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Industrial robot costs to drop by half in the next three years

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Karthee Madasamy, founder and managing partner at MFV Partners

According to ARK Invest research, industrial robot costs will drop by 50-60 percent by 2025. This dramatic drop in costs, combined with other factors such as the global pandemic’s acceleration of industries embracing automation, has resulted in a situation where interest in robotics has reached a fever pitch.

In fact, in the first year of the pandemic venture firms poured $6.3 billion into robotics companies, up nearly 50 percent from the $4.3 billion they invested over the same period a year earlier.

Further, in North America, industrial robot sales had their strongest year ever in 2021. With this activity it’s not surprising that the global market is forecasted to reach $31 billion by 2028. [Read more…] about Industrial robot costs to drop by half in the next three years

Amazon launches $1 billion industrial innovation fund

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Amazon is investing $1 billion into the industrial sector to “spur supply chain, fulfillment, and logistics innovation and further improve the customer and employee experience”.

The $1 billion venture investment program is called the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund (AIIF).

As customers increasingly shop online and look for even faster delivery, Amazon says it is continuing to invent new ways to raise the bar on customer and employee experience while working with other companies focused on those fields. [Read more…] about Amazon launches $1 billion industrial innovation fund

Amazon introduces home monitoring robot

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Amazon has launched a small, humanoid-ish security robot for the home, called Astro, although it’s currently only available “exclusively by invitation”, whatever that means. 

The online retail giant, which probably operates the largest fleet of autonomous warehouse robots in the world, says Astro is a “household robot for home monitoring”.

On its website, Amazon adds: “When you’re away, use the Astro app to see a live view of your home, check in on specific rooms and viewpoints, and get activity alerts. [Read more…] about Amazon introduces home monitoring robot

DXC Luxoft and AWS partner to accelerate autonomous driving industry with Robotic Drive Cloud

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DXC Luxoft has entered into a collaboration with Amazon Web Services to accelerate the autonomous driving industry with DXC Luxoft’s Robotic Drive Cloud offering on AWS.

The Robotic Drive tooling and services provide reduced development and test times with unmatched total cost of ownership (TCO) to customers building autonomous driving systems.

The new relationship offers a tangible competitive advantage to customers by accelerating the development of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving. [Read more…] about DXC Luxoft and AWS partner to accelerate autonomous driving industry with Robotic Drive Cloud

Amazon to build robotic fulfillment center in Virginia

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Amazon has decided to build a robotic fulfillment center in Henrico County, in the state of Virgina, in the US, a decision that was welcomed by the local governor, Ralph Northam. 

The new facility – to be located on 119 acres of ancillary land at Richmond Raceway in Henrico County – will hire more than 1,000 new employees.

Amazon will construct a multi-story, 650,000-square-foot facility with innovative robotics technology, adding over 1,000 new jobs to Amazon’s existing workforce of more than 27,000 full- and part-time employees in the Commonwealth. [Read more…] about Amazon to build robotic fulfillment center in Virginia

Mercedes’ autonomous truck developer Torc Robotics selects Amazon as preferred cloud provider for self-driving truck fleet

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Autonomous truck developer Torc Robotics, part of automotive giant Daimler Mercedes-Benz, has selected Amazon Web Services as its preferred cloud provider to handle the scale and speed needed for data transfer, storage, and compute capacity as the company prepares to launch its fleet of next-generation self-driving test trucks in New Mexico and Virginia.

Torc says that, with the growth in test fleet size, number of routes, and sensor capability, there is an increase in data ingestion and analysis needs by engineering teams in the US and in Germany.

Torc is an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck, responsible for commercializing a Level 4 autonomous system that will be offered to trucking customers. As defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), under Level 4 autonomy, a vehicle is capable of performing all driving functions under specified operating conditions. [Read more…] about Mercedes’ autonomous truck developer Torc Robotics selects Amazon as preferred cloud provider for self-driving truck fleet

Walmart considers buying TikTok in bid to tackle Amazon’s advertising dominance

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Walmart is considering buying TikTok, the Chinese-owned app and social media platform. 

While it may not seem to make sense at first, the idea is part of Walmart’s restructuring as a more digital-oriented enterprise.

Walmart is by far the America’s largest retail chain, with more stores selling more stuff than anyone else – revenue for 2017 was more than $500 billion. The second largest, Costco, generated $130 billion in the same year, while Amazon’s were almost $120 billion. [Read more…] about Walmart considers buying TikTok in bid to tackle Amazon’s advertising dominance

US gives Amazon permission to make drone deliveries

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The US Federal Aviation Administration has given Amazon permission to make drone deliveries, certifying the company as an “air carrier” – basically like an airline company.

The world’s largest online retailer has been trying to get permits to operate its Amazon Prime Air drones for several years, making test deliveries by drones while it waits.

One sticking point was that the FAA had originally wanted drone operators to maintain human vision on the drone while in the air. [Read more…] about US gives Amazon permission to make drone deliveries

Walmart’s doubling of online sales to boost warehouse robotics sector

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Walmart has reported that its e-commerce sales have almost doubled as a result of the coronavirus lockdown forcing everyone to lock themselves up at home as often as possible and shopping online.

The company reported a staggering 97 percent increase in online sales for its second quarter, total revenue of almost $138 billion, which is an increase of $7.4 billion overall across internet and in-store sales.

Additionally, Walmart’s marketplace has also seen a doubling in the number of sellers included, to more than 50,000. [Read more…] about Walmart’s doubling of online sales to boost warehouse robotics sector

Amazon expands delivery robot trials to more US states

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Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer, is expanding its delivery robot trials to more US states.

The company had initially field tested its delivery robot in Snohomish County, in Washington state, as reported by Robotics and Automation News in January this year.

The deliveries in Washington were made using a robot called “Scout”, which look like they’re a modified version of Starship Technologies’ machine, and were being offered as part of Amazon’s Prime subscription service, which includes free deliveries on most orders. [Read more…] about Amazon expands delivery robot trials to more US states