Rethink Robotics GmbH is following its plans to continue developing collaborative robots with the quieter and more precise Sawyer Black Edition.

The HAHN Group scooped up the IP and trademarks for the Sawyer collaborative robot and Intera software less than one month after Rethink Robotics Inc. shut down in October 2018. The German automation and robotics specialist, which has 30-plus years of automation experience, recently gave The Robot Report an exclusive look at how it plans to…

By definition, collaborative robots are designed to be safer to operate around humans. Thanks to their smaller scale, affordability, and flexibility, cobots offer the benefits of industrial automation to new markets, including at small and midsize enterprises. Cobot arms, compliant grippers, and mobile platforms equipped with collision-avoidance capabilities take robots from inside fenced work cells…

In the wake of the closure of Apple’s autonomous car division (Project Titan) this week, one questions if Steve Jobs’ axiom still holds true. “Some people say, ‘Give the customers what they want.’ But that’s not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they do,” declared Jobs, who…

Rethink Robotics, the Boston, Mass.-based maker of collaborative robots Baxter and Sawyer, shut down on October 3. The Robot Report first reported the story, confirming the news with former Rethink CEO Scott Eckert. Founded in 2008 by former iRobot co-founder Rodney Brooks and Ann Whitaker, Rethink raised $149.5 million in funding, with its last round,…

Universal Robots (UR) has hired 20-plus former Rethink Robotics employees, primarily within engineering and product development roles. In an email to The Robot Report, a UR spokesperson said the company is taking over Boston, Mass.-based Rethink’s old office at 27 Wormwood Street. UR recently opened a Boston office less than half a mile away, but…

We have not seen the last of Sawyer the collaborative robot. HAHN Group, a German automation specialist, has acquired all of the patents and trademarks from Rethink Robotics, including the Intera 5 software platform. The HAHN Group says it will further develop Rethink’s technology, “combining it with German engineering and know-how of industrial applications.” HAHN Group says it…

In the mid-1990s, I led the industry/academia team at General Motors that built the world’s first collaborative robots. It was hard work; most people even in robotics had not heard of a “cobot” (or, “intelligent assist devices” (IADs) as we referred to the broader category), knew what it was, much less how it could be…

The Robot Report broke the unfortunate news yesterday that Rethink Robotics shut down. The Boston, Mass.-based collaborative robotics pioneer, and maker of the Baxter and Sawyer cobots, reportedly had a deal in place to be acquired, but that deal fell through. The Robot Report heard rumblings for some time that Rethink, founded in 2008 by…

Rethink Robotics, the Boston, Mass.-based maker of collaborative robots Baxter and Sawyer, shut its doors today. Rethink was founded in 2008 and raised nearly $150 million to date, according to Crunchbase. Its last round of funding was an $18 million Series E in August 2017. Rethink Robotics CEO Scott Eckert first confirmed the news via…

Fitzpatrick Manufacturing, a Sterling Heights, Michigan-based CNC machine shop and custom manufacturer founded in 1952, supplies parts to more than a dozen sectors, including aerospace, automotive, medical equipment and oil and gas. To increase operational efficiency and counterbalance a tight labor market, Fitzpatrick Manufacturing made its initial foray into advanced automation by adopting a Sawyer collaborative…

Rethink Robotics has unveiled the Sawyer Software Development Kit (SDK) designed for researchers and students to build and test programs on the Sawyer collaborative robot. The Sawyer SDK will be available on all Sawyer robots, allowing access to both the Intera manufacturing software and the SDK software, starting in March 2018. With a wide range…

by Frank Tobe, Editor and Publisher, The Robot Report Top Robotics-Related Stories of 2013  (all appearing in The Robot Report) Google sets up Robot Division; acquires 7 start ups plus Boston Dynamics to jump-start operations ROBO ETF tracking Robo-stox index created to let investors invest in the robotics industry WSJ, NYT, CBS 60-Minutes, CNN Money,…

By Frank Tobe, Editor and Publisher, The Robot Report A sad day at Rethink Robotics. 21 jobs have been cut in Rethink’s first layoff. Although Rethink Robotics is downsizing, their action is not indicative of the robotics industry which is booming and hiring. The Boston Globe reported that Rethink Robotics, maker of the $22,000 Baxter…

By Frank Tobe, editor and publisher, The Robot Report UPDATED: October 6, 2013 CBS Evening News focuses on jobs aspect of deploying robots in American factories. Click to see. Small and medium shops and factories (SMEs) are an untapped marketplace for robotics and direly in need of automation to remain competitive in this global economy.…

The following article by Frank Tobe, editor and publisher of The Robot Report, first appeared on Robohub.org in their special focus series: High-risk / High-reward. Often funding sources – the groups taking the risk – are not the beneficiaries of the rewards of the venture. Intuitive Surgical and Rethink Robotics are two examples. NSF, DARPA and…

By Frank Tobe, Editor and Publisher, The Robot Report Low-cost robots are marching into Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Much has been said about the need to augment the skills and increase the productivity of small factory workers by using robotic assistants called co-robots. Europe funded an SME (Small and Medium-sized Enterprise) public-private consortium to…

Henrik Christensen, the KUKA Chair of Robotics at GA Tech and Chairman of the Roadmap project, Rodney Brooks, CEO of Rethink Robotics, Pete Wurman, CTO of Kiva Systems, and Russ Angold, CTO of Ekso Bionics all presented the new Roadmap to a packed gallery of the Robotics Caucus of the US Congress. From left: Pete Wurman,…

by Frank Tobe, Editor and Publisher, The Robot Report CBS News Reporter Steve Kroft interviews Rodney Brooks at ReThink Robotics.Click on the image above to see the segment. UPDATE March 6: Many reacted to the 60 Minutes segment as it related to the subject of whether robotics takes away or adds jobs. Abstracts and links…

Today’s robotics industry could use some strategic guidance,  particularly in the area of healthcare.  By Frank Tobe, Editor and Publisher, The Robot Report  It is clear to me that the next big markets for robotics are: SMEs (robot workers and co-workers in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) Medical and healthcare (nursing assistance, surgeon augmentation, operating room…

By Frank Tobe, editor/publisher, The Robot Report Yesterday was the launch of Rethink Robotics’ Baxter shop assistant robot. Many reporters, including myself, saw Baxter at Rethink’s headquarters in Boston in the past two months but were embargoed from writing about it until today, the launch date. Looking at the stories – as they appear all…

By Frank Tobe, Editor and Publisher, The Robot Report Max Nisen of Business Insider wrote recently of a list of seven stock picks discovered in a Credit Suisse report on long term trends. One of those trends was increasing global automation (particularly in China) and the seven picks relate to companies poised to benefit from…