Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

vehicles

South Korea looks to strengthen position in global autonomous vehicles market with billion-dollar investment

by

South Korea is looking to strengthen its position in the global autonomous vehicles market with an investment of 1.1 trillion South Korean won, which equates to about $1 billion.

The investment calls for the development of “level 4” autonomous cars, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT, according to a report on the Korean Times website.

Level 4 autonomy – as defined by the SAE – means that a car is capable of driving itself but is designed to be ultimately controlled by a human driver. [Read more…] about South Korea looks to strengthen position in global autonomous vehicles market with billion-dollar investment

Aston Martin to integrate 3D printed parts into Callum Vanquish 25

by

The Aston Martin Callum Vanquish 25 by R-Reforged will be the first in a series of bespoke and limited-edition supercars to be designed and produced using MakerBot’s Method X 3D printer, with other projects already in the pipeline.

MakerBot, a 3D printing company and subsidiary of Stratasys, says product design and engineering firm Callum has installed a Method  3D printer to produce functional prototypes, tooling, and production parts across a number of luxury vehicles and lifestyle brands, including the limited edition Aston Martin Callum Vanquish 25 by R-Reforged. [Read more…] about Aston Martin to integrate 3D printed parts into Callum Vanquish 25

Hyundai’s acquisition of Boston Dynamics can reinforce its position in smart mobility, says GlobalData

by

Hyundai Motor Group has agreed to acquire approximately 80 percent stake in American engineering and robotics design company Boston Dynamics from SoftBank Group for $1.1bn.

The move can fuel Hyundai’s long-term goal to become a smart mobility solutions provider by leveraging Boston Dynamics’ robots such as bipedal and quadruped equipped with 3D vision, navigation and advanced intelligence, says data and analytics company GlobalData.

Venkata Naveen, senior disruptive tech analyst at GlobalData, says: “Hyundai’s move to acquire major stake in Boston Dynamics polarizes with many automakers competing to add their name to the me-too stack of autonomous carmakers by purchasing self-driving tech startups. [Read more…] about Hyundai’s acquisition of Boston Dynamics can reinforce its position in smart mobility, says GlobalData

Motional and Lyft to launch fully driverless rideshare service

by

Motional, a driverless technology developer, and rideshare service provider Lyft have agreed joint plans to launch a multimarket robotaxi service in major US cities, beginning in 2023.

Motional says its next generation, fully driverless vehicles will be integrated, operationalized, and implemented on the Lyft network.

The two companies claim this agreement marks the largest robotaxi partnership for a major ridesharing network. It follows an ongoing and successful three-year partnership, in which Motional and Lyft operate the world’s longest-standing commercial robotaxi service in Las Vegas. [Read more…] about Motional and Lyft to launch fully driverless rideshare service

What Barriers Still Impede Electric Vehicles?

by

Electric vehicles have been with us for a long time.

It’s only recently that they’re being touted as a serious replacement for the internal combustion engine and a (partial) answer to our climate crisis.

The UK government says that it’ll ban the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030 – and you can reasonably expect any Labour government to be at least as ambitious, given their slightly greener voter-base.

By then, electric cars will need to be fairly ubiquitous. So what’s stopping this from happening right now? [Read more…] about What Barriers Still Impede Electric Vehicles?

General Motors opens new 3D printing facility

by

General Motors has opened a 15,000-square-foot “Additive Industrialization Center”, a facility exclusively dedicated to productionizing 3D printing technology in the automotive industry.

GM says the AIC is the “capstone” of its expertise and increased investment in 3D printing over the past several years.

Audley Brown, GM director of additive design and materials engineering, says: “The core component of GM’s transformation is becoming a more agile, innovative company, and 3D printing will play a critical role in that mission. [Read more…] about General Motors opens new 3D printing facility

EasyMile and Kalray expand autonomous mobility partnership

by

Autonomous technology provider EasyMile and intelligent processors supplier Kalray have deepened their relationship with the signature of a deal formalizing their relationship to develop intelligent systems.

The partnership follows their work together in the 10-partner-strong ES3CAP collaborative project, led by Kalray and announced in 2019.

The ES3CAP program, with a budget of €22.2 million over three years, aims to build a hardware and software platform intended for manufacturers developing critical applications requiring high computing capacity in the fields of aeronautics (aviation, flying cabs, UAVs), defense and, autonomous vehicles. [Read more…] about EasyMile and Kalray expand autonomous mobility partnership

Amazon’s Zoox unveils autonomous robotaxi

by

Amazon-owned autonomous mobility company Zoox has unveiled its fully functional, electric, autonomous vehicle that is designed for dense, urban environments.

Zoox claims it is the first in the industry to showcase a driving, purpose-built robotaxi capable of operating up to 75 miles per hour.

Since its inception in 2014, Zoox has combined artificial intelligence, robotics, vehicle design, and sustainable energy to bring its vision of reinventing personal transportation to life, arguing that this will make the future “safer, cleaner, and more enjoyable for everyone”. [Read more…] about Amazon’s Zoox unveils autonomous robotaxi

How robotics is helping those with disabilities

by

Government statistics show that 14.1 million people reported a disability in the UK in 2018-19 – a figure that equates to 21% of the population. Of course, disabilities can range in severity and further data from the authorities reveals 4.1 million disabled people are in work.

Although that represents almost 30% of all disabled people, Scope’s 2019 disability price tag study found that on average, those with a disability face extra living costs of nearly £600 per month.

The encouraging news is that plenty is being done to improve the quality of life for disabled people, to help them enjoy the sense of freedom and independence that more able members of the population may take for granted. [Read more…] about How robotics is helping those with disabilities

AutoX puts fully driverless RoboTaxis on the roads in China

by

AutoX has rolled out fully driverless RoboTaxis on the roads of downtown Shenzhen, marking the first time a completely autonomous fleet without accompanying safety drivers or remote operators is introduced in China.

The leading autonomous driving technology company has been conducting driverless stress tests in the Tier 1 city – which has the highest population density in China – for the past half a year.

A video has also been released to share how the vehicles navigate around downtown Shenzhen. (See video below.) [Read more…] about AutoX puts fully driverless RoboTaxis on the roads in China