Construction / Demolition

RBR essential announcements for the interval ranging from April 9 – 16, 2021 include notices from Cruise, Ocado Group, Oxbotica, Canvas, Multiply Labs, Pickle Robot, Gaussian Robot, and Memic Innovative Surgery.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has found great success in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industries, and robotics solutions are making AEC inroads. The two technologies can be synergistic, and when used together can deliver additional value to AECs.

In this Robot Report podcast, Motiv Space Systems’ Tom McCarthy discusses the development of the robotic arm on the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover and Cold Operable Lunar Deployable Arm. Solutions from Oxbotica and Boston Dynamics also reviewed.

Boston Dynamics’ VP Michael Patrick Perry discusses plans for the Spot quadruped and Hyundai’s acquisition of the company. Also, DARPA’s Timothy Chung reviews the DARPA SubT Challenge.

The construction sector is huge, but famously stubborn in its adoption of new technology. That is changing as advances in construction automation continue apace… including the development of construction robotics solutions. Challenges remain, but they are being addressed.

Sustainability initiatives, workforce uncertainty and productivity requirements are key demands drivers for Monarch’s electric, autonomous, tractor solution, a harbinger of the emerging era of data driven, digital farming.

Thanks to engineering partnerships with maxon and Solvay, Flybotix goes to market with a highly capable drone-based industrial inspection solution that addresses a real business need. For maxon and Solvay, their Flybotix work deepens their sector and technological expertise, extends their IP portfolio, and enhances their reputation in the commercial drone space. But is there more?

Industrial Robot’s Joanne Pransky interviews Tessa Lau, CEO at Dusty Robotics about Dusty’s autonomous mobile robots that print layout plans onto the floors of job sites using information from building information models (BIM) as a guide.

With machine learning, algorithms are automatically generated from large datasets, speeding the development and reducing the difficulty of creating complex systems, including robotics systems. While data at scale is what makes accurate machine learning ‘go’, the data used to train ML models must also be very accurate and of high quality.

For robotics systems, “supervised autonomy”, readily available for implementation today, can be used as a bridging solution between teleoperation and full autonomy.

Boston Dynamics’ VP of Business Development and Universal Robots’ CEO Jürgen von Hollen are featured in this episode of The Robot Report Podcast.

Drone providers AeroVironment and Draganfly are widening distribution of the Quantix Mapper system, just in time for planting season in the Northern Hemisphere.

Multi-year partnership will provide training for 400,000+ union members on use of autonomous earth-moving equipment.

Field robots, industrial automation, self-driving vehicles, and healthcare systems received funding in February 2020.

Project looks at autonomous roadwork excavation system to protect workers, residents during gas pipe upgrades and maintenance.

The Robot Report, sibling site to Robotics Business Review, tracked $1.9 billion in robotics transactions in December 2019, including funding for aerospace, logistics, and healthcare applications.

Sensor startup looks to aid self-driving and driver-assist vehicles with better mapping and localization features.

Powered exoskeletons can assist humans with lifting up to 200 pounds in industrial and dangerous settings.

Collaborations with firms will help Spot robot navigate job sites to capture data and track progress.

Made in the U.S., the RangePro X8 offers commercial and industrial applications across several markets for inspection, surveying, and first response scenarios.

Company releases new UAV and updated aerial methane inspection package.

System designed for commercial surveying and 3D mapping applications.

Systems convert existing vehicles into fully autonomous equipment.

Showing appreciation for the sheer breadth of the robotics industry.

How exoskeletons and robots are augmenting human capabilities in the industrial workforce.