Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

ai

Omron launches AI vision system which ‘captures defects with human-like sensitivity’

by

Omron has launched its new “FH Series Vision System” with the industry’s first defect detection AI technology that identifies defects without learning samples.

The company says the artificial intelligence-based technology “captures defects with human-like sensitivity”.

It claims the system reproduces human sensibility and the techniques of skilled inspectors, reliably detects defects that were once difficult to capture, automating human vision-based visual inspection. [Read more…] about Omron launches AI vision system which ‘captures defects with human-like sensitivity’

Qualcomm’s partners talk about the chipmaker’s new robotics platform

by

Chipmaking giant recently unveiled its RB5 robotics platform.

Commercial products based on the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform are expected to be available in 2020, but the company has been partnering with a number of companies in advance.

New partners can now start developing products based on the platform, and are invited to visit the Qualcomm Developer Network webpage and the Qualcomm Technologies’ product webpage to ask for more information. [Read more…] about Qualcomm’s partners talk about the chipmaker’s new robotics platform

IDS launches training software for its industrial vision systems

by

Imaging Development Systems, or IDS, a specialist supplier of industrial cameras, has launched new training software for its industrial vision systems.

The company says the software’s ease of use lowers entry barrier for users without prior knowledge.

IDS NXT lighthouse is described as “intuitive AI training software”, and does not require programming knowledge. Camera hardware and training software are available via IDS NXT ocean Design-In Kit. [Read more…] about IDS launches training software for its industrial vision systems

Scientists develop new method of teaching surgery to a robot

by

A team of scientists has developed a new way of teaching surgery to a robot that they say is far more efficient than other methods.

In a paper entitled Semi-Supervised Representation Learning from Surgical Videos, the team at Cornell University calls its algorithm Motion2Vec.

The team – which is backed by Intel’s AI Labs, Google Brain, and UC Berkeley – says Motion2Vec learns from video observations “by minimizing a metric learning loss”. [Read more…] about Scientists develop new method of teaching surgery to a robot

BMW applies AI dust particle analysis to ‘increase paint shop quality’

by

BMW says it uses an “ongoing algorithm-based analysis” of dust content in vehicle paint booths and compares them to a database to predict the quality of coating it applies to cars

Artificial intelligence can bring even greater precision to controlling highly sensitive systems in automotive production, as a pilot project in the paint shop of the BMW’s Munich plant has demonstrated.

Despite state-of-the-art filtration technology, the content of finest dust particles in paint lines varies depending on the ambient air drawn in. If the dust content exceeded the threshold, the still wet paint could trap particles, thus visually impairing the painted surface.

AI specialists from what BMW calls its “central planning” and the Munich plant have now found a way to avoid this situation altogether: every freshly painted car body must undergo an automatic surface inspection in the paint shop. [Read more…] about BMW applies AI dust particle analysis to ‘increase paint shop quality’

ADLINK teams up with Intel to launch ROS-based robotics technology

by

ADLINK Technology, a provider of edge computing systems, has launched the ROScube-I with Intel, providing a real-time ROS 2 robot controller for advanced robotic applications.

The ADLINK ROScube-I Series is a ROS 2-enabled robotic controller based on Intel Xeon E, 9th Gen Intel Core i7/i3 and 8th Gen Intel Core i5 processors, and features exceptional I/O connectivity supporting a wide variety of sensors and actuators to meet the needs of a wide range of robotic applications.

The ROScube-I supports an extension box for convenient functional and performance expansion with Intel VPU cards and the Intel Distribution of OpenVINO toolkit for computation of AI algorithms and inference. [Read more…] about ADLINK teams up with Intel to launch ROS-based robotics technology

How has AI changed the trading industry?

by

From retail to manufacturing to flying, AI is everywhere, and the trading industry is no exception.

The financial services industry was one of the first to adopt AI in the early 80s and automated trading systems (ATS) now account for almost 85% of all trading in the US.

Globally, the market size is expected to reach over $18 billion by 2024. [Read more…] about How has AI changed the trading industry?

Mitsubishi Electric develops ‘co-operative AI’ for human-machine work

by

Mitsubishi Electric says it has developed a cooperative artificial intelligence technology that it says “enhances work collaboration between humans and machines”.

The system uses something Mitsubishi calls “inverse reinforcement learning”, or IRL, to learn and imitate the actions of skilled workers.

IRL, one of the key features of Mitsubishi Electric’s “Maisart AI” technology, enables machines to imitate human-like actions based on relatively small amounts of data. [Read more…] about Mitsubishi Electric develops ‘co-operative AI’ for human-machine work

Agricultural robots and AI: A question of when and not if

by

Robotics and artificial intelligence will drive a deep and transformative change in the agricultural world during the coming decades, according to a new report by IDTechEx.

Seeing, localising, and taking plant-specific intelligent action are no longer the exclusive realm of humans, says the research company.

Machines have demonstrated the technical viability and the emphasis has long shifted to the finer details of return on investment, reliability, business model, and so on. [Read more…] about Agricultural robots and AI: A question of when and not if

The Future for Contactless Delivery

by

By D. A. Rupprecht

The future for contactless product delivery is already here, and a pandemic seems to already be moving this trend forward.

It just needs companies to implement and customers to accept the new delivery and tracking methods, along with other innovations, that will make this so.

When this happens, we may one day look back and quietly thank the lowly coronavirus for catapulting us into a brighter future. [Read more…] about The Future for Contactless Delivery