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Toyota Research Institute reaches ‘new technical milestones in robotics’

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Toyota Research Institute (TRI) says it has reached “new technical milestones in robotics”. The company has unveiled new robotics capabilities aimed at solving complex tasks in home environments.

Specifically, TRI roboticists were able to train robots to understand and operate in complicated situations that confuse most other robots, including recognizing and responding to transparent and reflective surfaces in a variety of circumstances.

As TRI demonstrates in a new video (see below), this robust system allows robots to make generalizations in a range of scenarios, including in different homes. [Read more…] about Toyota Research Institute reaches ‘new technical milestones in robotics’

Mighty Buildings aims to automate 80 percent of construction process

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Mighty Buildings, a startup providing automated solutions for modern home building, has launched out of stealth after graduating from Y Combinator in winter 2018 and raising a total of $30 million from Khosla Ventures, Y Combinator, SV Angel, CoreVC, and others. 

The company says it uses a combination of 3D printing and prefabrication techniques to create a production-as-a-service platform that will “automate up to 80 percent of the building process”.

Mighty Buildings says it has a unique approach that is both project- and design-agnostic, and can create “everything from small complex components to panels to full-size volumetric modules”. [Read more…] about Mighty Buildings aims to automate 80 percent of construction process

Nuro puts its delivery robot into action against coronavirus

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Nuro, a California-based startup building small, wheeled autonomous delivery robots, is using its technology in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak in the US. (See video below.)

America now has the highest death toll in the world from Covid-19 and authorities have set up many temporarily hospitals and treatment centres across the country.

One of these temporary hospitals is located at the Sleep Train Arena, a basketball stadium which used to be the home of the Sacramento Kings, and another at the San Mateo County Event Center. [Read more…] about Nuro puts its delivery robot into action against coronavirus

S2A Modular takes its ‘self-sustaining’ home construction offering global

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S2A Modular, which claims to offer the first electrically self-sustaining, custom and smart-connected luxury residence, the GreenLuxHome, has established a first-ever “turnkey licensing program” of its kind, allowing qualified partners to build GreenLux residential and commercial buildings anywhere across North America and the world.

Through this unique licensing program, licensees will be able to create S2A Modular’s GreenLux buildings in new markets using coveted resources from a variety of entities.

Joining S2A’s GreenLux revolution: Demand is already high – with several hundred units already pre-ordered across North America and internationally. [Read more…] about S2A Modular takes its ‘self-sustaining’ home construction offering global

Toyota demonstrates ‘human service robot’ of a type that may take over a lot of homes

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Toyota has been demonstrating what it calls its “Human Support Robot”, a type of robot which looks likely to take over millions of homes all over the world in the next few years.

The market for this type of so-called personal assistance robot is forecast to grow very quickly over the next few years because of advances in the technology.

According to analysts at ResearchAndMarkets.com, the personal robotics market will grow by almost 40 per cent within the next five years to a total size of $34 billion.  [Read more…] about Toyota demonstrates ‘human service robot’ of a type that may take over a lot of homes

Robots not yet ready to enter smart homes, says expert

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relaince smart client for smart homes

TechTalk – Smart Homes: Interview with Matt Davis, of SCM World, about smart homes and intelligent buildings of the future. Courtesy of Currys PC World

The phrase “bricks and mortar” is till used to conjure up images of buildings, residential or commercial. Usually, the phrase differentiates between something virtual or exists only in computers, say a website for a shop, and something that is physical, like an actual, real-world shop on the high street, for example. 

But, along with everything else in the known world, bricks-and-mortar building are being computerised. Those that have already integrated some degree of computer technology are often called “smart homes”, if they are residential, and “intelligent buildings”, if they are commercial.

A lot of experts say that over the next decade or so, the vast majority of buildings – commercial and residential – will become computerised, or become “smarter”.

In the first of two interviews about the subject, we publish a Q&A with Matt Davis, senior vice president, SCM World, a cross-industry learning community backed by some of the world’s most influential supply chain practitioners.  [Read more…] about Robots not yet ready to enter smart homes, says expert