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Global robotics venture capital investment reaches $5.7 billion in 2021

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Global robotics venture capital investments reached $5.7 billion in 2021, a 38 percent year-on-year growth, according to a report by ABI Research, a technology intelligence firm.

The growth was driven by successful startups from key markets such as the United States, China, the United Kingdom, and Israel. Leading startups demonstrated strong capabilities in three major domains: mobility, autonomy, and collaboration, specifically human-machine collaboration.

The investment market worldwide was relatively muted in 2020, as fewer deals were concluded due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the current labor shortage induced by Covid-19 and the ongoing supply chain crunch are leading more businesses to look for ways to automate labor-intensive, repetitive, and hazardous tasks. [Read more…] about Global robotics venture capital investment reaches $5.7 billion in 2021

How Slip Rings Help Improve the Future of Robotics and Automation

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Robotics and automation are increasing in popularity. With the latest tech that supports software that’s easy to build, deploy, and manage, the second part of getting the job done is to build the actual hardware.

One of the important issues of wire winding is solved with the help of slip rings, but there’s so much more to what slip rings are capable of and how they can help modern robotics and automation.

So in this post, you’ll learn everything about slip rings you might not know by now, but also how important they are and how they fit well in the robotics and automation industry. [Read more…] about How Slip Rings Help Improve the Future of Robotics and Automation

Wings and Rings partners with Miso Robotics to begin Flippy 2 pilot

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Miso Robotics, the company transforming the restaurant industry with robotics and intelligent automation, has started a partnership with Wings and Rings, a club-level sports restaurant chain serving signature wings and other chef-inspired menu items, to begin a piloted test of Flippy 2 in its Crestview Hills, Kentucky location, with possible plans for further integration in the months ahead.

Built on the Miso Platform, Flippy 2 leverages artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision and data analytics to maximize efficiency in the commercial kitchen.

As the first wing concept to integrate Flippy 2 in a real restaurant environment versus a test kitchen, Wings and Rings sees robotics as the next evolution in alleviating the long-term challenges that the ongoing labor shortage has brought to the entire restaurant industry. [Read more…] about Wings and Rings partners with Miso Robotics to begin Flippy 2 pilot

Cross Company partners with Doosan Robotics

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Cross Company, a 100 percent employee-owned industrial technology company, is partnering with Doosan Robotics Americas to bring its collaborative robot (cobot) technology to the south-eastern United States.

Doosan Robotics was founded in South Korea in 2015 and following three years of research and development they developed a range of four cobot models that use their proprietary technology.

With the launch of six additional cobot models in 2020, Doosan now offers the most diversified line of collaborative robots on the market. [Read more…] about Cross Company partners with Doosan Robotics

Simbe Robotics partners with Fast Radius to build new Tally robot

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Fast Radius, a cloud manufacturing and digital supply chain company, is partnering with Simbe Robotics to manufacture components critical to the function and aesthetics of Simbe’s inventory robot, Tally 3.

Simbe says it has “reimagined the possibilities of automation” to create new efficiencies in retail stores and selected Fast Radius’ Cloud Manufacturing Platform because of its ability to bypass current supply chain disruptions through flexible production.

This results in faster time to market versus traditional manufacturing processes and helps the business scale. [Read more…] about Simbe Robotics partners with Fast Radius to build new Tally robot

Apptronik raises $15 million for its humanoid robots

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Apptronik, an Austin-based robotics company specializing in the development of exoskeletons and collaborative robotics systems, says it raised $14.6 million in a Seed Round, including Capital Factory, Grit Ventures, Perot Jain and other strategic investors.

This funding will go toward fulfilling the company’s current customer orders while accelerating the commercialization of one of the industry’s first mass-produced humanoid robots capable of working alongside humans.

Apptronik is positioned to scale its deep portfolio of safe, intelligent, versatile, and adaptable robotic technology for unstructured environments across enterprises. [Read more…] about Apptronik raises $15 million for its humanoid robots

Majority of US businesses looking to bring production closer to home

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Some 70 percent of US businesses are looking to bring production closer to home, according to a survey by industrial automation giant ABB.

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, geopolitical disputes, raw materials shortages and trade issues that have rocked global economies and supply chains, a majority of US-based companies are planning to relocate production closer to their facilities in America.

Surveying 1,610 executives in the US and Europe, ABB found that 70 percent of US businesses are planning changes in their operations, with 37 percent planning to bring production back home and 33 percent looking to nearshore and shift their operations to a closer location. [Read more…] about Majority of US businesses looking to bring production closer to home

Velodyne Lidar signs multi-year agreement with Boston Dynamics

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Velodyne Lidar has agreed a multi-year contract for its lidar sensors with Boston Dynamics, a developer of mobile robotics.

Boston Dynamics selected Velodyne’s sensors to provide perception and navigation capabilities for its highly mobile robots, which are capable of tackling the “toughest robotics challenges”.

Velodyne’s lidar sensor solutions enable mobile robots to operate autonomously and safely, without human intervention. They provide real-time 3D perception data for localization, mapping, object classification and object tracking. [Read more…] about Velodyne Lidar signs multi-year agreement with Boston Dynamics

Vicor delivers power conversion breakthroughs to fuel a robot revolution

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OLogic incorporates advanced, integrated power modules from Vicor Power to ignite a new generation of mobile robots

Innovations in power conversion technology are enabling a transformation in robotics design.

Today’s integrated power modules are addressing the demanding size, weight, power budgets and cost efficiencies required to move robots from factory, residential and commercial applications into a vast new landscape bounded only by the imagination.

We are hitting a tipping point where robots are bringing tremendous benefits to our lives. And OLogic is a big reason for why we see their proliferation. [Read more…] about Vicor delivers power conversion breakthroughs to fuel a robot revolution

German robotics and automation sector experiencing ‘booming demand’

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The robotics and automation industry in Germany is benefiting from a boom in demand, according to industry association VDMA.

In the first four months of 2022, order intake increased by 38 percent year-on-year. The dynamic market development had already been noticeable with the results for 2021, in which industry turnover rose by 13 percent – more than expected.

Frank Konrad, chairman of the VDMA Robotics + Automation Association, says: “The robotics and automation industry is booming. [Read more…] about German robotics and automation sector experiencing ‘booming demand’