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Electric Future: Battery production facilities bloom on both sides of the Atlantic

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Battery production plants are popping up and blooming on both sides of the Atlantic, with one or two exceptions, such as BritishVolt, which went into administration recently

Viridi Parente, a developer of battery storage technology, has selected Bright Machines to digitally transform the company’s US electric battery manufacturing facility.

Bright Machines Microfactories, the company’s full-stack assembly automation solution, modernizes manufacturing by leveraging data and artificial intelligence, providing Viridi with new capabilities to meet the increasing demands for its zero-carbon emission energy battery solutions.

Viridi manufactures battery energy storage systems on a 42-acre campus in Buffalo, New York. Its efforts have and will continue to lead to significant job creation in the historically disadvantaged East Buffalo community where its facility is situated. [Read more…] about Electric Future: Battery production facilities bloom on both sides of the Atlantic

2023 Predictions & Forecasts: The future is bright machines

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Two senior executives from Bright Machines, a manufacturing automation company, give Robotics and Automation News their thoughts and forecasts for the year ahead.

The predictions offer insight on manufacturing trends, supply chain evolution, the future of automation, and more. [Read more…] about 2023 Predictions & Forecasts: The future is bright machines

Digital manufacturing startup Bright Machines raises $132 million in new funding

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Bright Machines, a startup which describes itself as “an innovator in software-defined manufacturing”, has raised $132 million in debt and Series B equity funding.

The equity portion of the funding, worth $100 million, was led by Eclipse Ventures. The debt portion of the funding, worth $32 million, was led by Silicon Valley Bank, and Hercules Capital.

Bright Machines intends to use the funds to accelerate the company’s growth, which includes continued expansion into high-demand industry verticals, and the development of new software and service offerings to complement its existing portfolio of products. [Read more…] about Digital manufacturing startup Bright Machines raises $132 million in new funding

Bright Machines introduces Brightware Studio to ‘liberate factory automation’

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Bright Machines, a provider of software for intelligent, software-defined manufacturing, has launched its Brightware Studio, a new software offering that the company says “liberates manufacturers from the constraints of traditional factory automation and introduces a new self-service capability that enables flexible automation at greater speed and lower cost”.

Brightware Studio provides additional functionality to the Bright Machines Microfactory – the company’s flagship solution which combines intelligent software and modular building blocks to automate repetitive assembly and inspection tasks.

Based on a modern, low/no code workflow, Brightware Studio is operated using an intuitive user interface, giving production line operators and technicians the ability to easily program, run, analyze and debug the assembly process on the factory floor. [Read more…] about Bright Machines introduces Brightware Studio to ‘liberate factory automation’

Argonaut Manufacturing Services turns to Bright Machines to accelerate and scale production

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Bright Machines and Argonaut Manufacturing Services have agreed a partnership whereby Bright Machines will automate Argonaut’s unique assembly process.

Argonaut, based in Carlsbad, California, is a contract manufacturing organization offering a host of customized manufacturing and supply chain solutions for life science, molecular diagnostics, and biopharmaceutical companies, including formulation, filling, lyophilization, and kitting, as well as automated aseptic fill-finish equipment for sterile injectable drugs.

Argonaut enables organizations to quickly scale pharmaceutical and life science operations by providing expert support and state-of-the-art manufacturing solutions, minimizing costs and risks. [Read more…] about Argonaut Manufacturing Services turns to Bright Machines to accelerate and scale production

Bright Machines launches ‘Microfactory-as-a-Service’

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Bright Machines made it easier for manufacturers of all sizes to procure and deploy next-generation factory automation with the introduction of Bright Machines Select.

Bright Machines Select is a new microfactory-as-a-service model which brings all of the benefits of Software-Defined Manufacturing to manufacturers without the upfront costs associated with traditional automation equipment purchasing.

With simplified financial evaluation, budgeting and contracts, Bright Machines Select also removes friction and streamlines the purchasing process for manufacturers looking to deploy intelligent automation to improve their lines. [Read more…] about Bright Machines launches ‘Microfactory-as-a-Service’

Bright Machines launches ‘first software-defined microfactory’

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Bright Machines has launched what it says the “first software-defined microfactory”.

The term “software-defined” is often used in computer networking and implies that a system is less dependent on specific – perhaps expensive – hardware and more defined by the software.

Bright Machines says it is delivering its vision of integrating software and artificial intelligence into every phase of the manufacturing cycle with the introduction of Bright “Microfactories”. [Read more…] about Bright Machines launches ‘first software-defined microfactory’

Film review: Don’t look at the ‘Bright’ light. I can’t help it

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Many years ago, there was an animated film called A Bug’s Life which made the line “Don’t look at the light” famous. It was uttered by some sort of flying insect as a warning to a fellow flying insect who was gravitating towards a lamp which would inevitably harm it. The line was mainly funny because of the response, which was: “I can’t help it.” 

This exchange could be said to be at the heart of the film Bright, which was released towards the end of last year and stars Will Smith as a cop in some sort of futuristic nightmare world called Los Angeles, which is full of street gangs and what look like genetically modified humanoids called Orcs and Elves.

Oh, that’s what Los Angeles looks like now? I see. As with many films like this, “futuristic” is either a relative or irrelevant term.  [Read more…] about Film review: Don’t look at the ‘Bright’ light. I can’t help it

Bright Box launches self-driving car platform trained with extreme driving in computer games

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Bright Box, a specialist provider of connected car solutions, says its new self-driving car system has been trained using a neural network, deep learning and extreme racing computer games, in particular GTA 5. 

Bright Box, a European company, says its software is the basis for connected-vehicle applications used by the Nissan Smart Car app in Middle East, and KIA Remoto app.

Bright Box says its autonomous car solution also uses data from real-life examples.  [Read more…] about Bright Box launches self-driving car platform trained with extreme driving in computer games