Robotics & Automation News

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autonomous

Nvidia and Abu Dhabi join $73 million Outrider funding round

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Outrider, a startup developing autonomous yard operations for logistics hubs, has closed $73 million in Series C financing led by FM Capital. 

New investors include a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and NVentures, Nvidia’s venture capital arm.

Existing investors participating in the round include Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT) and New Enterprise Associates (NEA). Outrider has raised $191 million in financing to date based on its technical leadership in autonomous systems for distribution yards. [Read more…] about Nvidia and Abu Dhabi join $73 million Outrider funding round

Nauticus Robotics expands into Europe with operating bases in Norway and the UK

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Nauticus Robotics, a Houston-based developer of ocean robots, autonomy software, and services to the marine industries, has launched operations in Norway and the United Kingdom, beginning the company’s international expansion strategy for 2023 and beyond.

The operating bases are strategically located in Stavanger, Norway and Aberdeen, Scotland to service the North Sea offshore market.

The company will deploy assets and collaborate with local partners to service the region’s extensive offshore wind and oil and gas assets with its expanding Nauticus Fleet, a robotic navy of surface and subsea robots. [Read more…] about Nauticus Robotics expands into Europe with operating bases in Norway and the UK

Autonomous car from Italian university wins the racing challenge

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A team called PoliMOVE, from Politecnico di Milano in Italy, has won the second annual Indy Autonomous Challenge @ CES.

The team’s car reached a maximum speed of 180 mph (290Km/h), a new autonomous speed world record for a racetrack.

Pushing boundaries of head-to-head autonomous-racing, PoliMOVE competed at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway against a field of nine teams from 17 universities spanning six countries, seeking to break autonomous racing records. [Read more…] about Autonomous car from Italian university wins the racing challenge

GUSS delivers its 200th autonomous crop sprayer

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In 2014, when commercial spray business owner Dave Crinklaw drew a design on his shop floor of what he envisioned the solution to his labor challenges and inefficiencies to be, the journey to building the first autonomous sprayer began.

After several years of prototype development and refinement, the award winning GUSS was delivered to the first customer in 2019.

Today, GUSS Automation has found great success and recognition for the innovation of GUSS autonomous sprayers. GUSS machines have now sprayed over a million acres and this week GUSS Automation delivered the 200th autonomous sprayer. [Read more…] about GUSS delivers its 200th autonomous crop sprayer

ZF partners with Beep to bring autonomous shuttle to US market

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ZF has unveiled its next generation shuttle for autonomous driving in urban environments and mixed traffic at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas/ Nevada, USA. The next generation complements the established model, which is primarily designed for use in segregated lanes.

For the new shuttle generation ZF announces a strategic partnership with US mobility services provider Beep. The agreement aims to deliver several thousand shuttles to customers over the coming years, combining ZF’s ATS with Beep’s mobility services and service management platform into a single-source autonomous mobility solution.

Torsten Gollewski, executive vice president, autonomous mobility systems at ZF, says: “In order to reduce traffic-related emissions in metropolitan areas, a reduction in motorized individual transport and a simultaneous expansion of more sustainable, efficient, comfortable, and affordable mobility options are required.” [Read more…] about ZF partners with Beep to bring autonomous shuttle to US market

Baidu aims to create ‘world’s largest fully driverless ride-hailing area’

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Baidu, an AI company with strong internet foundation and often referred to as China’s equivalent of Google, has embarked on a major expansion of its commercialized fully driverless robotaxi service in Wuhan.

The new expansion would triple the size of its current operation area, increasing the number of robotaxis in service and expanding operating time to include key evening hours.

The move marks a major milestone on Baidu’s ambitious autonomous ride-hailing roadmap, as the company plans to put an additional 200 fully driverless robotaxis into operation across China in 2023, aiming to cover “the largest fully driverless ride-hailing service area in the world” by the end of the year. [Read more…] about Baidu aims to create ‘world’s largest fully driverless ride-hailing area’

Indy Autonomous Challenge returns to CES

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The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) returns to CES 2023 to push the boundaries of head-to-head autonomous racing and showcase the future of autonomous mobility.

The IAC will have a significant presence throughout CES 2023 with the Autonomous Challenge @ CES at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on January 7; an exhibit in partnership with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) in the LVCC West Hall booth #3601; a tabletop at CES Unveiled on January 3 and a press conference at CES Media Days on January 4. [Read more…] about Indy Autonomous Challenge returns to CES

Outrider equips autonomous trucks with deep-learning driven robotic arms

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Outrider, the startup developing autonomous yard operations for logistics hubs, has releaseed TrailerConnect – a patented technology that robotically attaches the needed brake and electric lines from yard trucks to any of the over 10 million trailers and chassis circulating globally.

A deep-learning based technology, TrailerConnect is now available as part of the Outrider System, which automates distribution yards for large, logistics-dependent enterprises.

In distribution yards around the globe, yard trucks transition semi-trailers from dock doors to parking spots to public roads. To move these trailers, truck drivers connect pressurized brake lines to semi-trailers to release the parking brake and move the trailers around the yard – a hazardous manual task that requires the driver to get in and out of the cab constantly. [Read more…] about Outrider equips autonomous trucks with deep-learning driven robotic arms

Recogni claims world’s fastest computing system for autonomous driving

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Recogni, a developer of AI-based perception for autonomous vehicles, has unveiled its Recogni Scorpio, which the company claims is “the world’s first 1,000 TOPS (Peta-Op) class inference solution for autonomous mobility”.

The company’s vision-inference chip enables superhuman object detection accuracy up to 300 m in real-time under various road and environment conditions, and the ability to process multiple streams of ultra-high resolution and very high frame rate cameras.

Microprocessor Report says that Recogni’s solution “performs far better than the inference engines in leading SoCs such as Nvidia’s Orin”. [Read more…] about Recogni claims world’s fastest computing system for autonomous driving

Embark provides first autonomous truck to Knight-Swift

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Embark Trucks, a developer of autonomous technology for the trucking industry, and Knight-Swift Transportation, one of North America’s largest and most diversified freight transportation companies, have agreed a technology test partnership.

As part of the agreement, Embark has initiated handover of the first Embark-powered truck as part of the Truck Transfer Program.

TTP marks the first public initiative where a carrier will directly own and operate a truck with select features of Embark’s automated driving software, allowing Embark to gain valuable insight from having its system components operating in a carrier customer’s duty cycle. [Read more…] about Embark provides first autonomous truck to Knight-Swift