Two Singapore-based robotics companies are joining forces. Teleoperation software start-up Cognicept Systems this week said it has merged with KABAM Robotics, a subdivision of engineering firm Patec Group. Cognicept combines capabilties Cognicept Systems was founded in 2018 out of a startup generator program funded by Singapore investment firm Antler. Its software platform, which Cognicept calls “A Global Human/Robot Remote Intervention OS” allows its customers to track, guide, identify, and fix issues with their fleet of robots remotely, according to the company’s website. Its tag line is “We step in when robots get confused.” Some of its partners include Savioke, Konica…
Volocopter GmbH last week said it has raised an initial $170 million in its Series E funding round. The Bruchsal, Germany-based said it plans to use the financing to certify its electric, autonomous air taxi and commercially launch it in the first cities worldwide. “This funding round is a testament to Volocopter’s leading position in what is a highly attractive emerging market,” stated Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter. “We continue to make significant technical and commercial progress as we work toward bringing urban air mobility to life at scale in cities worldwide.” Volocopter said it is developing a new and…
Kassow Robots ApS today introduced its KR1018 robot to North America. The collaborative robot is strong enough to perform machine tending with heavy metal and plastic parts and precise enough to carry out pick-and-place tasks at high payloads, said the company. “The KR1018 is a very strong, compact cobot with a weight of only 34 kg [74.9 lb.], ideal for performing various jobs at industrial companies,” said Dieter Pletscher, head of global sales at Kassow Robots. “SMEs [small and midsize enterprises] without their own robotics specialists can achieve complex automation and programming cost-effectively and independently with the KR1018.” Kastrup, Denmark-based…
Design
Mobileye, a subsidiary of Intel Corp., this week announced it has filed for an initial public offering, or IPO, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Neither Intel nor Mobileye disclosed the number of shares that will be offered or their price range. Intel said it expects the IPO to go live after the SEC review process. Intel bought Mobileye in 2017 for a reported $15.3 billion. Ammon Shashua, a computer science professor at Hebrew University, founded the Jerusalem-based autonomy technology company in 1999, according to the company’s website. Shasuha is still at the company as president and CEO. Mobileye…
CEVA Logistics and Kodiak Robotics Inc. yesterday said that they have teamed up to deliver freight autonomously between Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin, Texas, and between Dallas-Fort Worth and Oklahoma City. The companies claimed that they are the first to do so in the state of Oklahoma. “CEVA is committed to working alongside leading automation and robotics suppliers—like Kodiak with its proven autonomy technologies—to unlock value for our customers' supply chain operations,” stated Shawn Stewart, president and managing director for North America at CEVA Logistics. “Our partnership with Kodiak will deliver more business value to our customers, especially in light of…
At MODEX 2022, Mujin Corp. plans to debut mixed-case robotic palletizing with intelligent buffer and re-sequencing capability. The Tokyo-based company said the novel application demonstrates how robots can perform challenging picking and packing tasks without advanced programming. Mixed-case palletizing has been difficult to automate, according to Mujin. Traditionally, this labor-intensive operation requires material handlers to store the cases for an order until there are enough cases to build the pallet. Recently, many organizations have begun automating the storage and sequencing of goods to make human packers more efficient, but such material handling equipment is expensive and has a large footprint,…
MedCrypt Inc., a cybersecurity company that provides data security as a service to robot manufacturers, today announced it has won contracts to work with three companies building surgical robotics systems. The Encinitas, Calif.-based company did not disclose which companies they are working with, but said they include leading manufacturers of surgical robotics technologies and virtual reality applications for minimally invasive surgery. Axel Wirth, chief security strategist at MedCrypt, told Robotics 24/7 the company isn’t sharing the names of the companies at this time because it wants to respect its clients’ privacy. There are also competition concerns. “These may be new…
At the International Robot Exhibition 2022 this week in Tokyo, DOBOT has unveiled its M1 Pro for light industrial tasks. The Shenzhen, China-based company provides systems for manufacturing and educational applications. The DOBOT M1 Pro is a SCARA robot that includes features for safer human-machine collaboration than conventional robot arms, said DOBOT. It added that the lightweight robot is suitable for applications such as pick-and-place, gluing, and assembly for the manufacturing, communications, consumer electronics, and higher education industries. Founded in 2015, DOBOT said it has more than 686 patents and 34 Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications. The company added that…
Terradepth Inc. today announced that it has launched its Absolute Ocean platform, a cloud-based, browser-accessble data management system for sharing and analyzing ocean data. The Austin, Texas-based company said Absolute Ocean, or AO, enables users to simultaneously manage existing customer-owned datasets and access subscription-based Terradepth data. “What makes AO unique is its intuitive, immersive interface that enables visualization of high-resolution, vast geospatial datasets,” said Evan Martzial, Terradepth vice president of business development. “AO offers a robust solution for all aspects of geospatial data visualization, collaboration, analysis and management that will increase your operational efficiency while easily integrating into your existing…
As demand grows across industries for automated materials handling, Siemens Digital Industries Software today said it has partnered with Parmley Graham Ltd. and AR Controls to produce automated guided vehicles, or AGVs. “The U.K. supply chain market is growing exponentially, and most manufacturers are now investing in technologies to boost their own logistics,” stated Brian Holliday, managing director of Siemens Digital Industries. “AGVs are a crucial part of this investment.” Nuremberg, Germany-based Siemens Digital Industries (DI) provides automation and digitalization for the process and discrete industries. The unit of Siemens AG said it has about 75,000 employees worldwide and optimizes…
The robotics landscape is changing. As hardware becomes more commoditized, the growth of robotics-as-a-service, or RaaS, providers will be more and more dependent on their ability to identify and solve customer problems. Data is key to understanding these customer challenges, as well as communicating solutions and results to end users. A data platform can serve as an accelerant to RaaS businesses, enabling them to easily access data from all their devices and build custom apps to leverage that data. Date: Wednesday, March 23, 2022 Time: 8:30 a.m. PT/11:30 a.m. ET In this free webinar, Jeff Linnell, founder and CEO of…