Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 7.08
…shared-space distribution network, voice integration with Amazon Echo and Google Home to track the last mile delivery of heavy goods, and the XPO Connect digital freight marketplace with multimodal infrastructure. As reported by FreightWaves, XPO has worked with 29 robotics companies and deployed 79 different types of robots across its warehouses. Other XPO robotics vendors include Massachusetts-based 6 River Systems, which has deployed more than 100 robots for XPO; and KUKA Group's Swisslog, which is said to be providing the robotics for the digital warehouse XPO is building in the U.K. for Nestle. It was unclear whether the robots will…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 14.16
…AR can transform picking and other warehouse activities. When Google released the first version of Google Glass in 2013, Lucas developers loaded our voice picking application and created a “vision picking” demo. Our conclusion was that the technology was not ready for prime time, and Google eventually shelved the original version of glass. Since then, smart glasses have roared back to life with new, more capable hardware from Google and other vendors (Vuzix, Recon, etc.) who are targeting industrial applications in manufacturing, supply chain and field service. Today, there is little question that “vision” is the next big thing in…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 7.27
…the early engineers on the self-driving car team at Google. Eshel most recently was a vice president at Battery Ventures, where he led the firm’s autonomous-vehicle investment project. “This financing, coming just three months after founding Kodiak Robotics, is a huge validation for our vision,” Burnette said. “We believe self-driving trucks will likely be the first autonomous vehicles to support a viable business model, and we are proud to have the support of such high-profile investors to help us execute on our plan.” “Autonomous driving is likely one of the most major technology shifts of the last 100 years,” said…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 6.08
…identification that brought together more than 400 experts to Google’s headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. When he looks at the new mechanical and technology solutions coming to market, he sees the seeds planted back in the 1970s and 1980s now bearing fruit. “We’ve finally come to where we all thought in our naivete that we’d be by around 1980,” Hill says. “Nothing we’re doing today, even artificial intelligence, belies what we thought we could do more than 40 years ago. It’s just that we didn’t have the tools then that we have today.” So just what is materials handling innovation? And,…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 11.66
…the big money chasing them extends from Apple and Google to General Motors and Otto, to name just a few of the many. It’s entirely possible that autonomous vehicles are the best funded R&D project in the history of mankind. “Autonomous vehicles are a competition, a race. The quickest and best companies at it will make billions if not trillions from the technology,” says Kevin Lacy, director of the transportation, mobility and safety division for the North Carolina Department of Transportation. See “The Interview” in this edition of NextGen Supply Chain for Lacy’s state-level view of autonomous vehicles. Part of…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 13.71
…with NextGen Supply Chain technologies, including mobile robots and Google Glass. They seem disparate, but there’s a common thread between the three. If you haven’t heard Harry speak at a conference, he is an apostle for American manufacturing in the best possible way. Founded about 6 years ago, the Reshoring Initiative says that it “is the leading voice in making the case to companies that it is often in their interest to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States or keep existing jobs here.” The news this year: For the first time since I’ve been talking to Harry, the…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.82
…Vegas mobile app from either the Apple Store or Google Play for access to floorplans, exhibitor listings, special events, new products and product categories, as well as the ability to plan an agenda, take notes, and get directions through the show halls. The Innovation Stages at both Pack Expo Las Vegas and Healthcare Packaging EXPO will feature 55 free educational sessions across four stages, featuring new technology and advances from all segments of the packaging market. The PACK gives BACK benefit concert, sponsored by Rockwell Automation, features Grammy award-winning band The Doobie Brothers. A portion of the proceeds from the…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.58
…is the equivalent of combined revenues of Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, IBM, Baidu and then some (a lot) more. It is also a big employer: the US Bureau of Labour Statistics suggests that 1.79m people work in this sector driving 7.2m trucks for inter-city freight transport earning an average salary of 41.3 k$/year. No wonder this is a hot topic now then. Trucking is also potentially an easier target than general passenger cars. This is because it spends much of its time in intercity roads which are less congested and less sinuous than city ones. The driver may remain in…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 8.85
…use cases such as IBM supercharging operations for Schaeffler, Google’s use of AI to optimize energy savings, and FANUC’s futuristic factory with NVIDIA’s AI platform. According to the report, AI will be a critical catalyst in overcoming current manufacturing challenges such as security concerns, lagging government initiatives, and a slowdown in cognitive technology growth due to conservative manufacturing mind-sets. Key trends in cognitive manufacturing include: ● A surge in the adoption of autonomous robots in manufacturing ● Cognitive insights generated by AI feeds on big data ● An evolving manufacturing landscape driven by machine learning ● Advancing AI in manufacturing…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 22.08
…Levandowski came to Uber after a long stint at Google, where he shepherded that company’s own self-driving car project before it was spun off into a standalone business called Waymo. Earlier this year, Waymo filed a lawsuit against Uber, alleging that Levandowski stole some 14,000 documents from Waymo, and that the information became the technological basis for Uber’s self-driving cars. Levandowski had already stepped away from running Uber’s self-driving car project, with the company moving him to an operations role in late April. Uber has denied the allegations against Levandowski, and in the meantime has been trying to prove in…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.71
…tech with backing from some very big names, like Google founder Larry Page, aerospace firm Airbus and the government of Dubai. As reported by Business Insider, by 2020, the company wants to have its first public demonstration of its network of electric planes that would ferry passengers at 150 m.p.h. through urban skies to their destinations. To reach its ambitious goal in the next few years, Uber Elevate has partnered with Dallas-Forth Worth and Dubai to be its launch partners. Uber plans to announce on Tuesday that it's aiming to debut the Uber Elevate network when Dubai hosts the World's…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 6.54
…and auto giant are now evaluating autonomous vehicle technology. Google-owner Alphabet recently spun out its self-driving car unit, Waymo, into its own subsidiary. Apple was just granted a license in California to test autonomous vehicles. Ford and General Motors are also doubling down on creating autonomous vehicles. Now Amazon could be eyeing driverless car technology as a way to get items to people's doors faster, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. “Amazon.com Inc. has created a team focused on driverless-vehicle technology to help navigate the retail giant’s role in the shake-up of transportation, according to people…