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Will Car Manufacturing Ever Be Fully Automated?

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The other day, I got an email asking me to participate in a survey regarding robots in hotels. Basically, the people behind the study wanted to gauge how comfortable respondents were about letting robots and AI systems take care of different aspects of their stay.

Would they be happy to check in without ever speaking to a human? What about having a robot clean their rooms?

The reason this survey stuck with me is that it posited the possibility that hotels would be staffed by robots in the near future. I wondered if it would be people coming to stay in hotels who would delay this from happening due to technophobia. This is in spite of the fact that mechanisation itself is not fully automated in many industries. [Read more…] about Will Car Manufacturing Ever Be Fully Automated?

LeddarTech raises $140 million to develop autonomous driving technology

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LeddarTech has raised investment of $140 million, which comprises a Series D first close of $116 million and debt facility of $24 million.

LeddarTech is a developer of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving sensing technology.

FS Investors led the financing round with the participation of Investissement Québec, BDC Capital, Go Capital, certain funds managed by Fidelity Investments Canada ULC, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Export Development Canada, ams Osram, Desjardins Capital, UI Investissement, Cowen Investment II LLC and other LeddarTech management. [Read more…] about LeddarTech raises $140 million to develop autonomous driving technology

4 Benefits of Having a One Step Checkout

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Regardless of the quality of your products and services, if your website has a clunky checkout page that customers find hard to navigate, you will find it much harder to generate sales.

The reason why? The checkout page is the most important element of any e-commerce site, and customers want a streamlined experience that allows them to purchase products quickly and easily.

If it’s littered with glitches and hurdles, the more likely a shopper will succumb to cart abandonment and look elsewhere, which is the last thing you want. [Read more…] about 4 Benefits of Having a One Step Checkout

Epson signs Heitek Automation as distributor in western US

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Epson Robots has signed Heitek Automation, a distributor of automation products and solutions, as an official distributor of Epson Robots automation solutions.

Heitek caters to a range of customers in the medical machine building, automotive, semi-conductor, packaging, industrial laundry, food and beverage, printing, and machine integration industries in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

With an uptick of automation across the Western region, Epson’s partnership brings exceptional value and easy-to-integrate solutions to meet the automation needs of Heitek’s customers. [Read more…] about Epson signs Heitek Automation as distributor in western US

Interview: Formic aims to change the way you integrate robotics and automation into your facility

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Formic Technologies is a new type of company which, itself, is the result of the huge changes that are occurring in the robotics and automation market, what with all sorts of new robots and technologies emerging, none of which is cheap to buy, and creating an increasing amount of complexity when it comes to implementing them in an integrated system at, say, a factory. 

In simple terms, you can hire robots – for example, Universal Robots collaborative robots – and other automation technologies from Formic. But it’s more than that. You can also have Formic design the implementation, and handle the integration, for which the startup company has many established partners.

And possibly Formic’s unique selling point is its promise to link its income from its customers to those customers’ success with the automation systems Formic installs. In other words, it’s a kind of like a robotics-as-a-service company which you can pay as you go according to a sliding scale – or “Easy to start, easy to scale”, as Formic likes to put it. [Read more…] about Interview: Formic aims to change the way you integrate robotics and automation into your facility

A Guide to Choosing Software for Your Fitness Center

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If you want your fitness center to be as successful as possible, then the right software is key.

If you don’t have much practice in choosing such elements for your business, then you are in the right place. [Read more…] about A Guide to Choosing Software for Your Fitness Center

FedEx installs sorting robot from DoraBot at e-commerce facility

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FedEx Express, a division of global logistics giant FedEx, has installed a sorting robot called “DoraSorter” from a company called DoraBot at one of its facilities in China.

Dorabot, a specialist robotics solution provider for logistics, launched DoraSorter – an AI-powered intelligent sorting robot – in collaboration with FedEx Express.

The sorting robot represents FedEx Express’ latest push in digitizing its operations and building a smart logistics network to handle the ever-growing volumes of e-commerce-related shipments in the region. [Read more…] about FedEx installs sorting robot from DoraBot at e-commerce facility

MiR autonomous mobile robot sales increase by 42 percent in 2021

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Mobile Industrial Robots, a manufacturer of autonomous mobile robots, says it experienced a 42 percent increase in sales in 2021 compared with 2020.

December alone was a “record month” for the company, with close to 300 robots shipped, which is more than any previous month.

Søren Nielsen, president of MiR, says: “We grew significantly in 2021 despite component shortages as customers recognize the value of our safe, reliable and easy-to-deploy AMRs. [Read more…] about MiR autonomous mobile robot sales increase by 42 percent in 2021

Arsenal Capital Partners acquires automation solutions provider Eckhart from LFM Capital

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Arsenal Capital Partners, a private equity firm that specializes in investments in industrial growth and healthcare companies, has acquired automation solutions provider Eckhart from LFM Capital.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Eckhart’s advanced engineering, design, simulation, and integration services, along with proprietary tooling and other automation and robotics systems, support customers at critical points in the automation value chain. [Read more…] about Arsenal Capital Partners acquires automation solutions provider Eckhart from LFM Capital

Fanuc launches new 1,000 kg payload industrial robotic arm

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Fanuc America, the world’s largest maker of industrial robots, has introduced the new M-1000iA robot capable of handling very heavy products including automotive components, construction materials and battery packs for electric vehicles.

The M-1000iA’s serial-link construction gives the robot a wider range of motion in every direction. It can extend its arm upright or rotate it backwards, which is not possible for typical heavy-payload robots with a parallel-link mechanism.

With a 1,000 kg payload, a 3,253 mm horizontal reach, and a 4,297 mm vertical reach the M-1000iA is ready to go to work for manufacturers looking to increase output and maximize their production line’s efficiency. [Read more…] about Fanuc launches new 1,000 kg payload industrial robotic arm