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OnRobot launches ‘intelligent screwdriver’ for collaborative robots

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OnRobot, the maker of tools for collaborative robots, has released a screwdriver end-effector for collaborative robots. (See video below.)

OnRobot says its “smart, complete-out-of-the-box” Screwdriver allows manufacturers to automate a wide range of assembly processes quickly, easily, and flexibly.

The company says this provides welcome relief for manufacturers who are eager to automate repetitive, unergonomic, and often inconsistent manual screwdriving processes, but who struggle to integrate and program typical piecemeal screwdriving systems. [Read more…] about OnRobot launches ‘intelligent screwdriver’ for collaborative robots

Georgia university presents ‘hyper-efficient conservation robot’ based on the sloth

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The Georgia Institute of Technology has unveiled what it describes as a “hyper-efficient conservation robot” based on the sloth, that painfully slow-moving hairy creature that looks really weird. (See video below.)

For the next several months, visitors to the Atlanta Botanical Garden will be able to observe the testing of a new high-tech tool in the battle to save some of the world’s most endangered species.

“SlothBot”, as its creators have called it, is a slow-moving and energy-efficient robot that can linger in the trees to monitor animals, plants, and the environment below, and will be tested near the Garden’s popular Canopy Walk. [Read more…] about Georgia university presents ‘hyper-efficient conservation robot’ based on the sloth

AnyBotics ships first Anymal robot units to customers

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After a long time in stealth and development, startup company AnyBotics has shipped the first production batch of its Anymal C robots, which are four-legged, canine-type walking robots.

Although it doesn’t name its customers specifically, the company says the units have been delivered to “engineering partners and research customers worldwide”.

The company says the deliveries mark a “significant milestone” for AnyBotics as a mobile robot manufacturer as well as an “important step in revolutionizing the industrial inspection and maintenance workflow”. [Read more…] about AnyBotics ships first Anymal robot units to customers

ABB’s YuMi collaborative robot celebrates five years

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ABB is celebrating the big story of its small robot, with its dual-arm YuMi collaborative robot reaching its fifth birthday this year. (See video below.)

Originally launched in 2015 to assist workers in lightweight assembly tasks, ABB says its collaborative YuMi robot has gone on to blaze a trail in a raft of diverse applications and industries, changing many people’s perceptions about what can be achieved with robotic automation.

With its ergonomic design and a range of safety features, including lightweight magnesium alloy arms with soft-padding to avoid pinch points, and advanced motion control with collision detection, YuMi is designed to be installed in workstations alongside people and increase flexibility by allowing humans and robots to work on tasks together that previously would have required safety barriers or cages. [Read more…] about ABB’s YuMi collaborative robot celebrates five years

Danish robots assisting lab technicians with Covid-19 testing work

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A Danish pipetting robot is automating Covid testing processes in hospitals around Europe.

The robot, called flowbot ONE, “significantly reduces the time it takes for laboratories to produce results for patients to tell them whether they are infected with Covid-19”, says its manufacturer Flow Robotics.

The company says its machine is a “unique liquid-handling robot” which is now speeding up the enormous task of analysing Covid tests. The flowbot ONE system now conducts thousands of tests for Covid-19 every day. [Read more…] about Danish robots assisting lab technicians with Covid-19 testing work

Universal Robots adopts industry standard protocol OPC UA

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Universal Robots, the largest manufacturer of collaborative robots, is now supporting the OPC UA data communication standard to its robots. (See video below.)

Norwegian software company Rocketfarm has developed the application that enables UR robots to support OPC UA, and is available through its developer network UR+.

Egil Mundal, CEO of Rocketfarm, says: “We initially developed the software for a local factory but thought it would be great if this functionality could be available for anyone who wants to connect UR robots with OPC UA. [Read more…] about Universal Robots adopts industry standard protocol OPC UA

Hyundai launches technical training in collaborative robotics

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Newly created company Hyundai Robotics has launched technical training programmes to teach people about collaborative robotics.

The compnay held its first “collaborative robot technical training” recently for dealers and employees, and used Hyundai’s own new collaborative robot, the YL012 (main picture and below).

The training was led by researchers who are developing collaborative robots and focuses on the unique features of Hyundai cobots compared to third party products. [Read more…] about Hyundai launches technical training in collaborative robotics

UN sends five robots to Rwanda to detect coronavirus

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A new type of robot has been sent to Rwanda by the United Nations in an effort to help detect coronavirus infections.

The hardware for the robot was built by Chinese company UBTech Robotics, and the software was developed by Belgian company ZoraBots.

ZoraBots says the new kind of robot help healthcare professionals, governments and international organizations to limit the spread of the coronavirus. [Read more…] about UN sends five robots to Rwanda to detect coronavirus

Webinar: Lessons Learned in Scaling a Robot Fleet

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RoboBusiness Direct presents From 1 to 1,000: Lessons Learned in Scaling a Robot Fleet

Featured Speaker: Sarjoun Skaff, CTO, Bossa Nova Robotics

June 17, 2020 – 2:00 PM EST

Bossa Nova Robotics is one of the leaders in the retail robotics sector, providing large retailers with inventory-scanning robots that move up and down aisles, tracking inventory supply levels via computer vision and artificial intelligence to keep items available for customers.  [Read more…] about Webinar: Lessons Learned in Scaling a Robot Fleet

Scientists develop new method of teaching surgery to a robot

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A team of scientists has developed a new way of teaching surgery to a robot that they say is far more efficient than other methods.

In a paper entitled Semi-Supervised Representation Learning from Surgical Videos, the team at Cornell University calls its algorithm Motion2Vec.

The team – which is backed by Intel’s AI Labs, Google Brain, and UC Berkeley – says Motion2Vec learns from video observations “by minimizing a metric learning loss”. [Read more…] about Scientists develop new method of teaching surgery to a robot