Robotics & Automation News

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Kuka unveils new compact autonomous mobile robot for intralogistics

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Kuka has expanded its portfolio of mobile platforms with the unveiling of a new autonomous mobile robot for intralogistics.

Describing it as a “compact powerhouse meets the highest safety requirements”, Kuka says the new generation of the KMP 600-S diffDrive is “fast – up to two meters per second – and equally safe, thanks to laser scanners and 3D object detection”.

Mobile solutions must meet extremely high standards for industrial use, says the company. The Kuka KMP 600-S diffDrive mobile platform provides a new automated guided vehicle system with high-speed support for production intralogistics and a payload of up to 600 kg. [Read more…] about Kuka unveils new compact autonomous mobile robot for intralogistics

Lumotive and Axibo partner to bring lidar to cinematography automation

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Lumotive, the developer of Light Control Metasurface (LCM) beam steering chips enabling the next generation of 3D sensors, and Axibo, a cinema robotics company and the developer of autonomous camera motion control systems, have unveiled Axibo’s Precision eJib – a unique, designed-for-cinema, 6-axis robotic arm with 3D sensing capabilities made possible with Lumotive’s LCM beam steering technology.

The jointly-developed solution gives photographers and videographers unparalleled capabilities such as smart object targeting and tracking, enhanced image stabilization, and ground-breaking new autofocus features, to produce far crisper images and films combined with automated scene capture.

Available initially for professional-grade cameras, and under development for consumer-grade cameras, this revolutionary photography and cinematography automation solution takes advantage of Lumotive’s LCM beam steering chips that deliver best-in-class performance, range, and size in the 3D sensing industry. [Read more…] about Lumotive and Axibo partner to bring lidar to cinematography automation

Intel’s new AI chip enables ‘real-time learning for robots’

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Intel Labs, in collaboration with the Italian Institute of Technology and the Technical University of Munich, has introduced a new approach to neural network-based object learning.

It specifically targets future applications like robotic assistants that interact with unconstrained environments, including in logistics, healthcare or elderly care.

This research is a crucial step in improving the capabilities of future assistive or manufacturing robots. It uses neuromorphic computing through new interactive online object learning methods to enable robots to learn new objects after deployment. [Read more…] about Intel’s new AI chip enables ‘real-time learning for robots’

Dobot introduces expanded lineup of non-contact cobots

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Collaborative robot manufacturer Dobot and its US-based master distributor DB Cobots have unveiled the addition of its 3 kg and 10 kg collaborative robots to the existing 5 kg version of the Safe Skin model previously available.

This expanded lineup will enable more industries and companies to use cobots with the safest technology available in their automation, says the company.

Dobot’s standard line of Industrial Cobots are inherently safe by stopping when the arm makes contact with an object. [Read more…] about Dobot introduces expanded lineup of non-contact cobots

Washington university develops 3D-printed robotic gripper that can pick up anything, no matter what its geometry

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At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, car manufacturing companies such as Ford quickly shifted their production focus from automobiles to masks and ventilators.

To make this switch possible, these companies relied on people working on an assembly line. It would have been too challenging for a robot to make this transition because robots are tied to their usual tasks.

Theoretically, a robot could pick up almost anything if its grippers could be swapped out for each task. To keep costs down, these grippers could be passive, meaning grippers pick up objects without changing shape, similar to how the tongs on a forklift work. [Read more…] about Washington university develops 3D-printed robotic gripper that can pick up anything, no matter what its geometry

Velodyne Lidar signs multi-year agreement with Boston Dynamics

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Velodyne Lidar has agreed a multi-year contract for its lidar sensors with Boston Dynamics, a developer of mobile robotics.

Boston Dynamics selected Velodyne’s sensors to provide perception and navigation capabilities for its highly mobile robots, which are capable of tackling the “toughest robotics challenges”.

Velodyne’s lidar sensor solutions enable mobile robots to operate autonomously and safely, without human intervention. They provide real-time 3D perception data for localization, mapping, object classification and object tracking. [Read more…] about Velodyne Lidar signs multi-year agreement with Boston Dynamics

Scientists unveil robotic grippers ‘delicate enough to lift egg yolks and precise enough to lift a human hair’

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Engineering researchers from North Carolina State University have demonstrated a new type of flexible, robotic grippers that they say “are able to lift delicate egg yolks without breaking them, and that are precise enough to lift a human hair”. (See video below.)

The work has applications for both soft robotics and biomedical technologies.

The work draws on the art of kirigami, which involves both cutting and folding two-dimensional (2D) sheets of material to form three-dimensional (3D) shapes. [Read more…] about Scientists unveil robotic grippers ‘delicate enough to lift egg yolks and precise enough to lift a human hair’

MIT unveils dexterous robotic hands that can ‘manipulate thousands of objects with ease’

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MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory has revealed a dexterous robotic hand that scientists say can “manipulate thousands of objects with ease”. (See video below.)

At just one year old, a baby is more dexterous than a robot. Sure, machines can do more than just pick up and put down objects, but we’re not quite there as far as replicating a natural pull towards exploratory or sophisticated dexterous manipulation goes.

OpenAI gave it a try with “Dactyl” (meaning “finger” from the Greek word daktylos), using their humanoid robot hand to solve a Rubik’s cube with software that’s a step towards more general AI, and a step away from the common single-task mentality. DeepMind created “RGB-Stacking,” a vision-based system that challenges a robot to learn how to grab items and stack them.

Scientists from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), in the ever-present quest to get machines to replicate human abilities, created a framework that’s more scaled up: a system that can reorient over two thousand different objects, with the robotic hand facing both upwards and downwards. [Read more…] about MIT unveils dexterous robotic hands that can ‘manipulate thousands of objects with ease’

Fully automatic picking of unknown products from bulk material

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The goal: fully automated small parts picking.

In intralogistics, there has been a lot of hype about robots for some years now, whether in trade journals or at fairs.

Most of them are classic six-axis articulated robots that are looking for their way out of a production environment and into logistics.

The main driver here is the labour shortage, the big challenge not a technical component like the robot or the gripper, but the design of an overall economic process. [Read more…] about Fully automatic picking of unknown products from bulk material

ANYbotics boosts autonomous mobile robots with Velodyne lidar sensors

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ANYbotics is equipping its autonomous mobile robots with Velodyne’s Puck lidar sensors. ANYbotics robots provide industrial operators with an automated robotic inspection solution to support efforts in monitoring and maintaining plants.

ANYbotics’ four-legged robot ANYmal performs inspection and monitoring tasks in challenging industrial terrains such as mining and minerals, oil and gas, chemicals, energy and construction.

ANYmal’s legs provide unparalleled mobility when moving up and down stairs, climbing over obstacles, steps and gaps, and crawling into tight spaces. ANYmal’s inspection payload provides visual, thermal and acoustic insights for condition monitoring of equipment and infrastructure. [Read more…] about ANYbotics boosts autonomous mobile robots with Velodyne lidar sensors