Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.40
While obstacle detection and avoidance have largely been solved for mobile robots, perception and manipulation remain challenging for piece-picking operations. Advances in computer vision, machine learning, and end-of-arm tooling are now enabling robots to pick at human and even superhuman rates. One company focusing on successful automation of pick-and-place workflows is Material Handling Systems Inc. (MHS). The Mt. Washington, Ky.-based company spun out MHS Robotics from its research and development unit last year. Kristiyan Georgiev, R&D manager for computer vision and software engineering at MHS, spoke with Robotics 24/7 about improvements in robotic picking applications. How long have you been…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.29
One of the biggest selling points for mobile robots is that they are not fixed infrastructure like conveyor belts and can thus change routes depending on seasonal volume, shifting workflows, or new products. In addition, increasingly sophisticated software promises to pick the best robots, manual and autonomous forklifts, and human workers as agents for a particular task. But this is easier said than done. As much as 70% of North American warehouses and distribution centers have yet to add any automation, industry experts have told Robotics 24/7. Even businesses that have robotics experience can run into problems growing their fleets…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.26
The Association for Advancing Automation, or A3, had some encouraging growth news at the start of its Automate show in Detroit last week: After a record year in North America for industrial robot orders in 2021, that momentum carried into the first quarter of 2022. A3’s figures showed that North American companies started the year by purchasing the most robots ever in a single quarter, with 11,595 robots sold at a value of $646 million. That’s up by 28% by units and 43% in dollars over the first quarter of 2021, and 7% and 25% respectively over the previous best…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.22
Generative AI and “cloud-native” APIs and microservices are coming to the edge, said NVIDIA Corp. The company today announced major expansion to two frameworks in the NVIDIA Jetson platform for robotics and artificial intelligence on the edge: NVIDIA Isaac ROS has entered general availability, and it is expanding NVIDIA Metropolis on Jetson. “Generative AI is bringing the power of transformer models and large language models to virtually every industry,” wrote Amit Goel, director of product management for autonomous machines, in a blog post. “That reach now includes areas that touch edge, robotics, and logistics systems: defect detection, real-time asset tracking,…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.21
From materials handling to inventory and floor cleaning, autonomous mobile robots are finding more uses beyond factories and warehouses. Brain Corp. has developed the BrainOS software-as-a-service offering to provide autonomy and reporting features to more than 16,000 robots and logged over 4.9 million hours of operation. The San Diego, Calif.-based company was founded in 2009, and its customers include Walmart, Kroger, and the Mall of America. Denver Public Schools, one of the largest school districts in the U.S., plans to use Tennant Co. floor scrubbers with BrainOS, starting with 14 buildings. Brain recently hired Jon Thomason as its new chief…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.20
In 2019, just prior to the pandemic, many of us were predicting that robots and automation would have a big impact in the new decade that was coming. All of the numbers were pointing to growth, not only in industries that had a long history of using robotics like the manufacturing sector, but in new industries like logistics, which was starting to make bigger investments in robotics. Then COVID-19 hit, and for a while, there was a break in the action, but that all quickly changed. “The pandemic put the brakes on a lot of stuff early in 2020, but…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.08
John Hill knows a thing or two about technology innovation. In a career that spans 50 years, Hill was at the forefront of the development of industrial applications for bar code scanning and radio frequency identification and the first warehouse management software systems. There’s a reason he remembers that the first implementation of bar code scanning outside of point of sale in grocery and retail was in October 1971 at Buick’s Plant 10. “I carried the 50-pound scanner into Buick to give them the demonstration,” Hill recalls. Hill has not rested on his laurels. Still a director at St. Onge,…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.06
A new IDTechEx Research report explores mobile robotics in materials handling and logistics, which is predicted to become a $75 billion market by 2027 before doubling by 2038. These are among the findings of Mobile Robots & Drones in Material Handling & Logistics 2017-2037, which includes automated guided vehicles and carts (AGVs and AGCs); autonomous mobile vehicles and carts/units; mobile picking robots; last mile delivery ground robots (droids) and drones; and autonomous trucks and light delivery vans (level 4 and level 5 automation). Khasha Ghaffarzadeh, research director at IDTechEx and the report’s author, said the figures “mask turbulent transformative change…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.06
The “2021 MHI Annual Industry Report,” conducted with Deloitte, opens with a quote from John Paxton, CEO of the Materials Handling Institute. “Supply chain resilience has never been more important,” he wrote. “Companies that made investments in digital technologies prior to the pandemic were more prepared and able to adapt, survive and even thrive during this disruption. They will also be ready when the next crisis inevitably hits.” Historically, when it came to the adoption of automation and emerging technologies, warehousing and distribution took a wait-and-see approach. For example, the automotive industry has been using robotics since General Motors installed…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.02
Locus Robotics Corp., which supplies autonomous mobile robots, or AMRs, for fulfillment centers, today said it has acquired Waypoint Robotics Inc., which makes industrial-strength, omnidirectional mobile robots. The companies did not disclose terms but said the combination will enable them to better serve both warehouse and manufacturing operations. “Locus is the proven leader in the development of highly productive and innovative AMR technology that efficiently solves our customers’ needs for total warehouse optimization,” stated Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics. “As order-fulfillment and labor shortages continue to grow around the world, the acquisition of Waypoint Robotics will accelerate our ability…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.96
In today’s e-commerce world, fulfillment has as much to do with the design of the network as it does with what happens inside the facilities located along that network. In the best of circumstances, the two work hand-in-hand. What’s more, in a fast-changing industry, what you’re doing today is not nearly as important as positioning your company for where you need to be five years from now. In essence, that’s the strategy behind the redesign of Rakuten Super Logistics’ e-commerce fulfillment network here in the United States, as well as the adoption of autonomous mobile robots (inVia Robotics, inviarobotics.com) as…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.94
Teleo Inc. today announced deals with three customers for remote-operated wheel loaders, bulldozers, and dump trucks. The company also announced that it is expanding globally through a new dealer partner network across the U.S., Europe, and Canada. Construction and mining work requires skilled labor and is physically demanding and often dangerous, noted Teleo. According to the Associated General Contractors of America, 91% of construction firms are having a hard time finding workers to hire, driving up costs and delaying projects. To address this issue, Teleo said it is introducing an incremental approach with Teleo Supervised Autonomy, which enables remote and…