Where Innovation Meets Imagination
Berkshire Grey has launched a range of Robotic Pick and Pack solutions for e-commerce fulfillment.
Berkshire Grey RPP solutions automate picking and packing of items directly from inventory totes to outbound customer shipping packages.
This solution improves operational efficiency for fulfillment centers, reduces shipping costs and lowers the environmental impact of eCommerce orders. [Read more…] about Berkshire Grey unveils robotic pick and pack solutions for e-commerce fulfillment
The goal: fully automated small parts picking.
In intralogistics, there has been a lot of hype about robots for some years now, whether in trade journals or at fairs.
Most of them are classic six-axis articulated robots that are looking for their way out of a production environment and into logistics.
The main driver here is the labour shortage, the big challenge not a technical component like the robot or the gripper, but the design of an overall economic process. [Read more…] about Fully automatic picking of unknown products from bulk material
Gatik has raised investment of $85 million in Series B funding to “significantly expand North America’s first autonomous middle mile logistics network”.
The company says the round was “heavily oversubscribed” and brings the total amount raised by Gatik to $114.5 million.
The round was led by new investor Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), renowned for supporting high-growth companies that disrupt current market alternatives with demonstrated technology. [Read more…] about Gatik raises $85 million in Series B funding for its autonomous delivery trucks
Quest Industrial has launched a new version of its palletizing robot, Box Bot.
The company says it is bringing robotic palletizing to more customers and markets with the launch of its new standardized Box Bot, the QB300 series, which is debuting at the ongoing Pack Expo.
The Box Box, a space-saving robotic palletizer with a small footprint, starting at just 8’x10’, allows an operator to design and produce exact pallet patterns quickly and easily from bags to boxes and other product types. [Read more…] about Quest Industrial launches new version of its Box Bot
Ranpak, a provider of paper-based packaging solutions for e-commerce and industrial supply chains, has launched its AutoFill solution in North America.
AutoFill is described as a “next-generation, fully automated end-of-line packaging solution that enhances throughput, reduces labor costs, and ensures the optimal amount of void fill in each package”.
Ranpak’s proprietary solution uses smart sensors to scan the package, computing the box size and the volume of objects inside, and then dispenses the optimal amount of paper needed to protect items during shipping. [Read more…] about Ranpak launches ‘completely automated packaging solution’ in North America
When robots make mistakes – and they do from time to time – re-establishing trust with human co-workers depends on how the machines own up to the errors and how human-like they appear, according to University of Michigan research.
In a study that examined multiple trust repair strategies – apologies, denials, explanations or promises – the researchers found that certain approaches directed at human co-workers are better than others and often are impacted by how the robots look.
Lionel Robert (main picture), associate professor at the U-M School of Information, says: “Robots are definitely a technology but their interactions with humans are social and we must account for these social interactions if we hope to have humans comfortably trust and rely on their robot co-workers. [Read more…] about Robots who goof: Can we trust them again?
IDTechEx reports that the robotic surgery market will reach over $12 billion by 2030. Within this industry, catheter navigation is an emerging, but lesser known application, that is rapidly gaining traction.
IDTechEx’s findings are detailed in the recently published report Innovations in Robotic Surgery 2020-2030: Technologies, Players & Markets.
Catheters are widely used to conduct an intervention within the blood vessels or airways. Traditional catheter ablation procedures have a success rate of approximately 60 percent and can be very long – sometimes several hours. [Read more…] about Robotic surgery: Catheter navigation proving to be the fastest growing sector
Boston Scientific has offices in more than 100 countries and says it is committed to changing lives through innovative medical solutions that improve the health of patients around the world.
At the distribution center in Kerkrade, Boston Scientific began automating its distribution center in 2013. The aim of the manufacturer and distributor of medical products is: “touchless distribution”.
The implementation of intralogistics company Inther Group’s Automated Document Applicator (ADA) is an important part of this. [Read more…] about Boston Scientific introduces ‘touchless distribution’ at its distribution center
Gatik, a Palo Alto-based startup developing autonomous vehicles for business to business short-haul logistics, has launched a new platform to serve the supply chain’s so-called middle mile – the autonomous box truck. (See video below.)
Gatik’s self-driving fleet of multi-temperature box trucks range in size between 11 and 20 feet long. This makes Gatik the first company to develop autonomous box trucks capable of delivering ambient, cold and frozen goods.
Retailers today face unprecedented challenges in the supply chain, and autonomous delivery vehicles address two of the essentials: safety and reliability. [Read more…] about Gatik debuts ‘first-ever’ autonomous box truck fleet for logistics
A team of researchers at Kanazawa University has developed a robot control system – or fingertips – for grasping and releasing objects in dry and wet conditions.
The researchers say that the study was able to verify that “object grasping by soft surface fluid fingertips with high friction was controllable by applying a suitable lubricant”.
However, they added that it was necessary to do more experiments under various conditions in order to apply the current controlling technology to manufacturing environments. [Read more…] about Researchers develop robot fingertips for grasping and releasing objects in dry and wet conditions
