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Versius surgical robot receives ‘indication’ extended into thoracic surgery

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CMR Surgical says its Versius Surgical Robotic System has been “indicated” for thoracics to support surgeons providing minimally invasive surgery to patients undergoing operations in the lungs, thymus and oesophagus.

In medicine, an “indication” is a valid reason to use a certain test, medication, procedure, or surgery.

Following a gradual introduction with specific case and procedure selection, Versius has now been used in both major and minor cases including oesophagomyotomies, lobectomies and thymectomies. [Read more…] about Versius surgical robot receives ‘indication’ extended into thoracic surgery

Indian hospital launches ‘world’s first’ fully active robotic knee replacement system

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Sakra World Hospital, one of the leading healthcare providers in Bengaluru and India’s first FDI (foreign direct investment) hospital, now boasts of the country’s first, one of a kind healthcare breakthrough – advanced robotic knee replacement technology that is set to empower the orthopaedic surgeons to plan the knee replacement days before they enter the operation theatre to actually conduct the procedure.

The “Cuvis Joint” is claimed to be “the world’s first fully active robotic knee replacement system” which is now making knee replacement surgeries “more accurate, transparent and hassle-free” in Sakra World Hospital and comes as a “bliss” for those suffering from severe arthritis, says Sakra.

Manufactured by Curexo, a South Korean firm and marketed and sold by Meril Healthcare in India and known for its unique and autonomous nature of functioning, Cuvis Joint was launched by BS Yediyurappa, Chief Minister of Karnataka and Dr Shivaraj Kumar, popular Kannada film actor. [Read more…] about Indian hospital launches ‘world’s first’ fully active robotic knee replacement system

PAL Robotics completes testing of robots with Accerion positioning sensors in hospitals to fight Covid-19

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With the unpredictable health crisis of Covid-19 continuing to place high demands on hospitals, PAL Robotics says it has successfully completed testing of its delivery robots in Barcelona hospitals this summer. (See video below.)

The TIAGo Delivery and TIAGo Conveyor robots were deployed in Hospital Municipal of Badalona and Hospital Clínic Barcelona following a winning proposal submitted to the European DIH-Hero project.

Accerion sensors were integrated onto the TIAGo Delivery Robot and TIAGo Conveyor Robot for use in this project. [Read more…] about PAL Robotics completes testing of robots with Accerion positioning sensors in hospitals to fight Covid-19

Cheetah Mobile’s epidemic prevention and control robots keeping busy in China

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More than 30 hospitals and public venues in six major Chinese cities have been using Cheetah Mobile’s robots for epidemic prevention and control. (See video below.)

The locations include Wuhan’s Huoshenshan Hospital, the emergency specialty field hospital that was built in 10 days in response to the virus outbreak. [Read more…] about Cheetah Mobile’s epidemic prevention and control robots keeping busy in China

Robotics and Automation News Review: Fanuc and Kuka launch new robots, Pittsburgh ready to go to ‘infinity and beyond’, Foxconn moves operations out of China, and much more…

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Friday 14 August 2020: This is a new, weekly column – to be published every Friday – which rounds up all the most interesting news from the robotics and automation industry in the past seven days, in brief form. 

This Robotics and Automation News Review is also available to view on our YouTube channel.

Comau Robotics says it has created an “innovative, in-line testing and quality control system that optimizes the construction and assembly of batteries”. The company says the MI.RA / Thermography system uses thermal imaging and artificial intelligence to perform non-invasive automated assessment and control of welded joints, to ensure battery integrity and prevent waste.

Kuka Robotics has launched a new compact industrial robot. The company says its new KR 4 Agilus is “a hot candidate for first place in the small robotics charts from October onwards”.

Fanuc Robotics has launched a new “extremely compact” robot which it claims has the “best precision in its class”. The new M-10iD/16S robot is the most compact model of the M-10iD series, says Fanuc, adding that it combines the best features of its two predecessors, M-10iA/10MS and M-10iA/12S.

Hyundai Robotics has signed an agreement with Korea’s Asan Medical Center and KT for joint development and commercialization of smart hospital solutions on June 30th. The company is planning to prepare for the post-corona era with a smart hospital solution for infection management by ICT-based digital transformation.

Techman Robot, a manufacturer of collaborative robots, says it has adopted proactive steps against the new coronavirus. Techman Robot says it checks the health of its employees on a daily bases and collects global virus information. It also implementing prevention measures. The company maintains business communications online and is frequently in touch with all overseas offices, global distributors, partners, and customers.

HRG International Institute of Research and Innovation has unveiled a new floor cleaning robot, the SW10. The company says it is exclusively designed for floor cleaning tasks in commercial and industrial environments. The robot is combined with sweeping, mopping and vacuum cleaning functions and its work can maintain 2,000 square meters per hour.

Denso has established the Pittsburgh Innovation Lab, a new US research and development center designed to strengthen open innovation and enhance technology development that enables automated driving.

FedEx has installed industrial robotic arms to do what is considered the “most difficult” job to automate in a sorting facility in Memphis, USA. The logistics giant has integrated Yaskawa robots and software from Plus One Robotics into a robotic system that performs a task which involves picking up parcels or envelopes from a tray and placing them on a conveyor.

Foxconn, Apple’s main contract manufacturing partner, has moved a significant portion of its operations outside of China. The company has already moved an additional 5 percent of its operations to countries other than China, bring it up to 30 percent, compared with 25 percent last year.

Pittsburgh local authorities say they are looking to “infinity and beyond” after NASA awarded a local company, Astrobotic Technology, a $200 million contract to build and send the first-ever US robotic rover to the Moon by 2023.

AOT robot ready to cut human bones after passing surgical tests

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Advanced Osteotomy Tools says its surgical robot has successfully completed all the surgeries required for the “first-in-man” clinical study of the Carlo device for laser-assisted cutting of human bone.

AOT, a Swiss medical technology company, says the tests were undertaken on June 19, 2020. The aim of the study was to demonstrate the performance and safety of the system.

CARLO, short for Cold Ablation Robot-guided Laser Osteotome, is a surgical robotic platform, which is used to cut bones through cold laser ablation – that is, without conventional surgical tools. [Read more…] about AOT robot ready to cut human bones after passing surgical tests

Blue Ocean Robotics and its disinfecting robots recognised by Robotics Business Review Top 50

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Blue Ocean Robotics and its ultra-violet disinfecting robots have been recognised as Top 50 Most Influential Robotics Company by Robotics Business Review.

The company says it is experiencing “continued global growth” as disinfecting robots are used as effective weapons against coronavirus and hospital acquired infections.

Christiano Huscher, chief surgeon at Gruppo Poloclinico Abano, which operates a number of private hospitals in Italy, says: “Before we received the UVD robot, six of the hospital’s doctors had been infected with Covid-19. [Read more…] about Blue Ocean Robotics and its disinfecting robots recognised by Robotics Business Review Top 50

Enquiries for Savioke’s delivery robot double amid pandemic

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The number of enquiries for Savioke’s delivery robot (see video below) has doubled amid the global coronavirus pandemic, according to an executive at the startup company.

Governments in virtually every country in the world have ordered lockdowns of citizens, or “shelter-in-place” orders, as they are referred to in the US.

The orders have led to many people in the robotics industry to predict that the demand for delivery robots, such as the ones produced by Savioke, will increase. [Read more…] about Enquiries for Savioke’s delivery robot double amid pandemic

Boston Dynamics provides its canine robot in the fight against coronavirus

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Boston Dynamics has modified its canine robot to make it more helpful in the fight against coronavirus.

In a blog post, the company says: “We have spent the last six weeks building and testing a payload and application architecture that would enable our robot, Spot, to help reduce exposure of frontline healthcare workers to the novel Covid-19 virus.”

Mobile robots play a vital role in removing people from dangerous environments, says the company, which developed the payload, hardware, and software for this application so that they are “generalizable and able to be deployed on other mobile robotic platforms with APIs and capacity for custom payloads”. [Read more…] about Boston Dynamics provides its canine robot in the fight against coronavirus

UBTech robots being used to control coronavirus in Wuhan

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UBTech is supplying its robotics and artificial intelligence technologies in the ongoing effort to control coronavirus in China. 

The AI robots have been installed in healthcare settings as well as commercial environment as people get back to work.

As shown in the main picture above, people starting to return to work are being greeted by people alongside robots. [Read more…] about UBTech robots being used to control coronavirus in Wuhan