A new insect-sized robot from UC Berkeley can scurry across the floor nearly as fast as a roach, and it’s also difficult to crush. It could be useful for search-and-rescue missions, say researchers.
Wearable device could improve communication between humans, robots
Researchers at in Houston, Boulder, and Nanjing, China, have developed a soft nanomembrane that could help people with wearable devices operate them more smoothly.
Soft robots controlled by magnets, light in new research
North Carolina State University and Elon University researchers have found that light and magnets can be used to control a soft robot and even reconfigure it.
Delta pick and place robots from Demaurex to get next gen Genesis Robotics drives
Genesis Robotics’ LiveDrive direct drive motors will be incorporated into Demaurex’s high-speed Delta pick-and-place robots.
OnRobot opens office in Los Angeles for cobot gripper R&D
As demand for collaborative robots grows, so too must suppliers of end-of-arm tooling. OnRobot, which makes the Gecko gripper, opened its first U.S. R&D office in California.
PHD adds gripper options, transition plate to product line
PHD has released a new jaw-travel option for its GRR grippers, offered the Pneu-Connect X2 with dual grippers, and announced seventh-axis transition plates for its Series ESU and UR cobots.
ASTM International proposes standards guide, center of excellence for exoskeletons
ASTM International is working on standards for assessing exoskeleton and exosuit usability.
GE Additive ships Concept Laser M Line Factory to is tech center in Cincinnati
Smiles all round from the GE Additive team who shipped the first Concept Laser M Line Factory system from Germany to the US over the weekend. This M Line Factory will be based at GE Aviation’s Additive Technology Center in Cincinnati. As an additional bonus, the system was transported on a Boeing 747-8 Freighter, […]
Microrobots activated by laser pulses could deliver medicine to tumors
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have demonstrated a robotic platform for delivering drugs in the human body.
Sea Machines Robotics to demonstrate autonomous spill response
Sea Machines and MARAD have agreed to demonstrate the capabilities of autonomous systems installed aboard an MSRC oil spill response vessel.
Neural Analytics partners with NGK Spark Plug to scale up medical robots
LOS ANGELES — Neural Analytics Inc., a medical robotics company developing and commercializing technologies to measure and track brain health, has announced a strategic partnership with NGK Spark Plug Co., a Japan-based company that specializes in comprehensive ceramics processing. Neural Analytics said the partnership will allow it to expand its manufacturing capabilities and global footprint.…
LUKE prosthetic arm has sense of touch, can move in response to thoughts
Biomedical engineers are helping develop a prosthetic arm for amputees that can move with the person’s thoughts and feel the sensation of touch via an array of electrodes implanted in the muscles of the patient.
Velodyne Lidar acquires Mapper.ai for advanced driver assistance systems
Velodyne said it is adding Mapper.ai mapping and localization software to advance its revolutionary lidar-centric advanced driver-assistance systems.
XOMETRY partners with Alibaba.com to support small businesses
Xometry, an on-demand manufacturing marketplace, announced it is joining Alibaba.com’s U.S. B2B ecosystem as a Co-Marketing Sponsor. Alibaba.com, one of the world’s largest B2B eCommerce marketplaces and a business unit of Alibaba Group, is launching this initiative to help SMBs access a $23.9 trillion dollar eCommerce industry. “We’re thrilled to announce our partnership with Alibaba.com,” […]
OpenAI partners with Microsoft on $1B expansion of Azure for AI
Microsoft is investing $1 billion in OpenAI to build out Microsoft Azure to support artificial general intelligence.
Top 10 ROS-based robotics companies in 2019
Not only is the Robot Operating System the standard for research, but it is also increasingly the foundation for commercial robots. Here are 10 ROS-based companies, plus some honorable mentions.
Electronic skin could give robots an exceptional sense of touch
Robots and prosthetic devices may soon have a sense of touch equivalent to, or better than, the human skin with the Asynchronous Coded Electronic Skin (ACES), an artificial nervous system developed by researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS). The new electronic skin system has ultra-high responsiveness and robustness to damage, and can be…
Multi-tool mount enables 1 UR e-Series cobot to use 3 grippers
New Scale Robotics (NSR) has announced the first multi-tool mounting system for Universal Robots (UR) e-Series cobots. The NSR-MTM-3-URe Multi-Tool Mount (NSR-MTM) allows users to mount and control up to three grippers or other tools on one UR e-Series cobot. The NSR-MTM System allows users to quickly set up and perform multiple processes with one robot.…
Toolcraft turns to UR e-Series cobots to save on production, increase throughput
In this case study, Toolcraft had to take on a third shift and precisely move medical parts in its CNC machine. With an integrator’s help, the machine shop used a UR5e cobot to increase production.
MiR500 mobile robot helps Cabka automate pallet transport
Germany-based Cabka Group recycles post-industrial plastics into pallets and other material handling products. Cabka North America’ 400,000-square-foot plant in the St. Louis, Missouri area runs 24/7 to manufacture about 5,000 pallets per day. But Cabka is challenged by labor shortages due to high turnover of temporary workers, which leads to expensive downtime. At Cabka North…
Perrone Robotics begins pilot of first autonomous public shuttle in Virginia
Virginia’s first public autonomous shuttle service pilot on open, public roads now live and serving the community.
6 common mistakes when setting up safety laser scanners
Having worked in industrial automation for most of my career, I’d like to think that I’ve built up a wealth of experience in the field of industrial safety sensors. Familiar with safety laser scanners for over a decade, I have been involved many designs and installations. I currently work for SICK (UK) Ltd., which invented…
COAST Autonomous to deploy first self-driving vehicles at rail yard
State-of-the-art facility operated by Harbor Rail Services in Kinney County, Texas, will become the first US rail yard to deploy self-driving vehicles.
Reader survey seeks input for The Robot Report
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Intel Pohoiki Beach 64-chip neuromorphic system available for researchers
Intel unveiled its 8 million-neuron neuromorphic system codenamed Pohoiki Beach today at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Electronics Resurgence Initiative in Detroit. Consisting of 64 Loihi research chips, Intel claims Pohoiki Beach can be up to 1,000 times faster and 10,000 times more efficient than CPUs for autonomous driving, robotics and other applications.…