Robotics & Automation News

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ForwardX Aiming to Deliver ‘Best-in-Class’ Autonomous Mobile Robots

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By Nic Temple, Vice President of Sales for the Americas at ForwardX Robotics

Given the proliferation of warehouses, distribution centers, direct to consumer (D2C) business models, fleets of AMRs (Autonomous Mobile Robots), questioning the validity of innovation is worthy of examination.

Unlike in prior years when attendees would walk the show floor for days, many are using the MHI MODEX app and visiting for just a single day.

For that reason, a compelling innovation from ForwardX (Booth 1207) should be the first stop for serious AMR decision-makers. [Read more…] about ForwardX Aiming to Deliver ‘Best-in-Class’ Autonomous Mobile Robots

ASTI Mobile Robotics wins European Technology Award for automation

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ASTI Mobile Robotics has won the “European Technology Award” in the category of “Automation”.

The European Awards are organised by the Professional and Business Excellence Institute and were presented in a ceremony at the Ritz Hotel in Paris recently.

The CEO of the company, Verónica Pascual, together with Jean-Michel Beghin, president of Keensight Capital, and Jean-Louis Menu, ASTI MR France country manager, collected the award which consolidates ASTI as a leader in mobile robotics and automation within the European market. [Read more…] about ASTI Mobile Robotics wins European Technology Award for automation

GM’s Cruise Automation unveils new driverless electric vehicle

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Cruise Automation, the driverless car startup acquired by General Motors, has unveiled its first vehicle.

The Cruise Origin, as it is called, is electric, autonomous, driverless with no steering wheel, and designed to carry several people – about six in spacious comfort.

The company says the Origin is the answer to the many problems of motoring today. Cars today use fossil fuels which pollute the atmosphere, and are designed in a way that limits the space available. [Read more…] about GM’s Cruise Automation unveils new driverless electric vehicle

Techman Robot unveils AI vision and TMmanager at 2019 iREX

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Techman Robot has returning to iREX (International Robot Exhibition), taking place in Japan from today, unveiling its new technologies for smart manufacturing.

From human-computer collaboration in the production line, to a quick solution for smart palletizing, and also AI-integration with vision which greatly improves inspection efficiency.

Techman Robot also grows further into software-based solution, TMmanager, a smart factory management system that can connect manufacturing data with management decisions. [Read more…] about Techman Robot unveils AI vision and TMmanager at 2019 iREX

May Mobility raises $50 million in funding round led by Toyota

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May Mobility, an autonomous transportation-as-a-service provider, has closed a $50 million Series B funding round led by Toyota.

There was also participation from Sparx Group, alongside return investors Millennium Technology Value Partners, Cyrus Capital Partners, BMW iVentures, and Toyota AI Ventures.

The company says the round will help fund strategic hires across the engineering and operations functions, and expansion of the vehicle fleet to meet growing demand. [Read more…] about May Mobility raises $50 million in funding round led by Toyota

Omron unveils ‘industry’s fastest’ 3D vision sensing technology for robot hands

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Omron has introduced what it claims is the “industry’s fastest” 3D vision sensing technology for robot hands.

The compact vision sensors can three-dimensionally recognize the position and orientation of target objects.

Incorporating this technology with robots will enable fast and accurate assembly of bulk parts by automating the conventional human-intensive process. [Read more…] about Omron unveils ‘industry’s fastest’ 3D vision sensing technology for robot hands

Gideon Brothers raises €2.65 million in new funding and partners with DB Schenker

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Leading global logistics provider DB Schenker has introduced Gideon Brothers autonomous logistics robots into service at its Leipzig facility.  

Gideon Brothers, an AI and robotics company, developed breakthrough autonomy technology that combines deep learning and advanced vision-based perception.

The technology offers a flexible solution for automating logistics operations in existing facilities, allowing productivity gains without the need to modify facilities. [Read more…] about Gideon Brothers raises €2.65 million in new funding and partners with DB Schenker

General Motors and University of Michigan develop automated safety features

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As General Motors moves toward its vision of a world with zero crashes, the company is partnering with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute to understand the real-world effectiveness of some of its available active safety, driver assistance, and advanced headlighting features that may prevent or mitigate different types of crashes.

The company says results show that several of these features are making a statistically significant impact in helping to reduce crashes.

The study leveraged 3.7 million GM vehicles across 20 different models from 2013-2017. Fifteen different systems were evaluated using police report crash databases available to UMTRI from 10 states. [Read more…] about General Motors and University of Michigan develop automated safety features

BMW shows off sporty version of electric and autonomous concept car

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BMW has been showing off the sporty version of its electric and autonomous concept car, which it calls Vision M NEXT (main picture).

The BMW Vision M NEXT was one of the highlights at the #NEXTGen Event held at BMW Welt in Munich.

Visitors to the IAA Cars 2019 show were also treated to a glimpse into the electrified future of the BMW M brand (pictured below). [Read more…] about BMW shows off sporty version of electric and autonomous concept car

Osaro raises $16 million to develop machine learning for industrial automation

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Osaro, a developer of machine learning software for industrial automation – especially robotic picking and vision, has raised $16 million in Series B funding.

The round was conducted with participation from King River Capital, Alpha Intelligence Capital, Founders Fund, Pegasus Tech Ventures, GiTV Fund, and existing investors as well as strategics, bringing total funding to $29.3 million.

Co-founder and CEO Derik Pridmore says the funds will be used to invest in talent acquisition, international deployments, and advancing the Osaro Pick and Osaro Vision product lines to meet customer demands. [Read more…] about Osaro raises $16 million to develop machine learning for industrial automation