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6 River Systems upgrades its robotic fulfillment solution

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6 River Systems has made a series of enhancements to its robotic fulfillment solution.

6 River, part of e-commerce platform provider Shopify, revealed the upgrade during its second annual user conference, FLOW 2020.

David Vallance, director of product at 6 River Systems, says: “We have developed a strategic product roadmap at 6RS to find and address the next level of efficiencies to help our customers meet ever-changing demand and drive value to their own customers. [Read more…] about 6 River Systems upgrades its robotic fulfillment solution

Ensenso 3D stereo camera system imitates human vision to make robotic inspection cells faster and more accurate

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The new Ensenso 3D stereo industrial camera system “imitates human vision” to make robotic inspection cells “faster and more accurate”, according to Imaging Development Systems (IDS).

Each Ensenso camera system contains two 2D IDS cameras to view the scene from different positions, similar to the way human eyes work, with artificial intelligence processing the data, rather like the human brain does.

“Special matching algorithms compare the two images, search for corresponding points and visualize all point displacements in a disparity map,” explains IDS. “This is then used to calculate depth information for the resulting point cloud.” [Read more…] about Ensenso 3D stereo camera system imitates human vision to make robotic inspection cells faster and more accurate

Walmart deal helps Shopify shares skyrocket more than 300 percent

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Shopify shares have skyrocketed to all-time highs over the past few weeks, largely as a result of its new partnership with Walmart. Shopify is the first online commerce platform partner that Walmart has signed such a deal with. 

The agreement, agreed in June, allows Shopify – which bought warehouse robot maker 6 River Systems last year for $450 million – to put 1,200 of its merchants into Walmart’s marketplace

Walmart is America’s largest retail chain, with annual revenues of more than $500 billion. The vast majority of its sales are in brick-and-mortar stores, but the company has recently been making a big push into the digital space. [Read more…] about Walmart deal helps Shopify shares skyrocket more than 300 percent

US military selects Parrot as new supplier of drones

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Parrot, a drone manufacturer, has been selected to take part in the Blue Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) programme by the US Army and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU).

The DIU is a Department of Defense organisation that accelerates commercial technology for national defense.

The Blue sUAS programme is a spin-off of the Short-Range Reconnaissance (SRR) programme launched by the Army and DIU in April 2019. [Read more…] about US military selects Parrot as new supplier of drones

Walmart’s doubling of online sales to boost warehouse robotics sector

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Walmart has reported that its e-commerce sales have almost doubled as a result of the coronavirus lockdown forcing everyone to lock themselves up at home as often as possible and shopping online.

The company reported a staggering 97 percent increase in online sales for its second quarter, total revenue of almost $138 billion, which is an increase of $7.4 billion overall across internet and in-store sales.

Additionally, Walmart’s marketplace has also seen a doubling in the number of sellers included, to more than 50,000. [Read more…] about Walmart’s doubling of online sales to boost warehouse robotics sector

Chinese shipbuilder integrates autonomous navigation system

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Chinese shipbuilder Jiangnan Shipyards Group is integrating autonomous navigation system into its new vessels, according to RivieraMM.com.

The company ordered the integrated automation and control systems from a company called Høglund Marine Solutions, based in Norway.

Integrated automation and control systems, or IACS, are hardware-plus-software solutions that are designed to meet the complete range of automation and control tasks on board modern vessels, according to Høglund. [Read more…] about Chinese shipbuilder integrates autonomous navigation system

Investment in agricultural automation increases as farmers look to offset labor shortages

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Total investment in agricultural robot startups has increased significantly as farmers look to offset labor shortages partly caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report on the Financial Times website.

Citing data collated by DealRoom.co, the news website says investment in vertical and indoor farming startups has grown by more than 40 percent this year compared with last year.

Indoor farming is basically the process of growing inside large buildings, some of which are like greenhouses and use natural light coming through transparent roofs, while others use artificial lights if their roofs are opaque. [Read more…] about Investment in agricultural automation increases as farmers look to offset labor shortages

Robotic and Automation News Review: Indy Autonomous Challenge, ABB’s final trim system for automotive manufacturing, billion-dollar quantum and AI plan, microscopic robots, and much more…

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Robotic and Automation News Review Saturday 29 August 2020

This is a new, weekly column which rounds up all the most interesting news from the robotics and automation industry in the past seven days, in brief form.

Usually, we try to publish the review on Fridays, but because of technical problems last week, it has been delayed until today. Apologies for that.

This Robotics and Automation News Review is also available to view on our YouTube channel. (See video embedded below.)

Please support our website by subscribing to our YouTube channel, by sharing the stories we publish on social media, and by purchasing premium subscriptions to RoboticsAndAutomationNews.com, as well as through corporate sponsorships and advertising.

[Read more…] about Robotic and Automation News Review: Indy Autonomous Challenge, ABB’s final trim system for automotive manufacturing, billion-dollar quantum and AI plan, microscopic robots, and much more…

Indy Autonomous Challenge to use RTI software to build and race autonomous vehicles

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Real-Time Innovations (RTI), a software framework provider for smart machines and real-world systems, has joined the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC), the two-year, $1.5 million university competition to advance autonomous mobility technologies and enable the next generation of mobility leaders.

RTI is providing software to more than 500 students globally to design and develop the control software to autonomously race full-size, modified Dallara IL-15 racecars.

The students are competing in the first-ever head-to-head, high-speed autonomous race on the world’s largest racing stage, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in October 2021. [Read more…] about Indy Autonomous Challenge to use RTI software to build and race autonomous vehicles

Xwing debuts ‘world’s first fully autonomous air cargo flight’ using classic plane

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A startup company called Xwing has completed what it says is the “world’s first fully autonomous air cargo flight” using a classic Cessna plane. (See video below.)

Aerospace experts at the company are working with the FAA to unveil pilotless plane technology for short-distance regional air transportation.

Xwing says it has successfully executed numerous passenger-carrying autonomous take-off to landing flights in a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan. [Read more…] about Xwing debuts ‘world’s first fully autonomous air cargo flight’ using classic plane