Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.24
…suffered hard under the crisis, leading online marketplaces like Amazon and Alibaba were able to expand their market shares during the lockdown and increase online sales during Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and other e-commerce peak seasons around the globe. China’s online giant, the Alibaba Group, generated a growth merchandise volume (GMV) of $74.1 billion during the 11-day “Global Shopping Festival” campaign in November, an increase of 26% compared to the same timeframe in 2019. In the meantime, Cainiao Network, the logistics arm of Alibaba Group, processed more than 2.32 billion delivery orders during the same period. Alibaba’s revenue for the…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.19
…distribution. The exhibitors were Kiva Systems, now part of Amazon; RMT Robotics, now part of Cimcorp; and Seegrid. Each had a relatively small booth in which its vehicles moved on their own like oversized toys. While ProMat 2005 was all about RFID, AMRs were the hit of the 2007 show. Here’s what I wrote at the time: In 2007, RMT Robotics, Kiva Systems, and Seegrid introduced mobile robots to the industry. They were to AGVs [automated guided vehicles] what go-karts are to Formula 1 race cars: small vehicles designed to move small loads. But what really distinguished them is that…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.15
…a start-up, just as Borders was done in by Amazon and the entertainment industry has been upended by the digitization of music, movies and television. At the same time, every business is wondering if some new technology might be the magic bullet that allows it to innovate and gain a competitive advantage. After all, it’s better to be the disrupter than to be disrupted. At first glance, optometry wouldn’t appear to be an industry ripe for disruption. But, that was before new competitors like Warby Parker burst onto the scene with new business models to sell eyewear on the Web.…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.10
…Florida soon and across the U.S. by 2024. And Amazon, which is one of the largest retailers and shippers, is already using Plus’ autonomous technology. We recently inked the industry’s first lidar production agreement with Plus, which is planning to bring over 100,000 autonomous trucks with its PlusDrive system to roads in the U.S., China, and Europe by the end of 2025. Aeva stays in the lidar lane Does Aeva have any plans for self-driving passenger cars or mobile robots for deliveries? Kuepper: We don’t have plans to start making vehicles or delivery robots ourselves. Our belief is that no…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.08
…average warehouse. For example, the winner of the inaugural Amazon Picking Challenge in 2015 was able to pick 10 of 12 correct items in less than 20 minutes. It would be a long time, it seemed, before such robots could compete with the dexterity and speed of even the slowest human picker. Now, many big players have unveiled robotic piece-picking technologies, often in partnership with several smaller firms and startups that specialize in sensors, grippers or software elements that come together to make a feasible solution. Where the robotic piece picker of the past required a perfect alignment of a…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.05
…important, such as luggage falling on a train track. Amazon Robotics is using Isaac Sim to train soft robot grippers and Omniverse for warehouse digital twins, while ETH Zurich is training a wheeled quadruped robot, said Andrews. Fraunhofer is developing advanced AMRs using the physically accurate and full-fidelity visualization features of Isaac Sim. Festo uses Isaac Cortex to simplify programming for cobots and transfer simulated skills to the physical robots. Flexiv is using Isaac Replicator for synthetic data generation to train AI models. While training robots is important, simulation is playing a critical role in training the human operators to…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.03
…keeping companies from exploring their options. As evidenced by Amazon’s push to automate its own warehouse (and, purchase a robot-maker in order to make that happen), the drive to achieve higher productivity at a lower cost with the help of technology isn’t waning. “Labor is an increasing cost, with seasonal labor being particularly difficult to manage and plan for,” says Longacre. “It causes a lot of problems for the companies and the employees, so a lot of firms are looking to technology and automation to help alleviate some of these pain points.” Khodl concurs, and says the need for lower…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 3.01
…will Change the World of Design. Related Article: Is Amazon Creating Self-Driving Cars for Delivery? Related White Papers The Future Isn’t What It Used To Be According to predictions made a few decades ago, current travel should involve self-driving automobiles, jetpacks and flying cars, with space transport a common occurrence. Download Now! Parcel Delivery: The Future of Last Mile Currently subject to significant disruption, last-mile delivery, especially of parcels, is getting a great deal of attention in the media and from investors, and rightfully so. Download Now! Drone Technology: Clarity from Above According PwC's study on the commercial applications of…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 2.95
…automated “dark stores,” can provide orders for nearby customers. Amazon Go stores use cameras and intelligent software to track purchases and charge customers as they leave the premises, replacing cashier kiosks. Boston Dynamics' Spot quadruped can perform dangerous surveying tasks at construction sites. As Sanders said, robots can perform the tasks that people don't want to do, supporting fulfillment in spite of workforce shifts. Logistics picks up on robotics Warehouse operators and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) are making healthy investments in automation for materials handling. For instance, shipping giant Maersk last year acquired Visible Supply Chain Management (SCM) for $838…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 2.93
…on Omniverse. Public examples of Isaac Sim users include: Amazon Robotics uses NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise and Isaac Sim to simulate warehouse design, train robots with synthetic data generation (via Isaac Replicator), and gain operational efficiencies before physically implementing them in warehouses. This helps the e-commerce giant fulfill thousands of orders in a cost- and time-efficient manner [see video below]. Telexistence has deployed beverage restocking robots across 300 convenience stores in Japan. Deutsche Bahn is training AI models to handle very important but unexpected corner cases that happen rarely in the real world — like luggage falling on a train track,…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 2.91
…Ocado (itself said to be up for purchase by Amazon.com) a sign of weakness in certain segments? Sharma: Supply chain issues were a big problem during the pandemic, as well as high demand from consumers. Home delivery had become critical, and then there were shortages on the worker side. You'd think that supply chains and warehousing would already be automated, but at least 50% in the U.S. is largely manual. Coupled with e-commerce demand and worker shortages, you'll have serious problems. Our team saw during COVID that a lot of these companies have been investing heavily in automation. Now we…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 2.87
…Demand for Instant Fulfillment Thanks in large part to Amazon's ever-accelerating fulfillment speed, e-commerce has become a race to the front door. Same-day delivery for urban customers has become simply table stakes, and the bar is moving higher with even shorter delivery windows on offer. Customers are growing used to faster fulfillment, with close to half expecting delivery speeds to continue increasing, according to a recent survey.[9] As same-day delivery becomes too slow, retailers will strive to match the “30-minutes or free” standard that used to be a pizza delivery promise. If you could begin deliveries only blocks from your…