Robotics & Automation News

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Exoskeleton market projected to grow to $6 billion

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The current robotics limelight tends to focus on the ability of new innovations to automate tasks, but a less publicized development is taking place whereby passive exoskeletons have been slowly deployed and adopted to help augment the capability of human workers.

Exoskeleton popularization through passive suits will provide a base for increased resources for powered suits, which will eventually provide significant augmentative capability to the industrial workforce.

By 2028, global Exoskeleton revenues will reach $5 billion with hundreds of thousands of active exoskeletons being deployed, according to ABI Research. The research consultancy’s findings are on its report, Exoskeletons for Industrial Use Cases.

[Read more…] about Exoskeleton market projected to grow to $6 billion

Capturing Improved Productivity: Tugger Train Automation

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By Andy Legut, FlexQube

Too often automation and robotics are characterized by sensors driving Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

There are ways to efficiently automate material flow and lean manufacturing principles today. It starts with automating into a fork truck free environment.

Ultimately the reason for automation is to capture improved productivity. Cesar Jimenez, a Toyota Material Handling, USA employee shared that a forklift can only carry up to two loads at a time.

[Read more…] about Capturing Improved Productivity: Tugger Train Automation

Honeywell unveils automated robotic unloader for distribution centres

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Honeywell has announced a new automated robotic solution for unloading packages from truck trailers and shipping containers at distribution centres.

The robotic unloader uses artificial intelligence to operate fully autonomously inside of a trailer, which significantly reduces the manual effort required to operate receiving docks for retail merchandise and parcel distribution centres.

It drives into a trailer or container and uses machine vision to identify various package shapes and sizes as well as the optimal approach to unloading.

[Read more…] about Honeywell unveils automated robotic unloader for distribution centres

Veo Robotics could make all industrial robots collaborative

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Traditional industrial robots tend to be very large and potentially dangerous, which is why they tend to be caged off and kept separate from human workers.

But a new company called Veo Robotics says it has the technology to transform traditional industrial robotic arms into safe machines that humans can work alongside, within close proximity.

Veo’s solution could make every industrial robot a collaborative robot. The term “collaborative” is recognized by international standards organizations and usually applies to much smaller, newer types of robots which are specifically designed to safe for humans to work with.  [Read more…] about Veo Robotics could make all industrial robots collaborative

NextShift Robotics receives patent for vertical lift capability in robotic picking

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NextShift Robotics, a provider of autonomous mobile robot solutions for automated order fulfilment and warehouse materials management, has been granted a second patent, US10214354B2, “Method and System for Automated Transport of Items”.

The patent pertains to operating a robotic picking system in which the containers to be picked are positioned on the shelves and within picking stations.

The patent covers the ability of the robot to raise itself vertically to access shelving of different heights in order to pick the appropriate container from a range of shelf heights and storage system configurations.

[Read more…] about NextShift Robotics receives patent for vertical lift capability in robotic picking

American workers sleepwalking into automated obscurity, says new report

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robot replaces human
Picture courtesy of Challenge Magazine

Despite an endless stream of stories in the media warning of humanity’s impending irrelevance in an automated future, it seems American workers remain rather blasé about the prospect of being automated out of existence in the workplace. 

New research by Randstad US contradicts many reports that American workers fear losing their job due to automation.

The 2017 Randstad Employer Brand Research found that only 14 percent of US employees worry that automation will take their job away, and nearly one-third (30 per cent) say they think automation will make their job better.  [Read more…] about American workers sleepwalking into automated obscurity, says new report

International Transport Workers’ Federation calls for virtual counter-revolution against robot bosses

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itf uber car
Picture credit: Alper Cugun via Flickr and ITF

The International Transport Workers’ Federation is calling on all its members and affiliates worldwide to “work together” and launch a virtual revolution to counter the growing oppressive power of robots. 

Autonomous driving technology threatens to displace millions of truck drivers and cab drivers and other transport workers worldwide, and the ITF says the bosses and the elite are introducing these inhuman technologies without bothering to properly consider the “social costs” to the proletariat.

The ITF has 16 million members worldwide and almost 700 individual unions affiliated to the organisation.

In response to the robot takeover, the ITF is promoting a hashtag for people to tweet to – #futureofwork – as well as its own hashtag, #WeAreITF.

The ITF also organised a gathering in Stockholm, Sweden for the first meeting of the federation’s new automation working group.  [Read more…] about International Transport Workers’ Federation calls for virtual counter-revolution against robot bosses

Amazon could assimilate Whole Foods workers into robots and drones in some sort of cyber-physical dystopian Borg-like nightmare

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By Lisa Baertlein and Harriet McLeod, Reuters

The merger that shook food and retail stocks on Friday – Amazon’s proposed deal to buy Whole Foods Market – rattled some employees of the upscale grocery chain who expressed fears ranging from layoffs to the loss of their laid-back corporate culture.

The online retailer hopes the $13.7 billion acquisition helps it disrupt the grocery business and expand its real-world store footprint.

Carmen Clark, 37, a six-year employee at a store in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, said some workers worry that Amazon-led automation could lead to job cuts.  [Read more…] about Amazon could assimilate Whole Foods workers into robots and drones in some sort of cyber-physical dystopian Borg-like nightmare

BMW shows off its smart factory technologies at its plants worldwide

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bmw worker with collaborative robot

Collaborative robots, smart glasses, exoskeletons and innovative work gloves are among the tech being integrated at plants across the group’s worldwide operations 

German automaker BMW has been providing a glimpse into the advanced manufacturing technologies at several of its factories – in Germany and the US. 

The company says it has been harnessing the potential of innovative automation and flexible assistance systems in production.

In doing so, BMW says it has modernized the work environment and increased the efficiency of its workforce.  [Read more…] about BMW shows off its smart factory technologies at its plants worldwide

Job-stealing robots a growing concern for world leaders

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A “RoboThespian” humanoid robot at the Tami Intelligence Technology stall at the World Robot Conference in Beijing, China. Picture: Reuters
A “RoboThespian” humanoid robot at the Tami Intelligence Technology stall at the World Robot Conference in Beijing, China. Picture: Reuters

By Martinne Geller and Ben Hirschler, Reuters

Open markets and global trade have been blamed for job losses over the last decade, but global CEOs say the real culprits are increasingly machines.

And while business leaders gathered at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos relish the productivity gains technology can bring, they warned this week that the collateral damage to jobs needs to be addressed more seriously.

From taxi drivers to healthcare professionals, technologies such as robotics, driverless cars, artificial intelligence and 3D printing mean more and more types of jobs are at risk.  [Read more…] about Job-stealing robots a growing concern for world leaders