Robotics & Automation News

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Move fast and build robots: How a Virginia Tech student overcame setbacks to create a growing organization

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After his start-up collapsed his first year at Virginia Tech, Marco Gonzalez Hauger didn’t slow down – he scaled up.

The senior in the College of Engineering, who will earn degrees in both computer science and industrial and systems engineering, founded Virginia Tech Competitive Robotics Organization (CRO), the university’s largest competitive robotics team.

What started in the corner of a lab turned into a multiteam operation with students from across disciplines. [Read more…] about Move fast and build robots: How a Virginia Tech student overcame setbacks to create a growing organization

Virginia Tech scientists turn robotic hardware into flatware

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Over 2 million adults living in the United States rely on a caregiver’s assistance to eat daily meals. In addition to human caregivers, technology has been developed to provide assistance.

For example, tabletop and wheelchair-mounted robotic arms have been programmed to pick up foods and bring them to the human operator.

Virginia Tech’s Assistant Professor Dylan Losey brought a team together with backgrounds in both assistive robotics and computer science to explore new technological possibilities for those with limited mobility. [Read more…] about Virginia Tech scientists turn robotic hardware into flatware

Virginia Tech innovates underwater robotics with support from the Office of Naval Research

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It’s been said that we know more about the surface of the moon than the floor of Earth’s oceans. For more than two decades, Virginia Tech’s Center for Marine Autonomy and Robotics has been developing robots that can find what lies beneath the sea surface with the support of the Office of Naval Research.

Bringing together faculty and students from the College of Engineering and the Virginia Tech National Security Institute, the center is developing advanced underwater robots and autonomy algorithms that enable them to operate intelligently without human oversight.

The research team recently was awarded two grants totaling more than $5 million to continue that mission. Two additional grant proposals, totaling about $2.4 million, have been selected by the agency and awards are in process. [Read more…] about Virginia Tech innovates underwater robotics with support from the Office of Naval Research

International work puts robot avatars on the move 

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The term “avatar” might be most familiar as a picture used on social media, but in the technology world, it can mean much more. 

When James Cameron’s hit movie “Avatar” came to theaters in 2009, it introduced a concept already cooking in the technology community: for a connected operator to be able to fully remotely opperate the movements of a robot.

In the movie, the robots were biological, but the technology in the real world is connected to more traditional robots with circuits and computers. These also are called avatars.  [Read more…] about International work puts robot avatars on the move 

Ocean engineers optimize design and performance of autonomous underwater vehicle

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Almost two years ago, Dive Technologies, a subsea robotics designer and manufacturer based in Boston, began a multiyear partnership with researchers and students at the Center for Marine Autonomy and Robotics to develop a novel commercial autonomous underwater vehicle.

In April 2021, Dive Technologies delivered the DIVE-LD to market, a design they see as the most capable large-displacement autonomous underwater vehicle, in terms of the reliability, endurance, and navigational accuracy it brings to global commercial and defense customers.

With the first round of sea trials of their craft complete, the DIVE-LD’s performance has already exceeded expectations, but the team behind the self-propelled, unmanned, untethered underwater vehicle is driven to take it even further. They’re now back in the lab, working diligently to refine the vehicle’s software systems and optimize hydrodynamic performance. [Read more…] about Ocean engineers optimize design and performance of autonomous underwater vehicle

Epson signs Advanced Industrial Products as distributor in Kentucky and West Virginia

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Epson Robots has signed Advanced Industrial Products, a factory automation and robotics supplier, as an official distributor of Epson Robots automation solutions.

As manufacturers look to automate small, intricate processes as well as pick-and-place and assembly applications, this new partnership makes automation attainable, simple and affordable to AIP customers in the states of Kentucky and West Virginia.

Epson’s cost-efficient, easy-to-use solutions combined with AIP’s highly technical sales staff and engineers will help open the doors to build new relationships in automotive, food, beverage, and medical markets. [Read more…] about Epson signs Advanced Industrial Products as distributor in Kentucky and West Virginia

Boston Dynamics robot dog used to inspect construction work at Virginia Tech

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Virginia Tech researchers are unleashing an autonomous robot dog on university construction sites to investigate the applications of using robots to monitor construction progress. 

Faculty and students from Myers-Lawson School of Construction, within the College of Architecture and Urban Studies and College of Engineering, are partnering with the Division of Campus Planning, Infrastructure, and Facilities and industry sponsor Procon Consulting to deploy Spot, a mobile robot dog developed by Boston Dynamics, to conduct this innovative research.

The ongoing experimental investigation is exploring whether construction progress monitoring – a traditionally human-dependent, labor-intensive, and error-prone process – can be improved by leveraging autonomous robotic technology to lead the systematic collection of data in construction environments. [Read more…] about Boston Dynamics robot dog used to inspect construction work at Virginia Tech

Amazon to build robotic fulfillment center in Virginia

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Amazon has decided to build a robotic fulfillment center in Henrico County, in the state of Virgina, in the US, a decision that was welcomed by the local governor, Ralph Northam. 

The new facility – to be located on 119 acres of ancillary land at Richmond Raceway in Henrico County – will hire more than 1,000 new employees.

Amazon will construct a multi-story, 650,000-square-foot facility with innovative robotics technology, adding over 1,000 new jobs to Amazon’s existing workforce of more than 27,000 full- and part-time employees in the Commonwealth. [Read more…] about Amazon to build robotic fulfillment center in Virginia

Virginia Tech partners with Dive Technologies to launch autonomous underwater vehicle

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Virginia Tech researchers at the Center for Marine Autonomy and Robotics have partnered with Boston-based Dive Technologies to support the development and testing of what they describe as a novel autonomous underwater vehicle with innovative vehicle design and state-of-the-art control, software, and autonomy systems.

This multiyear collaboration provides an opportunity to apply research discoveries and innovative technology developed in the academic lab and deploy them in next-generation commercial applications.

Bill Lebo, co-founder and chief technology officer of Dive Technologies, says: “We feel fortunate to be working closely with professors Daniel Stilwell, Stefano Brizzolara, and the entire team supporting Dive Technologies from the Center for Marine Autonomy and Robotics. [Read more…] about Virginia Tech partners with Dive Technologies to launch autonomous underwater vehicle

FedEx to test Wing Aviation drone for Walgreens deliveries

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Wing Aviation, an Alphabet company, is collaborating with FedEx and pharmaceuticals retailer Walgreens to launch a first-of-its-kind drone delivery service in Christiansburg, Virginia next month.

The pilot program will demonstrate the many benefits of drone delivery to communities by exploring methods to enhance last-mile delivery service, improve access to health care products, and create a new avenue of growth for local businesses.

Drone delivery in the United States has historically been limited to small-scale demonstrations on designated test sites, or extremely short flights along pre-planned, fixed routes – all within the visual line of sight of the drone operator. [Read more…] about FedEx to test Wing Aviation drone for Walgreens deliveries