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BlueBotics marks 10 years of its AGV operating system

BlueBotics has marked 10 years of its Autonomous Navigation Technology operating system for automated guided vehicles.

BlueBotics chose the recent CeMAT event in China as the platform to celebrate ANT’s 10-year milestone, since the first vehicle driven by its ANT went into commercial operation.

The company also showcased its ANT lite+ and ANT localization+ products’ new support for omnidirectional vehicle movements at the show. [Read more…] about BlueBotics marks 10 years of its AGV operating system

Zimmer robotic surgery system found to improve accuracy

A newly developed robotic surgery system has been found to improve surgeon accuracy in knee operations.

The Zimmer Biomet ROSA Knee System provides surgeons “an intuitive inference displaying planned resections throughout cuts and a validation tool to verify cuts’ accuracy in real-time”, says the company.

Zimmer Biomet is a Warsaw, Indiana-based company which designs and manufactures a range of musculoskeletal healthcare products. [Read more…] about Zimmer robotic surgery system found to improve accuracy

MIT develops navigation method to help delivery robots find the front door

MIT has developed a navigation method that is designed to help delivery robots find the front door of an address. (See video below.)

Standard approaches for robotic navigation involve mapping an area ahead of time, then using algorithms to guide a robot toward a specific goal or GPS coordinate on the map.

MIT says that, while this approach might make sense for exploring specific environments, such as the layout of a particular building or planned obstacle course, this method can become “unwieldy in the context of last-mile delivery”. [Read more…] about MIT develops navigation method to help delivery robots find the front door

HRG launches new ‘automated guided vehicle’

HRG has launched what it describes as an “automated guided vehicle”, although it appears to have the technology that is also found in autonomous mobile robots, which are slightly different.

AGVs are older technology and are limited in their ability to navigate their way round a facility – usually, magnetic strips are fixed to the floor to guide them.

HRG says its AGV integrates “simultaneous localization and mapping”, or SLAM, the navigation technology that gives AMRs their autonomy. [Read more…] about HRG launches new ‘automated guided vehicle’

BlueBotics says 1,750 AGVs worldwide now use its Ant navigation system

Just over a year after supplying its 1,000th ANT navigation unit to Swiss customer Cleanfix, BlueBotics says it has now surpassed 1,750 ANT-driven AGVs in operation.

ANT stands for “Autonomous Navigation Technology” and is a hardware-plus-software solution offered by BlueBotics in a variety of configurations.

Nicola Tomatis, CEO of BlueBotics, says: “As we close in on 2,000 vehicles running around the world, we find ourselves considering how we achieved this success. [Read more…] about BlueBotics says 1,750 AGVs worldwide now use its Ant navigation system

How Automation has Transformed the Delivery Process

The world of logistics has, in recent years, been radically altered by automation.

More than ever before, the process of getting a package from one location to another has been put into the hands of machines, and the change is behind many of the recent improvements in packaging and distribution that even small businesses can enjoy.

But exactly how does automation impact the delivery process, and what changes might we continue to see in the future? Let’s take a look. [Read more…] about How Automation has Transformed the Delivery Process

Toposens launches ultrasonic sensor for close-range perception

Toposens has launched what it describes as its “current flag-ship product”, the TS3, a 3D ultrasonic sensor.

The company says the TS3 us suitable for a wide range of applications in the autonomous systems market that require a strong need for reliable object detection and situational awareness.

In comparison to common ultrasonic sensors, which usually measure the distance only to the closest reflecting surface, Toposens’ new 3D sensors achieve “a wide field of view of up to 160° and provide simultaneous 3D measurements for multiple objects within the scanning area”, says the company. [Read more…] about Toposens launches ultrasonic sensor for close-range perception

Autonomous forklifts ‘raise the bar on safety’, says Seegrid

Thousands of injuries related to manually driven forklifts are reported to US health and safety authority OSHA each year, and a fatal accident involving a manual forklift occurred approximately once per week in the US in 2018.

Many companies are adopting Seegrid vision-guided vehicles (VGVs) as a safe, efficient form of transport in their facilities.

There is no comparison between human industrial vehicle drivers and their Seegrid autonomous driving counterparts – the company claims that injury and fatality statistics prove that its technology is safer.

Sensors supplier Sick selected as Top 50 robotics company

Sick, the sensor specialist, has been named a Top 50 Robotics Company by the Robotics Business Review.

The RBR50 is an annual list of the 50 most innovative and transformative robotics companies that have achieved commercial success in the past year.

Sick provides sensor technology for a number of robotics applications, including navigation for mobile platforms. [Read more…] about Sensors supplier Sick selected as Top 50 robotics company

Yale unveils dual-mode pantograph robotic forklift truck

At ProMat 2019, Yale showed its industry-first dual-mode pantograph robotic lift truck.

The truck is capable of autonomously depositing and retrieving loads from locations as high as 30 feet and reaching into double-deep storage.

The high-lifting capability of the reach/forklift truck makes it suited for distribution centres facing pressure to maximise vertical storage space, says the company.

[Read more…]