Chinese consumer manufacturer Midea, after having spent over $4 billion to acquire 94% of German robot maker Kuka, is planning to spend an additional $1.5 billion to turn itself into China's preeminent robot powerhouse. It plans to build a factory located in Foshan City to expand its capacity to manufacture and assemble robots and robot components. Much of…
Hacked Roomba is the World’s Fastest Robot Vacuum
Most robot vacuums take a while to clean your house. Not this one.
inVia Robotics Launches the First “Goods-to-Box” Robotics Solution
inVia Robotics announced the national availability of its world’s first “goods-to-box” robotics system, which was created to transform the fulfillment and material handling operations of e-commerce providers and warehouses. inVia Robotics provides an automated turnkey system that increases the efficiency of its customers’ businesses by fitting into existing workflows, without requiring companies to reconfigure their […]
InVia Robotics Promises Easier Automated Materials Handling
The automated materials handling market has new entries: InVia Robotics’ GrabIt and TransIt robots, plus its Robotics Management System and Robotics Operations Center. The company says they’re designed to be easy to integrate and use.
IDC awards 5 warehouse robotics innovators
International Data Corporation (IDC) has awarded five pioneering players in the warehouse robotics market with the 2016 IDC Innovators Award. Companies selected met the following criteria: revenue of less than $50 million with an innovative technology, or a groundbreaking new business model, or both. IDC is a global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for…
Yaskawa Motoman receives reaccreditation status from IACET
The International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) has awarded reaccreditation status to the Motoman Robotics Division of Yaskawa America, Inc. Yaskawa Academy (formerly known as Motoman Technical Education Center – MTEC) has been an Accredited Provider since 1993. IACET Accredited Providers are the only organizations approved to offer IACET Continuing Education Units (CEUs). […]
Industrial Intelligence, the next revolution in control
The next revolution in automation is the much hyped, Industrie 4.0 as the Europeans refer to it. What is it really? It is the application of relatively unlimited computing power to the existing set of problems we already deal with. Making stuff, like cars, beer, toothbrushes, whatever. So it’s the same set of problems with […]
Robots Now Beating Humans at Foosball
A robot developed by EPFL students was able to compete against human players with average skills in table football. The next step will be to program the robot with some real strategy.
Tesla Autopilot 2.0 a Step Closer to Autonomous Driving
Tesla Autopilot 2.0 is reportedly coming soon, and it will feature a new front-facing triple camera array and additional radar to achieve level 3 autonomous driving.
Jibo Won’t Ship Outside US, Canada
The social robot Jibo won’t be available outside the US and Canada anytime soon due to “performance latency issues.”
What happens when a robot company sells off a division?
Spin-offs are disrupting but often necessary. Here are two recent examples: iRobot sold off its Defense & Security Business Unit to a private equity firm, and Harvest Automation sold the IP and work in process of its warehousing robot group to a new venture-backed startup. iRobot sells Defense & Security Business Unit to Arlington Partners iRobot's Defense & Security Business…
Henn-na Hotel: A strange hotel staffed by robots
By Marisa Martin • Design World Intern || Those who travel a lot want hotels that are comfortable and efficient. Soon, travelers could get just that thanks to robots. At the Aloft Hotel in Cupertino, California, guests can interact with a service robot called A.L.O. the Botlr. Unveiled in 2014, A.L.O. can complete most bellhop tasks […]
Intelligence is Coming to an object near You
Does Artificial Intelligence mean that mankind’s goal is to create human intelligence? Depends on who you ask. If that is the assumption, it is not likely to happen any time soon. Does AI mean that we have the ability to create control systems with more complex behavior? Yes, absolutely. And indeed, that is what Manufacturing […]
Mechanical cams still option for robotic tasks
Recently on LinkedIn, I posted a commentary from Scott Evans of Kollmorgen detailing the benefits of today’s servo-driven designs. In response, one reader — machine design engineer and independent contractor machines Jon Holler — posted a thoughtful reminder that mechanical cams are still a viable option for a lot of designs. In fact, new software […]
Olympics a No-Fly Zone for DJI Drones
DJI has updated the software on its drones to apply temporary no-fly zones near Olympic venues in Rio, Sao Paulo and other locations where the games are taking place.
Google Self-Driving Car Exec Talks Fatal Tesla Crash
Due to the semi-autonomous nature of Tesla Autopilot, a Google self-driving car executive says it was the responsibility of Joshua Brown, who was killed in an accident while his Model S was on Autopilot, to be cautious.
iRobot Roomba 960 vs. Roomba 980: Robot Vacuum Comparison
iRobot’s Roomba 960 robot vacuum is a cheaper version of the Roomba 980 that launched earlier this year. Here’s a comparison of the two robot vacuums.
“Still Made in America” free eBook now available
The e-book tells the history of Rotor Clip and its founder, Robert Slass, against the backdrop of US economic history during the decades following World War II. From Eisenhower’s approval of a super highway system to connect the country (and stimulate the economy during a rather nasty recession) in the 1950’s to the push to […]
Mazor Robotics Key to Medtronic’s Surgical Expansion
Medtronic is investing Mazor Robotics and plans to become the exclusive distributor of its Mazor X robotic guidance system. The deal is part of Medtronic’s moves to enter the competitive surgical robotics market.
House of Design and KEEN develop innovative robotic cell
The UNEEK Robotic Cell, on display at the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City, weaves the interlocking cords of the shoe’s upper portion. House of Design, LLC, has collaborated with outdoor and lifestyle footwear company, KEEN, Inc., to develop an innovative robotic cell to address the challenge of automating the manufacturing of its UNEEK […]
As Intuitive Surgical continues to shine, competitors are entering the fray
Robotic surgery has long been dominated by Intuitive Surgical which has placed more than 3,600 of its da Vinci machines in hospitals around the world. Nevertheless, an increasing number of new players are entering the marketplace. The number of surgical procedures that use Intuitive Surgical's machines, ~700,000 in 2015, has steadily risen and was 15% year-over-year 2014 to…
Advantech Launches a Full Range of Machine Vision Systems
Advantech announces the launch of its AIIS product series aimed at automation-related machine vision applications. Powered by an 6th Generation Intel Core i/Celeron SoC processer with rich I/O and flexible extendibility, Advantech’s AIIS series enhances operations by providing outstanding machine vision performance, state-of-art computing, and flexible expandability. The AIIS series products support PoE/USB 3.0 camera […]