Robotics & Automation News

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Apple rejects billion-dollar lawsuit over virtual assistant Siri

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Trillion-dollar tech giant Apple has rejected a $1.4 billion lawsuit over its voice assistant Siri, the virtual robot integrated into all its devices.

The legal action was initiated by Xiao-i Robot, also known as Shanghai Zhizhen Intelligent Network Technology, in the Shanghai High People’s Court.

Xiao-i Robot, which is little known outside China and doesn’t appear to have a readily discoverable website, claims that Apple integrated features into Siri which is part of its patent. [Read more…] about Apple rejects billion-dollar lawsuit over virtual assistant Siri

Pratt Miller and partners demo disinfecting robot at Grand Rapids airport

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Pratt Miller Mobility has demonstrated its Large Area Autonomous Disinfecting (LAAD) Vehicle at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The robot is the result of a Pratt Miller’s partnership with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and PlanetM, and the demo was conducted in front of key stakeholders and members of the press.

The partner companies say the LAAD robot is “the first-of-its-kind” to be introduced in the US, as it is a connected, electric and autonomous disinfecting robot that dispenses FDA-approved disinfecting materials through a multi-head electrostatic sprayer array. [Read more…] about Pratt Miller and partners demo disinfecting robot at Grand Rapids airport

Ocious Technology to provide Australia with autonomous boats to watch out for refugees at sea

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A startup company called Ocious Technology is to provide Australia with autonomous boats to watch out for refugees at sea. 

The company was awarded $5.5 million a couple of months ago by the Australian government’s Department of Defence to continue developing its autonomous unmanned surface vessels.

Following on from that, Ocious is to launch a total of five of its “Bluebottle” small autonomous vessels by next year. [Read more…] about Ocious Technology to provide Australia with autonomous boats to watch out for refugees at sea

Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Web Design

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The web design industry is constantly changing as technology matures and involves. Whether it’s changing styles, new best practices, or the implementation of innovative technology, we’ve seen the Internet evolve over the last few decades.

Major developments like accessible high-speed internet have led to enhanced experiences for most users. We’ve also seen multimedia content and HTML5 become the new standards.

But things are starting to change for web design, and a new type of technology is slowly emerging as the future of this industry. [Read more…] about Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Web Design

More than half of US companies are ‘planning to increase automation investments due to Covid-19’

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More than half of US companies are increasingly open to invest in automation to survive changing market conditions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a recent study by Honeywell Intelligrated.

The 2020 Honeywell Intelligrated Automation Investment Study reveals that the e-commerce (66 percent); grocery, food and beverage (59 percent); and logistics (55 percent) industries are most willing to invest more in automation.

Chris Feuell, chief marketing officer at Honeywell Intelligrated, says: “The global pandemic caused a sudden and seismic shift in the global supply chain driving distribution centers to embrace remote operations and social distancing work processes. [Read more…] about More than half of US companies are ‘planning to increase automation investments due to Covid-19’

The EV market continues to grow at an electrifying rate

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It wasn’t all that long ago that we thought Doc Brown powering his DeLorean with banana peels and apple cores was the stuff of science fiction.

And while we haven’t quite gone the way of biofuel, the best electric cars on the market today show that the future is a lot closer than we thought.

We have already moved away from simple hybridization towards vehicles that run on electrons alone, but plug-and-play cars are just a stepping stone on the way to the future. [Read more…] about The EV market continues to grow at an electrifying rate

Geek+ extends warehouse robotics and automation partnership with Decathlon

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Warehouse robotics and automation provider Geek+ has extended its cooperation with Decathlon, one of the world’s largest retailers of sporting goods, present in over 50 countries with more than 1,600 stores globally.

Following the success of a two-year collaboration in its e-commerce and retail fulfillment centers in Shanghai, Decathlon accelerated its automation program, with AMR deployments at two new sites in China.

The installations were successfully deployed remotely in under three months, following strict pandemic restrictions. [Read more…] about Geek+ extends warehouse robotics and automation partnership with Decathlon

Fetch Robotics and Piedmont to launch autonomous disinfecting robot

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Fetch Robotics, a warehouse and cloud robotics company, and automated packaging solutions supplier Piedmont National are to launch the SmartGuardUV disinfecting autonomous mobile robot (AMR).

Purpose built to autonomously disinfect high-traffic areas such as warehouse facilities, retail stores, office spaces and hospital rooms, SmartGuardUV combines the safety and flexibility of the Fetch Robotics cloud robotics platform, the strength of PURO Lighting pulsed Xenon UV lamp technology, and the advanced disinfecting reporting of the Piedmont 4Site cloud analytics platform.

The result is a completely autonomous, broad spectrum UV disinfection robot that eliminates up to 99.9 percent of viruses and bacteria with UV-C, UV-B, and UV-A as well as reports on the results of the disinfection. [Read more…] about Fetch Robotics and Piedmont to launch autonomous disinfecting robot

Spacetime Labs and Small Robot Company to develop swarm robotics for agri-business in Latin America

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SpaceTime Labs and Small Robot Company are partnering to co-develop swarms of fourth generation autonomous aerial and terrestrial robots to “transform” Latin American agriculture with “per plant farming solutions”.

The strategic partnership will focus on co-developing an on the ground, end-to-end “per plant” planting, weeds, pests and disease management and nutrition management “farming as a service” value propositions delivered through an integrated delivery “sense-predict-act” value chain for all key commercial crops in Latin America.

The companies will work with leading Brazilian and Argentinian farmers to prototype, test and scale Per Plant Farming – maximising yields whilst reducing the impact on the environment. [Read more…] about Spacetime Labs and Small Robot Company to develop swarm robotics for agri-business in Latin America

SICK’s nanoScan wins innovation award from Robotics Business Review

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SICK Sensor Intelligence has won the Robotics Innovation Award from the Robotics Business Review for the second year in a row.

SICK won the prize for its nanoScan3, which it describes as “the world’s smallest profile safety laser scanner”.

The RBR50 is an annual list that recognizes and celebrates forward thinking companies and the original, impact solutions created by these companies. [Read more…] about SICK’s nanoScan wins innovation award from Robotics Business Review