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General Motors and Red Hat partner to develop software-defined vehicles

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Automotive giant General Motors and open source software provider Red Hat have formed a partnership to “help advance software-defined vehicles at the edge”.

The companies expect to expand an ecosystem of innovation around the Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System, which provides a functional-safety certified Linux operating system foundation intended for the ongoing evolution of GM’s Ultifi software platform.

The collaboration between Red Hat and GM is a significant moment in the convergence of the transportation and technology industries, with Red Hat’s cloud-native, enterprise-grade open source operating system accelerating the development of GM’s software-defined vehicle programs following Ultifi’s initial launch. [Read more…] about General Motors and Red Hat partner to develop software-defined vehicles

Bosch makes $250 million available for startups

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Despite the challenging business environment, the Bosch Group is raising its venture-capital funding for the current business year: its subsidiary Robert Bosch Venture Capital (RBVC) is setting up a new fund for startups; the fund has a volume of 250 million euros (approximately $250 million).

As a provider of venture capital, Bosch supports startups around the world whose technologies have the potential to improve quality of life and conserve natural resources.

“Our investments in startups promote technological progress in business and society,” says Dr Stefan Hartung, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch. “And we ourselves also benefit from this collaboration, since solutions to ever more complex tasks can frequently be found faster, more efficiently, and better in partnership with others.” [Read more…] about Bosch makes $250 million available for startups

Open Ocean Robotics raises $4 million to develop autonomous boat

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Open Ocean Robotics has completed a $4 million round of seed financing to advance its marine robotics and ocean data analytics platform.

This included a $2.8 million non-dilutive investment from Sustainable Development Technology Canada, an agency of the Canadian government, and $1.2 million from a syndicate of international investors including Rhiza Capital and Cindicates.

This funding enables the company to accelerate the development of its solar powered autonomous uncrewed surface vehicle technology and ocean data analytics platform for maritime monitoring. [Read more…] about Open Ocean Robotics raises $4 million to develop autonomous boat

Intel Mobileye and Geely Zeekr to build autonomous car for consumer market

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Mobileye, an Intel subsidiary which develops advanced driver assistance systems, and Zeekr, the premium electric car brand owned by China’s largest automaker Geely, are to develop a new all-electric consumer vehicle with Level 4 capabilities.

The plan represents an expansion of their existing strategic technology partnership.

The planned autonomous vehicle will be powered by six EyeQ 5 system-on-chips to process Mobileye True Redundancy sensing, Responsibility-Sensitive Safety (RSS)-based driving policy and a new open collaboration model on Road Experience Management (REM) mapping technology. [Read more…] about Intel Mobileye and Geely Zeekr to build autonomous car for consumer market

Nvidia brings AI perception to ROS developers

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Nvidia has unveiled initiatives to deliver a suite of perception technologies to the Robot Operating System (ROS) developer community.

The chipmaker says these initiatives will “reduce development time and improve performance for developers seeking to incorporate cutting-edge computer vision and AI/ML functionality into their ROS-based robotics applications”.

Nvidia and Open Robotics, the organisation which maintains ROS, have entered into an agreement to accelerate ROS 2 performance on Nvidia’s Jetson edge AI platform and GPU-based systems and to enable seamless simulation interoperability between Open Robotics’s Ignition Gazebo and Nvidia Isaac Sim on Omniverse. [Read more…] about Nvidia brings AI perception to ROS developers

Ubuntu could force itself to look at that creepy-looking canine robot CyberDog

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Canonical, the company which manages the Ubuntu open-source operating system, is reportedly planning to deepen its understanding of a creepy-looking canine robot called CyberDog – probably giving itself nightmares in the process.

CyberDog is a quadrupedal, experimental, open-source robot created by Chinese mobile phone giant Xiaomi. This canine robot is eerily similar to the other, more famous and even more terrifying robot dog produced by Boston Dynamics. That one – called Spot – is also open source.

Xiaomi says its aim in releaasing CyberDog is to “improve the robot development environment and promote the development of the robot industry”. Xiaomi says it has a clear vision for its product. [Read more…] about Ubuntu could force itself to look at that creepy-looking canine robot CyberDog

Universal Robots’ latest results are ‘a strong indication of growth to come’, says president

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Collaborative industrial robot maker Universal Robots’ latest results are “a strong indication” of future growth, says its president, Kim Poylsen.

Universal Robots, which has just released its Q3 results for 2021, has reported record quarterly revenue of $78 million, up 46 percent on last year’s Q3 revenue and 31 percent up from its pre-pandemic Q3 revenue of 2019.

Since creating the world’s first commercially viable collaborative robot in 2008, the Danish company has gone on to sell over 50,000 of its ‘cobots’ for use across a range of industrial uses, primarily in the manufacturing sector. [Read more…] about Universal Robots’ latest results are ‘a strong indication of growth to come’, says president

Jamba and Blendid unveil robotic smoothie kiosk in Downey, California

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Jamba and Blendid have launched their second robotic smoothie kiosk – called “Jamba by Blendid” – pilot location, now open at the Stonewood Center in Downey, California.

Building on the successful 2020 opening of the first Jamba by Blendid in Dixon, California this is the next step in the effort to open Jamba by Blendid kiosks in additional types of venues – from big box retailers and shopping malls to gyms, hospitals, and college campuses.

Geoff Henry, president of Jamba, says: “After a successful launch of our first Jamba by Blendid kiosk, we’re excited to open a second test kiosk at the Stonewood Center, bringing freshly blended smoothies to mall shoppers. [Read more…] about Jamba and Blendid unveil robotic smoothie kiosk in Downey, California

InOrbit to support MassRobotics AMR Interoperability Standard

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InOrbit, a provider of a cloud-based robot operations platform, says its technology is now fully compatible with robots that implement the recently announced MassRobotics AMR Interoperability Standard.

The standard for autonomous mobile robots was developed recently by business accelerator MassRobotics and is helping robotics companies become standard-compliant.

The standard allows autonomous vehicles of different types to share information about their robots speed, location, direction, health, tasking and availability and other performance characteristics. [Read more…] about InOrbit to support MassRobotics AMR Interoperability Standard

MassRobotics publishes ‘world’s first’ open source autonomous mobile robot interoperability standards

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MassRobotics, an independent, non-profit center that serves to educate, inspire and bring robotics initiatives, investments and companies to life, has released the MassRobotics Interoperability Standard.

The new initiative enables Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) from multiple vendors to integrate and work together seamlessly to support safe and efficient operations in global factories, warehouses, distribution and fulfillment centers.

Members of the working group and contributors to the newly introduced standards include Vecna Robotics, 6 River Systems, Waypoint Robotics, Locus Robotics, Seegrid, MiR, Autoguide Mobile Robots, Third Wave Automation, Open Robotics Foundation and others. [Read more…] about MassRobotics publishes ‘world’s first’ open source autonomous mobile robot interoperability standards