Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

Sam Francis

Schnuck to expand integration of Simbe Robotics’ shelf-auditing robot to ‘at least 15 stores’

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Schnuck Markets and Simbe Robotics have agreed to expand the integration of Tally, the autonomous shelf-scanning robot, to at least 15 select Schnucks’ stores.

Schnucks and Simbe kicked off a pilot in July 2017, when Tally began capturing deeper, real-time insights into on-shelf operations in three Schnucks locations.

As a result of the initial pilot’s success, Schnucks is increasing the scope of the partnership to bring at least 15 Tally robots to key stores, giving the retailer a tech-forward competitive advantage.  [Read more…] about Schnuck to expand integration of Simbe Robotics’ shelf-auditing robot to ‘at least 15 stores’

Nvidia says its deep learning research is putting robotic picking within reach

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Picking the right items from a disparate range of objects is a difficult challenge for a robot, but Nvidia says it is making progress. 

As another step toward enabling robots to work effectively in complex environments, robotics researchers from Nvidia says it has developed a novel deep learning-based system that allows a robot to perceive household objects in its environment for the purpose of grasping the objects and interacting with them.

With this technique, the robot is able to perform simple pick-and-place operations on known household objects, such as handing an object to a person or grasping an object out of a person’s hand. 
[Read more…] about Nvidia says its deep learning research is putting robotic picking within reach

Automotive robotics market to surpass $14 billion by 2026

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The automotive robotics market is anticipated to reach over $14 billion by 2026 according to a new research published by Polaris Market Research.

In 2017, the articulated robots dominated the global automotive robotics market, in terms of revenue. Asia-Pacific is expected to be the leading contributor to the global automotive robotics market revenue in 2017.

There has been an increase in the demand of automotive robotics across the world owing to greater need for automation of manufacturing processes.  [Read more…] about Automotive robotics market to surpass $14 billion by 2026

Norway postal service hires robot to deliver letters

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The Norwegian postal service. Posten-Norge, has hired a robot to deliver letters and parcels.

The company supplying the robot, Buddy Mobility, says: “Our robot provides Posten with operational cost savings to offset revenue losses from dramatically decreasing mail volumes.

“At the same time, the robot offers new revenue streams around package and parcel delivery.”  [Read more…] about Norway postal service hires robot to deliver letters

Fast-growing exoskeleton market set to exceed $5 billion in annual revenue, says report

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The fast-growing exoskeleton market is forecast to exceed $5 billion in annual revenue over the next 10 years, according to consultants at ABI Research.

Across a range of applications, exoskeletons are increasingly being introduced to augment human capability; for assistive purposes in the workplace, and for enabling and rehabilitative purposes for the healthcare market.

Though a technology that has been talked about since the Sixties, exoskeletons are only now beginning to demonstrate their practical value. As of 2018, global shipments stand at 7 thousand units with a global hardware revenue of $192 million.  [Read more…] about Fast-growing exoskeleton market set to exceed $5 billion in annual revenue, says report

Insight: Building the future-proofed robot

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By Kyle Fazzari, software engineer and roboticist at Canonical, the company behind the Ubuntu operating system

There’s no such thing as an overnight success. Time and again, it’s the desire to tweak, modify and update which separates a great idea from real-world achievements.

With Apple as the first business to cross the $1 trillion threshold, there’s no better example of this than the iPhone. As a singular product it still doesn’t boast the best camera, the most storage, or fastest processor on the market. So where does the secret to longevity lie? And what can robotics learn from Apple’s flagship product?  [Read more…] about Insight: Building the future-proofed robot

Christie’s in New York to auction painting produced by artificial intelligence for around $10,000

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A painting produced by artificial intelligence will be auctioned by Christie’s in an auction tomorrow – Thursday, 25th October 2018 – in New York.

The portrait, called Edmond de Belamy (main picture), is believed to be the first piece of AI art to go under the hammer at a major auction house and is created by French art collective “Obvious”.

The AI system compares its own portraits against ones made by human artists and works on them until it is unable to tell the difference between the two.  [Read more…] about Christie’s in New York to auction painting produced by artificial intelligence for around $10,000

Bright Machines raises $180 million for ‘software-defined and totally automated manufacturing’

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Startup company Bright Machines has raised almost $180 million in Series A funding to expand its “software-defined manufacturing” and “totally automated manufacturing” offerings.

Bright Machines describes software-defined manufacturing as the application of artificial intelligence to the $7 trillion manufacturing industry.

The term “software-defined” is generally applied to computer networks, in the reasonably well-known phrase software-defined networks or networking.  [Read more…] about Bright Machines raises $180 million for ‘software-defined and totally automated manufacturing’

Swisslog and Savioke introduce new autonomous service robot to healthcare industry

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Swisslog Healthcare, in conjunction with robotics company, Savioke, have launched Relay robot, a new autonomous service robot for application in healthcare settings.

Initially deployed for pharmacy and laboratory pick-up and delivery, the Relay robot helps hospitals optimize labor productivity.

Cory Kwarta, North America president, Swisslog Healthcare, says: “Today’s healthcare environment challenges nurses, lab techs, and pharmacists to decide how they spend their valuable time.  [Read more…] about Swisslog and Savioke introduce new autonomous service robot to healthcare industry

Opinion: Environmental Protection Agency considering backdoor subsidies for ‘talking car’ tech

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By Mark Scribner, transportation policy expert, Competetive Enterprise Institute

During the final days of the Obama administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed its “talking car” mandate.

This would have required new vehicles to come equipped with radios to communicate information to other vehicles in order to convey hazard warnings to drivers.

This was to use a specific communications protocol known as dedicated short-range communications. The proposal was deeply flawed in numerous ways, as CEI pointed out at the time.  [Read more…] about Opinion: Environmental Protection Agency considering backdoor subsidies for ‘talking car’ tech