PITTSBURGH—RE2 Robotics Inc. has had an interesting few years. The Pittsburgh-based robotics company makes mobile manipulation systems that are used in the defense, aviation, construction, energy, medical, and subsea industries. Like every company, RE2 has faced hardships during the pandemic, but according to Jorgen Pedersen, former president and CEO, the company doubled the size of its staff in the past two years. And the only reason Pedersen is the former president and CEO is because his company was recently purchased by Salt Lake City, Utah-based Sarcos Technology and Robotics Corp. Pedersen now works as chief operating officer there. Business has…
PITTSBURGH — What role could technology play in helping doctors, nurses, and other medical staffers better manage supplies and medicines? That’s the premise of Randall Lipps’ company Omnicell, which he founded back in 1992. His daughter was hospitalized at birth, and he saw firsthand how much time medical personnel spent retrieving the proper supplies. It cut down on the time they could spend caring for his newborn. “Imagine if pharmacists and nurses were able to spend 100% of their time on patient-focused care – no more sorting, picking, checking, reconciling, transporting, or any other prone manual task or workflows,” reads…
PITTSBURGH—Stephen Muck, chairman and CEO of Brayman Construction Corp., knew he had a problem on his hands as he continued having trouble finding enough people to work. In 2016, he joined forces with roboticist Jeremy Searock to see if he could help solve the problem through automation. The result? Advanced Construction Robotics Inc. Muck serves as executive chairman, and Searock serves as president and chief technology officer. The Hampton Township, Pa.-based company currently has one commercialized product called TyBOT. Its main function is simple: tie rebar used in construction. Construction still a nascent market for automation While Advanced Construction Robotics…
Partnerships. Partnerships. Partnerships. If you look at some of the biggest stories in the autonomous trucking space this week, you’ll find a common theme. The autonomous trucking market could experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.6% between 2020 and 2025, according to Mordor Intelligence. Companies have partnered to develop, test, and deploy the technology, as well as to gain access to sales and support networks. Loadsmith is working with Mastery Logistics to build out its autonomous trucking platform. Plus is partnering with Velociti on its program to convert regular Class 8 trucks to semi-autonomous vehicles. Covenant is in…
PITTSBURGH—As warehouse operators increasingly turn to automation to solve some of their biggest supply chain challenges, what do they need to keep in mind as they scale up? That was one of the central questions tackled during “The Supply Chain Revolution” panel at the Cascadia Connect Robotics, Automation, and Artificial Intelligence (RAAI) conference here this week. Composed of executives and founders from some well-known U.S. robotics companies, panelists included Bernard Casse, founder and CEO of RIOS Intelligent Machines; Thomas Evans, robotics chief technology officer at Honeywell; Erik Nieves, co-founder and CEO of Plus One Robotics Inc.; Damion Shelton, co-founder and…
PITTSBURGH—At the Cascadia Connect robotics and automation conference yesterday, three of the top robotics cluster organizations in the U.S. announced that they are forming an alliance. MassRobotics, the Pittsburgh Robotics Network (PRN), and Silicon Valley Robotics (SVR) are forming the United States Alliance of Robotics Clusters (USARC). With the increased collaboration, the organizations said they will use one another's resources to work with government and industry leaders to promote and support innovation in the automation space. “We want to advocate on behalf of the robotics industry,” said Andra Keay, managing director of SVR, in a panel discussion with Fady Saad,…
There is not just one way to develop a pizza-making robot. Some companies are trying their hand at making pizza vending machines, while others are using collaborative robots to make fully automated kitchens. And still others are developing automated kitchens in a space equivalent to a shipping container. While it may not be a crowded space, there are plenty of startups trying to crack the code and develop the next big innovation in pizza making. Many conversations around automation tend to focus on warehouses and manufacturing facilities, but the restaurant industry is also investing in the technology. From fast food…
Late last month, Alias Robotics released a statement noting that it had uncovered 13 security vulnerabilities affecting the open-source Robot Operating System, or ROS 2. The Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain-based company claimed that more than 650 devices worldwide are vulnerable. Alias Robotics said it has seen the vulnerabilities in robots owned by NASA, Huawei, and Siemens, as well as in hospitals, banks, and universities. Alias Robotics noted that the security flaws related to ROS 2 could have “devastating consequences” if they are not addressed. ROS 2 was released in February 2015. They could allow distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on robots, asserted Victor…
Autonomous drone technology maker ModalAI Inc. this week launched its new autopilot technology, VOXL 2. “VOXL 2 enables autonomy and communications for indoor and outdoor drones and robots with vison-based SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) and AI for movement designed specifically for GPS-denied autonomous UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] with obstacle avoidance,” the company said in a release. The San Diego, Calif.-based company added with 5G, “VOXL 2 enhances mission critical navigation, including beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) to support safer, more reliable flight.” New system powered by Qualcomm ModalAI said VOXL 2 is powered by the Qualcomm Flight RB5 5G platform.…
Bob Wallace, distribution center manager at Top Notch Distributors Inc.'s Mansfield, Mass. warehouse, was excited when he heard the company was going to be installing 6 River Systems mobile robots at his facility. He is always open to trying new technologies, and Top Notch had already installed 6 River Systems' Chucks at other distribution centers throughout the U.S. “I like technology and change,” he told Robotics 24/7 during a recent site visit to the facility. “I remember when there was no computers, and we used paper, but I’ve been through a lot of changes, and they all turned out to…
During a recent visit to MassRobotics headquarters at 12 Channel St. in Boston’s Seaport District, Robotics 24/7 got a chance to catch up with more than a dozen resident startups making interesting technologies. MassRobotics is a non-profit collaborative effort to nurture the Massachusetts robotics ecosystem, which includes more than 350 companies, as well as academic institutions, government agencies, and research organizations. The Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council (MassTLC) established a robotics cluster in 2004, and it launched MassRobotics in 2015. Here’s a breakdown of some of the most interesting innovations we saw. Cleo Robotics launches indoor drone Cleo Robotics Inc. recently…
The way Dexai Robotics co-founder and CEO David Johnson sees it, restaurant-industry automation is heating up. “There’s a great ecosystem that is building around this idea that food production is like a warehouse or a factory in that you are making a product for a customer,” he said. “But it’s different because you are making it just in time for the customer.” Alfred assembles versatile dishes A new wave of robotics companies are popping up specifically to cater to restaurant industry challenges and needs, and Dexai is one of them, Johnson said. Enter Alfred, the 4-year-old company’s collaborative robot arm…
