Autonomous Vehicles

Summer may be relatively slow for automation transactions, but don't tell these machine vision and drone startups, which successfully raised funding.

Autonomous investments include self-driving funding in trucking, support systems, and snow-removal vehicles

Basic income, along with taxes, ethics rules, and outright bans are among the government responses to the perceived threats of automation. Plus, which countries are pursuing autonomous weapons?

Debate around reshoring, companies tackling e-commerce fulfillment with mobile robots, and colleges turning to drone simulation software topped the RBR news cycle in July 2018.

Continued investments in machine vision firms and computer vision startups dominated the week, but we also saw continued investment in AI-related companies and autonomous vehicle technologies.

Driving the summer investments in recent weeks includes money for self-driving car companies, commercial aerial drones, and new venture funds looking for more startup companies.

Ethical decisions for autonomous cars continue to spark debate worldwide, the Middle East sees rising investments in AI, and countries bring robotics and AI technologies to a space race.

Through a mix of homegrown innovation, international partnerships, and industrial policy, the China robot market should continue to grow, note analysts.

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

The U.S. needs help with inspecting and repairing its aging pipes, power lines, and other utilities. Providers are turning to infrastructure robots and aerial drones.