Robotics & Automation News

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developers

Mercedes-Benz makes its mobile SDK available to developers

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Mercedes-Benz is making its mobile software development kit available to developers. The automotive giant says it is one of the first in its market to do so.

Mercedes-Benz says the opening of the SDK is intended to “enrich the Mercedes me offering” with additional external services to create an even better customer experience.

Merceded me is a range of online services accessible via mobile, tablet or PC. It can be used to manage maintenance and support. [Read more…] about Mercedes-Benz makes its mobile SDK available to developers

DJI uses Ubuntu in drone computer

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Ubuntu, the most popular Linux operating system for the Internet of Things, is now available on the Manifold 2, a high-performance embedded computer offered by drone manufacturer, DJI.

The Manifold 2 is designed to fit onto DJI’s drone platforms via the onboard SDK and enables developers to transform aerial platforms into truly smarter drones, performing complex computing tasks and advanced image processing, which in-turn creates rapid flexibility for enterprise usage.

As part of the offering, the Manifold 2 is planning to feature snaps. Snaps are containerised software packages, designed to work perfectly across cloud, desktop, and IoT devices – with this the first instance of the technology’s availability on drones.

[Read more…] about DJI uses Ubuntu in drone computer

Microsoft developing new robotics platform

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Microsoft is developing what it describes as “an end-to-end toolchain to help make it easier for every developer and every organization to create autonomous systems for their own scenarios”.

The tech giant offered a glimpse into one of the components of the new robotics platform at the company’s recent Build conference for developers.

The “limited preview” talks about autonomous systems, motion control, machine teaching, and smart buildings and homes, among other things.

[Read more…] about Microsoft developing new robotics platform

Misty Robotics selects Microsoft’s .NET Core for its robot platform and tools

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Misty Robotics, the creator of the Misty robot developer platform, has chosen Microsoft’s .NET Core for use with its robot platform and related tools.

Misty is focused on enabling developers to build skills for its robots that offer value and utility for personal and business use.

Today, Misty Robotics is successfully leveraging the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) as its central platform for developing functionality for the Misty II robot.

[Read more…] about Misty Robotics selects Microsoft’s .NET Core for its robot platform and tools

Endurance Robots launches open source chatbot platform

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formitchev selfiebot chatbot
George Formitchev, CEO of Endurance Robots, demonstrates the company’s new chatbot platform

Endurance Robots has developed an open source platform to enable developers to build their own chatbots. 

CEO George Formitchev says the system is capable of facilitating the development of something like Jibo, Alexa, or Siri – some of the more well known chatbots on the market.

He adds that the SelfieBot Endurance ChatBot allows you to create your own personal assistant to “answer your emails and to communicate with you and on your behalf”.

Formitchev says the applications of the system could be “to help you learn a foreign language and to be a key addition in your everyday life”.

Endurance has a wide range of robotic solutions, including lasers for industrial applications, and like its chatbot most of it is open source and instructions on how to get started are on the company’s website.

Universal Robots launches app store and developer program

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Universal Robots, has launched something it calls “Universal Robots+” at the Automatica event in Munich. Basically, it’s a sort of app store aimed at creating an ecosystem around UR’s collaborative robots. 

In a statement, the company says Universal Robots+ is “a showroom of plug and play application solutions offering a new level of simplicity for companies that want to hit the ground running when installing their next UR robot application”.

By choosing accessories, end-effectors, and software solutions from Universal Robots+, both distributors and end users get “high security and predictability that applications will run well from the start, saving weeks and months in the integration process from concept to operation of the UR cobots”, says Universal Robots.

The company has also launched the associated +You developer program, which  is free-of-charge and offers a “powerful marketing and support platform for the flourishing eco-system of UR-robot application developers”.  [Read more…] about Universal Robots launches app store and developer program

IBM endows Watson with new powers of humanity

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ibm watson
IBM Watson gains new knowledge and some emotional capaibilities

IBM has introduced new and expanded cognitive APIs for developers that the company claims “enhance Watson’s emotional and visual senses, further extending the capabilities of the industry’s largest and most diverse set of cognitive technologies and tools”.

Three APIs, Tone Analyzer, Emotion Analysis and Visual Recognition, are now available in beta. Additionally, Text to Speech (TTS) has been updated with new emotional capabilities and is being re-released as Expressive TTS for general availability.

These APIs are pushing the sensory boundaries of how humans and machines interact, and they are designed to improve how developers embed these technologies to create solutions that can think, perceive and empathize.  [Read more…] about IBM endows Watson with new powers of humanity