Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

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Autonomous boats could be your next ride

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Five years in the making, MIT’s autonomous floating vessels get an upgrade in size and learn a new way to communicate aboard the waters

The feverish race to produce the shiniest, safest, speediest self-driving car has spilled over into our wheelchairs, scooters, and even golf carts.

Moreover, recently, there’s been movement from land to sea, as marine autonomy stands to change the canals of our cities, with the potential to deliver goods and services and collect waste across our waterways.

In an update to a five-year project from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and the Senseable City Lab, researchers have been developing the world’s first fleet of autonomous boats for the city of Amsterdam, and have recently added a new, larger vessel to the group: “Roboat II”. (See video below.) [Read more…] about Autonomous boats could be your next ride

Robotics market sees accelerated growth amid e-commerce boom

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By Steve Richmond, director of logistics systems, Jungheinrich

New use cases for robotics are being identified almost daily. The rapid growth of e-commerce, fuelled in part by necessity from Covid-19 lockdowns, has meant that for many organisations, the requirements for staff and goods is growing at a rate too fast to meet demand – the need for automation is now greater than ever.

With technology advancing rapidly, almost anything can now be automated. And with intelligent navigation and precise picking technology, even items of an odd size, shape or material can be handled by robots.

As this technology becomes increasingly more sophisticated, enabling robots to perform roles with accuracy, consistency and safety front of mind, this has also advanced the ability for robots to communicate with other robots around the facility. [Read more…] about Robotics market sees accelerated growth amid e-commerce boom

Robust AI raises $22.5 million to build ‘world’s first’ industrial-grade cognitive engine for robotics

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Robust.ai, the company pioneering an industrial grade cognitive engine for robots, announced today the close of a $15 million Series A investment round, taking the company’s total funding to date to $22.5 million.

JAZZ Venture Partners led the Series A round and was joined by previous investors Playground Global, Liquid2, Fontinalis, Jaan Tallinn and Mark Leslie. Esther Dyson, Steve Blank and Tim O’Reilly are also angel investors in Robust.ai.

Historically, robots have largely been confined to highly predictable environments; Robust aims to change that by creating a new cognitively-driven AI platform that gives robots the problem-solving capabilities they need to work alongside humans in dynamic, open-ended environments, vastly increasing their potential in complex public spaces. [Read more…] about Robust AI raises $22.5 million to build ‘world’s first’ industrial-grade cognitive engine for robotics

ABB launches ‘fastest ever’ robot-based press automation solution

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ABB has launched its “fastest ever” robot-based press automation solution.

The company has extended its range of ABB IRB 760 handling robots with new press tending model, the IRB 760PT, which it says offers “fast and flexible performance for automotive press automation”.

The new IRB 760PT is aimed at press automation applications in the automotive industry, and is a “flexible” press tending solution offering 25 per cent faster cycle times compared to other robot-based press automation solutions, claims ABB. [Read more…] about ABB launches ‘fastest ever’ robot-based press automation solution

Brain Corp adds new capabilities to its OS for robots

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Brain Corp, a San Diego-based AI for robotics company, has launched its new user experience (UX) design and reporting capabilities for autonomous mobile robots.

The software enhancements are designed to optimize usage of BrainOS-powered robots for different types of users – from a robot operator to management personnel – on a global basis.

They also include powerful new software features for BrainOS-enabled robotic scrubbers that deliver improved cleaning efficiency and flexibility for commercial locations. [Read more…] about Brain Corp adds new capabilities to its OS for robots

Volkswagen orders staggering 800 ABB robots to build its new electric vehicles

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ABB has received a massive order for 800 industrial robots from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles to support production of a new generation of electric vehicles at its plant in Hannover, Germany.

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is modernizing its Hannover factory and is installing state-of-the-art facilities to build the all-electric ID.

Buzz van, which will begin production in 2022. ABB’s robots will be installed in the body shop to undertake a range of body construction tasks. [Read more…] about Volkswagen orders staggering 800 ABB robots to build its new electric vehicles

Robotics and Automation News Awards 2021

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Vote for your favourite companies using this form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1c6DppSIyB8vSMo4fUWC1nGlXH5cmWTN4oS0EBSYS0ag/edit

After five years of publication, Robotics and Automation News is launching an awards competition to highlight and honour some of the many companies in the sector that we cover on a daily basis and which have done particularly well in terms of their technical innovations and their success in their respective markets. 

As a website and media outlet, and a group of people putting it together, we are honoured to be in this position.

Over the past few years, we have seen the website grow from literally nothing to one of the most influential websites in the market today, and we have some very strong, well-established competition to compare ourselves and aspire to.

For these awards, we have chosen categories based on popular articles we have published over the past few years. These include:

1. 3D printing: Top 10 3D printer manufacturers
2. Agriculture: 30 farm automation technologies
3. Agriculture: Top 25 vertical farming companies
4. Computing: Top 25 AI chip companies
5. Energy: Top 20 electric vehicle charging station companies
6. Industrial control: Top 20 programmable logic controller manufacturers
7. Industrial design: Top 10 industrial design software applications by install base
8. Industrial robots: Top 30 robotic arm makers
9. Logistics: 30 robotic solutions for warehouses (autonomous mobile robots, automated guided vehicles, and automated storage and retrieval systems)
10. Logistics: Top 20 autonomous delivery robots
11. Software: Top 10 product lifecycle management applications by install base
12. Transportation: Top 25 autonomous shuttle manufacturers (driverless minibuses)
13. Networks: Industrial cloud providers
14. Various: Robotics and automation software and other companies
15. Systems: End effectors, peripherals, sensors and embedded technologies

Although the above lists include up to 30 companies, we will whittle them down to a shortlist of three to five in each category, and some of the categories themselves are likely to be removed because 12 may be too many. We’ll just have to see how much interest there is – we may omit some categories if not enough people vote in them.

You can vote for a maximum of three companies in each category using the online form, or nominate a judge to us by email. We encourage you to take part in any way you can so we can make this project as broadly representative of the audience’s opinions as possible.

Initially, we can open up voting to readers through an online form. These votes will be counted towards the “readers’ awards”.

We will have separate “judges’ awards”, and the judges will be chosen from a variety of different technical backgrounds or companies.

Closing date for voting is 30th June 2021. Main picture is just for illustrative purposes, and shows MX3D’s innovative robotic arm section.

The benefits of using universal collaborative robots

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Most manufacturing industries face significant challenges today, which can be solved by robots. The greatest challenge that every enterprise needs to address is workplace safety. Every year, companies use a substantial amount of money to cater for hospital bills of their employees.

Apart from the medical bills, most employees miss some workdays due to illnesses and injuries. Absence of employees from the workplace results in direct and indirect costs that affect an industry’s financial status.

The universal collaborative arms are designed to help you reduce workplace injuries and the associated costs. A robot is a perfect replacement for humans, and it does not require medical schemes neither does it ask for sick offs. [Read more…] about The benefits of using universal collaborative robots

Are Robots After Your Job?

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With all the new technology being developed lately, it’s common to worry about job security, especially when we consider that robotics and automation are bound to eventually replace a lot of workers. In fact, it’s pretty common to find businesses automating tasks that we once performed by humans.

Not only are machines more reliable, they’re also unhindered by things like fatigue and stress, which essentially minimizes the margin of error.

Coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic and the migration of business to the online landscape, job security is now more important than ever. [Read more…] about Are Robots After Your Job?

China has more industrial robots than next four countries combined

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China has more industrial robots than next four countries put together, according to a new report. 

Data presented by Buy Shares indicates that China, Japan, and the United States cumulatively control about 58.71 percent of the global industrial robot installations.

As of September 2020, there were 381,000 units of industrial robots globally. [Read more…] about China has more industrial robots than next four countries combined