state of Lean Manufacturing in materials handling. It focuses on the pioneers and innovations that brought us to the current state of material flow and the practice of waste elimination. It is part one in a four-part series focused on robotic integration in the material handling value stream.

Lean Manufacturing reduces production time and costs by eliminating waste (non-value-added activities). Its origins trace back to the concept of interchangeable parts; its evolution brings us into the term and process we know today.

Lean Manufacturing was molded by leading scientists, industrial engineers, and innovative organizations such as Ford and Toyota. The core concept behind Lean Manufacturing, waste elimination, is a valuable strategy to increase the bottom line while speeding up the rate of production. [Read more…] about Robotic Solutions: The Next Phase of Lean Manufacturing