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FemtoPrint wins the 2019 Exhibitors’ Grand Prix at EPHJ

FemtoPrint, a Swiss company specialising in microtechnology, has won the 2019 Exhibitors’ Grand Prix at the EPHJ event.

The young Ticino company impressed the judges with its “SPOT-RVC”, which has been described as a “real innovation in the medical technology market and a beacon of hope for the 16 million people worldwide with retinal vein occlusion”.

The Safe Puncture Optimized Tool (SPOT), designed by FemtoPrint, aims to safely inject a drug that dissolves clots in the retinal veins without harming tissue, thanks to a new high-precision miniaturised medical tool. [Read more…] about FemtoPrint wins the 2019 Exhibitors’ Grand Prix at EPHJ

Hyundai walking car concept for the ‘first responder’ industry

Any first responder will tell you that the first 72 hours following a natural disaster are the most crucial to saving lives.

However, often times due to the nature of the disaster (forest fire, earthquake, hurricane, or flood), it can be difficult for search-and-rescue and humanitarian aid missions to reach and get immediate help to those in need.

The need for efficient, rapid, resilient transportation for disaster assistance is what led Hyundai to develop the first-ever vehicle with moveable legs.

Digital Visual Management: Integration of Human-Centricity and Automation

By Nicola Olivetti, Lean and Industry 4.0 Program Director, iObeya

Recently, a leading industrial journalist asked for an explanation about the pragmatic integration of human-centricity and automation. Below are my responses.

Question: How can you preserve a human-centric approach to collegial work in a highly automated environment?

Answer: Companies with an authentic Lean culture leverage automation to expand the scope of teams by granting real-time access to valuable information. This allows for important activity and relevant people (experts, partners, suppliers, customers) to co-operate in a horizontal and agile manner. [Read more…] about Digital Visual Management: Integration of Human-Centricity and Automation

Omron robotics boss envisages cars building themselves

A senior executive at industrial giant Omron foresees a time in which cars virtually build themselves in factories. (See interview below.)

Bruno Adam, director of Omron’s mobile robot business director in Europe, says that in the future, factories will operate completely differently.

The current process sees car bodies moved along a linear, straight production line where different robots and people work on their assembly.

[Read more…]

Lilium launches air taxi. Flying cars could take to the skies next

Flying cars have been around a long time, but only as test vehicles, often engineered and built by tinkerers who may have been seen as somewhat eccentric for even dreaming up such a machine.

But in the past couple of years, these “eccentric tinkerers” have been usurped by corporate bigwigs who maybe see a big market for the technology.

In the most recent development, a German company called Lilium has completed a successful test flight with its all-electric flying car.

[Read more…]

Wanted: Robot to load dishwasher. Must be careful

Chris Roberts, head of industrial robotics at Cambridge Consultants, provides an overview of the jobs robots could potentially do in future

Cambridge Consultants recently announced a new technology for automating one of the most unloved jobs in a commercial kitchen – loading the dishwasher.

This technology combines innovative robotics with cutting edge AI to achieve something hitherto impossible – detecting and handling a wide variety of dirty crockery haphazardly arranged on a tray.

However, the fundamental techniques used in this product can be applied to a wider range of situations and problems. There are many different tasks that it is only now possible to automate.

[Read more…]

Amazon testing automated custom packaging machine

One of the things many people have noticed about receiving goods they ordered online is the amount of empty space inside the box. Sometimes, more than 90 percent of the box is empty.

This is obviously inefficient and can result in much additional and unnecessary cost, from the amount of box material wasted, through the amount of wasted space within vehicles in transit, to name just two aspects.

While these inefficiencies have continued, for a long time, machines that automate the process of putting items inside boxes have been available. Not only can these machines box things up, they can also custom-build the box to fit the item on the fly.

[Read more…]

Samsung shows off robot that tests Galaxy Fold smartphone

Samsung has been showing off the robot the company uses to test the new Galaxy Fold smartphone. (See video below.)

The Galaxy Fold is a new type of smartphone – the main feature being the foldable screen.

The Galaxy Fold was scheduled for release a few days ago, but early reviews suggested that the foldable screen broke after a day’s use.

[Read more…]

Beam me up, Scotty. Or send me a foldable smartphone

If you’re among the millions of people who watched the sci-fi TV show Westworld and saw the folding smartphones used by some of the characters, you probably immediately thought, “I want one of those.”

That’s what we thought anyway.

And whereas the old, 1960s Star Trek showed off tablet computers and other technologies many decades before they were beamed into our collective – and possibly holographic – reality, nowadays, things happen slightly faster.

[Read more…]

Robotic toymaker Anki to close down

Anki, a startup company which made robotic toy cars and trucks, is planning to close its doors, according to a report on the Recode website.

The company had raised more than $200 million in funding for the venture, and generated $100 million in revenue in 2017, but is now making all of its 200 employees redundant.

In a statement to Recode, the company says that it had been left “without significant funding” which meant it could not finance its hardware and software development plans going forward.

[Read more…]