Piab, a leading end-of-arm tooling developer, has introduced its piSAFE program that enables new benefits in applications where safety, flexibility, speed and performance are key. The solutions in the piSAFE program are developed to provide configurable and low-weight products that can be adapted to a customer’s specific needs. While maintaining leading vacuum performance through Piab’s…
Evatronix receives UR+ certification for 3D scanner
The interaction of the eviXscan 3D scanner with UR’s cobots is possible due to a extension (URCap) to the cobot software. It enables the cobot to communicate with the eviXscan 3D Suite scanner software.
Ingenuity Helicopter touched down on Mars
NASA is one step closer to achieving the first flight on another planet as the Ingenuity Helicopter touched down on Mars over the weekend.
Radio frequency perception helps robot grasp hidden objects
MIT researchers have developed a robot that uses radio waves, which can pass through walls, to sense occluded objects. The robot, called RF-Grasp, combines this powerful sensing with more traditional computer vision to locate and grasp items that might otherwise be blocked from view. The advance could one day streamline e-commerce fulfillment in warehouses or…
Open Robotics releases Ignition Edifice simulation software
Open Robotics released the latest version of its Gazebo simulator, called Edifice. The release includes the latest rendering features, as well as new sensors and controllers.
Plus adds another $220M for autonomous trucking tech
Plus, a developer of autonomous truck technology, added $220 million in funding. This is an extension to the $200 million round raised in February 2021, bringing the round to a total of $420 million. Plus has now raised about $620 million since it was founded in 2016. The new financing was co-led by FountainVest Partners…
Ambi Robotics, formerly Ambidextrous, raises $6.1M for picking robots
Ambi Robotics, formerly known as Ambidextrous Laboratories, raised $6.1 million in seed funding for its picking robots and operating system that are based on simulation-to-reality artificial intelligence (AI). Co-founded by the great Ken Goldberg, a professor at UC Berkeley, Ambi Robotics said it is exiting stealth mode, although its work on improving robotic grasping hasn’t…
UR develops cobot interface for Siemens engineering platform
With the TIA portal’s integrated design, users can now independently implement the UR cobots within major production lines and teach them functions such as jog mode or path point creation.
Inside Boston Dynamics’ robotics facility
I feel your pain, Anderson Cooper. I feel your pain. I too have been trying to get into Boston Dynamics’ headquarters for years, but to no avail. Certainly Boston Dynamics must have lost my phone number, which is why it reached out to you and 60 Minutes. If you missed it, Cooper and 60 Minutes…
Boston Dynamics’ Stretch robot handles truck unloading & palletizing
Using robots to unload freight on receiving docks isn’t a novel idea. A quick YouTube search will return a slew of results. But many of these previous approaches have been stifled by high costs and the inability to handle a growing variety of packages. Of course, robotics companies are still working on the problem, which…
UVD robots working to protect elementary school kids in New Mexico
UVD Robots announced the deployment of the largest fleet of UVD disinfection robots to a school district in the USA. UVD robot have been selected by the Gallup McKinley County Schools (GMCS) in New Mexico to supply 37 of its robots to 34 schools, two administrative buildings and one warehouse to help fight against the Coronavirus…
ForwardX Robotics adds $38M to Series B to scale AMRs
ForwardX Robotics will use the funding to accelerate development of new and existing products and expand its market share worldwide.
Nuro adds investors to Series C funding round
RBR50 company Nuro, which is developing autonomous delivery vehicles, added new investors to its $500 million Series C funding round that it announced in November 2020. Joining the round are Woven Capital and Chipotle Mexican Grill. This is the first investment for Woven Capital, which was established in January 2021 as the investment arm of…
Using tactile-based reinforcement learning for insertion tasks
Researchers studied how reinforcement learning enabled a robot arm equipped with a parallel jaw gripper and tactile sensors to insert unknown objects into a hole.
NASA preparing for Ingenuity Helicopter launch on Mars
NASA is targeting no earlier than April 8 for the launch of Ingenuity on Mars . But before that happens, it must hit a series of milestones.
Small drones team up to carry heavy packages
Many parcel delivery drones of the future are expected to handle packages weighing five pounds or less, a restriction that would allow small, standardized UAVs to handle a large percentage of the deliveries now done by ground vehicles. But will that relegate heavier packages to slower delivery by conventional trucks and vans? A research team…
Harmonic Drive adds RSF-5 mini actuator with integrated servo drive
Harmonic Drive announced its new RSF-5 miniature actuator with an integrated servo drive. This evolutionary product eliminates the need for an external drive and greatly simplifies cabling while retaining high-positional accuracy and torsional stiffness in a compact housing. The RSF Mini and Supermini series is a family of compact actuators that deliver high torque with…
Paolo Pirjanian joins Calibrate Ventures as venture partner
The last few days have been very kind to Paolo Pirjanian, founder and CEO of Embodied Inc. On March 19, Embodied started shipping its Moxie robot that supports social, emotional, and cognitive development in children. And today Pirjanian was named a venture partner at Calibrate Ventures, a California-based early stage venture capital firm. Pirjanian said…
FANUC increases investment to expand China factory
Japanese robot maker FANUC is investing 26 billion yen ($240 million) into the expansion of its Shanghai, China plant. The company plans to expand the Shanghai facility five-fold over the next three years, through a joint venture that is operated with local player Shanghai Electric Group. The new project covers an area of about 431…
Deep learning optimizes sensor placement for soft robots
There are some tasks traditional robots – the rigid and metallic kind – simply aren’t cut out for. Soft-bodied robots, on the other hand, may be able to interact with people more safely or slip into tight spaces with ease. But for robots to reliably complete their programmed duties, they need to know the whereabouts…
Momenta raises $500M for autonomous driving technology
Momenta, a Beijing-based developer of autonomous vehicle technology, raised a $500 million Series C round of funding. The round was led by SAIC Motor, China’s biggest automaker, Toyota, and Bosch. Momenta has now raised more than $700 million since it was founded in 2016. Momenta is developing what it calls the “brain” of autonomous vehicles,…
SICK, Universal Robots partner on cobot safety
Safety system monitors two protective fields simultaneously around a cobot, making it possible to dynamically reduce or stop the robot’s movement only when a person is too close to the working area.