Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

Sam Francis

New study: Standards increase economic growth and help companies access foreign markets

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A new study conducted in the Nordic countries shows that standards are associated with 28 percent of GDP growth, according to its proponents.

Companies benefit from standards the most by getting access to new foreign markets and ensuring the quality of their products. A vast majority of the respondents, 87 percent, consider that standardisation plays a key role in their future business plans.

Standardisation is a key to a well-functioning, economically prospering and sustainable society. It is also a way to increase economic growth.

These conclusions can be made from the results of the new study, The Influence of Standards on the Nordic Economies.  [Read more…] about New study: Standards increase economic growth and help companies access foreign markets

InterDrone adds content and networking events for key unmanned aerial vehicles sectors

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InterDrone, the international drone conference and exposition, has further expanded its enterprise-specific content with the addition of the “Enterprise After Hours” and vertical-specific tracks throughout the show.

InterDrone, which is the largest commercial drone show in North America, will be held September 5-7 at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, and is expected to draw more than 3,500 unmanned aerial vehicles professionals from around the world.

The Enterprise After Hours will take place in the evening on Wednesday, September 5, and are concurrent special networking events with dedicated rooms and discussion in the following verticals:

  • construction;
  • aggregates and mining;
  • inspection, which will include both energy and infrastructure inspection;
  • precision agriculture;
  • public safety; and
  • surveying and mapping.

[Read more…] about InterDrone adds content and networking events for key unmanned aerial vehicles sectors

OhmniLabs launches ‘first’ open telepresence robotics platform

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OhmniLabs, a Silicon Valley-based robotics company, has launched what it claims is “the first open telepresence robotics platform”. 

Called the Ohmni DevKit, the tools are designed to enable faster, cheaper, and easier development of custom robotics applications built on top of telepresence.

The new Ohmni DevKit is based on the affordable, production-grade Ohmni telepresence robot and is designed for maximum hardware and software extensibility.  [Read more…] about OhmniLabs launches ‘first’ open telepresence robotics platform

ZF launches essentially driverless forklift truck

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Automotive technology developer ZF Friedrichshafen has launched a forklift truck which is basically driverless.

The company calls the vehicle a “highly automated forklift” which can “see, think and act”.

ZF says it transferred expertise from different departments from across the company to the industrial technology division in order to develop the new forklift.  [Read more…] about ZF launches essentially driverless forklift truck

Infineon invests $2 billion in new semiconductor factory in Austria

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Infineon Technologies says it is preparing for long-term growth by investing €1.6 billion ($1.9 billion) in a new 300-millimeter chip factory in Villach, Austria.

Infineon says its new factory for power semiconductors will consolidate its position as the “market and technology leader” in this segment, and will create the foundation for long-term, profitable growth.

A fully automated chip factory for manufacturing 300-millimeter thin wafers will be constructed at the Villach location in Austria alongside the existing production facility.  [Read more…] about Infineon invests $2 billion in new semiconductor factory in Austria

Smart cities: Bosch and e.Go bring free automated parking to Aachen, Germany

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This is what stress-free parking will look like in the future: pull up, step out of the car, pull out your smartphone, and use an app to tell your car to go park.

This future will arrive in Aachen before the year is out, when the new parking garage for the production engineering cluster on the RWTH Aachen campus, built by Immofinanz in 2018, is equipped with Bosch automated valet parking.

Now Bosch and the Aachen-based automaker e.Go have agreed to collaborate on this.  [Read more…] about Smart cities: Bosch and e.Go bring free automated parking to Aachen, Germany

Plus One Robotics exits stealth mode, launches picking system and enters funding round

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Plus One Robotics, a 3D vision and controls developer for robotic automation in the logistics and e-commerce markets, has exited stealth to announce the commercial release of the PickOne Perception system, an integrated 3D vision solution for imaging parcels and generating robot pick points.

Plus One Robotics has partnered with leaders in robot manufacturing, system integration, and e-commerce to develop this technology for the order fulfillment and parcel shipping markets.

Rising consumer demand for shorter delivery times has increased the need for improved efficiency in sortation, induction, and singulation of the millions of packages which must be handled each day.  [Read more…] about Plus One Robotics exits stealth mode, launches picking system and enters funding round

Deliver: Europe’s biggest e-commerce and logistics marketplace

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It’s been called the “Davos for logistics in e-commerce”, and Robotics and Automation News is very pleased to be an official media partner for the event.

Davos is, of course, the mountainous place in Switzerland where every year the world’s most powerful and influential leaders from politics, business and other sectors meet and discuss the future of the world.

Similarly, the e-logistics event Deliver gathers together global leaders from the world of logistics and e-commerce.  [Read more…] about Deliver: Europe’s biggest e-commerce and logistics marketplace

Plex launches mobile app for manufacturing management

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Plex Systems, a provider of cloud enterprise resource planning and manufacturing execution system software for manufacturing, has released Plex Mobile, a new, native mobile app which the company says is “purpose-built to address the needs of manufacturing professionals”.

The app works as a seamless extension of the Plex Manufacturing Cloud, enabling a manufacturer’s workforce to handle key business-critical shop floor and administrative responsibilities, and access and share relevant information real-time from mobile devices.

Plex Mobile will be available for download through the Apple Store, Google Play and Windows Marketplace in July 2018.  [Read more…] about Plex launches mobile app for manufacturing management

Opinion: How artificial intelligence can help the food industry

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By Stephanie Duvault-Alexandre, consultant at software provider FuturMaster

There’s a lot of talk about artificial intelligence as the best thing since sliced bread. But what does AI really mean for the food industry and what are the implications?

According to a report by Accenture, 85 per cent of organisations have planned to adopt digital or AI technologies in their supply chains during the last year. It’s clearly becoming big business across industries. The value of AI is estimated to be worth $36.8 billion globally by 2025 predicts US market intelligence firm Tractica.

AI is not necessarily a concept that’s all that new. Various names refer to more or less the same thing. For example, machine learning is used to steer self-driving cars. AI is proving instrumental in healthcare for identifying and diagnosing complicated ailments.  [Read more…] about Opinion: How artificial intelligence can help the food industry