iRobot was granted approval by the FCC for its robot lawn mower, but the Roomba maker is up against some stiff competition looking to change how robot lawn mowers work.
GreyOrange gets $30M for mobile robots
GreyOrange, an India and Singapore-based materials handling startup, received $30 million in equity funding to ramp up production of their Butler shelves-to-picker robot system. GreyOrange currently has 300+ employees which it plans to double with this new funding. They have two products: a package sorter and Butler. Butler is a square version of the circular orange-colored robotic…
Warehouse Automator GreyOrange Gets $30M to Expand
Tiger Global and Blume Ventures provide more funding to GreyOrange as e-commerce tries to squeeze more efficiencies and AI research intensifies in India.
This Might be the Most Realistic Humanoid Robot Yet
Erica, a 23-year-old humanoid robot developed by Osaka University professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, understands spoken Japanese not only with audio, but with body language – blinking, moving your head, raising your eyebrows, and more.
194 Chinese Robot Companies
The robotics industry is booming in China. Companies are deploying thousands of robots in all types of factories, particularly in the auto industry. Chinese companies that manufacture robots and their components are also growing. This article will focus on the 107 makers of those robots. UPDATED 8/17/15: China became the world's largest consumer market of industrial robots for…
Windows 10 Robot Air Hockey a Nice Addition to Your Man Cave
Microsoft Windows 10 IoT Core is designed to run on Raspberry Pi 2 and MinnowBoard Max, two tiny computers popular in robots. To show off what it can do, Microsoft built a robot air hockey table.
Mobile Robots Become Essential to Competitive Logistics
The market for mobile robots is expected to double by 2020, as manufacturers and logistics providers race to adopt the latest in automation.
Interoperability, Complexity, Big Data
“The unknown future rolls toward us…” as Sarah Conner put it in the Terminator sequel, and so it is with the Internet of Things. The future of the internet is a great unknown, yet it rolls toward us with inevitability. One of the most important accomplishments is defining what the Internet is; communications backbone, […]
Sullenberger: Drones Will Cause Plane Accidents
Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who safely landed a plane on the Hudson River in 2009, says a drone will cause a plane accident. Sullenberger says, “It’s not a matter of if it will happen. It’s a matter of when it will happen.”
4 Questions About the Future of Drones
An expert answers some burning questions about solar-powered drones, Amazon delivery drones, and the impact on the insurance and tourism industries.
Drone Flies within 10 Feet of Seaplane’s Windshield
A Seair plane was about 40 feet from touching down on a river when a drone came within 10 feet of the windshield.
Money continues to flow to robotics
$11.2 million to Virtual Incision, a startup developing robotically assisted surgical devices, and another $11 million to Jibo, the company founded by Cynthia Breazeal of HRI fame from the MIT Media Lab. Money continues to flow to robotics. Jibo, Inc., the company behind the social robot Jibo which last year had the successful $3.7Â million Indiegogo…
DJI Phantom 3 Standard Camera Drone Simplifies Aerial Videography
The DJI Phantom 3 Standard comes with a built-in HD video camera that can capture 2.7k HD video at 30fps with a 94-degree lens.
Savioke Dash Robot Joins Staff of Silicon Valley Hotel
The Crowne Plaza San Jose-Silicon Valley is now using a delivery robot from Savioke, called Dash, to provide quick delivery of snacks, toothbrushes and other amenities to hotel guests.
hitchBOT Hitchhiking Robot Found Headless
After just two weeks and 300 miles into its journey, the hitchBOT robot was found headless and beaten to a pulp in Philadelphia.
Ads, sales & shows making business case for robotics
Clever ads that emphasize ROI; presentations that show production benefits; new robot sales records; capital expenditures for warehousing systems; and increased attendance at trade shows are all focusing attention on the business case for robotics. UPDATED 8/17/15: to reflect record industrial robot sales in China (see below). The Robotics Industries Association (RIA) reports that North American robot sales…
Electric Motors – the Workhorse of Industry
OK, so Tesla won. The AC motor became much more popular because it turned without the need for complex and expensive speed controls. With mass production, the AC motor costs around $75. per horsepower and runs reliably with no maintenance requirements for years. Which is exactly the conversation you will get with any happy electric […]