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Large companies are not immune to the negative effects of ‘Pilot Purgatory’ on their digital and manufacturing transformation initiatives, including their merger, acquisition, and divestiture efforts. Strategic, transparent, and cross-functional execution are key to avoiding stagnation.

As robotics systems become more globally interconnected and ubiquitous, cybersecurity risks for companies using and developing them increase. Alias Robotics address the challenge with a mixture of software, hardware and consulting services solutions.

With the announcement of eight new robotics technology projects, all involving collaboration between government, industry, and academia, the ARM Institute’s total for completed or ‘in process’ advanced robotics for manufacturing programs increases to fifty-nine.

In this informative RoboBusiness Direct session, Conor Walsh, founder of the Harvard Biodesign Lab and faculty member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, will describe the current state of soft robotics research, the many ways soft wearable robots are actively being deployed now, as well as emerging opportunities for the technology.

As this case study from Boston Engineering attests, the process of developing and testing exoskeleton technologies for military applications requires a capabilities alignment across all program participants, including military, industry and academic contributors. Direct feedback from soldiers, including their insights into the effect of exos on cognitive function, is also critical.

With ongoing supply chain disruptions, how can robotics companies bring new technologies and products to market? In this RoboBusiness Direct session, Nate Evans, Co-Founder of Fictiv, will describe how Digital Manufacturing Ecosystems provide a cost-efficient and low-risk solution to this challenge.

By leveraging a combination of sensing / digitalization and AI / ML, Omnirobotic provides “high-mix” manufacturers a spray, coating and finishing solution, delivered as a service, that reduces robot programming costs while increasing productivity.

Before deploying autonomous driving systems (ADS), we must know how, when, and whether they will work. There is no excuse for allowing the attention of drivers to stray during automated operation – if a system is really semi- and not fully autonomous.

Inspecting and repairing industrial piping systems is difficult, time consuming and costly. FLX Solutions provides a unique, cost effective solution in the form of a snake-like robot.

For small-to-medium manufacturers (SMMs), especially those with high-mix, low-volume production loads, collaborative robots provide many benefits over traditional industrial robots for certain tasks. But deploying cobots can be challenging. Thankfully, the US’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) can help.

Pilot purgatory and industrial tourism has hindered the adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies in the manufacturing sector, and can be especially damaging to solution provider start-ups. Early diagnosis of the threat is key.

Industrial Robot’s Joanne Pransky interviews Hugh Herr, head of the Biomechatronics Research Group and Center for Extreme Bionics at MIT, about the challenges and joys of developing and commercializing robotic prostheses.

RBR’s offers hot takes on ONRobot’s sanding solution, Brain Corporation’s new CTO, the US DoD seeking sensing solutions, and the Dive Technologies / Virginia Tech partnership.

Market research and consultancy firm Interact Analysis estimates that worldwide revenues for mobile robots will reach US $2.4B in 2020, representing a 45% increase for AMRs and 11% for AGVs over 2019. But that is only the beginning.

The Covid-19 pandemic has broadened the use case for food and grocery delivery services, and enhanced their value proposition. The same can be said for autonomous food and grocery delivery, but significant, business, technological, social and political challenges remain which the accelerative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic do not ameliorate.

At the September 22nd RoboBusiness Direct session, manufacturing expert Jean Olivieri, COO at Fictiv, will discuss how new digital manufacturing ecosystems can help deliver digital transformation without the high price tag, disruption and complexity.

Trade conflicts, geopolitical tensions, and now the COVID-19 crisis, is putting global supply chain at risk, and as a result companies are expected to reverse the multi-decade trend of offshoring. As robotics and automation becomes more capable, cheaper, and easier to implement, the technology is likely to accelerate reshoring initiatives.

For many applications, traditional cellular communications, including 5G, are suboptimal for data-intense autonomous vehicles, UAVs, and robotics systems. What is required is new cellular communications solutions that provide seamless connectivity and unlimited range for vehicles, and ensure all data is transmitted and received to and from related parties from any location.

Farming is a major emitter of greenhouse emissions. But a whole host of companies are working on methods of reducing the environmental impact of farming by altering farming methods, and employing new technologies, including robotics systems.

At the September 10th RoboBusiness session, Interact Analysis’ Ash Sharma to reveal the critical business value attributes of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) based on recent research studies, offerings of various AMR solution providers and case studies. Insight into the future of AMR technologies also provided.

The jobs robots create demand a high skill level, so to build a sustainable workforce companies must develop a strategy for upskilling their current workers, and also have plans in place for training future employees.

Members of the ARM Institute, a public-private partnership of more than 250 member organizations that promote collaborative robotics and workforce development, will discuss the current state-of-the-art for robotics manufacturing, as well as what the future holds, during RoboBusiness Direct event on September 3rd, 2020.

The inefficiencies plaguing the manufacturing industry stem from technological limitations of automation. When those technological barriers are overcome, it is possible to unlock productivity gains with an optimal combination of humans and machines.

Building on the success of the inaugural series, the RoboBusiness Direct Fall program will once again have robotics industry experts addressing critical robotics business development issues through an integrated series of online presentations and continuing media coverage and analysis.

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.