RBR Insights
AeroVironment: Missed Estimates Cause Stock Stumble. Rebound Ahead?
AeroVironment recently developed the smallest unmanned aerial vehicle to date. Named one of the "50 best innovations of 2011" by TIME Magazine, the Nano Hummingbird was designed by AeroVironment as a compact surveillance unit capable of covert and controlled observation.
(May 02, 2012)
Salon Bot Primps for $61B Hair Care Industry
“Panasonic has officially begun testing the future of hair care with its robotic shampooer that’s now available for the public to try” at beauty salons in Nishinomiya City, Japan. Full-scale marketing will begin after the two-month trial.
(May 02, 2012)
RBR Insights
Adept: Strong Sales & Bright Future, But Looming Issues
The company's focus on unique markets which are new to robotics, like the natural foods sector, is likely to produce increased future revenue. In these areas, Adept Technology has little competition from peer companies.
(April 30, 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)
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)
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)
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)
In-depth Analysis
The Deal That Shocked Robotics
The Amazon/Kiva deal came as cannon shot across the bows of warehouses everywhere—and not just at pick & pack, goods-to-person order fulfillment shops. All warehousing, up and down supply chains everywhere, is now on notice that the robots are coming.
(March 24, 2012)
Amazon Acquires Robotic Inventory Technology
Amazon.com, Inc. today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire —RBR50 member—privately-held Kiva Systems, Inc., a leading innovator of mobile-robotic warehouse automation systems technology.
(March 20, 2012)
RBR50 Quarterly Industry Survey
The RBR50 Quarterly Survey will demonstrate how robotic technologies are successfully commercialized. How the best companies make it happen. How the marketplace responds. How market success spawns a cycle of new technology that will drive future success. The RBR50 can help light the way for all in the industry to better understand and utilize the process of commercializing robotics technology.
(March 10, 2012)
In-depth Analysis
Robots Harvesting Hair Follicles from Scalps
Restoration Robotics’ ARTAS System for robotically harvesting hair follicles easily succeeds at three key VC criteria: a unique product that's market ready in a growing market segment where quite possibly an IPO or acquisition is not far off. Other qualifiers include FDA approval, Canadian Medical Device License approval and ready acceptance by hair restoration surgeons, who used the system for two years of clinical trials and found it very surgeon friendly, which translates into a motivated customer base.
(March 08, 2012)
iRobot Announces New Appointments, Strategic Realignment
Home Robots President, Jeffrey Beck Named Chief Operating Officer; Joseph Dyer Named Chief Strategy Officer.
(February 29, 2012)
Where is the Steve Jobs of Robotics?
The organization’s name is FIRST Robotics (FIRST: For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). It was founded in 1989 by prolific inventor and founder of DEKA Research and Development—and college dropout—the inimitable Dean Kamen, who holds over 400 US and foreign patents, best known of which is his Segway two-wheel vehicle.
(February 26, 2012)
Analyst Outlook
Fast, Brainy Robots and a Fistful of Patents
The Pleasanton, CA-based Adept, provider of intelligent robots and autonomous mobile products and services, has a number of strong cards to play for 2012: the fastest robots, for one; then the truly brainy concept of putting the intelligence “inside” the robot, thereby reducing the footprint of the robot/manipulator/controller system; and now the announcement at MODEX 2012 in Atlanta about their new line of “easily operated” robots. As Rush LaSelle, vice president and general manager of mobile robots, enthuses, “This product solves an array of material handling challenges in a manner permitting deployment and operation by non-technical personnel."
(February 20, 2012)
Analyst Outlook
MAKO Skirts Adverse Scrutiny
MAKO Surgical Corp., a medical device company, markets its advanced robotic arm solution and orthopedic implants for orthopedic procedures in the United States and internationally. MAKOplasty, introduced in 2011, is MAKO's patented RIO Robotic Arm Interactive Orthopedic System, which is designed to support a surgeon's ability to more accurately align and position a hip implant.
(February 20, 2012)
