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Michigan awards $260,000 in grants to mobility technology companies

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The state of Michigan has announced that three companies will receive $260,000 in total funding through the Michigan Mobility Funding Platform (MMFP) to test and deploy mobility projects across the state.

With these grants, Michigan will enable new mobility solutions that help address challenges related to school bus emissions, decaying mobility infrastructure and last-mile deliveries, all while reducing on-road miles, emissions, traffic, accidents and noise.

Lt Governor Garlin Gilchrist II says: “Shaping the next generation of mobility solutions means developing more than just automobiles. It means future-proofing our roads and bridges, as well as ensuring that our alternate and last-mile mobility solutions can support the areas where we live, work, visit and play. [Read more…] about Michigan awards $260,000 in grants to mobility technology companies

Civ Robotics raises $5 million seed funding round

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Civ Robotics has closed a $5 million seed funding round led by ff Venture Capital and Alley Robotics Ventures, with participation from Trimble Ventures.

Civ Robotics’ autonomous surveying solution, CivDot, is an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), designed for civil engineering and infrastructure projects, such as solar farms, roadways, data centers and power plants to name a few.

Tom Yeshurun, co-founder and CEO of Civ Robotics, says: “The construction industry faces worker shortage challenges, and CivDot is empowering efficiency and safety on the job, while driving projects forward from the start. [Read more…] about Civ Robotics raises $5 million seed funding round

Fugro opens space robotics and AI facility in Australia

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Fugro has officially opened the Australian Space Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Control Complex, better known as SpAARC.

Located in Perth’s central business district, this new “world-class facility” is a joint initiative by the Australian Space Agency, the Western Australia Government, and Fugro.

SpAARC is Fugro’s largest remote operations centre to date and will manage robotics and other harsh-environment remote operations in Australia, around the world and in space. [Read more…] about Fugro opens space robotics and AI facility in Australia

Seoul Robotics demonstrates technology that enables cars to park themselves

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Imagine driving a car – one without self-driving capabilities – to a mall, airport or parking garage, and using an app to have the car drive off to park itself. Software company Seoul Robotics is using Nvidia technology to make this possible – turning non-autonomous cars into self-driving vehicles.

Headquartered in Korea, the company’s initial focus is on improving first- and last-mile logistics such as parking. Its Level 5 Control Tower is a mesh network of sensors and computers placed on infrastructure around a facility, like buildings or light poles – rather than on individual cars – to capture an unobstructed view of the environment.

The system enables cars to move autonomously by directing their vehicle-to-everything, or so-called V2X, communication systems. These systems pass information from a vehicle to infrastructure, other vehicles, any surrounding entities – and vice versa. V2X technology, which comes standard in many modern cars, is used to improve road safety, traffic efficiency and energy savings. [Read more…] about Seoul Robotics demonstrates technology that enables cars to park themselves

VulcanForms raises $355 million to ‘pioneer industrial-scale digital manufacturing infrastructure’

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VulcanForms, an MIT-born company that builds and operates advanced digital manufacturing infrastructure, has raised $355 million and is valued at over $1 billion.

VulcanForms’ investors include Eclipse Ventures, Stata Venture Partners, Fontinalis Partners, D1 Capital Partners, Standard Investments, Atlas Innovate, Boston Seed Capital, Industry Ventures, and the Simkins Family.

The company also revealed its first two digital production facilities, in Devens, MA and Newburyport, MA, capturing the full value chain for precision metal components and assemblies. [Read more…] about VulcanForms raises $355 million to ‘pioneer industrial-scale digital manufacturing infrastructure’

Industrial inspection startup Gecko Robotics raises $73 million

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Gecko Robotics, a leader in robotics and industrial asset management software, has revealed details of its Series C funding round of $73 million, led by XN with participation from Founders Fund, XYZ, Drive Capital, Snowpoint Ventures, Joe Lonsdale, Mark Cuban, Gokul Rajaram, and others.

The company says this latest funding round accelerates Gecko’s stated mission, “To protect today’s critical infrastructure, and give form to tomorrow’s”.

Co-founded by Jake Loosararian, CEO, and Troy Demmer, chief product officer, Gecko focuses on essential industries such as power generation, oil and gas, heavy manufacturing, and defense. [Read more…] about Industrial inspection startup Gecko Robotics raises $73 million

Gideon launches autonomous case picking and process optimization solution

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Gideon, a warehouse robotics company, has launched Casey, an autonomous case picking and process optimization solution.

The new solution helps companies manage the severe labor shortages and surging e-commerce demand by automating and optimizing manual case picking. The rise of e-commerce, due to its higher labor intensity and customer expectations, is a clear signal that new automation solutions are the key to sustainable growth.

Recent forecasts – Statista data, for example, point to a 50 percent rise of e-commerce to $7.4 trillion worldwide by 2025 – add urgency. [Read more…] about Gideon launches autonomous case picking and process optimization solution

Chalmers University selects Lenovo and Nvidia to build Swedish national supercomputer

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Chalmers University of Technology is using Lenovo and Nvidia’s technology infrastructure to power its large-scale computer resource, or supercomputer, Alvis.

The project has seen the delivery and implementation of a clustered computing system for artificial intelligence and machine learning research, in what is Lenovo’s largest high-performance computing cluster for AI and ML in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

Alvis – old Norse meaning “all-wise” or “all-knowing” – is a national supercomputer resource within the Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing (SNIC). [Read more…] about Chalmers University selects Lenovo and Nvidia to build Swedish national supercomputer

Skyports partners with Park24 to develop vertiport infrastructure

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Air taxi vertiport developer and operator, Skyports, and Japan’s largest parking lot and car sharing operator, Park24, have signed an agreement to explore the development and integration of vertiport infrastructure of “advanced air mobility” (AAM) into Park24’s parking and car sharing network.

The agreement also involves partners including Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance, a Japanese general insurance company, and Kanematsu Corporation.

Aioi Nissay Dowa provides and arranges insurance for ground infrastructure and related air mobility services and aim to develop a mobility as a service that seamlessly integrates air and land. [Read more…] about Skyports partners with Park24 to develop vertiport infrastructure

Wisk and Skyports partner to develop infrastructure for autonomous aircraft

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Wisk Aero and Skyports are partnering to integrate autonomous, electric, vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft operations at vertiports and other ground-based infrastructure.

The partnership marks the first collaboration between a vertiport developer-operator and an autonomous eVTOL developer in the US.

Wisk Aero is an advanced air mobility company and developer of an all-electric, self-flying air taxi in the US, while Skyports is a developer and operator of vertiports (landing sites for eVTOL aircraft). [Read more…] about Wisk and Skyports partner to develop infrastructure for autonomous aircraft