Robotics & Automation News

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How Data Annotation Speeds Up the Development of AI Robots in the Agriculture Industry

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AI has made the lives of companies across industries a lot easier since it allows them to automate a lot of time-consuming and mundane processes.

However, these robots need to be trained with data that allows them to recognize and function in the physical world. This is where data annotation services come in.

Today we will take a look at how data annotation speeds up the development of AI robots and the types of data annotation that are necessary. [Read more…] about How Data Annotation Speeds Up the Development of AI Robots in the Agriculture Industry

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’

SICK and Aeva partner to bring 4D LiDAR to industrial sensing applications

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Aeva, a leader in next-generation sensing and perception systems, and SICK announced a strategic multi-year collaboration to bring Aeva’s Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) 4D LiDAR to a variety of industrial sensing applications including long-range sensing, starting with Aeries II.

Dr Niels Syassen, member of the board responsible for technology and digitization at SICK, says: “We are pleased to partner with Aeva and work closely together to bring its FMCW technology to high performance industrial sensing applications.

“We are convinced that their unique approach to FMCW technology, which includes instant velocity detection and long-range performance, will provide new opportunities for us and our customers in a variety of industrial sensing applications where traditional time of flight LiDAR technologies are challenged.” [Read more…] about SICK and Aeva partner to bring 4D LiDAR to industrial sensing applications

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

How Additive Manufacturing Works and Provides Benefits

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Additive manufacturing is known as 3D printing. Computer-aided programs are used to create 3D objects.

Additive manufacturing is getting popular nowadays. It is a very cost-effective process to design the objects.

Objects are designed with the help of materials such as plastic, ceramic or metal powder. After the design, these printing objects are assembled with heat or a laser beam. [Read more…] about How Additive Manufacturing Works and Provides Benefits

SICK unveils intelligent solution for safe object differentiation and identification on conveying solutions and packaging machines

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With the introduction of the deTec4 Smart Box Detection access protection system from SICK, secondary packaging machines in the end-of-line area, top and side loaders, or sorter and ejector modules can now be operated in a safe and user-friendly manner.

With the help of a reliable pattern detection logic, Smart Box Detection can safely differentiate rectangular objects, such as boxes, from people and body parts in the inlet and outlet zones of packaging machines or logistics conveying systems.

This allows the boxes to be transported continuously without any stops into and out of fenced in machines. [Read more…] about SICK unveils intelligent solution for safe object differentiation and identification on conveying solutions and packaging machines

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’

IDS expands Ensenso 3D camera portfolio in the lower price segment

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New entry-level 3D camera: The ultra-compact Ensenso S10 is universally applicable and cost-effective

Industrial camera manufacturer IDS Imaging Development Systems has introduced the Ensenso S, saying the new device shows that the use of industrial-grade 3D technology does not have to be expensive.

The 3D camera is particularly suitable for 3D applications that require budget-friendly, easy-to-integrate and industrial-grade camera technology.

The new Ensenso S10 has an ultra-compact, IP65/67-protected housing and generates 3D data using laser point triangulation, supported by artificial intelligence. This makes the camera suitable for a wide range of applications – and delivers robust 3D information even in low ambient light. [Read more…] about IDS expands Ensenso 3D camera portfolio in the lower price segment

Lyro goes global through collaboration with IMI Precision Engineering

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Brisbane, Australia-based Lyro Robotics has been contracted to license their Lyro Machine Intelligence software to US based IMI Precision Engineering.

This technology partnership will deliver smart robots that will replicate the “hands”, “eyes” and “brain” of human capabilities in automation and logistics applications.

The partnership means the two companies will work to deliver a full-stack robotic solution to satisfy the rising global demand for automated bin picking in various industries, such as agriculture, logistics and e-commerce. [Read more…] about Lyro goes global through collaboration with IMI Precision Engineering