Robotics & Automation News

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How the Energy Industry Can Help Us Towards a Greener Future

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Generating energy is vitally important to our survival as a species, but it is also one of the biggest contributors to our carbon footprint.

Fortunately, the industry is starting to wake up to these challenges and has a potentially huge role to play in securing our environmental future.

Renewable Sources of Energy

One of the most important steps that the energy sector is taking to reduce its environmental impact is the transition towards renewable sources of energy. [Read more…] about How the Energy Industry Can Help Us Towards a Greener Future

Genesis and Demaurex to develop ‘next generation’ robotic systems

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Demaurex, a Swiss robotics company and pioneer of high speed pick and place robotics, and Genesis Robotics and Motion Technologies, an innovative start-up robotics company, have signed a joint development agreement to integrate Genesis Robotics’ revolutionary LiveDrive Direct-Drive Motors into Demaurex’s latest generation “delta robot systems”.

The JDA was signed at an exclusive signing ceremony at the Lausanne headquarters of Demaurex to begin what both companies hail as a milestone in the development of advanced robotics.

Demaurex engineered and industrialized the original Delta robot in 1988, based on a patent of Prof Reymond Clavel of the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, introducing high speed, vision guided product pick and place systems to the robotics market for the first time. [Read more…] about Genesis and Demaurex to develop ‘next generation’ robotic systems

NEDO, Sharp, and Toyota to begin public road trials of electrified vehicles equipped with high-efficiency solar batteries

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NEDO, Sharp Corporation, and Toyota Motor plan to commence public road trials of electrified vehicles equipped with high-efficiency solar batteries later this month.

The trials aim to assess the effectiveness of improvements in cruising range and fuel efficiency of electrified vehicles equipped with high-efficiency solar batteries.

To facilitate the execution of this trial, Sharp modularized its world-class, high-efficiency solar battery cells (conversion efficiency of 34 percent+), previously developed for a NEDO-led project, to create an onboard solar battery panel. [Read more…] about NEDO, Sharp, and Toyota to begin public road trials of electrified vehicles equipped with high-efficiency solar batteries

Mitsubishi Electric to sponsor MassRobotics in the USA

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Mitsubishi Electric Automation Inc. has announced a sponsorship deal with MassRobotics.

MassRobotics is an independent, non-profit organisation serving as an innovation hub for robotics and connected devices.

Through this sponsorship, Mitsubishi aims to enhance MassRobotics’ prototyping space so startups can accelerate testing and support startup initiatives to develop the next generation of advanced manufacturing solutions that use cutting-edge technology and robots for factory automation customers worldwide.

[Read more…] about Mitsubishi Electric to sponsor MassRobotics in the USA

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

Oceaneering selected to ‘digitally’ transform Pacific Drilling’s global fleet

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Oceaneering International, Inc., and Pacific Drilling have entered into a five-year Digital Services Package agreement to provide Pacific’s customers with better reliability and improved throughput enabling streaming video and real-time data.

This will allow the provision of emerging services such as remote ROV piloting, surveying, and automation aboard Pacific Drilling’s high-specification drillship fleet.

As a result of these efforts, Pacific Drilling’s customers can benefit from higher security, increased access and management of third parties as well as new and expanded digital services.

[Read more…] about Oceaneering selected to ‘digitally’ transform Pacific Drilling’s global fleet

Robotic toymaker Anki to close down

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Anki, a startup company which made robotic toy cars and trucks, is planning to close its doors, according to a report on the Recode website.

The company had raised more than $200 million in funding for the venture, and generated $100 million in revenue in 2017, but is now making all of its 200 employees redundant.

In a statement to Recode, the company says that it had been left “without significant funding” which meant it could not finance its hardware and software development plans going forward.

[Read more…] about Robotic toymaker Anki to close down

New report highlights 5G opportunities for operators

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ADL 5G_Rollout_models

New business models are emerging as enterprises and solution providers get ready for the next generation of mobile networks, according to a new report. 

In its latest report, 5G Deployment Models Are Crystallizing, Arthur D. Little examines the opportunities that exist for telecom operators to facilitate new business ecosystems enabled by the next generation of mobile networks.

Promising huge increases in speed and bandwidth, 5G has the potential to deliver a vast array of realistic, interactive experiences to consumers, for example, in the areas of immersive games and sports viewing, autonomous driving and augmented reality infotainment, with use cases currently being built.  [Read more…] about New report highlights 5G opportunities for operators

Electric power: Clean energy infrastructure driving switch from AC to DC

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nikola tesla
Nikoa Tesla, pictured in his Colorado Springs lab in 1899. Picture courtesy of Smithsonian.com

Nikola Tesla was a famous scientist who developed alternating current, the means of distribution for electricity for the vast majority of devices, appliances and machines in households and factories and just about every other electrified thing in the world today. 

But even as Tesla was inventing much of the technology used in the alternating current electricity supply system, another famous inventor, Thomas Edison argued that direct current was the best way to distribute electricity.

By the time Tesla tech came onstream, DC had already been in use for a decade, but within a relatively small area, and Edison lost that argument mostly because the components of an alternating current grid enabled electricity to be carried far and wide beyond the power generating facility.  [Read more…] about Electric power: Clean energy infrastructure driving switch from AC to DC

The future of work: Generation Z against the Machine

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kuka writing robot

Stephen Parker, CEO of digital engagement specialist Parker Software, explains how businesses can use technology to enhance jobs rather than replace them

There is a persistent myth that the rise of automation, robotics and software is a recipe for disaster. Many people worry that technological innovation will lead to the demise of human jobs, otherwise known as structural unemployment.

These claims are dangerous for “generation Z”, creating an uneasy atmosphere of automation anxiety and paranoia over job security.

Many of us have heard about the idea of automation anxiety, which is the fear that robotics and software will one day come to replace humans in the workforce.  [Read more…] about The future of work: Generation Z against the Machine