Robotics & Automation News

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Sole Source Capital raises $555 million for second fund

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Sole Source Capital, an industrial-focused private equity firm, has closed its second fund, SSC Partners II or “Fund II”, with aggregate total commitments of $555 million.

Fund II was significantly oversubscribed with an initial target of $400 million and reached its hard cap. With the closing of Fund II, Sole Source Capital now manages in excess of $1 billion just three years after the launch of Fund I.

Since 2016, Sole Source has completed 24 transactions focusing on driving rapid value creation in lower middle market companies. [Read more…] about Sole Source Capital raises $555 million for second fund

Baidu launches multi-purpose autonomous minibus

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Baidu, the Chinese internet search giant which also has an autonomous vehicle business unit called Apollo, has launched what it describes as “a new generation of multi-purpose autonomous minibuses”. 

Named “Apolong II”, the new vehicles are being rolled out in Guangzhou Huangpu District.

The Apolong II is equipped with advanced autonomous driving capabilities and the latest in-vehicle smart cabin technologies to enhance passenger experience. [Read more…] about Baidu launches multi-purpose autonomous minibus

GSR rescues its deep-sea manganese mining robot

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GSR, the deep-sea exploratory division of the DEME Group, has successfully recovered its prototype deep-seabed mining robot – which had become uncoupled from a cable connecting it to a surface vessel – from the floor of the Pacific Ocean.

Patania II – GSR’s purpose-built prototype nodule collector – is currently being trialled in 4,500 metre water depth in the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ) of the Pacific Ocean.

On its final dive in the GSR area on 25 April, a lifting point separated and Patania II was uncoupled from the 5 km cable that connects it to the surface vessel. [Read more…] about GSR rescues its deep-sea manganese mining robot

Autonomous boats could be your next ride

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Five years in the making, MIT’s autonomous floating vessels get an upgrade in size and learn a new way to communicate aboard the waters

The feverish race to produce the shiniest, safest, speediest self-driving car has spilled over into our wheelchairs, scooters, and even golf carts.

Moreover, recently, there’s been movement from land to sea, as marine autonomy stands to change the canals of our cities, with the potential to deliver goods and services and collect waste across our waterways.

In an update to a five-year project from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and the Senseable City Lab, researchers have been developing the world’s first fleet of autonomous boats for the city of Amsterdam, and have recently added a new, larger vessel to the group: “Roboat II”. (See video below.) [Read more…] about Autonomous boats could be your next ride

Interview: Startup Reflect developing new solution to ‘a real industrial problem’

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Interview with George Papanikolopoulos, CEO of CASP, which is developing a software solution to what he describes as ‘a real industrial problem’

Reflect is one of the experiments that successfully passed to Phase II of the first Open Call in ESMERA, the EU agency that has a multimillion-euro budget to help robotic startups. 

Being one of the 12 experiments that started in ESMERA in the summer of 2019, Reflect proved its concept to external evaluators and has been selected as one of the currently five final experiments in Phase II. [Read more…] about Interview: Startup Reflect developing new solution to ‘a real industrial problem’

Misty Robotics launches two new Misty II models

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Misty Robotics, the creators of the Misty II platform robot, have launched two additional Misty II models.

Customers can now choose between three models (Misty II Basic Edition, Misty II Standard Edition, and Misty II Enhanced Edition) based on the robot capabilities required for their given use case and budget.

Tim Enwall, CEO Misty Robotics, says: “Our introduction of additional models builds on our vision of a robot in every business, home and school, enabling more people to put Misty to work doing useful things. [Read more…] about Misty Robotics launches two new Misty II models

Misty Robotics launches first Misty II app template for concierge use

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Misty Robotics, the creators of the Misty II platform robot, have launched the “Misty as a Concierge” application template, which provides developers with a starting point to build robot skills and put Misty II to work in the service sector.

The Misty II application templates are open source code for developers to build upon and customize for a specific assignment or task.

The Misty as a Concierge application template has utility in environments such as entertainment and sports venues, hotels, eldercare, retail, commercial real estate, museums, and more. [Read more…] about Misty Robotics launches first Misty II app template for concierge use

NASA takes delivery of first all-electric experimental aircraft

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The first all-electric configuration of NASA’s X-57 Maxwell now is at the space agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

The X-57, NASA’s first all-electric experimental aircraft, or X-plane – and the first crewed X-plane in two decades – was delivered by Empirical Systems Aerospace (ESAero) of San Luis Obispo, California on Wednesday, October 2, in the first of three configurations as an all-electric aircraft, known as Modification II, or Mod II.

The X-57’s Mod II vehicle features the replacement of traditional combustion engines on a baseline Tecnam P2006T aircraft, with electric cruise motors. [Read more…] about NASA takes delivery of first all-electric experimental aircraft

ESMERA opens €200,000 competition to fund small businesses developing robotics solutions

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The EU funded robotics project ESMERA – the European SMEs Robotics Applications – has opened its second open call to help fund small businesses developing robotic solutions for enterprise applications.

Within that call, industrial end-users have defined specific challenges that are to be solved by introducing a robotics solution.

The challenges come from the areas of manufacturing, energy, construction, agriculture, food processing, retail, healthcare and emergency response. [Read more…] about ESMERA opens €200,000 competition to fund small businesses developing robotics solutions

Misty Robotics selects Microsoft’s .NET Core for its robot platform and tools

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Misty Robotics, the creator of the Misty robot developer platform, has chosen Microsoft’s .NET Core for use with its robot platform and related tools.

Misty is focused on enabling developers to build skills for its robots that offer value and utility for personal and business use.

Today, Misty Robotics is successfully leveraging the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) as its central platform for developing functionality for the Misty II robot.

[Read more…] about Misty Robotics selects Microsoft’s .NET Core for its robot platform and tools