STEREOLITHOGRAPHY, or SL, emerged in the mid-1980s and established itself as a staple of additive manufacturing (AM) over the next decade. Since that time, SL’s ability to quickly and accurately create complex prototypes has helped transform the design world like never before. As with other AM processes like selective laser sintering (SLS) and direct metal…
Stäubli Group acquires 70% stake in WFT GmbH
Stäubli Group acquired a 70 percent stake in WFT GmbH & Co. KG, a company based in Sulzbach-Rosenberg, Germany. WFT has been a specialist in the construction of special purpose machines and mobile platforms for two decades. This acquisition allows the company’s to join forces on autonomous guided vehicle (AGV) and automation add-ons. All employees…
Waymo self-driving vehicles head to China
According to a business registration filing, Waymo, Alphabet Inc’s self-driving vehicle unit, is setting up shop in Shanghai. China Money Network was the first to report on the news. Waymo established a company named Huimo Business Consulting on May 22 in Shanghai’s free trade zone. While the company has an office registered on the 28th floor…
UR10 Cobot Helps Canadian Manufacturer Increase Sales 40%
Etalex, a Canadian manufacturer of commercial interiors, metal fixtures, shelving, wood furnishings and heavy-duty racking systems, struggled with picking metal parts out of a press brake leading to significant automation problems. Etalex had no room for safety guarding in front of the press and needed a flexible, user-friendly robot that could safely handle pick and…
Simulation Paves Way for Drive.ai Self-Driving Vehicles
Real roads have drunk drivers, downed power lines, potholes and many other obstacles. The streets of simulation software, however, are infinitely more forgiving. In this digital proving ground, engineers can safely replay millions of scenarios designed to help them better program the software that operates a self-driving vehicle. Regarding the simulations used to prepare self-driving…
Fuji SmartWing Robots Touting Ease of Use at IMTS 2018
Designed for the assembly of manufactured parts, Fuji Machine’s SmartWing Robots are revolutionizing the industry with remarkably easy, efficient and accessible automation. The Fuji SmartWing Robots will be on display at IMTS 2018 (September 10-15 in Chicago) in booth #339059. Engineered with cutting edge technology, Fuji SmartWing Robots offer unprecedented speed and ease of setup. In…
Gecko Robotics Secures $7M for Industrial Inspection Robots
There’s no shortage of dangers in a power plant. One of the most persistent dangers is the inspection of equipment in the plant. Typically, human inspectors are responsible for checking the boilers, tanks, and other equipment in power plants and industrial facilities. The work is hot, dirty, and dangerous. Pittsburgh-based startup Gecko Robotics offers wall-climbing…
Caltech Drone Autonomously Herds Birds Away from Airports
Engineers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed a new control algorithm that enables a single drone to herd an entire flock of birds away from the airspace of an airport. The algorithm is presented in a study in IEEE Transactions on Robotics. The project was inspired by the 2009 “Miracle on the Hudson,”…
AGS Additive Manufacturing helps relaunch SME DFW Chapter
AGS Additive Manufacturing hosted the recent SME DFW Chapter meeting at their facility in Fort Worth. Representatives from local manufacturing businesses and SME DFW Chapter attended, shared information and had a tour of the 40,000 sq. ft. plant. “It was a great meeting and I really liked the energy and the feedback,” said Adam Cook, […]
Stanford AI Camera Offers Faster, More Efficient Image Classification
The image recognition technology that underlies today’s autonomous cars and aerial drones depends on artificial intelligence: the computers essentially teach themselves to recognize objects like a dog, a pedestrian crossing the street or a stopped car. The problem is that the computers running the artificial intelligence algorithms are currently too large and slow for future…
5 Challenges in Creating Autonomous Navigation Systems
Increasing the level of navigation autonomy in mobile robots creates tangible business benefits to those companies employing them. But designing an autonomous navigation system is no easy task. San Diego-based Brain Corporation, which spoke at our inaugural Robotics Summit & Showcase, seems to have figured it out, however. The company raised $114 million in mid-2017,…
MassRobotics, RIA Partner to Advance Robotics Industry
MassRobotics, an independent, nonprofit organization and the world’s largest hub of robotics startups, and the Robotic Industries Association (RIA), the industry’s trade organization and part of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), have formed a strategic partnership. The goal of the partnership is to support and advance the innovations and technologies from robotics organizations to…
UT Austin Patent Gives Robots Ultra-Sensitive Skin
The University of Texas at Arlington has patented a smart skin, created by a UTA researcher, that will give robots more sensitive tactile feeling than humans. “The idea is to have robots work better alongside people,” said Zeynep Çelik-Butler, a UTA electrical engineering professor. “The smart skin is actually made up of millions of flexible…
5 Robots Walmart is Testing for Retail Innovation
In the past two years, Walmart has embraced dozens of technologies to lower its costs, increase operational efficiency, and better compete with Amazon and other e-commerce competitors. One of the technologies Walmart is turning to is robotics. Amazon is well-known for its use of robots uses in some of its warehouses, in addition to other cutting-edge…
August 2018 issue: 14 Fabulous new robots at Automatica
Takeaways from Automatica Automatica 2018 is one of Europe’s largest robotics and automation trade shows and a destination for global roboticists and business executives to view new products. It was held June 19-22 in Munich and had 890 exhibitors and 46,000 visitors, both up 7% from the previous show. I was at Automatica from start…
Robot Report Special Issue – Robotics Grippers, Industrial Exos, Jibo and More
Robotics topics covered in the The Robot Report special issue inserted into the August 2018 issue of Design World include: – Automatica 2018 Review – What’s Hot and what’s not at Europe’s largest robotics and automation event. – Industrial Exoskeletons Arrive – Exoskeleton systems designed for industrial work are now available, and more…
August 2018 Special Edition: Autonomous & Connected Vehicles
Connecting the car is the easy part At the annual conference of the Society of Automotive Engineers, no small number of technical papers cover issues surrounding driver interactions with features on the car dashboard. Touchscreens in particular are a hot topic. You can find SAE papers with impressive-sounding titles such as, Touch Interactive Display Systems:…
August 2018 Issue: How smart plastics help build engines
On the lookout for better products One of the many ways that our publication has helped our readers over the past dozen years has been to present new products across the mechanical and electrical engineering space. Even amongst the more mature corners of our coverage, there are constantly new and improved components being unveiled. We…
Schaeffler Acquires Drive-by-Wire Technology from Paravan
Schaeffler Group and Paravan establish Schaeffler Paravan Technologie GmbH & Co. KG Joint Venture to acquire SPACE DRIVE drive-by-wire technology from Paravan and Mover activities from Schaeffler Paravan founder Roland Arnold to become CEO Drive-by-wire is key-enabling technology for the fast-growing market segment autonomous driving Schaeffler developing chassis segment into chassis systems integrator The Schaeffler…
July 2018 Robotics and Intelligent Systems Investments
Investment into robotics and intelligent systems companies for July 2018 was robust, totaling approximately $1.6B worldwide from 34 investments into the same number of companies. The bulk of the July 2018 investments were made into companies developing software and hardware technologies and products, along with services solutions in some instances, in support of self-driving…
MOV.AI Raises $3M for Industry-Grade Cobot Operating System
MOV.AI has raised $3M in seed funding to develop an industry-grade operating system (O/S) for collaborative robots. The London-based startup is creating an ecosystem where developers, integrators and manufacturers collaborate to produce smarter robots on a large scale for operation and production lines. The round was led by Viola Ventures, Israel’s leading technology investor with…
Aerobotics Raises $2M Series A for Precision Agriculture Platform
South African agtech company Aerobotics has closed a $2 million Series A. The data analytics company uses drones and machine learning algorithms to help farmers identify pest and disease early. After receiving $602,000 in seed funding last August, Aerobotics has added new investors to continue its growth. Leading the pack is the VC branch of one of…
New Fabrication Process Creates Microscale Soft Robots
Roboticists are envisioning a future in which animal-inspired, soft robots can be safely deployed in difficult-to-access environments, such as inside the human body or in spaces that are too dangerous for humans to work, in which rigid robots cannot currently be used. Centimeter-sized soft robots have been created, but thus far it has not been…
Diffractive Deep Neural Network Identifies Objects at Speed of Light
Engineers have 3D printed a physical artificial neural network that can analyze large volumes of data and identify objects at the actual speed of light. Developed at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering the “diffractive deep neural network” uses the light bouncing from the object itself to identify that object in as little time as…
rideOS Raises $25M for Autonomous Vehicle Fleet Management
rideOS has raised $25 million in Series B funding for its cloud-based fleet-management platform that pulls mapping, traffic and detection data for self-driving vehicles in a given area. The platform, essentially an traffic control system for vehicles, also works with human-driven vehicles and transportation services. Designed to assist in the global roll-out of next-generation transportation fleets, rideOS’…