Where Innovation Meets Imagination
Siemens has agreed to buy application developer Mendix for $697 million.
The engineering giant says Mendix will continue as a distinct company and provide the “low-code” cloud software on which it has built its reputation.
The closing of transaction is expected in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019. [Read more…] about Siemens to buy Mendix for $700 million to ‘strengthen digital leadership’
A startup company called TerraClear has raised $5.5 million to develop a rock-picking robot for agricultural applications.
The funding has been raised from friends and family, according to GeekWire.com.
Co-founder Brent Frei says the money will be used to develop prototypes of the machine and build the team. [Read more…] about TerraClear raises $5.5 million to develop rock-picking robot for agriculture
D&W Fine Pack, a leader in foodservice packaging, is investing in excess of $8 million to further modernize its straw, cutlery and kitting operations, located in Fountain Inn, South Carolina.
The improvements are part of an ongoing commitment to producing “the most innovative, cost-effective product offerings to support stock and custom applications in the marketplace”, says the company.
D&W claims to be the country’s largest straw manufacturer, and is modifying its 650,000-square-foot plant to meet growing demand for utensils and straws within the foodservice industry. [Read more…] about D&W Fine Pack invests $8 million into expanding facility and adding more automation technology
Neural nirvana. Or ignorance is bliss. An opinion piece.
Theoretically speaking, computers can be programmed to mimic everything that a human says or does – or thinks. That might not be the reality now, but most people would probably accept that it’s only a matter of time before we see a fully-functioning humanoid robot, cyborg or android that is indistinguishable from the average human.
But even when they are able to copy us in every way, walking like us, talking like us, and so on, can they, in theory, become conscious?
One problem with answering that question properly is that not everyone agrees on the definition of consciousness. [Read more…] about Artificial intelligence versus natural stupidity: What will save us when the robots take over?
The market for the heavy payload robotic arm is set to grow to $13.6 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Allied Market Research.
The research company says the large robots sector is currently worth around $10 billion.
If the forecast is accurate, it shows the staggering increase in demand for industrial robots of all types. [Read more…] about Heavy payload robotic arm market to grow to $14 billion by 2025
New research by the Max Planck Institute suggests it was ecological changes that ended the Neanderthals
Neanderthals have generally had a bad press since they were discovered more than a century ago.
Pictured as little more than apes, our closest human cousin has always been pictured as a stupid brute – almost twice our size and several times our strength – who failed to adapt to circumstances as cleverly as homo sapiens did.
One widely-taught example was that Neanderthals could not think ahead and, therefore, did not understand or perceive seasons and annual movements of animals, so did not plan for them. [Read more…] about Neanderthals may have had larger brains but environmental changes favoured homo sapiens
The worlds of biology and robotics are increasingly merging and the end result will inevitably be the creation of hellish creatures that will be called “androids”, “cyborgs” or even simply “robots”.
And with the growing capabilities of additive manufacturing or 3D printing which use sophisticated materials and techniques, the knowledge and the tools will be more widely available to create these creatures more easily than ever before.
In a recent development, a brand new, combined biomedical engineering and robotics centre was opened in Australia. [Read more…] about Biology and robotics enter into an unholy union to bring forth nightmare creatures from the very depths of hell
Software maker Autodesk is using machine learning and lessons learned from Lego to develop robotic systems for modular assembly in the real world.
Lego, as most people will know, is the company which makes small toy bricks and other objects which can be connected to each other in simple ways to create complex structures, such as toy houses, cars and so on.
Most adults will have played with Lego at some point in their lives, and the companies toys are still popular with today’s kids.
The Lego world has always interested other companies, some of which have copied the to create modular systems in many areas, including large-scale real building construction. [Read more…] about Autodesk uses Lego method to develop modular assembly system for real factories
A Kongsberg-made robot has discovered a 300-year-old Spanish shipwreck in the Caribbean Sea which could be worth $17 billion.
This made us wonder whether such autonomous underwater vessels could help more light on the ancient world, of more than 3,000 or even 30,000 years ago.
Deep sea divers and archaeologists have found literally hundreds of complex architectural structures in the world’s oceans, hundreds of feet below the surface of the water. [Read more…] about Robot treasure hunter finds $17 billion worth of booty at the bottom of the ocean
OpenBCI has launched a new version of its brain-computer interface as well as new electrodes which connect to the device.
The device itself resembles a cycling helmet and measure brainwaves, or electroencephalogram data, to use the technical term.
The company also provides software and a biosensing board, all of which enable users to monitor the electrical activity of their brains. [Read more…] about Brain-computer interfaces: Devices to enable you to control robots with your thoughts
