As part of our coverage to kick off 2019, The Robot Report has shared the top robotics stories, most-funded robotics companies of 2018, and 10 major robotics companies to watch in 2019. We didn’t forget about the large amount of exciting robotics startups out there. We’re focusing on young companies. With the exception of Badger Technologies, which was acquired…
What’s the status of autonomous vehicles in industrial applications? Part 1
First of all, what is an autonomous vehicle (AV)? The SAE provides classifications that many industries use for vehicular products. For automated driving, SAE has five classifications for on-road vehicles. In SAE J3016, Level 1 through Level 5 define increasing amount of automation and Level 0 designates no automation. Level 3 through Level 5 provide […]
MAHLE components on nine of Wards 10 best engines for 2019
MAHLE components and systems are featured on nine of the 10 engines recently named to the Wards list of 10 Best Engines for 2019. Now in its 25th year, the Wards 10 Best Engines competition recognizes outstanding powertrain achievement, world-class technologies and engines or electric propulsion systems “that are so compelling they help sell the…
Dassault Systèmes and Cognata announce partnership to accelerate launch of safer autonomous vehicles
Dassault Systèmes and Cognata, Ltd. announced that they are partnering to embed Cognata’s Autonomous Vehicle Simulation Suite into Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform. The partnership will help autonomous vehicle makers define, test and experience autonomous driving throughout the development cycle within the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform brings features such as Smart, Safe and Connected […]
10 robotics companies to watch in 2019
Kicking off a new year is always a great opportunity to look back at what transpired over the last 12 months. We passed along the top robotics stories and most-funded robotics companies of 2018. Now it is time to look ahead of what to watch in 2019. Stay tuned for trends to and startup companies to…
Robotics investments recap: December 2018
Robotics investments in December 2018 totaled at least $649.5 million worldwide with a total of 17 verified transactions. Unverifiable robotics investments have been excluded from this analysis. There are several robotics investments in which the amounts and rounds were not disclosed. If we verify those amounts and rounds, or come across new robotics investments, we…
10 biggest robotics stories of 2018
2018 was quite an eventful year for the robotics industry. It was full of ups and downs, of course, but it will unfortunately be remembered more for the downs than anything. So before we turn our attention to 2019 trends to watch, let’s recap the major robotics stories of 2018. Here is our recap of…
10 most funded robotics companies of 2018
Funding does not guarantee success. That is a lesson the robotics industry learned the hard way in 2018. Rethink Robotics, which raised $149.5 million in funding, shut down in October. Airware and Jibo suffered a similar fate this year after burning through $114 million and $73 million, respectively. Nonetheless, raising money plays a vital role in…
Elon Musk to Unveil Underground Tunnel, Transport Cars
Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk is set to unveil an underground transportation tunnel on Tuesday that could move people faster than subways. Musk also plans to show off the autonomous cars that will carry people through the test tunnel, which runs about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) under the streets of Hawthorne, California, Musk’s SpaceX headquarters. He’s…
Robotics investments recap: November 2018
Robotics investments in November 2018 totaled at least $639.3 million worldwide with a total of 20 verified transactions. Unverifiable robotics investments have been excluded from this analysis. There are several robotics investments in which the amounts and rounds were not disclosed. If we verify those amounts and rounds, or come across new robotics investments, we will…
Omnify Software’s Empower PLM software wins LEAP Award in Industrial Automation category
Earlier this week at the LEAP Awards dinner gala in Costa Mesa, Calif., 11 winners were announced for the first annual awards competition recognizing excellence in engineering design. In the Industrial Automation category, Omnify Software’s Empower PLM Software won the top prize for its use in developing 6 River’s Robot Chuck. The judges for the […]
Automation needs to strike balancing act
Earlier this month, I crawled into Dr. Wendy Ju‘s autonomous car simulator to explore the future of human-machine interfaces at Cornell Tech’s Tata Innovation Center. Dr Ju recently moved to the Roosevelt Island campus from Stanford University. While in California, the roboticist was famous for making videos capturing people’s reactions to self-driving cars using students…
Designing & Integrating Autonomous Vehicle Systems
HERE ARE SOME DISTURBING FACTS. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that there were 3,450 distraction-related deaths on U.S. highways in 2016, another 803 highway deaths related to drowsiness, 10,497 drunk-driving deaths, and 10,111 fatalities related to speeding. The point all these fatalities have in common is that in each…
Air Taxis – Why They’re No Longer Pie in the Sky
Imagine a taxi service that picked you up (into the sky) and then dropped you off after an exciting journey, completely free of road works and traffic lights. It has been claimed that air taxis could be flying us through the air in just a few years’ time – and it’s true that some big companies are…
Energy efficient lighting with laser diodes
Experts say the improved energy efficiency brought by LEDs is only a prelude to what will be possible with laser-generating diodes. Leland Teschler | Executive Editor An interesting deal popped up on eBay recently for a replacement headlight assembly. The headlight goes on a BMW i8 coupe. You can get one – sent from Latvia…
Partnerships Key to Continuing Autonomous Vehicle Development, Siemens Says
To physically verify the safety of an autonomous vehicle (AV), Toyota estimates that a vehicle would have to undergo tests that ran along about 8.8 billion miles. Of course, testing on this many miles of test tracks is pretty much impossible. Automakers must rely on a significant increase in virtual testing and “mixed virtual-physical testing,” […]
Finalists announced for Industrial Automation category in inaugural LEAP Awards
Eight finalists were announced on Friday November 2nd for the inaugural LEAP Awards’ Industrial Automation Category. The competition was scored by a panel of independent technical/engineering-oriented judges. The four judges below were responsible for the Industrial Automation category: Bonnie Baker Consultant ATW, LLC Bonnie Baker is the author of six books, including A Baker’s […]
Vehicle Competition Challenges Students to Develop Hybrid-Electric, Autonomous Vehicle
Students at The University of Alabama will compete in the latest national vehicle competition that challenges students to develop a hybrid-electric, autonomous vehicle over the next four years. UA is one of 12 universities across the country selected to participate in the EcoCAR Mobility Challenge sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors Co. and MathWorks…
Robotics investments recap: October 2018
Robotics investments in October 2018 totaled at least $1.24 billion worldwide with a total of 22 verified investments. Unverifiable robotics investments, including several in China, have been excluded from this analysis. There are several robotics investments in which the amounts and/or rounds were not disclosed. If we verify those amounts and/or rounds, we will update…
Swarming Robotic Systems Could Help in Autonomous Waste Management
Researchers at MIT Media Lab, the University of Pisa, and Université Libre de Bruxelles have been experimenting with using swarm robotic systems for autonomous waste management. Outlined in their paper, the approach applies bio-inspired foraging methods to swarm robotics with the purpose of improving waste management in cities. “With autonomous vehicles, swarms of drones for…
MassRobotics wins grant for clean energy & robotics innovation
MassRobotics announced it will be expanding its work in the clean energy and water space through its partnership with Mass Clean Energy Center (MassCEC). MassRobotics will receive a grant award under MassCEC’s IncubateMass program that will be used to catalyze the formation of robotics and AI start-ups in the clean energy and water sector. The…
Sweden Unveils Advanced Testing Facility for Self-Driving Vehicles
The safety of testing self-driving technology has garnered global attention recently following fatal incidents on public roads. As a result, the demand for better and much more complex test facilities is increasing rapidly as the automotive industry questions whether the technology is ready to test on public roads. To address this need, Swedish state-owned Research…
How driverless cars will change design
Automated vehicles (AVs) will disrupt the way mechanical engineers work with their peers and how they share design information. Here’s what you can expect. Jean Thilmany, Senior Editor Tomorrow’s vehicles will be electrified, connected, and will include many automated functions, including the capability to navigate roads on their own—without a driver’s intervention. In other words, […]
Military-grade RF cable assemblies from Pasternack for 14.4 GHz frequencies
Pasternack has introduced a new line of military-grade MIL-DTL-17 RF cable assemblies that are ideal for avionics, military electronics, satellite ground stations, and autonomous vehicles. Pasternack’s new series of military-grade cable assemblies consist of 124 basic configurations from six different cable types for a total of more than 700 part numbers that are all available for […]
Robotics Investments Recap: August 2018
Robotics investments in August 2018 totaled at least $925.53 million worldwide with a total of 29 investments. Unverifiable robotics investments, including several in China, have been excluded from this recap. There also are several robotics investments in which the amounts were not disclosed. If we verify those amounts, we will update these figures. In July…