Robotics & Automation News

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Robot sales reach record high in North America for third consecutive quarter

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For the third-straight quarter, robot sales in North America hit a record high, driven by a resurgence in sales to automotive companies and an ongoing need to manage increasing demand to automate logistics for e-commerce.

According to the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), of the 12,305 robots sold in Q2 2022, 59 percent of the orders came from the automotive industry with the remaining orders from non-automotive companies largely in the food and consumer goods industry, which saw a 13 percent increase in unit orders over the same period, April through June, in 2021.

Jeff Burnstein, A3 President, says: “While automotive entities have long been the frontrunner in deploying robotics and automation, the last few years have seen food & consumer goods, life sciences and other industries grow at even higher rates. [Read more…] about Robot sales reach record high in North America for third consecutive quarter

AGCO taps mobility software experts Apex.AI for its robotic planting concept

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Apex.AI, a company developing safety-certified software for mobility and autonomous applications, says that AGCO, a worldwide manufacturer and distributor of agricultural machinery and precision agriculture technology, is adding new capabilities to its Fendt Xaver concept vehicle, an autonomous farming robot, by incorporating Apex.OS, a software development kit (SDK).

Apex.AI has enabled AGCO’s engineering team to integrate several autonomous driving components into the Fendt Xaver in a tight timeframe, including lidar object detection, collision checking and planning, using the state-of-the-art framework and developer tools that come with Apex.OS.

This technical partnership expands an existing relationship between the two companies. In December 2021, AGCO announced a strategic investment in Apex.AI. [Read more…] about AGCO taps mobility software experts Apex.AI for its robotic planting concept

Universal Robots records best ever Q1 results

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Universal Robots, the Danish producer of collaborative robots, has reported record Q1 revenue of $85 million, 30 percent up on its 2021 Q1 revenue.

The company’s chief financial officer, Kim Nørgaard Andreasen said: “Reporting record Q1 revenue at a time when businesses across the world are facing disruption from the pandemic, supply chain challenges and conflict is a testament to the role collaborative automation can play in helping our customers stay competitive.

“In addition to record revenue, we have been pleased this quarter to welcome 80 new employees to our rapidly growing company.” [Read more…] about Universal Robots records best ever Q1 results

Indy Autonomous Challenge racecar sets new speed record for driverless vehicle

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The Indy Autonomous Challenge racecar, a Dallara AV-21 programmed by team PoliMOVE from Politecnico di Milano, Italy, and the University of Alabama, USA, has set a new land speed world record of 192.2 mph / 309.3 kph at the historic Kennedy Space Center.

Operating the Dallara AV-21, PoliMOVE set out to push the limits of a boosted engine package during test runs yesterday at Space Florida’s Launch & Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center.

The upgraded engine package, capable of delivering 30 percent more horsepower than previous models, will be on all IAC racecars moving forward. Future competitions will be announced in the coming months. [Read more…] about Indy Autonomous Challenge racecar sets new speed record for driverless vehicle

How Important is an Accounting System for an E-Commerce Business

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Accounts and E-commerce

The accounts branch is the most important department of a business. It is not the mere record of the transaction, profit, and loss or record of the money but it also helps to analyze the performance of a business.

An effective accounting system enables the owners and managers to take timely decisions that can be fruitful for the better performance of the business.

The E-commerce system is the fastest emerging business technique in the world of information and communication technology. [Read more…] about How Important is an Accounting System for an E-Commerce Business

Universal Robots reports record revenue of $311 million

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Universal Robots, the Danish producer of collaborative robots, has reported record annual revenue of $311 million, 41 percent up on 2020 and 23 percent up on pre-pandemic results in 2019.

Kim Povlsen, the company’s president, says: “Universal Robots has had a great year. In a company like ours, which manufactures sophisticated hardware to high quality standards, this sort of growth requires tremendous commitment from all involved.

“Our production team in Denmark has broken internal records for the number of cobots built, producing 400 cobots in a single week in Q4. Our supply chain experts have worked hard to keep our business running smoothly despite global supply challenges.” [Read more…] about Universal Robots reports record revenue of $311 million

Arsenal Capital Partners acquires automation solutions provider Eckhart from LFM Capital

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Arsenal Capital Partners, a private equity firm that specializes in investments in industrial growth and healthcare companies, has acquired automation solutions provider Eckhart from LFM Capital.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Eckhart’s advanced engineering, design, simulation, and integration services, along with proprietary tooling and other automation and robotics systems, support customers at critical points in the automation value chain. [Read more…] about Arsenal Capital Partners acquires automation solutions provider Eckhart from LFM Capital

Teknic ClearPath servos power Guinness World Record domino robot

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Teknic’s ClearPath servos were used to power a much-talked-about robot called “the Dominator”, a Guinness World Record setting robot, made by Mark Rober (main picture). 

In just over 24 hours, the Dominator placed more than over 100,000 dominos to create a Super Mario Brothers mural. (See video below.)

Teknic’s all-in-one servos were used to power the omnidirectional wheels to place 300 dominos at a time, with an accuracy of a couple millimeters. [Read more…] about Teknic ClearPath servos power Guinness World Record domino robot

How to automate pre-employment checks at your workplace

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The Human Resources department is one of the busiest in any company. They don’t generate profit in a direct way – they’re not the one manufacturing or selling goods, they don’t interact with the clients, but their job is even more important than that.

They keep the whole place running and this is a high responsibility. Fortunately, HR managers in Australia can use digital technology to automate many of their routine jobs, so the personnel can focus on economic forecasts and streamlining the company’s activity.

Here are a few ideas to automate pre-employment checks in your company. [Read more…] about How to automate pre-employment checks at your workplace

FBI installs AutoStore for centralized automated record filing and retrieval solution

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The General Service Administration (GSA) has installed an automated record filing and retrieval system from robotics technology company AutoStore inside a recently completed Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) central records complex in Winchester, Virginia.

The facility includes the country’s first robotic filing and retrieval warehouse in a GSA project.

Certified by the National Archives and Records Administration, this secure, “state-of-the-art”, 250,000-square-foot facility was built to consolidate and contain records previously housed within 256 field offices around the world. [Read more…] about FBI installs AutoStore for centralized automated record filing and retrieval solution