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Associated Food Stores selects Symbotic to implement warehouse automation system

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Associated Food Stores (AFS), a provider of groceries and other goods and services to independent retailers in nine Intermountain states, and Symbotic, a developer of AI-enabled robotics technology for the supply chain, have entered into a commercial agreement to implement Symbotic’s robotic warehouse automation technology in AFS’ Utah distribution center.

Symbotic says its end-to-end automation system, with robotic case pick capabilities, will allow AFS’ distribution center to “improve a variety of retail-facing experiences”, including overall supply, expanded selection and delivery of products to stores.

David Rice, AFS’ president and CEO, says: “We appreciate the partnership with Symbotic which enables us to cast an exciting vision for future growth and long-term relevance with the shoppers and retailers we serve. [Read more…] about Associated Food Stores selects Symbotic to implement warehouse automation system

XTEND acquires drone inspection specialist Performance Rotors

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XTEND, the developer of XOS, a human-guided autonomous operating system, or human-machine interaction system, has acquired Performance Rotors, a Singapore-based drone inspection specialist.

XTEND says the move will boost its ability to offer human-guided, remote interactive operations in a range of inspection scenarios, and grow its global business. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Aviv Shapira, co-founder, and CEO at XTEND, says: “Our acquisition of Performance Rotors marks the latest step in furthering XTEND’s vision of making remote interactive operations accessible to everyone, in a range of scenarios, including inspection, public safety and security. [Read more…] about XTEND acquires drone inspection specialist Performance Rotors

Google’s industrial robotics business unit Intrinsic chooses Comau as first project partner

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Comau, a specialist maker of industrial robotics and automation products and systems, has been unveiled as the first industry partner of Intrinsic, a business unit of Alphabet, which is the stock market name for Google.

Intrinsic says it is on a mission to make industrial robotics accessible and usable for millions more businesses, entrepreneurs, and developers.

At the launch presentation, Pietro Gorlier, Comau’s CEO, demonstrated how the company has recently used Intrinsic’s new Flowstate developer product and underlying platform to create a modular solution to enable the assembly of a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) supermodule – just one of many possibilities for new applications made possible through the platform. [Read more…] about Google’s industrial robotics business unit Intrinsic chooses Comau as first project partner

Raspberry Pi receives strategic investment from Sony

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Sony Semiconductor Solutions and Raspberry Pi have reached an agreement by which SSS is to make a strategic investment in RPL.

The minority investment cements the relationship between the two companies, to provide a development platform for SSS’s edge AI devices to the worldwide community of Raspberry Pi users.

Terushi Shimizu, p0resident and CEO of Sony Semiconductor Solutions, says: “Our goal is to provide new value to a variety of industries and support them in solving issues using our innovative edge AI sensing technology built around image sensors. [Read more…] about Raspberry Pi receives strategic investment from Sony

Robotize to launch new robot and mobile lift staton at LogiMAT

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Robotize, a provider of autonomous mobile robots for internal pallet transport, will be presenting a new robot as well as a new mobile lift station at this year’s LogiMAT exhibition.

The new GoPal E22 AMR supports a payload of up to 500 kg and will become the smallest robot in Robotize’s range of AMRs, which includes the GoPal E24 (1,000 kg) and the GoPal E24W/U24W (1,200 kg).

Anders Pjetursson, CEO at Robotize, says: “We have received many requests for an updated entry-level AMR, and we believe that the GoPal E22 is the perfect entry point for manufacturers and warehouses looking to move into the future of automated pallet transportation. [Read more…] about Robotize to launch new robot and mobile lift staton at LogiMAT

Agtonomy selects Fixposition for farm vehicle GPS

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Agtonomy, an ag-tech software start-up, has been working with Fixposition to integrate Fixposition’s Vision Fusion Technology to provide an element of its precise global positioning solution in its TeleFarmer solution.

Agtonomy’s TeleFarmer solution is comprised of innovative software, a suite of apps, and an electric vehicle reference tractor.

By utilizing Fixposition as one of its localization sensors, Agtonomy is able to achieve even more reliable and more efficient performance in how it knows the position of the agricultural vehicles it controls. [Read more…] about Agtonomy selects Fixposition for farm vehicle GPS

Apptronik and Terex to jointly develop robots for commercial use

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Apptronik, a maker of general-purpose robots, exoskeletons and humanoids, has received an equity investment from Terex Corporation and has reached an agreement with Terex to co-develop “first-of-a-kind robots” to work alongside workers to support safety, productivity, and efficiency of industries that power the economy and are essential to building infrastructure.

Robots have long held the promise of solving labor shortages and productivity issues, but until recently have been limited to performing repetitive tasks within structured environments such as warehouses or factories.

While robots have proven useful at completing dull and repetitive tasks in controlled environments, they have not been leveraged for more complex tasks in unstructured environments. [Read more…] about Apptronik and Terex to jointly develop robots for commercial use

Built Robotics acquires Roin Technologies to expand beyond autonomous earthmoving

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Built Robotics, a construction autonomy company and inventor of the Exosystem, which “turns any excavator into a robot”, is acquiring Roin Technologies, the maker of the what is claimed to be the “first automated concrete power trowel”.

The acquisition will grow the capabilities of Built’s engineering team and accelerate key technological developments to expand automation beyond construction into new applications and markets.

Noah Ready-Campbell, founder and CEO of Built Robotics, says: “Since their founding, Roin’s team has pushed the boundaries of construction autonomy, which has created a unique expertise in our industry. [Read more…] about Built Robotics acquires Roin Technologies to expand beyond autonomous earthmoving

Autonomous delivery vehicle maker Faction selects Point One navigation tech

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Faction, a developer of self-driving micro-logistics and vehicle-on-demand transportation, is partnering with Point One Navigation, a specialist in precise positioning technology, to bring driverless delivery and transportation solutions to the mass market.

Faction’s DriveLink platform deeply integrates Point One’s safe positioning technology with reliable centimeter-level absolute accuracy, enabling trustworthy and efficient autonomous operations across the entire fleet.

Faction is accelerating the commercial deployment of its B2B autonomous delivery service by leveraging three-wheel production electric vehicles which are purpose-built for driverless fleet services and supported by teleoperation. [Read more…] about Autonomous delivery vehicle maker Faction selects Point One navigation tech

Ottonomy closes $3.3 million seed funding round

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Ottonomy has closed its seed funding round of $3.3 million, bringing its total funding to date to $4.9 million.

The funding is planned to support the scale of Ottobots for fully autonomous airport, retail and restaurant deliveries with its robots.

The funding round is led by Pi Ventures who back deep tech startups. Connetic Ventures and Branded Hospitality Ventures and the Founder & CEO of Addverb Technologies, Sangeet Kumar, also joined this round; making the group a dynamic mix from retail, food and robotics industry investors for Ottonomy’s seed round. [Read more…] about Ottonomy closes $3.3 million seed funding round