Robotics & Automation News

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Ridecell launches ‘first ever platform’ to convert vehicle data into automated operations

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Ridecell, a provider of automation for vehicle fleets, has launched its Fleet IoT Automation, which it describes as “the first IoT driven automation platform designed specifically for fleet-based businesses”.

Fleet IoT Automation integrates data insights with digital vehicle control to turn today’s manual processes into automated workflows.

The result is a self-acting fleet digitalization system that doesn’t just create alerts around issues or opportunities but helps the operations and business teams configure intelligent automation to respond to revenue opportunities and resolve fleet issues proactively. [Read more…] about Ridecell launches ‘first ever platform’ to convert vehicle data into automated operations

Sherpa Mobile Robotics installs fleet of AMRs for line-side automation at FPT Industrial

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Sherpa Mobile Robotics is providing further details of their first installation with fleet management.

For a several weeks now, six Sherpa-B autonomous mobile robots have been co-working in total safety in the midst of humans, automated guided vehicles, forklifts and other industrial machines at FPT Industrial.

The FPT Industrial plant in Bourbon-Lancy, in the Saône-et-Loire region, assembles 35,000 high-powered gas and diesel engines per year, destined for agricultural machinery, buses and trucks. [Read more…] about Sherpa Mobile Robotics installs fleet of AMRs for line-side automation at FPT Industrial

BlueBotics to give digital demonstration of path to mobile robot development

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BlueBotics, a provider of autonomous navigation technology, is attending this year’s ProMat Digital Experience (DX) event to highlight how it can help smooth the path to successful automated guided vehicle and mobile robot development, installation and operation.

During the digital event, which runs from April 12 to 16, BlueBotics will explain and fully demonstrate the benefits of its ANT natural feature navigation – ranging from quick and simple vehicle installation to robust, accurate ongoing operations and cross-platform fleet scale-up, whereby a growing range of diverse ANT driven vehicles can adapt to a business’ evolving needs.

BlueBotics’ team of autonomous navigation experts will be on hand via the company’s showcase page to answer visitor questions and to arrange any meetings required to dive deeper into any company’s specific AGV development or investment needs. [Read more…] about BlueBotics to give digital demonstration of path to mobile robot development

XPeng undertakes the ‘longest autonomous driving expedition in China’

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XPeng, an electric vehicle company in China, has undertaken what is described as “the longest autonomous driving expedition” in China, with a fleet of XPeng P7s, covering a total distance of 3,675 km across six provinces across the country.

This will be the longest autonomous driving expedition by mass-produced vehicles in China.

The expedition will showcase the capability of Navigation Guided Pilot, full-stack in-house developed autonomous driving solution by XPeng, in complex driving scenarios on China’s highways. [Read more…] about XPeng undertakes the ‘longest autonomous driving expedition in China’

Seegrid launches Fleet Geek analytics software for mobile robots

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Seegrid, a provider of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for material handling, has launched Fleet Geek, a cloud-based analytics solution that provides “a holistic, data-driven view of material flow”.

The company says it provides Seegrid’s customer base – prominent global brands in manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics – with “comprehensive, actionable insights into Seegrid Palion AMR performance across their entire network of facilities”.

Fleet Geek tracks and illustrates material flow trends, empowering users with critical insights to optimize workflows, increase utilization, quantify the value of automation, and scale automation initiatives across the enterprise. [Read more…] about Seegrid launches Fleet Geek analytics software for mobile robots

Giving airplanes new life with new cockpits

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Technology moves at a blistering pace, and what was modern and cool yesterday is outdated today.

That’s where UPS Airlines was with its Airbus A300 freighter aircraft fleet several years ago. The 52 wide-body “browntails,” with an average age of 18 years, have plenty of life left in them.

But the avionics in the cockpit needed a serious upgrade. The current flight management computers (FMC) used for navigation have just 200 kilobytes of storage. That was fine in 1983, when the A300-600 first flew, but nowhere near enough storage now. [Read more…] about Giving airplanes new life with new cockpits

Seegrid launches its first autonomous lift truck

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Seegrid, a manufacturer of autonomous mobile robots for material handling, has premiered a new autonomous lift truck, Palion Lift AMR, further expanding the capabilities of the company’s fleet of mobile robotics solutions.

The latest addition follows the unveiling of the company’s feature enhanced pallet truck, the Palion Pallet Truck Series 8, announced just last week.

Jim Rock, Seegrid’s CEO, says: “We’re proud to continue to both expand and strengthen our AMR portfolio and help our customers take their fleet to the next level with our new Palion Lift AMR. [Read more…] about Seegrid launches its first autonomous lift truck

Mercedes’ autonomous truck developer Torc Robotics selects Amazon as preferred cloud provider for self-driving truck fleet

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Autonomous truck developer Torc Robotics, part of automotive giant Daimler Mercedes-Benz, has selected Amazon Web Services as its preferred cloud provider to handle the scale and speed needed for data transfer, storage, and compute capacity as the company prepares to launch its fleet of next-generation self-driving test trucks in New Mexico and Virginia.

Torc says that, with the growth in test fleet size, number of routes, and sensor capability, there is an increase in data ingestion and analysis needs by engineering teams in the US and in Germany.

Torc is an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck, responsible for commercializing a Level 4 autonomous system that will be offered to trucking customers. As defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), under Level 4 autonomy, a vehicle is capable of performing all driving functions under specified operating conditions. [Read more…] about Mercedes’ autonomous truck developer Torc Robotics selects Amazon as preferred cloud provider for self-driving truck fleet

Verizon to acquire autonomous mobile robot software company

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US telecommunications giant Verizon has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire incubed IT, the creator of a software platform providing autonomous navigation tools to administer, manage and optimize mixed fleets of robots in industrial settings.

Rima Qureshi, chief strategy officer at Verizon, says: “This acquisition further demonstrates Verizon’s commitment to developing new and innovative businesses and use cases leveraging the power of 5G.

“Mobile robot orchestration is a real and emerging challenge faced by enterprises today. By integrating incubed IT’s autonomous software with Verizon’s 5G platform, we will have the ability to power robotic automation at scale. [Read more…] about Verizon to acquire autonomous mobile robot software company

Otto Motors integrates its warehouse robots with Boston Dynamics’ robot dog

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Otto Motors, a maker of autonomous mobile robots for warehouses and part of Clearpath Robotics, has integrated its warehouse robots with Boston Dynamics’ robot dog, Spot, as part of a demonstration. (See video below.)

The company says it combined its separate areas of expertise – from Clearpath and Otto – into “a dynamic real-world application using Boston Dynamics’ Spot”.

At the end of last year, Clearpath released a ROS software package for Spot which allows researchers to take full advantage of ROS capabilities out-of-the-box and leverage widely available open-source libraries and tools with Spot. [Read more…] about Otto Motors integrates its warehouse robots with Boston Dynamics’ robot dog