Robotics & Automation News

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ABB and Hewlett Packard Enterprise expand industrial internet partnership

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ABB and Hewlett Packard Enterprise have expanded their partnership in the industrial internet space and say they will “bring scalable connectivity to large industrial customers” by integrating ABB Ability Smart Sensor technology with Aruba Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled access points.

ABB and Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, will collaborate to deliver a scalable, high-performance wireless connectivity solution for large industrial customers.

Customers will be able to capture valuable data and insights from their equipment via ABB Ability Smart Sensor technology and access it via a web portal, a cloud interface or a mobile phone application, say the companies. [Read more…] about ABB and Hewlett Packard Enterprise expand industrial internet partnership

New Scale Robotics launches its newest gripper for Universal Robots e-Series

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New Scale Robotics has launched its newest gripper for the Universal Robots e-Series collaborative robot.

The company says its new technology “harnesses UR’s new high-speed communications interface to increase measurement precision and control multiple grippers on one robot”.

New Scale Robotics describes the new peripheral as “a precision electric parallel gripper for Universal Robots e Series cobots”. [Read more…] about New Scale Robotics launches its newest gripper for Universal Robots e-Series

Nvidia builds supercomputer to develop self-driving cars

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Nvidia unveils DGX SuperPOD, ‘world’s 22nd fastest supercomputer’. By Charlie Boyle, Nvidia

In a clear demonstration of why artificial intelligence leadership demands the best compute capabilities, Nvidia has unveiled what it claims is “the world’s 22nd fastest supercomputer” – DGX SuperPOD – which provides AI infrastructure that meets the massive demands of the company’s autonomous-vehicle deployment program.

The system was built in just three weeks with 96 Nvidia DGX-2H supercomputers and Mellanox interconnect technology. Delivering 9.4 petaflops of processing capability, it has the muscle for training the vast number of deep neural networks required for safe self-driving vehicles.

Customers can buy this system in whole or in part from any DGX-2 partner based on Nvidia’s DGX SuperPOD design. [Read more…] about Nvidia builds supercomputer to develop self-driving cars

General Motors unveils its digital vehicle platform

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General Motors has unveiled its all-new electronic platform for its next-generation of vehicles.

As the automotive industry and vehicles evolve in the next five to 10 years, more electrical bandwidth and connectivity will be needed to ensure that features such as electric propulsion systems, the Super Cruise driver assistance feature and advanced active safety systems can all run in conjunction with each other.

Debuting on the recently-unveiled 2020 Cadillac CT5 sedan, the electronic platform will go into production later this year and should be rolled out to most vehicles within GM’s global lineup by 2023.

[Read more…] about General Motors unveils its digital vehicle platform

BMW and Microsoft launch ‘Open Manufacturing Platform’

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Microsoft and the BMW Group have announced what they describe as “a new community initiative” to enable faster, more cost-effective innovation in the manufacturing sector.

In manufacturing today, production and profitability can be hindered by complex, proprietary systems that create data silos and slow productivity.

The Open Manufacturing Platform (OMP) is designed to break down these barriers through the creation of an open technology framework and cross-industry community.

[Read more…] about BMW and Microsoft launch ‘Open Manufacturing Platform’

Massive data centre: BMW launches ‘high-performance’ platform for development of autonomous driving systems

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BMW says its launch of the High Performance D3 platform represents ‘a key milestone’ on the automaker’s roadmap to highly and fully automated driving

It was back in 2000 when the BMW Group first started to conduct research into its vision of a car that people could drive themselves – but didn’t have to.

Six years later, in 2006, a BMW was following the racing line around the Hockenheim circuit without human assistance for the first time.

Since 2011, highly automated test vehicles from the BMW have been driving on the A9 motorway between Munich and Nuremberg. And as part of the CES in 2014, the BMW gave a demonstration of highly automated driving at the limits of performance on the Las Vegas Speedway. [Read more…] about Massive data centre: BMW launches ‘high-performance’ platform for development of autonomous driving systems

Arrow Electronics, Infineon and Arkessa partner on connectivity for IoT devices

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Arrow Electronics has announced a global agreement with Infineon and Arkessa that will further extend Arrow’s ability to support customers with cellular communications for the Internet of Things (IoT).

Security remains one of the top concerns for organisations for connected devices. Infineon provides the secured hardware controllers based on GSMA’s Embedded Subscriber Identity Module (eSIM) specification that underpin the new service.

Arkessa provides secured mobile data services with the ability to provision and manage IoT devices from the factory into the field.

[Read more…] about Arrow Electronics, Infineon and Arkessa partner on connectivity for IoT devices

John Deere adds more automation to combine harvester range

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John Deere has announced updates for Model Year 2020 S700 Series Combines, which include upgrades to improve automation, data management and residue placement.

Combine Advisor and HarvestSmart have been updated to further automate these machines.

Combine Advisor uses ActiveVision cameras and sensors to identify changes in crop conditions and automatically adjust the combine to maintain the operator’s settings for optimal performance in varying conditions.

[Read more…] about John Deere adds more automation to combine harvester range

Nvidia unveils new reinforcement learning research at ICRA 2019

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Nvidia researchers from the newly opened robotics research lab in Seattle, Washington have presented a new proof of concept reinforcement learning approach that aims to enhance how robots trained in simulation will perform in the real world. (See video below.)

The work was presented at the recent International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Montreal, Canada.

The research is part of a growing trend in the deep learning and robotics community that relies on simulation for training. [Read more…] about Nvidia unveils new reinforcement learning research at ICRA 2019

Panasonic launches electric vehicle charging service in India

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Panasonic has announced the launch of a smart EV charging service in India.

The futuristic charging service combines physical components such as charging stations, swap stations, on board charges, telematics systems and virtual components such as cloud service, analytics, intuitive dashboard, and artificial intelligence to deliver a one stop solution.

Nymbus is a technology platform designed and developed to cater to the growing mobility market in India.

[Read more…] about Panasonic launches electric vehicle charging service in India