Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

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Winter Olympics provide China opportunity to showcase its robots

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The Winter Olympics – or Beijing 2022 – are under way in China, and the country’s roboticists are using it as an opportunity to show off their technologies. 

This is not unexpected, of course. Japan used the Summer Olympics to showcase its engineering prowess in the area of vehicle technologies as well as robots.

In fact, there’s probably less robotic showing off going on in Beijing than one might have expected, given that China is now the world’s largest buyer of robots. It’s also now the world’s largest car market, much of which is slowly becoming autonomous. [Read more…] about Winter Olympics provide China opportunity to showcase its robots

How to Become a More Eco-Friendly Industrial Business

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A few key industrial organizations around the world are now known to be the biggest culprits when it comes to emissions, so it’s as important as ever for production lines and other similar plants to begin moving toward more eco-friendly operations.

Thankfully, figuring out how your industrial business can reduce its carbon footprint and become a more environmentally conscious brand doesn’t have to be as difficult as you might expect, as there are in fact just a few key tips and tricks that you can make the most of to turn your green dreams into a reality in no time.

So, if you’re interested in finding out more, then simply read on. [Read more…] about How to Become a More Eco-Friendly Industrial Business

Cleveland Clinic develops bionic arm that restores ‘natural behaviors’

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Cleveland Clinic researchers have engineered a “first-of-its-kind bionic arm” for patients with upper-limb amputations that allows wearers to think, behave and function like a person without an amputation, according to new findings published in Science Robotics.

The Cleveland Clinic-led international research team developed the bionic system that combines three important functions – intuitive motor control, touch and grip kinesthesia, the intuitive feeling of opening and closing the hand.

Collaborators included University of Alberta and University of New Brunswick. [Read more…] about Cleveland Clinic develops bionic arm that restores ‘natural behaviors’

BlueBotics to give digital demonstration of path to mobile robot development

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BlueBotics, a provider of autonomous navigation technology, is attending this year’s ProMat Digital Experience (DX) event to highlight how it can help smooth the path to successful automated guided vehicle and mobile robot development, installation and operation.

During the digital event, which runs from April 12 to 16, BlueBotics will explain and fully demonstrate the benefits of its ANT natural feature navigation – ranging from quick and simple vehicle installation to robust, accurate ongoing operations and cross-platform fleet scale-up, whereby a growing range of diverse ANT driven vehicles can adapt to a business’ evolving needs.

BlueBotics’ team of autonomous navigation experts will be on hand via the company’s showcase page to answer visitor questions and to arrange any meetings required to dive deeper into any company’s specific AGV development or investment needs. [Read more…] about BlueBotics to give digital demonstration of path to mobile robot development

FPT Industrial uses Sherpa autonomous mobile robots to increase production

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Powerful performance, advanced technology, real sustainability. And now, also a landmark target achieved. FPT Industrial announces the production of the 10,000th Cursor 13 NG engine, rolling off the line of its plant in Bourbon-Lancy (France) on March 9th.

First unveiled in Turin (Italy) in October 2017 during the FPT Tech Day, the Cursor 13 Natural Gas engine, in little more than three years, has won the hearts and the profit-oriented minds of even the most natural gas-skeptical transport professionals, reaching an ever increasing popularity and record sales.

Currently the most powerful 100 percent Natural Gas engine available in the on-road segment and the first purely NG engine specially developed for long-haul missions, the Cursor 13 NG is produced at Bourbon-Lancy, the FPT Industrial plant located in the Burgundy region of France. [Read more…] about FPT Industrial uses Sherpa autonomous mobile robots to increase production

Gas Turbine and Energy Production: How Sensing Technology Works

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Why Natural Gas Is A Key Contributor to the Energy Industry


Natural gas has a number of benefits over alternative sources of power. Nuclear power is carbon-free, but it is incredibly expensive due to engineering controls in place to ensure its safety. The United States is a domestic producer of natural gas, whereas oil often comes from countries that hate us.

That natural gas is relatively cheap is a side benefit. Natural gas use produces less greenhouse gas than coal or oil, explaining why a number of oil and coal plants have been converted to natural gas. While wind and solar power is being built at a rapid pace, it is unreliable due to weather.

Furthermore, wind and solar tend to be at their low point when power demand is highest, whether it is a freezing winter night or late on a summer evening. The solution is building more natural gas power plants to meet consumer needs, even when it is a backup for renewable energy. [Read more…] about Gas Turbine and Energy Production: How Sensing Technology Works

Plastic-eating bacteria could help recycle waste ‘six times faster’

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The University of Portsmouth scientists who re-engineered the plastic-eating enzyme PETase have now created an enzyme “cocktail” which can digest plastic up to six times faster.

A second enzyme, found in the same rubbish dwelling bacterium that lives on a diet of plastic bottles, has been combined with PETase to speed up the breakdown of plastic.

PETase breaks down polyethylene terephthalate (PET) back into its building blocks, creating an opportunity to recycle plastic infinitely and reduce plastic pollution and the greenhouse gases driving climate change. [Read more…] about Plastic-eating bacteria could help recycle waste ‘six times faster’

Investment in agricultural automation increases as farmers look to offset labor shortages

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Total investment in agricultural robot startups has increased significantly as farmers look to offset labor shortages partly caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report on the Financial Times website.

Citing data collated by DealRoom.co, the news website says investment in vertical and indoor farming startups has grown by more than 40 percent this year compared with last year.

Indoor farming is basically the process of growing inside large buildings, some of which are like greenhouses and use natural light coming through transparent roofs, while others use artificial lights if their roofs are opaque. [Read more…] about Investment in agricultural automation increases as farmers look to offset labor shortages

Book: Cognitive Approach to Natural Language Processing

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Book title: Cognitive Approach to Natural Language Processing
Authors: Bernadette Sharp, Florence Sedes and Wieslaw Lubaszewski

As natural language processing spans many different disciplines, it is sometimes difficult to understand the contributions and the challenges that each of them presents.

This book explores the special relationship between natural language processing and cognitive science, and the contribution of computer science to these two fields.

It is based on the recent research papers submitted at the international workshops of Natural Language and Cognitive Science which was launched in 2004 in an effort to bring together natural language researchers, computer scientists, and cognitive and linguistic scientists to collaborate together and advance research in natural language processing.

The chapters cover areas related to language understanding, language generation, word association, word sense disambiguation, word predictability, text production and authorship attribution.

This book will be relevant to students and researchers interested in the interdisciplinary nature of language processing.

Hong Kong University claims world’s first internally motorized minimally invasive surgical robotic system

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Prof Law (left), Prof Yeung (middle) and Prof Yung (right), with their single incision or natural orifice (incision-less) robotic surgery system
Prof Law (left), Prof Yeung (middle) and Prof Yung (right), with their single incision or natural orifice (incision-less) robotic surgery system

A team in Hong Kong is claiming to have developed the world’s first internally motorized minimally invasive surgical robotic system for single incision or natural orifice (incision-less) robotic surgery. 

A statement by the the group, which comprises leading Hong Kong universities working with commercial partner companies, said the system can minimize surgical trauma and improve the safety of current robotic surgery.

The project is said to have developed a novel surgical robotic system (NSRS) with haptic (tactile) feedback and capable of single incision or natural orifice (incision-less) robotic surgery.

The development was initiated by Professor Yeung Chung-Kwong (Prof Yeung), honorary clinical professor at the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong (HKU).  [Read more…] about Hong Kong University claims world’s first internally motorized minimally invasive surgical robotic system