Robotics & Automation News

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Startup awarded $5 million to build autonomous car that ‘runs on light’

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Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), an agency of the US military akin to Darpa, is funding a $4.8 million project spearheaded by Boston University College of Engineering, the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Lightmatter, a startup developing “photonic supercomputing” chips.

Electro-photonic computing, or optical computing, is thought to hold the promise of solving one of the biggest technical hurdles that self-driving cars face today – delivering high performance, low latency computing power that is also energy efficient.

At the end of the IARPA-funded experiment, the scientists hope to have “a fully functioning prototype of a self-driving car that runs on light”. [Read more…] about Startup awarded $5 million to build autonomous car that ‘runs on light’

Electric Sheep Robotics launches its Dexter robotic lawnmower system

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Electric Sheep Robotics, the leader in autonomous lawn mowing, has officially launched its Dexter robot.

Dexter takes existing commercial lawn mowers, both gas and electric, and turns them into autonomous vehicles. Dexter is designed to address critical labor shortages in the landscaping, facilities, and property management industries.

Nationally, a record 4.5 million US workers quit their jobs in November. There are more job openings than there are workers. The labor market in landscaping is particularly dire. [Read more…] about Electric Sheep Robotics launches its Dexter robotic lawnmower system

Robust AI raises $22.5 million to build ‘world’s first’ industrial-grade cognitive engine for robotics

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Robust.ai, the company pioneering an industrial grade cognitive engine for robots, announced today the close of a $15 million Series A investment round, taking the company’s total funding to date to $22.5 million.

JAZZ Venture Partners led the Series A round and was joined by previous investors Playground Global, Liquid2, Fontinalis, Jaan Tallinn and Mark Leslie. Esther Dyson, Steve Blank and Tim O’Reilly are also angel investors in Robust.ai.

Historically, robots have largely been confined to highly predictable environments; Robust aims to change that by creating a new cognitively-driven AI platform that gives robots the problem-solving capabilities they need to work alongside humans in dynamic, open-ended environments, vastly increasing their potential in complex public spaces. [Read more…] about Robust AI raises $22.5 million to build ‘world’s first’ industrial-grade cognitive engine for robotics

New AppHarvest funding round brings total to $150 million

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Indoor farming startup AppHarvest has raised $28 million in its latest funding round, bringing the total to $150 million.

As Bloomberg reports, AppHarvest is building “the world’s largest greenhouse” in Morehead, Kentucky in the US.

AppHarvest uses similar indoor farming techniques to those used by so-called “vertical farming” companies in that it can irrigate its crops using 90 percent less water than traditional farming techniques. [Read more…] about New AppHarvest funding round brings total to $150 million

Hyundai launches technical training in collaborative robotics

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Newly created company Hyundai Robotics has launched technical training programmes to teach people about collaborative robotics.

The compnay held its first “collaborative robot technical training” recently for dealers and employees, and used Hyundai’s own new collaborative robot, the YL012 (main picture and below).

The training was led by researchers who are developing collaborative robots and focuses on the unique features of Hyundai cobots compared to third party products. [Read more…] about Hyundai launches technical training in collaborative robotics

Severstal expands automation capabilities with second investment in Airborne

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PAO Severstal, one of the world’s largest vertically integrated steel and mining companies, has led a second tranche of investment into Dutch company Airborne, a developer of digital automation platforms for the production of composite parts and products with integrated composites.

The total investment in Airborne has already amounted to “several tens of millions of dollars”, says Severstal.

In spite of the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to many venture projects on the global market being placed on hold, Severstal led the new investment in Airborne with support of existing shareholders including HPE Growth. [Read more…] about Severstal expands automation capabilities with second investment in Airborne

May Mobility raises $50 million in funding round led by Toyota

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May Mobility, an autonomous transportation-as-a-service provider, has closed a $50 million Series B funding round led by Toyota.

There was also participation from Sparx Group, alongside return investors Millennium Technology Value Partners, Cyrus Capital Partners, BMW iVentures, and Toyota AI Ventures.

The company says the round will help fund strategic hires across the engineering and operations functions, and expansion of the vehicle fleet to meet growing demand. [Read more…] about May Mobility raises $50 million in funding round led by Toyota

Autonomous vehicles simulator Applied Intuition raises $40 million in funding

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Applied Intuition, a provider of a simulation platform for autonomous vehicle development, has raised $40 million in Series B financing.

The funding round was led by General Catalyst with participation from Kleiner Perkins, M12 (Microsoft), Sozo Ventures, and La Famiglia.

Previous investors, Andreessen Horowitz, Lux Capital, and Floodgate, also participated in this round. [Read more…] about Autonomous vehicles simulator Applied Intuition raises $40 million in funding

Yamaha taps into its $100 million fund to invest in Advanced Farm Technologies

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Yamaha is using part of its $100 million investment fund to buy a stake in Advanced Farm Technologies.

Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory Silicon Valley led the Series A funding round for the startup.

Yamaha says this latest investment reflects the company’s “core interest in businesses driving innovation in the agricultural sector. [Read more…] about Yamaha taps into its $100 million fund to invest in Advanced Farm Technologies

Lufthansa Technik shows off ‘world’s first’ plane cockpit-testing robot

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Lufthansa Technik has been showing off what it claims is the world’s first airplane cockpit panel testing robot, which it calls “RoCCET”.

RoCCET checks the functionality of LED lights and switches, says Lufthansa Technik, which is part of the Lufthansa Group.

The Robot-based procedure is currently in the integration phase.

[Read more…] about Lufthansa Technik shows off ‘world’s first’ plane cockpit-testing robot