Robotics & Automation News

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May Mobility raises $50 million in funding round led by Toyota

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May Mobility, an autonomous transportation-as-a-service provider, has closed a $50 million Series B funding round led by Toyota.

There was also participation from Sparx Group, alongside return investors Millennium Technology Value Partners, Cyrus Capital Partners, BMW iVentures, and Toyota AI Ventures.

The company says the round will help fund strategic hires across the engineering and operations functions, and expansion of the vehicle fleet to meet growing demand. [Read more…] about May Mobility raises $50 million in funding round led by Toyota

Honeywell equips Middle East Airlines with new cockpit tech

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Honeywell has signed a selection agreement with Middle East Airlines, the national flag-carrier airline of Lebanon, to provide cockpit technologies to support the airline’s new fleet of 19 aircraft.

The deal, which includes four of Airbus’ latest variant, the A321XLR, will see Honeywell provide its latest full avionics suite to help Middle East Airlines maximize safety and ensure regulatory compliance.

Middle East Airlines’ (MEA) purchase of Airbus aircraft includes 11 A321NEOs, four A330NEOs and four A321XLRs, the latest evolution of the successful A321NEO aircraft. [Read more…] about Honeywell equips Middle East Airlines with new cockpit tech

GM launches new version of OnStar for fleets

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General Motors says its new fleet telematics solution, OnStar Vehicle Insights, provides fleet managers and drivers the tools and data they need to make the most of their daily operations.

Launched recently, OnStar Vehicle Insights relays real-time vehicle data like vehicle location, driver performance information and more to fleet employees.

Ed Peper, US vice president, General Motors Fleet, says: “We listened to our fleet customers’ feedback and have created a turnkey telematics solution. [Read more…] about GM launches new version of OnStar for fleets

Honeywell to extend maintenance services agreement with Saudi Arabian Airlines

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Honeywell has been selected by Saudi Arabian Airlines to extend maintenance services for auxiliary power units (APUs) installed on the airline’s fleet of Airbus A330 and Boeing 777 aircraft.

The two companies are extending their current partnership, which will enable SAUDIA to structure their fleet and APU maintenance planning in line with the needs of their fleet expansion program.

By optimizing APU maintenance processes, the airline will provide an excellent passenger experience through increased aircraft availability and improved passenger comfort. [Read more…] about Honeywell to extend maintenance services agreement with Saudi Arabian Airlines

Vecna Robotics partners with UniCarriers to launch new line of autonomous material handling solutions

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Vecna Robotics is teaming up with UniCarriers Americas, a manufacturer of material handling equipment and part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

The two companies are collaborating on a line of autonomous material handling vehicles for warehouses, distribution centers, and manufacturing environments.

Vecna Robotics is integrating its autonomous navigation technology, learning algorithms, and workflow orchestration software into UCA vehicles turning them into autonomous mobile robots, capable of moving bulk material through dynamic warehouse environments. [Read more…] about Vecna Robotics partners with UniCarriers to launch new line of autonomous material handling solutions

Formant launches cloud platform to manage robot fleets

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Formant, a San Francisco-based startup, has launched its new cloud robotics platform, which enables businesses to automatically collect and analyze robotics data.

By centralizing all application data in a single web user interface, Formant allows business teams, operators, and engineers to improve the efficacy of their robotic workforce.

Jeff Linnell, CEO of Formant.io, says: “Robots are leaving the factory and adventuring into our world. They could use some guidance. This release facilitates this journey by enabling robot fleets to thrive through human observability and assistance.” [Read more…] about Formant launches cloud platform to manage robot fleets

Built Robotics raises $33 million for its autonomous construction vehicles

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Built Robotics has closed a $33 million Series B investment round led by Next47, the new global venture fund backed by Siemens. This brings Built’s total funding to $48 million.

The startup has now raised more than $100 million in customer commitments for its autonomous construction solutions.

Built Robotics says it will use the capital to scale its fleet of autonomous robots, expand into new construction verticals, and develop tools to support the next-generation of equipment operators. (See video below.) [Read more…] about Built Robotics raises $33 million for its autonomous construction vehicles

Toyota to showcase electric and autonomous vehicles at Olympics

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Toyota is planning to showcase its full range of electric and autonomous vehicles at the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo next year.

The automotive giant says 90 per cent of the 3,700 vehicles it will supply to the Olympics will be electrified, and its newly built autonomous shuttles will also be made available.

Toyota is a worldwide partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and is planning to provide “unique versions” of certain vehicles as well as vehicles developed specifically to support the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020. [Read more…] about Toyota to showcase electric and autonomous vehicles at Olympics

Formant acquires Formation to add robot remote control to its fleet management solutions

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Formant, a robot fleet management software company, has acquired Formation, a robot teleoperation startup based in Pittsburgh.

Formant will integrate the startup’s solution to enable customers to remotely control their robots through its browser-based, cloud-enabled robot fleet management system.

According to Formant’s CEO, Jeff Linnell, adding teleoperation to Formant’s offerings will create an end-to-end solution that robots-as-a-service companies can leverage to scale their fleets, enabling them to easily manage thousands of robots. [Read more…] about Formant acquires Formation to add robot remote control to its fleet management solutions

When Automation Works Alongside Humans

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When we talk about automation, we often imagine a future in which everything we do will be almost entirely handled by machines. Cars will drive themselves. Management decisions will be handed over to an AI. Even the creative arts might one day be taken over by robots.

But for the time being, automation isn’t quite there. And so, some compromise between machine and human worker is needed. A synergy between the two has already yielded great results – just think about an autopilot guiding a plane for the majority of a flight, and human pilot intervening only for take-off and landing.

A more commonplace example of machine-assistance comes in the form of a spell-checker on a word-processing program. And these are getting more sophisticated. Apps like Grammarly and ProWritingAid not only identify grammatical or spelling errors; they now also identify more stylistic problems, and help us to make writing clearer and more concise, even when it isn’t technically wrong. [Read more…] about When Automation Works Alongside Humans