Agriculture

Recent robotics awards have been given out for innovation in piece picking, UV disinfection of hospital spaces, and agricultural product packing.

Investments will help company scale up AI systems for manned, unmanned aircraft.

Optimism abounded at last week’s AUVSI-sponsored event in the unmanned systems space, but they also acknowledged challenges ahead.

Currently, commercial drone usage primarily contained to energy, construction, and agriculture.

The precision agriculture startup debuts a new centralized platform, providing advanced insights for farmers

We’ve already seen robots do some amazing things in manufacturing, warehousing, and health care. Here are some other new ways robots are doing unconventional things.

Every automation business or user of robotics wants to know where the technology and markets are heading. Here are our predictions.

Algorithms and programming advances provide exciting possibilities for the drone industry in the next decade.

From addressing labor shortages to increasing crop yields, agribots are set to aid farmers next year.

Agriculture, drone systems, and mobile robot makers scoop up investments around the world.

Second investment spurs growth for agricultural automation and robotics operation; Robotics Plus eyes U.S. subsidiary.

Companies that use commercial drones in the air and underground earned big investments in recent weeks.

FAA reauthorization bill changes and LAANC deployment completion will likely spur more commercial drone testing.

Robot restaurants, aerial analytics, and awesome exoskeleton firms also score big this week.

The July 4 holiday week saw funding for companies developing self-driving capabilities for vehicles, robots, and other devices.

Companies with FAA Rule 107 waivers offer insights on commercial drone applications.

Consumers worldwide have different expectations for tabletop grapes than for wine grapes, so harvesting robots must use machine learning to pick the right ones and ensure quality.

An AI strategy can be directed by the central government, focus on regional hubs, or pursue a particular niche market. In addition, we look at how machine learning can be localized.

From IBM’s forecast of the future and virtual reality to advice for startups, check out RBR’s most popular robotics news and analysis pieces of the past month.

Scientists have been copying nature to develop pollination drones that can assist real bees and human farmers.

AI funding takes the top seed this week, but self-driving cars and drones stay in the game.

Agricultural drones include heavy-lift ones for crop dusting, drones with multispectral sensors for surveying crop health, and new ways of monitoring crops and livestock. This infographic from Dronefly looks at the state of agricultural drones.

Spring is on the way, with drone and IoT matches, a big ETF purchase, and industrial automation the subject of the past week’s robotics transactions.

We can see clearly now that automation transactions in early 2018 will build on a familiar pattern of investment in AI, the mobility market, and industrial automation. The question remains as to which companies will lead and which will be absorbed or fall behind.

This week’s Robot Investments Weekly looks at companies that successfully raised funds for aerial drones, driverless vehicles, and AI for business use.