Kuka Robotics Ramps Up Production in China
While demand from China so far was driven by automobile production, Kuka now seeks more business with customers in other industries. Manufacturers of semiconductors, electronic devices, food products and beverages are among the largest buyers of industrial robots, according data by the International Federation of Robotics, based in Frankfurt.
(April 19, 2012)
Polaris Expands Robotic Pool Cleaning Line
Introducing two new models, the Polaris 9400 Sport and Polaris 9100 Sport, to its Polaris advanced Sport Robotic pool cleaner line for the 2012 pool season. The two new models complement the company's popular Polaris 9300 Sport and 9300xi Sport models, and share the platform's patented Vortex Vacuum technology.
(April 19, 2012)
Neato Robotics Inc. Raises $12.2 Million
Vorwerk Direct Selling Ventures GMBH and Noventi Ventures of Menlo Park gave money in this round. Neato, led by CEO Warren Flick since last May, will spend the money on new products as well as on marketing and expanding its operations.
(April 19, 2012)
Aethon Goes Asian with Mitsui (USA)
Aethon, the premier developer of autonomous mobile robots for hospitals and health systems, announced today that it has received an investment from Mitsui & Co. (USA) Inc. The Mitsui USA investment is part of the $7.1 million raised in growth capital in Aethon’s latest round of funding.
(April 18, 2012)
In-depth Analysis
Robots May Help Kids with Special Needs
“Robots are always charming to children. The idea that a child in a hospital with issues can stand in front of an object, human or otherwise, and the child would have curiosity about that object was fascinating to me,’’ Ferran says. To test his theory—back in the late 1980s—Ferran and Doornick conducted a psychiatric interview behind a mirror while Seco was in the room with a child. Doornick controlled the robot with his voice, and once the child began to feel at ease, he would slip in the questions Ferran needed addressed.
(April 18, 2012)
Analyst Outlook
Robot Surgicals Soar Higher on Wall Street
A quick look at the numbers of surgeries performed annually in the US, especially who the patients are—most notably their age—is enough to hint at why investors are more than a little overjoyed with their new-found wonder stocks: Intuitive Surgical and MAKO Surgical, both with skyrocketing share values with seemingly no end in sight.
(April 17, 2012)
Farm Robots Fill Gaps in Automation and Job Needs
“With agricultural labor shortages all over the world,” reports EUROP, “and demographics showing the average age of farmers steadily climbing, complacency about the security of our food production isn’t an option, he delegates to the European Robotics Forum 2012 were told. In tandem with this future uncertainty, in the Developed World at least, there are growing concerns about product quality and safety, as well as the environmental impact of agriculture.
(April 16, 2012)
iRobot’s Colin Angle Charts New Healthcare Moves
Angle emphasized the increasing need for a solution in a time when family members and caregivers are becoming increasingly busier with their own lives.
(April 15, 2012)
In-depth Analysis
The Robots Among Us
An exclusive, year-long Robotics Business Review series “Robots Among Us” tracks the evolution of robots into an ever broader participation with humans. From farming to deep-sea mining to automated transit systems to robot teachers, surgeons and household guardians, to autonomous aircraft, automobiles, freight trains and restaurant wait staff, we’ll report on how these new-age mechanical assistants are slipping into our lives and why—and what they are up to next.
(April 14, 2012)
In-depth Analysis
Musings on eCommerce, Automation and Societal Change
The long-term ramifications of the purchase are not clear, but in the end Amazon could become an architecture provider for ebusiness order fulfillment (own the architecture, win the war). It could also develop fulfillment and distribution centers that for all practical purposes contain no people. That’s more than a paradigm shift, it is a seismic change and one with profound implications for businesses and society.
(April 10, 2012)
Dan Kara Shares MIT Panel on Healthcare Robotics
The MIT Enterprise Forum took up the quest to examine this new era in medical care, to provide a few answers to some of the biggest questions and to forecast a way forward during its Innovation Series Event: Robotics in Healthcare: Solutions for the Hospital. MIT Stata Center, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA.
(April 10, 2012)
Hygienic Robots Getting More Food Prep Jobs
“Advancements in the hygienic design of robots have been driven by the increasing call to achieve the highest level of sanitation in the handling of raw food products,” said John Bubnikovich, executive director, marketing and business development, ABB Robotics. “Working with KLEENLine, a clear leader in the development and integration of sanitary processing equipment, will help bring the benefits of higher outputs and consistent hygiene to food, pharmaceutical and other sanitation sensitive applications.”
(April 09, 2012)
Are Airborne Systems Next for ReconRobotics?
ReconRobotics, Inc., engaged in the design and development of micro-robot systems for defense and law enforcement, announced today that it has acquired Xollai LLC, a systems engineering firm with a broad base of intellectual property in automated guidance technology, optics-based autonomous control systems, and image processing and recognition.
(April 05, 2012)
Robots and the Law
First Contact: A Primer on Robots, the Law and Humans
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