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John Deere in exclusive partnership with Wentworth Club to supply golf course maintenance equipment

Wentworth Club and John Deere have agreed a new, exclusive partnership for the supply of golf course maintenance equipment to the world famous West, East and Edinburgh Championship Courses at Virginia Water in Surrey, from spring 2019.

The deal includes automated and autonomous vehicles and equipment.

Wentworth Club has been the host venue since 1984 for the PGA Championship tournament, which is regarded as the flagship event on the European Tour. [Read more…] about John Deere in exclusive partnership with Wentworth Club to supply golf course maintenance equipment

Tests reveal potential of truck ‘platooning’ in Germany

A pilot project on truck platooning has been successfully completed by DB Schenker, MAN Truck & Bus and Fresenius University of Applied Sciences in Germany.

‘Platooning’ is when two or more trucks drive in a tight convoy on a motorway, benefiting from reduced air drag. All vehicles driving in the platoon are electronically linked to each other

Operating electronically linked trucks on German motorways is safe, technically reliable and easily applicable in the routine of a logistics company.

The Construct launches Robot Operating System courses

The Construct has launched its first Robot Operating System Navigation course.

Beginning on February 13, the one-week training course includes direct, individualised guidance from experienced tutors.

The course can be undertaken online, through the web, or in Barcelona – if you’re lucky enough to live in Barcelona.

The Construct also said it has now opened enrolment to its ROS in a Single Week course, aimed at starters.

The company says the course is “entirely practical ROS training”, which integrates theory and practice. Participants learn by programming different simulated robots and full integrated development environment.

That course, too, can be done online or in person, if you fly over to Barcelona, Spain.

Yaskawa launches free online video training course

Yaskawa, one of the world’s largest robot manufacturers with around 400,000 industrial robots installed worldwide, has introduced a free video training course.

The company says on its website: “These self-guided video training tutorial series are available at no charge and can be taken at any time without enrollment.”

Yaskawa adds that the training course includes opportunities for students to connect to a real Yaskawa automation product demonstration unit. The demonstration unit is based in the US, and connection is through the internet.

Kuka wins competition to find the most obscure board game ever invented

Professor Dr Martin Weiss (left) and Markus Webert working with the Kuka small robot KR Agilus. Source: Kuka Robotics

Becoming one of the world’s largest industrial robot companies takes time and a lot of dedication. Work, work, work. No time for play. And having got to the top, the most annoying thing for a company, like Kuka, must be to see a startup company, like DeepMind, which has yet to deliver a single commercial product, make worldwide headlines for building an artificially intelligent computer that plays an ancient Chinese board game no one understands.

So what does Kuka do to make its own headlines? Of course: find another obscure board game no one understands and teach one of its robots how to play that, and get students at a local university to do all the programming.

The board game in question is Settlers of Catan. While at least spome people had heard of Go, Settlers of Catan sounds like an old cowboy movie that no one saw because it was terrible. [Read more…] about Kuka wins competition to find the most obscure board game ever invented