Where Innovation Meets Imagination
BlueBotics says it is finding new customers for its autonomous vehicle guidance systems from various parts of the world.
Most of the vehicles are used in logistics, and include small mobile platforms as well as driverless forklifts. (See video below.)
In total, says the company, more than 500 autonomous vehicles now use the BlueBotics guidance system, which is called “Ant”. [Read more…] about BlueBotics says its autonomous vehicle guidance system is finding new customers
More than half of warehousing and supply chain businesses are planning to upgrade their mobile devices, according to a new survey.
This is one of the findings of a new research study, Taking Advantage of Apps and App Modernization in Warehousing, released by Ivanti.
Based on research conducted by VDC Research, the study addresses the evolution of mobility in warehousing and outlines evolving requirements shaping the future of mobile applications within the supply chain. [Read more…] about More than half of warehouse businesses to upgrade mobile equipment
By Klaus Schmitz, Arthur D. Little
China’s dominating chauffer companies, Didi and Uber China, merged in 2016, wrapping up a history of fierce competition for the city-mobility market.
The two are now left with a huge shared customer pool that knows a lot about their choices for mobility.
The new phase being ushered in is car sharing, which is poised for explosive growth across China.
In this article, Klaus Schmitz of consultancy firm Arthur D Little examines the market dynamics and the major hurdles, and makes predictions for the future of the Chinese car-sharing scene. [Read more…] about The big feature: Urban mobility in China – why car sharing is set to take off
Vecna Robotics, a provider of robotic material handling autonomous ground vehicles, has been awarded first place in the DHL and Dell Robotics Mobile Picking Challenge 2017.
The event was held last week at the DHL Innovation Center in Troisdorf, Germany.
The challenge required a mobile robot capable of navigating traditional warehouse shelves, and picking boxes and totes. [Read more…] about Vecna Robotics wins DHL logistics automation competition
A startup company called Ouster has raised $27 million in its Series A funding round, led by Cox Enterprises, a diversified company which has a very large automotive business unit.
Ouster is a developer of light detection and radar systems, or lidar, which is said to be a critical component in many new technologies, including autonomous cars. A lidar unit can often be seen on top of self-driving cars, and looks a bit like a siren light.
Ouster’s new product is called OS1 Lidar, which is likely to find wide application as a perception technology for the autonomous vehicle and robotics sectors. [Read more…] about Lidar developer Ouster backed by Cox Enterprises raises $27 million
A French company called Exotec Solutions has unveiled its warehouse robot, which looks similar to the mobile autonomous vehicles from a number of other companies.
The market for such vehicles has been expanding, at least in terms of the number of companies offering solutions.
It remains to be seen how well they sell, but if Amazon’s heavy utilisation of similar logistics robots is anything to go by, the market is likely to grow fast. [Read more…] about Exotec unveils new warehouse automation system with integrated robot
The local authorities in San Francisco have effectively banned robots from sidewalks in a vote a couple of days ago.
Local businesses, especially takeaway restaurants, had been experimenting with using autonomous wheeled robots to deliver customers’ orders.
A number of robotics companies have been developing such robots. They include:
Starship is probably the most well known among these companies, having already made deliveries in other parts of the US, and having developed a partnership with Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes. [Read more…] about San Francisco effectively bans sidewalk robots
Automation and robotics company GreyOrange has released its next-generation software platform, GreyMatter, which features artificial intelligence.
The company made the announcement at the launch of the latest warehouse of the Nitori, said to be Japan’s largest furniture and home furnishing chain with over 400 stores.
The Butler robotics system from GreyOrange is being used at the Osaka centre of Home Logistics, a logistics subsidiary of Nitori which operates 34 distribution bases and a logistics network for product delivery to stores and e-commerce customers across Japan. [Read more…] about GreyOrange launches new AI for logistics robots and warehouse automation
Fetch Robotics, a provider of a range of warehouse automation and logistics robot solutions, has raised $25 million in Series B funding.
The round was led by Sway Ventures with participation from existing investors O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, Shasta Ventures and SoftBank Group US.
The Series B round brings Fetch Robotics’ total funding to date to $48 million. [Read more…] about Fetch Robotics raises $25 million in investment round led by Sway Ventures
The European Commission is to accelerate the automation of intra-factory logistics of small and medium enterprises, through a project called Logistics for Manufacturing SMEs, or L4MS.
The EC says L4MS will “completely digitalize logistics automation in factories”.
Initially, the plan was for L4MS to conceive three pilots and 20 cross-border application experiments to demonstrate “highly autonomous, configurable and hybrid, or human-robot, logistics solutions”, driven by the business needs of the manufacturing SMEs and mid-caps. [Read more…] about European Commission to accelerate intra-factory logistics for small businesses
