Robotics & Automation News

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Drone software company secures over $750,000 in seed funding

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Converge, a commercial drone software provider, has raised over three quarters of a million in seed funding. The company’s initial round of funding included investors Samsung NEXT, Techstars Ventures, Kima Ventures, and other angel investors.

The commercial drone market is expected to grow to $58.3 bn as traditional industries incorporate drones to execute tasks from delivery to inspections through to emergency response.

It is the fastest growing drone market segment, however AI software is needed to move beyond intensive, hands-on planning, flying and distilling data to an automated world where drones are a seamless part of business operations.

[Read more…] about Drone software company secures over $750,000 in seed funding

Integrating CMMS and IoT to change the future of your business

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By Lindsey Walker, NexGen Asset Management

Pretty sure you have come across the term Internet of Things (IoT) more than you would have expected in the past few years.

IoT refers to a network of physical objects that are connected through the internet and function automatically without any kind of human involvement.

IoT can be applied in several areas – right from household appliances, industrial applications to fashionable wearables.  [Read more…] about Integrating CMMS and IoT to change the future of your business

Fast-growing sectors within robotics and automation

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If we were to think of robotics and automation as one industry – which we at this website in fact do – we could argue that it’s one of the fastest-growing industries in the world right now.

Certainly if we were to include software automation systems – such as robotic process automation – it would probably be the biggest.

But Robotics and Automation News tends to concentrate on physical machines – such as robotic arms or autonomous vehicles – which can be seen in a typical manufacturing or logistics facility.

And we try and understand what other sectors are most closely related to robotics and automation – manufacturing and logistics being two obvious ones.

[Read more…] about Fast-growing sectors within robotics and automation

Rethink Robotics launches new software for Sawyer industrial robot

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Company says Sawyer will now be able to produce real-time robot performance and manufacturing data

Rethink Robotics has released Intera 5.2, an expansion of its “first-of-its-kind” Intera software platform which provides critical data insights about its Sawyer industrial robot to manufacturers in real time. 

Rethink Robotics’ Sawyer gives operators and line managers valuable data at a glance, including metrics such as cycle time, part count, speed and force – data that has never before been available through a single collaborative robot vendor.

The new feature, Intera Insights, displays key performance indicators via a customizable dashboard on the robot’s on-board display, making it accessible directly on the factory floor.  [Read more…] about Rethink Robotics launches new software for Sawyer industrial robot

Yaskawa Motoman launches new software for robots and programmable logic controllers

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Yaskawa Motoman has launched new software for robots and programmable logic controllers – the computing appliances connected to industrial robots.

The MLX300 software option is the newest generation of integration for Yaskawa robots and PLCs.

The MLX300 enables operators to control and program Yaskawa robots in a standard PLC programming environment, eliminating the need to learn a specific robot programming language, says the company.  [Read more…] about Yaskawa Motoman launches new software for robots and programmable logic controllers

Ortovox to implement Centric’s product lifecycle management solution

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Ortovox Sportartikel, a German producer of mountain safety equipment and mountainwear, has selected Centric Software to provide its product lifecycle management solution.

Centric Software is a specialist provider of PLM solutions, particularly for fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor and consumer goods companies.

Ortovox was founded in 1980 in the south of Munich and got its start making avalanche safety transceivers to help locate people in mountain rescue situations. Ortovox’s range now includes a range of apparel and climbing and ski backpacks.  [Read more…] about Ortovox to implement Centric’s product lifecycle management solution

Kiva Systems developers launch new company and their own logistics robot

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Kiva Systems was a company that built a mobile robot for logistics operations, mainly for use in warehouses. It was a basically a small platform on wheels, and proved popular throughout the industry.

But then it got bought out by Amazon, which initially said it would still sell it to the rest of the logistics industry but actually didn’t. Instead it rebranded Kiva as Amazon Robotics and turned it into a business unit of its own.

The online retail giant now has one of the largest number of robots in operation of any company in the world.

But two former executives at Kiva Systems – Jerome Dubois and Rylan Hamilton – have now launched a new company and a range of new logistics automation solutions.  [Read more…] about Kiva Systems developers launch new company and their own logistics robot

Smartphones have created a whole new world of opportunities, says Hillcrest Labs boss

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Even for Apple, selling 60 million units of anything would be a big deal. For most small and medium sized companies, just six units might be the start of a wonderful voyage in the world of enterprise. 

For Hillcrest Labs, the journey started more than a decade ago, and over that time, the company has reached the milestone of having sold 60 million units.

Having started out selling software, the company moved into bundling that software into chips, which have become more elaborate over time and found an increasing number of applications.

In an exclusive interview with Robotics and Automation News, Chad Lucien, senior vice president of business development at Hillcrest Labs, tells the company’s story.  [Read more…] about Smartphones have created a whole new world of opportunities, says Hillcrest Labs boss

Software developer and integrator Universal Logic receives order for 60 Yaskawa Neocortex AI robotic work cells

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An industrial technology integrator called Universal Logic says it has receieved a large order for 60 of its specially designed robotic work cells. 

The company has developed a software-intense work cell which it calls Neocortex, aimed at supply chains and logistics operations which require automated material handling systems for high-mix, high volume applications.

Universal Logic’s Neocortex Goods to Robot Cells for automated order fulfillment of consumer goods have now been ordered by an undisclosed customer, who wants 60 complete cells for their order fulfillment of consumer goods.  [Read more…] about Software developer and integrator Universal Logic receives order for 60 Yaskawa Neocortex AI robotic work cells

Top 10 product lifecycle management applications by install base

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Product lifecycle management software is mainly used to manage the design and manufacturing process. 

Actually it can help with other aspects of the process such as research and development and supply chain logistics. And if it’s connected to administration tools, such as customer relations management, usually referred to as CRM, and enterprise resource planning software, which is often called ERP, PLM systems can become even more powerful.

The PLM system originated in the 1980s in the auto-making business but is now used across a wide range of industries, but still mostly traditional manufacturing sectors.

The usage of PLM is growing, with several reports predicting the market for the software reaching approximately $65 billion to $75 billion by 2022.  [Read more…] about Top 10 product lifecycle management applications by install base