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Swiss agritech startup Ecorobotix raises $52 million in new funding

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Ecorobotix, the Swiss manufacturer of ARA, an AI powered plant-by-plant recognition and a precision smart sprayer system, has completed a $52 million (CHF 46 million) funding round.

The round was jointly led by AQTON Private Equity and Cibus Capital, with additional investments from Swisscanto Invest/Swisscanto Growth Fund I, Yara Growth Ventures, Flexstone Partners, and from existing investors including Swisscom Ventures, BASF Venture Capital, 4FOX Ventures, and Verve Ventures.

The funding will accelerate Ecorobotix’s geographic expansion across new and existing markets and accelerate new product development. [Read more…] about Swiss agritech startup Ecorobotix raises $52 million in new funding

Improving industrial mobile robots with multiScan 3D LiDAR

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SICK’s newest multiScan100 family uses time of flight (TOF) measurement to create a 3D perception of its surroundings. To begin, SICK is launching the multiScan136, with a planned launch in the future for more products in the multiScan product family.  [Read more…] about Improving industrial mobile robots with multiScan 3D LiDAR

Comau developing new mobile robot solution for three EU projects

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Comau is designing a “powerful mobile robotics platform” as part of an open, highly collaborative production environment, in the context of three different European Projects.

The integrated solution, which leverages Comau’s proven expertise in IoT-enabled technologies and collaborative robotics, is a natural evolution of the company’s automated workflow optimization systems.

Modular, scalable and completely re-configurable, the platform can be easily adapted to different applications without changing the system’s underlying software or hardware architecture. [Read more…] about Comau developing new mobile robot solution for three EU projects

Seoul Robotics establishes office at Curiosity Lab in Peachtree Corners

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Peachtree Corners, a tiny US town which claims to be “one of the world’s first smart cities powered by real-world connected infrastructure and 5G”, has been chosen by Seoul Robotics as a new location for its company.

Seoul Robotics has established its United States office in Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners. The company’s presence in Curiosity Lab will fuel further development of its groundbreaking 3D perception platform, while providing the company with a real-world testing environment along Peachtree Corners’ city streets.

William Muller, vice president of business development for Seoul Robotics, says: “With our 3D smart infrastructure solutions already deployed in areas across the Southeast, establishing an office within Curiosity Lab was the logical next step as we continue to expand our US presence. [Read more…] about Seoul Robotics establishes office at Curiosity Lab in Peachtree Corners

Kuka unveils new compact autonomous mobile robot for intralogistics

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Kuka has expanded its portfolio of mobile platforms with the unveiling of a new autonomous mobile robot for intralogistics.

Describing it as a “compact powerhouse meets the highest safety requirements”, Kuka says the new generation of the KMP 600-S diffDrive is “fast – up to two meters per second – and equally safe, thanks to laser scanners and 3D object detection”.

Mobile solutions must meet extremely high standards for industrial use, says the company. The Kuka KMP 600-S diffDrive mobile platform provides a new automated guided vehicle system with high-speed support for production intralogistics and a payload of up to 600 kg. [Read more…] about Kuka unveils new compact autonomous mobile robot for intralogistics

MOV.AI releases Flow ROS robot development environment

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MOV.AI, developer of the Robotics Engine Platform announced today the beta release of Flow, a visual Integrated Development Environment (IDE) designed especially for ROS-based robot software.

This open IDE speeds up and streamlines robot software development with a visual representation of ROS projects that makes it easy to understand ROS projects and allows simple and intuitive development.

MOV.AI Flow makes it easier to import assets, reduces configuration and integration work, speeds up debugging, and makes it easy to port projects across environments, and share with the community.  [Read more…] about MOV.AI releases Flow ROS robot development environment

Ottonomy robots to provide customer services at Pittsburgh airport

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Pittsburgh International Airport is teaming up with tech startup Ottonomy and its fully autonomous delivery robot – Ottobot – for a pilot project offering select passengers a contactless delivery system.

Ottonomy is partnering with PIT’s xBridge Innovation Center, the airport’s tech proving ground for technologies and startups that provide solutions for the industry and beyond.

Drawing from the region’s strong innovation economy, the airport is a proof-of-concept site for technologies in a real-world operating environment as well as a pilot site for companies’ first deployments. [Read more…] about Ottonomy robots to provide customer services at Pittsburgh airport

Trimble and Exyn Technologies launch autonomous construction surveying technology

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Industrial technology company Trimble and Exyn Technologies, a developer of multi-platform robotic autonomy for complex, GPS-denied environments, have agreed a strategic collaboration to explore the use of autonomous construction surveying technology.

The solution will integrate Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot, the ExynPak powered by ExynAI and the Trimble X7 total station. It will enable fully autonomous missions inside complex and dynamic construction environments, which can result in consistent and precise reality capture for production and quality control workflows.

Aviad Almagor, vice president of technology innovation, Trimble, says: “The integration of autonomous surveying technology into a construction workflow has groundbreaking potential. [Read more…] about Trimble and Exyn Technologies launch autonomous construction surveying technology

iFollow boosts capacity of its mobile robot range to 1500 kg

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iFollow has expanded its iLogistics autonomous mobile robot range to include a unit with a 1500 kg capacity.

Made at iFollow’s state of the art facilities outside Paris in France, The iL 1500 tops the range that includes units with capacities of 300 kg, 600 kg and 1000 kg.

And with a unit height of just 17 cm, iFollow claims it is “the thinnest mobile robot in the world that can carry 1.5 tons”. [Read more…] about iFollow boosts capacity of its mobile robot range to 1500 kg

Alstef unveils robot for baggage handling at airports

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Alstef has unveiled a mobile robot for handling baggage at airports. The new machine – the BAGXone – was launched by Nicolas Breton, Alstef Group’s CEO, at a recent industry event.

BAGXone is described as a high-speed automated guided vehicle designed to handle individual bags. It can cover short distances, from check-in to screening machines or from the screening machines to an early bag store, reconciliation room, make-up carousel.

It can also cover long distances – for example, link between two terminals. It is also “easily adaptable” to suit scalability and redundancy requirements. If there are increased capacity requirements or expansion of the baggage sorting system, new AGVs can be added to extend the fleet. [Read more…] about Alstef unveils robot for baggage handling at airports