Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

problem

FactoryFix raises $10 million in funding

by Leave a Comment

FactoryFix, a recruiting platform that helps manufacturing companies hire skilled workers, has announced a $10 million Series A financing.

Grotech Ventures led the round with participation from Capital Midwest, Great North Ventures, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Revolution Rise of the Rest, and JFF Labs. The company has raised $16 million to date.

This funding caps off a year in which the company saw revenue grow by more than 400 percent. FactoryFix now helps hundreds of industrial companies in sectors like automotive, food and beverage, packaging, and warehousing. [Read more…] about FactoryFix raises $10 million in funding

SVT Robotics raises $25 million in Series A funding round led by Tiger Global

by Leave a Comment

SVT Robotics, whose software accelerates and simplifies the integration and implementation of robotics, has closed a $25 Million Series A funding round.

The investment was led by Tiger Global, with participation from Prologis Ventures.

Griffin Schroeder, partner at Tiger Global, says: “With no ‘plug-and-play’ integration solution for industrial robotics, warehouses and manufacturers have been prevented from quickly deploying the automation they need to keep pace with the dramatic shifts in labor dynamics we’ve seen over the past year. [Read more…] about SVT Robotics raises $25 million in Series A funding round led by Tiger Global

TerraClear raises $25 million to commercialize Robotic Rock Picker

by Leave a Comment

TerraClear, an applied AI and robotics company, announced Series A funding of $25 million led by Madrona Venture Group, bringing the company’s total funding to $38 million. Rocks in fields break machinery, slow precision farming, and take up valuable time that modern farms do not have.

TerraClear’s Rock Picker picks an average of 400 rocks per hour and can pick up rocks of up to 300 pounds each.

In the past year, TerraClear has deployed early versions of their solution that both map and clear fields of rocks. These rocks not only break the backs of those picking them up, but break increasingly expensive precision machinery that is in common use by farmers for planting, irrigating and harvesting. [Read more…] about TerraClear raises $25 million to commercialize Robotic Rock Picker

Texas university students win $10,000 SICK challenge

by Leave a Comment

For the third year, SICK invited students from universities around the country to participate in the TiM$10K Challenge. The challenge started in 2018 to support innovation and student achievement in automation and technology.

Teams were supplied with a 270° SICK LiDAR sensor (TiM) and accessories and challenged to solve a problem, create a solution, or bring a new application to any industry that utilizes the SICK LiDAR. [Read more…] about Texas university students win $10,000 SICK challenge

MIT startup unveils robot that unloads trailer ‘blazingly fast’

by Leave a Comment

MIT startup Pickle has unveiled a new robot that works with people to get online orders delivered sooner by unloading trailers “blazingly fast”. (See video below.)

The secret, says the company, is to “keep people in the picture”.

How has a team of 15 solved one of the biggest challenges in logistics automation in only 18 months and with limited funding? [Read more…] about MIT startup unveils robot that unloads trailer ‘blazingly fast’

How Modernization of Our World Reflects in Our Well-Being

by Leave a Comment

Modernization of our world is an inevitable process as our everyday needs drive innovation in every field out there.

The thing is, progress is never a straightforward process. It is without a doubt that it improves our lives, but some drawbacks are inevitable. In some cases, new problems arise as well. That being said, what does the full picture say?

Well, it’s hard to say. The consensus on this topic has not been reached, and it is a source of constant debate – among scientists and regular people as well. [Read more…] about How Modernization of Our World Reflects in Our Well-Being

Interview: Startup Reflect developing new solution to ‘a real industrial problem’

by Leave a Comment

Interview with George Papanikolopoulos, CEO of CASP, which is developing a software solution to what he describes as ‘a real industrial problem’

Reflect is one of the experiments that successfully passed to Phase II of the first Open Call in ESMERA, the EU agency that has a multimillion-euro budget to help robotic startups. 

Being one of the 12 experiments that started in ESMERA in the summer of 2019, Reflect proved its concept to external evaluators and has been selected as one of the currently five final experiments in Phase II. [Read more…] about Interview: Startup Reflect developing new solution to ‘a real industrial problem’

Math experts use drones to show it’s possible to ‘see’ perfectly using sound

by Leave a Comment

The discovery’s potential applications include self-driving cars, smartphones that can guide the visually impaired and drones that can help firefighters at night

As the industry for self-driving cars, robots and other unmanned vehicles quickly evolves – and engineers work to overcome the limitations of sensors that use visual, infrared or thermal information – math experts at Purdue University and the Technical University of Munich have proven there’s another, equally viable solution: using sound. 

Mireille “Mimi” Boutin, associate professor of mathematics at Purdue University, and Gregor Kemper, professor of algorithmic algebra at Technical University, found that a drone equipped with four microphones and a loudspeaker can precisely reconstruct the wall configuration of a room by listening to echoes, similar to how bats use echolocation to orient themselves.

Their work is significant because it demonstrates the feasibility of using sound for navigation in unmanned systems, leading to many potential applications such as cars, drones, underwater vehicles or even devices that people can carry, such as a smartphone.  [Read more…] about Math experts use drones to show it’s possible to ‘see’ perfectly using sound

How Automation and Artificial Intelligence Can Boost Cybersecurity

by Leave a Comment

Cybercriminals are always evolving their efforts and coming up with more advanced ways to target their victims. And while there are many tools available to stop them, there is a lot of space for improvement. Especially if you take automation into account.

Machine learning and artificial intelligence are playing a significant role in cybersecurity. Automation tools can prevent, detect, and deal with tons of cyber threats way more efficiently and faster than humans. And it will continue to expand down the road. To that end, here’s a quick look at the significant differences AI/ML technologies can make to corporate cybersecurity approaches.

Mitigating the risks posed by omnipresent technology

Technology has permeated every facet of personal and work lives. Above anything else, it increased their attack surface. And it has become a massive problem for companies in recent years – they have to account for many applications and devices. [Read more…] about How Automation and Artificial Intelligence Can Boost Cybersecurity

New solder paste enables further miniaturisation in automotive electronics

by

For the production of miniaturised electrical systems, such as those used in the automotive industry, solder material must meet extremely high requirements.

In response, Heraeus Electronics has developed its new solder paste Microbond SMT650, which it says guarantees consistently high surface resistance.

The combination of the new F650 flux system with the Innolot metal alloy increases reliability and prevents electrochemical migration even under the most extreme environmental conditions.

[Read more…] about New solder paste enables further miniaturisation in automotive electronics