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Qualifying ‘Essential’ News
Each week the editors of Robotics Business Review (RBR) select those announcements judged to be the most important and impactful to the readers of RBR. Below are the selections for the interval ranging from January 1st – 7th, 2021.
Oxbotica Receives US $47 Million Series B Funding Round
January 6, 2021
Oxbotica
, a producer of autonomous vehicle software, announced the completion of a US $47 million Series B investment. Investors included BGF, bp ventures, Halma, HostPlus, IP Group, Tencent, and Venture Science. According to Oxbotica representatives, the funds will be used to accelerate commercial deployment of its software platform and move into key markets.
Sense Photonics Demonstrates 3D Flash LiDAR With 200-Meter Range
January 6, 2021
Sense Photonics, a provider of solid state, 3D Flash LiDAR sensing solutions for industrial and automotive systems, announced that it successfully demonstrated object detection of 10% reflective targets at a distance of 200-meters. Customer evaluation versions of Sense’s flash LiDAR system, designed specifically for mass-market automotive adoption, will be available mid 2021, with production versions planned for late 2024.
Geek+ and Universal Logic Partner for Robotics Innovation Supporting Supply Chain Operations
January 6, 2021
Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and warehouse automation solutions provider Geek+ announced that it has formed a partnership with Universal Logic, a developer of hardware / software platform for robotics material handling systems, to develop supply chain support systems for the manufacturing and logistics industries. The partnership will give Universal Logic access to Geek+’s robotic sorting and picking technologies, while Geek+ will have access to Neocortex, Universal Logic’s AI platform for robot control.
Kraken Project to Develop Robotic Arm for Remotely Operated Vehicles Completed
January 6, 2021
WavEC Offshore Renewables, a renewable energy research center, announced that the Kraken project, a research effort to develop a viable robotic arm to be used with Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) for the inspection, repair and maintenance of offshore structures, has been completed. In addition to WavEC, the Kraken Project partners included Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and mCADFEM. The Kraken project team has spent the last four years developing this new concept, which brings mature proven telemanipulation technologies from surgical rooms into the deep sea.
AMP Robotics closes US 55 Million Series B Equity Round
January 4, 2021
AMP Robotics, a developer of robotics solutions for the waster industry, announced that it raised US $55 million in corporate equity in a Series B financing round. The investment was led by XN, Valor Equity Partners, GV, and existing investors, along with Sequoia Capital, Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners, Congruent Ventures, and Closed Loop Partners. In November 2019, AMP received a US $16 million Series A round led by Sequoia Capital.
Teledyne Technologies to Acquire FLIR Systems for US $8 Billion
January 4, 2021
Teledyne Technologies, a provider of imaging systems, aerospace and defense electronics, and engineered systems, has entered into an agreement with sensing technologies provider FLIR Systems under which Teledyne will acquire FLIR in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately US $8 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, FLIR stockholders will receive $28.00 per share in cash and 0.0718 shares of Teledyne common stock for each FLIR share, which implies a total purchase price of $56.00 per FLIR share. The transaction reflects a 40% premium for FLIR stockholders.
