Market trends and business perspectives
Soft Robotics has raised $23 million in an oversubscribed Series B funding round.
The round was co-led by Calibrate Ventures and Material Impact and includes additional existing investors Honeywell, Hyperplane, Scale, Tekfen Ventures, and Yamaha.
With this round Soft Robotics also adds Fanuc, the world’s largest industrial robot manufacturer, as a new investor. [Read more…] about Fanuc invests in Soft Robotics as startup raises $23 million in oversubscribed funding round
Retail giant Walmart has integrated a warehouse automation system, Alphabot, into its operations after undertaking tests for almost a year. (See video below.)
Alphabot, technically an automated storage and retrieval system, was especially developed for Walmart by startup company Alert Innovation.
Walmart says the Alphabot system will “revolutionize the online grocery pickup and delivery process”. [Read more…] about Walmart integrates Alphabot into its warehouse operations
Misumi, a global manufacturer and provider of mechanical components and indirect materials for special machine construction and assembly automation, has commissioned SSI Schaefer to implement a new logistics center in Frankfurt / Main.
The distribution center will be built in several stages and have a capacity for 450,000 items on more than 10,000 sq m of storage area.
Core elements of the system are an automated shuttle warehouse, a four-storied rack system, ergonomic work stations connected via a conveying system and the logistics software Wamas. [Read more…] about SSI Schaefer implements logistics center for Misumi
Fetch Robotics, a provider of autonomous mobile robots for warehouses, has launched a new system for real-time inventory visualization.
The company says its new RFID visualization capabilities allow third-party logistics companies, manufacturers and retailers to autonomously capture, and then analyze and visualize inventory data in the cloud.
Fetch added the “new and unique” capabilities to its TagSurveyor technology, a robotic RFID solution that allows customers to gain complete visibility of assets in their fulfillment centers, distribution centers or warehouses via visualization of inventory data on a facility map. [Read more…] about Fetch Robotics launches new system for real-time inventory visualization in warehouses
by Sam Francis
Walgreens and Postmates are partnering to provide quick, convenient, on-demand delivery for customers looking for over-the-counter medications, health and wellness, beauty and grocery products.
Postmates will deliver hundreds of Walgreens’ most popular items from 174 Walgreens and Duane Reade locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Whether it will use its delivery robots remains to be seen, but it’s certainly an option in the long term.
Craig Whitmer, VP, merchant business development, Postmates, says: “In the last year, orders from convenience and drugstores have increased by 68 percent. [Read more…] about Walgreens chooses Postmates for grocery deliveries
by Mai Tao
Omron has launched an updated ranges of optical sensors that the company says can better detect black, mirrored and transparent surfaces.
Omron Electronic Components Europe says the new series of optical sensors, also feature a longer detection distance.
Omron B5W sensors are particularly effective at identifying black, transparent, reflective and other hard to detect services, and the new range also features enhanced performance in this area. [Read more…] about Omron says its optical sensors can better detect black surfaces
by Mai Tao
The term “goods to person” in the context of the logistics and supply chain sector refers to technology that brings items from locations within, for example, a warehouse to a human picker while he or she remains in one place, also within the warehouse.
And while “logistics” and “supply chain” are terms that are often used interchangeably, logistics usually refers to moving goods along public roads or out in the wider world, whereas supply chain refers to the entire journey that the goods make, as well as specific parts of it, such as their processing through a warehouse.
One of the technologies most readily associated with medium- to large-scale warehouses is the conveyor, which has been around for more than 100 years. But in the past few years, warehouse robots have been eroding the total dominance of conveyors by offering what are offering described as “flexible” supply chain systems, in contrast to the “fixed” nature of conveyors. [Read more…] about Logistics and supply chain: An overview of ‘goods-to-person’ and ‘last-mile delivery’ technologies
Technology research and development company Cambridge Consultants has unveiled what it describes as a “dexterous robot with the human touch”. (See video below.)
Breakthrough innovation specialist Cambridge Consultants has developed Hank, a robot with flexible robotic fingers inspired by the human hand.
Hank uses a pioneering sensory system embedded in its pneumatic fingers, providing a sophisticated sense of touch and slip, meaning it can emulate the human ability to hold and grip delicate objects using just the right amount of pressure.
[Read more…] about Cambridge Consultants unveils ‘dexterous robot with the human touch’Chris Roberts, head of industrial robotics at Cambridge Consultants, provides an overview of the jobs robots could potentially do in future
Cambridge Consultants recently announced a new technology for automating one of the most unloved jobs in a commercial kitchen – loading the dishwasher.
This technology combines innovative robotics with cutting edge AI to achieve something hitherto impossible – detecting and handling a wide variety of dirty crockery haphazardly arranged on a tray.
However, the fundamental techniques used in this product can be applied to a wider range of situations and problems. There are many different tasks that it is only now possible to automate.
[Read more…] about Wanted: Robot to load dishwasher. Must be carefulby Anna
NextShift Robotics, a provider of autonomous mobile robot solutions for automated order fulfilment and warehouse materials management, has been granted a second patent, US10214354B2, “Method and System for Automated Transport of Items”.
The patent pertains to operating a robotic picking system in which the containers to be picked are positioned on the shelves and within picking stations.
The patent covers the ability of the robot to raise itself vertically to access shelving of different heights in order to pick the appropriate container from a range of shelf heights and storage system configurations.
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