Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

Sam Francis

Wood that’s twice as expensive as gold? Really?

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Apparently, first-grade agarwood costs $100,000 per kilogram, which is almost twice the price of gold, currently at around $60,000 per kg.

This is according to an interesting video published on Business Insider, which we have embedded below for your viewing pleasure (hopefully it will work).

No obvious connection to robotics and automation, although we did publish an article about using robots in the furniture-making sector recently, but it’s just one of those startling facts about the world we live in. [Read more…] about Wood that’s twice as expensive as gold? Really?

Scientists will use newly discovered ‘cyborg material’ to invade our brains, merge with our thoughts and turn us all into mindless zombie robots, says report

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Scientists will use newly discovered “cyborg material” to invade our brains, merge with our thoughts and turn us all into mindless zombie robots, according to a report on The Daily Star website.

The sinister “bio-synthetic material” that could end humanity as we know it was presented recently at the American Chemical Society Fall 2020 virtual expo.

Experts claim it will pave the way to integrating electronics with the body to create “cyborg” beings, reports The Star, which adds that the new breakthrough material will enable human brains to merge with artificial intelligence. [Read more…] about Scientists will use newly discovered ‘cyborg material’ to invade our brains, merge with our thoughts and turn us all into mindless zombie robots, says report

Truly gigantic farm robot as big as a football field being tested in Arizona desert

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A colossally humungous robot that looks at least as big as a football field has been unveiled by a group of scientists who clearly understand scale. (See video below.)

Called the “Field Scanalyzer”, shown in dazzling pictures and video on the Wall Street Journal website, the totally titanic machine is described as “an automated robotic field phenotyping platform for detailed crop monitoring”.

Phenotyping is the process of predicting a crop’s phenotype – the observable physical properties of an organism – using only genetic information collected from genotyping or DNA sequencing. [Read more…] about Truly gigantic farm robot as big as a football field being tested in Arizona desert

Boeing to build four more satellites for SES’ space internet

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US aerospace giant Boeing has received a contract to build four additional 702X satellites from SES as the “space internet” provider increases the number of O3b mPower satellites in its Medium Earth Orbit to 11.  

These four additional O3b mPower satellites will enhance SES’s next-generation MEO constellation throughput and efficiency as well as expand its unique capabilities to deliver connectivity services ranging from 50 Mbps to multiple gigabits per second to a single user.

The system will allow telecommunications companies, mobile network operators, governments, enterprises, aircraft and ship operators, and more, to connect with their core network or extend cloud access worldwide. [Read more…] about Boeing to build four more satellites for SES’ space internet

Grenzebach contributes to award-winning intralogistics at Porsche in Leipzig

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In February of 2020, Porsche‘s production plant in Leipzig was awarded a logistics award by the German Association of the Automotive Industry. 

A Grenzebach automated guided vehicle solution for automated goods transport is part of the award-winning logistics concept.

In the complex sequential production for the Macan and Panamera models, 30 Grenzebach L1200S AGVs reliably supply seats and back seats in the final assembly stage. [Read more…] about Grenzebach contributes to award-winning intralogistics at Porsche in Leipzig

Brainy alien hunter obsessed with finding life on Mars

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A brainy alien-hunter is apparently obsessed with finding life on Mars. The Purdue scientist is playing a critical role in the 2020 NASA Mars rover mission.

Briony Horgan (main picture), associate professor of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at Purdue University, is working to determine whether we are alone in the universe or if life once existed on other planets such as Mars.

When the NASA Mars rover Perseverance launches in the next few weeks, it will travel to Jezero Crater, which preserves evidence of a time when rivers flowed on Mars. [Read more…] about Brainy alien hunter obsessed with finding life on Mars

Commercial cleaning robots using Brain OS log 2 million hours of autonomous operation

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Commercial cleaning robots which run Brain Corp’s operating system have racked up 2 million hours of autonomous operation.

Brain Corp, an artificial intelligence company which provides its “Brain OS” software to commercial cleaning robots, says it now powers “the world’s largest fleet of autonomous commercial mobile robots operating in public indoor spaces”, estimated to be more than 10,000.

The milestone was achieved earlier this month due in part to a recent surge in activity by retailers who are maximizing their use of Brain OS-powered cleaning robots in the wake of the Covid-19 health crisis. [Read more…] about Commercial cleaning robots using Brain OS log 2 million hours of autonomous operation

Top 20 programmable logic controller manufacturers

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Sometimes described as “the workhorse of industrial automation”, a programmable logic controller, or PLC, is a computing device that is specially designed for use in an industrial operation.

A PLC can take many shapes and sizes, but in most instances it does not look like a conventional desktop computer like the ones you find in offices or in homes – a PLC has no display screen, no hard drive, and no keyboard.

PLCs started out in the automotive manufacturing trade, although they can now be found in almost all sectors, where they tend to replace relays.

Relays are devices that essentially turn machines on and off, and are said to be time-consuming and complex to use compared to PLCs. Relays also require more operational downtime when they need to be reconfigured. PLCs are estimated by one research company to reduce downtime from 20 percent to about 4 percent. [Read more…] about Top 20 programmable logic controller manufacturers

Caterpillar acquires delivery robot maker Marble

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Caterpillar, the manufacturer of large-scale equipment for sectors such as construction, mining and transportation, has agreed to acquire Marble, a startup company that makes delivery robots.

According to a report on construction news website KHL.com, Caterpillar is looking to build on its work in autonomous mining vehicles, where it’s famous for using gigantic driverless dump trucks (see infographic below).

Innovations and developments gained through the Marble acquisition could help Caterpillar to supply a new generation of technology to its other markets. [Read more…] about Caterpillar acquires delivery robot maker Marble

Grote automates sandwich production using Stäubli robot to make one per second

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US-based company Grote specializes in automating production lines that slice, fill and cut sandwiches. Until recently, the upper and lower halves of the sandwich were put together manually. Now, Grote has managed to automate this process as well, using a Stäubli TX2-60 HE six-axis robot with wash-down capability.

Filling a sandwich is not a particularly arduous task. That is, unless it is being done on an industrial scale with a throughput of thousands of sandwiches per hour.

The raw materials – slices of sausage, cheese, tomatoes and lettuce – can be difficult to handle and the assembly process consists of many steps that can vary for each product. [Read more…] about Grote automates sandwich production using Stäubli robot to make one per second