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Omron partners with Techmetics Robotics to launch UVC disinfection robot

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The Asia-Pacific division of industrial automation giant Omron has forayed into UVC disinfection with the launch of its robot – LD UVC.

The robot is a co-creation with Techmetics Robotics, a provider of autonomous service robots, to “enable organisations fight the spread of infectious diseases effectively and conveniently”, says Omron.

The UVC light has been proven to be effective in breaking down the pathogens’ DNA and RNA beyond recovery, stopping them from replicating. [Read more…] about Omron partners with Techmetics Robotics to launch UVC disinfection robot

Fetch Robotics and Piedmont to launch autonomous disinfecting robot

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Fetch Robotics, a warehouse and cloud robotics company, and automated packaging solutions supplier Piedmont National are to launch the SmartGuardUV disinfecting autonomous mobile robot (AMR).

Purpose built to autonomously disinfect high-traffic areas such as warehouse facilities, retail stores, office spaces and hospital rooms, SmartGuardUV combines the safety and flexibility of the Fetch Robotics cloud robotics platform, the strength of PURO Lighting pulsed Xenon UV lamp technology, and the advanced disinfecting reporting of the Piedmont 4Site cloud analytics platform.

The result is a completely autonomous, broad spectrum UV disinfection robot that eliminates up to 99.9 percent of viruses and bacteria with UV-C, UV-B, and UV-A as well as reports on the results of the disinfection. [Read more…] about Fetch Robotics and Piedmont to launch autonomous disinfecting robot

Robotic lawn mowers market to grow to $1.3 billion this year

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The global market for robotic lawn mowers is expected to reach $1.3 billion in 2020, growing at an annual rate of more than 12 percent during the period 2019-2025.

The is according to a study by Research and Markets called Insights on the Robotic Lawn Mowers Global Market to 2025.

The year-on-year growth of robotic lawnmowers will be in the double-digit due to the high demand from Europe, North America, and APAC, coupled with the rise in awareness of these devices in developing countries. [Read more…] about Robotic lawn mowers market to grow to $1.3 billion this year

Robotic surgery: Catheter navigation proving to be the fastest growing sector

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IDTechEx reports that the robotic surgery market will reach over $12 billion by 2030. Within this industry, catheter navigation is an emerging, but lesser known application, that is rapidly gaining traction.

IDTechEx’s findings are detailed in the recently published report Innovations in Robotic Surgery 2020-2030: Technologies, Players & Markets.

Catheters are widely used to conduct an intervention within the blood vessels or airways. Traditional catheter ablation procedures have a success rate of approximately 60 percent and can be very long – sometimes several hours. [Read more…] about Robotic surgery: Catheter navigation proving to be the fastest growing sector

Comau exoskeleton ‘first’ to be awarded EAWS certification

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Comau Robotics & Automation claims its “MATE” exoskeleton is the first on the market to receive the Ergonomic Assessment Work-Sheet certification.

The company says the certification provides clear evidence of its exoskeleton’s effectiveness in reducing the “risk of biomechanical overload” of the upper limbs.

Based on the evaluation system promoted by Ergo Foundation, Italy’s reference for the organization and measurement of work and ergonomics, the successful recognition studied workers who used MATE to perform daily tasks requiring flexion-extension of the arms. [Read more…] about Comau exoskeleton ‘first’ to be awarded EAWS certification

Toadi smashes its fundraising goal in 14 minutes flat to raise $1.3 million for lawn robot

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Toadi, an AI-powered yard robot technology with object recognition and security features, has surpassed the goals of its Kickstarter campaign only 14 minutes after the launch.

Being featured on the platform this June 25th, the campaign reached $1,200,000 on the first day and ended up getting featured in the “Projects We Love” section of the Kickstarter platform.

The Toadi self-driving lawn robot works by integrating a camera with artificial intelligence to recognize and avoid objects in front of it, such as trees, animals, and other people. [Read more…] about Toadi smashes its fundraising goal in 14 minutes flat to raise $1.3 million for lawn robot

SoftBank Robotics sells 10,000 units of its commercial vacuum cleaning robot

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SoftBank Robotics says it has sold 10,000 units of its industrial or commercial vacuum cleaning robot, Whiz, making it “the global number-one in autonomous professional cleaning robots by sales”, according to Grand View Research.

SoftBank Robotics says that, as of the end of June 2020, it recorded global cumulative sales of more than 10,000 units of Whiz, which is an AI-enabled vacuum-cleaning robot.

Following SoftBank Robotics’ launch of the humanoid robot Pepper, the company launched Whiz as its second robot in November 2018, and it began providing Whiz commercially from May 2019 in Japan. [Read more…] about SoftBank Robotics sells 10,000 units of its commercial vacuum cleaning robot

MIT adapts Ava Robotics platform to build robot to disinfect Greater Boston Food Bank

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A robot built by MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) has disinfected the Greater Boston Food Bank. (See video below.)

The robot uses ultraviolet-C light to disinfect a warehouse floor “in half an hour”, and could one day be employed in grocery stores, schools, and other spaces.

CSAIL developed the robot in partnership with Ava Robotics and the GBFB, and says the system “powerfully disinfects surfaces and neutralizes aerosolized forms of the coronavirus”. [Read more…] about MIT adapts Ava Robotics platform to build robot to disinfect Greater Boston Food Bank

Pretentious method-acting humanoid robot to star in $70 million Hollywood blockbuster film

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A humanoid robot developed by Japanese scientists is to star in a $70 million budget Hollywood film.

The name of the robot is Erica, and it was created by famed humanoid roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro, along with fellow scientist Kohei Ogawa.

The two creators are said to have programmed Erica in the art of “method acting”, in which an actor aspires to complete emotional identification with a part. [Read more…] about Pretentious method-acting humanoid robot to star in $70 million Hollywood blockbuster film

Boston Dynamics now selling its robot dog for $75,000 each

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Boston Dynamics, creator of humanoid and canine robots that have caused primal fear on a global scale, is now selling its robot dog for $75,000 each.

The company has launched commercial sales for Spot, the agile robot that climbs stairs and traverses rough terrain with ease.

The exact price per unit of the clever little canine is $74,500 and it can be bought through Boston Dynamics’ online shop. Discounts are probably available for multiple purchases. [Read more…] about Boston Dynamics now selling its robot dog for $75,000 each