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John Deere to buy lettuce farming robot maker Blue River Technology

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John Deere, the farming machinery giant, has reached a deal to buy lettuce farming robot maker Blue River Technology for $305 million. 

Blue River also provides a range of other technology solutions – such as a weed killing machine, drone sensing and phenotyping solutions – to the precision agriculture sector, principally using machine learning.

The lettuce farming robot is called LettuceBot, and is one of the company’s newer products.

John May, president, agricultural solutions, and chief information officer at Deere, says: “We welcome the opportunity to work with a Blue River Technology team that is highly skilled and intensely dedicated to rapidly advancing the implementation of machine learning in agriculture.  [Read more…] about John Deere to buy lettuce farming robot maker Blue River Technology

Sony invests in Acutronic Robotics’ hardware robot operating system solutions

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Electronics giant Sony has invested an undisclosed sum in a company called Acutronic Robotics, which specialises in the Hardware Robot Operating System, or H-ROS. 

This is according to a report on TechCrunch.com, which says Sony may be looking to use H-ROS as a way to consolidate the disparate robotics landscape to some extent.

The company associated with Acutronic is Erle Robotics, which has built a range of components and machines – such as drones, small cars, and computing boards.

Doosan to launch collaborative robot

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Doosan – a Korean company which supplies heavy industrial machinery and equipment used in the power generation, mining and other sectors – has launched a collaborative robot.

The move may be a surprise to some, and the company has yet to publish any information about the cobot on its website.

However, the KoreaHerald.com has published a story which includes a picture of the robot, although there’s not much more information about it.  [Read more…] about Doosan to launch collaborative robot

Festo and SAP combine to offer insight into the future of manufacturing

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Companies say their Open Integrated Factory is designed to help people understand Industry 4.0 concepts

What will manufacturing processes of the future look like, and what will be their defining features?

Festo Didactic and SAP created the Open Integrated Factory giving an example on how shop floor and a Manufacturing Execution System can be linked successfully in the era of Industry 4.0.

Work pieces in Festo Didactic’s CP Factory “tell” the machine how they should be processed.  [Read more…] about Festo and SAP combine to offer insight into the future of manufacturing

Comau signs new partners in the US as it showcases its industrial robots in China

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Comau is continuing on with its ambitious growth plan with the signing of two new partnership agreements in the US, and with the presentation of its industrial robotics and automation solutions at the World Robot Conference in China. 

In California, Comau signed a partnership agreement with Valencia, California-based distributor Pacific Technical Products.

Since 1985, PTP has been a provider of industrial automation products and services, and specializes in industrial automation solutions.  [Read more…] about Comau signs new partners in the US as it showcases its industrial robots in China

B&R gives its industrial PC more power with Intel Xeon processor

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B&R’s Automation PC 910 is now optionally available with an Intel Xeon processor to make it more powerful, says the company.

The new microarchitecture provides a “50 per cent increase in performance” compared to the previous high-performance Core i processors, adds B&R, which was recently acquired by industrial giant ABB.

This level of performance allows effective handling of all applications that require fast analysis of large amounts of data, such as machine vision, data preparation for cloud applications and data mining for collection and analysis of quality data.  [Read more…] about B&R gives its industrial PC more power with Intel Xeon processor

Clearpath Robotics partners with iRobot for next generation Turtlebot based on Intel Euclid Development Kit

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Clearpath Robotics, a provider of mobile robots for research and development, in partnership with iRobot, has launched the TurtleBot Euclid – the next generation all-in-one mobile robotics platform for learning the Robot Operating System.

TurtleBot Euclid is designed to be an easy-to-use and cost-effective solution for enabling students and educators to accelerate robotics learning.

Clearpath’s TurtleBot is based on the Intel Euclid platform which itself is based on the Ubuntu open-source operating system.  [Read more…] about Clearpath Robotics partners with iRobot for next generation Turtlebot based on Intel Euclid Development Kit

Investing in robotics with a $100 million fund and a humanitarian perspective

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Investing in robotics is something many people are interested in. 

Not surprising, since funds which have invested in robotics and related technologies on the stock markets have returned significantly more profits than funds in other business sectors.

Rewired is a new fund which is starting out with $100 million to invest in what it says will be “the next generation of robotics”. [Read more…] about Investing in robotics with a $100 million fund and a humanitarian perspective

Defining a robot is more complex now, as market grows and diversifies

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The definition of a robot is in flux, says Tractica in its introduction to its report, Robotics Market Forecast.

Traditional robot manufacturers that have been building and supplying robots for decades have seen this industry undergo a dramatic transformation in the past few years.

Robots have either been part of popular culture and science fiction or have been the workhorses of industrial shop floors until now.  [Read more…] about Defining a robot is more complex now, as market grows and diversifies

Samsung acquires permission to test autonomous vehicles in the US

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Electronics giant Samsung has acquired a permit to test autonomous vehicles in California, according to a report by Reuters. 

The company is spending $8 billion acquiring Harman, which makes in-car entertainment technology and other car components.

Harman is what is called a Tier 1 supplier to the automotive trade, which means that they are one of a relatively small group of companies which supply parts or systems directly to car manufacturers.  [Read more…] about Samsung acquires permission to test autonomous vehicles in the US