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Opinion: How will people respond when automation changes their roles

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Dr Paul Rivers, CEO, Guidance Automation

There has been much written about the benefits that automation can unlock for businesses, but too often businesses think they need to jump in at the deep end and deploy automation technology straight away, hoping it will solve the problems they are experiencing.

But how will a process optimised for a manual workforce perform with automation – such as an automated guided vehicle (AGV)? How will people respond when their day-to-day roles change?

If the aim is to improve efficiency and productivity, technology is just one part of the overall solution. [Read more…] about Opinion: How will people respond when automation changes their roles

Autonomous buses and shuttles reflect ‘strong societal trends’, says report

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Autonomous buses and robotic shuttles reflect “strong societal trends”, such as ageing populations who are less mobile and the record numbers of people moving to cities, according to a new report.

These are among the findings of a study by IDTechEx, Robot Shuttles and Autonomous Buses 2020-2040, said to be the first in-depth report on the subject.

Robot shuttles are an important new, reconfigurable form of transportation for goods and people that may even function as mobile offices, workshops, restaurants and more. [Read more…] about Autonomous buses and shuttles reflect ‘strong societal trends’, says report

Columbia develops ‘robotic trunk support assists’ for people with spinal cord injuries

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Engineers at Columbia university have invented a robotic trunk-support-trainer to retrain patients with spinal cord injury to sit more stably and gain an expanded active sitting workspace. (See video below.)

Spinal cord injuries (SCI) can cause devastating damage, including loss of mobility and sensation. Every year, there are an estimated 17,000 new SCIs in the US alone, a rate higher than in most regions of the world.

In addition, the rate of SCIs in people 65 years or older is expected to rise in the US, from 13 percent in 2010 to 16.1 percent by 2020. [Read more…] about Columbia develops ‘robotic trunk support assists’ for people with spinal cord injuries

iRobot begins manufacturing operations in Malaysia

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iRobot, a maker of consumer robots – most famously a robotic vacuum cleaner, has officially commenced production in Malaysia ahead of schedule.

Working with Jabil Inc, a manufacturing solutions provider based in St Petersburg, Florida, iRobot has expanded its manufacturing capabilities into Malaysia as part of its strategic supply chain diversification initiative.

Jabil has served as one of iRobot’s trusted manufacturing and supply chain partners in China since 2010. [Read more…] about iRobot begins manufacturing operations in Malaysia

Can robots save the e-commerce holiday season?

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It’s getting close to Christmas and that means it’s time for e-commerce fulfillment managers to start getting worried about the availability of labor for the holiday season.

According to a recent article in Supply Chain Dive, “this year’s peak season promises additional challenges in recruiting new hires as the pool of available labor shrinks”.

As the article points out, the US unemployment rate hit a 50-year low in September 2019. [Read more…] about Can robots save the e-commerce holiday season?

Automation and digitalization will re-shape the logistics industry, says DHL

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DHL, the world’s largest logistics company, has highlighted technologies such as robotics and digitalisation in a new strategy, which it unveiled at its Bering Technology Campus – or “Smart Warehouse” – in the Netherlands.

“Automation and digitalization will re-shape the logistics industry”, says DHL, and these technologies are central to the company’s Strategy 2025, launched by Oscar de Bok, CEO DHL Supply Chain last week amid ever-greater challenges facing the logistics industry.

DHL Supply Chain already runs one of its Smart Warehouses and serves customers across Europe with “highly automated and digitalized” contract logistics solutions. [Read more…] about Automation and digitalization will re-shape the logistics industry, says DHL

ZF joins Mobility as a Service Alliance group

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The automotive components and systems supplier ZF has become the first major automotive supplier to participate in the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) Alliance.

The objective of this special interest group that spans Europe is to bring about a paradigm shift in urban mobility, promote networked mobility concepts, and create uniform standards for technologies and legislation.

ZF says traffic jams, lack of parking, and air pollution mean that better mobility concepts are needed to avert the threat of complete gridlock in many city centers. [Read more…] about ZF joins Mobility as a Service Alliance group

Helping robots and humans work hand in hand

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As the internet-connected world continues to transform the manufacturing and logistics industry, Technische Universität Dortmund is leading the way in research into human-robot interaction.

With the help of Vicon’s cutting-edge motion capture and VR solutions, the University is developing innovative ways to approach the coexistence of drones and robots with people in warehouse environments.

The manufacturing and logistics sector faces a major challenge: how best to serve the ever-growing e-commerce market – with increasingly small-scale shipments and shorter delivery deadlines – in a cost-effective and sustainable way. [Read more…] about Helping robots and humans work hand in hand

Cornell scientists develop new material to give robots more sensitive touch

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A new synthetic material created by a scientist at Cornell University is said to give robots a “softer touch”.

Developed by PhD student Patricia Xu, at Cornell’s Organic Robotics Lab, the “sensory network” – also dubbed “optical lace” – is said to be similar to the human biological nervous system.

The lab’s paper, Optical Lace for Synthetic Afferent Neural Networks, was published in Science Robotics. [Read more…] about Cornell scientists develop new material to give robots more sensitive touch

Indian government to replace sewage workers with robots by 2020

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An Indian company called GenRobotics has developed a range of robots to undertake work down manholes and in sewage environments, and has been receiving orders from a number of states in its home country as well as many places abroad. 

GenRobotics was launched in relatively quiet circumstances in 2015, but then, last year, the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, was in attendance at the launch of the company’s second-generation robots.

Malaysia and the UAE are among the outside nations from which orders have been received for GenRobotics machines, and they join Indian states such as Tamil Nadu, in the south, and Haryana, in the north of the massive country of more than 1 billion people. [Read more…] about Indian government to replace sewage workers with robots by 2020