Ghost Locomotion Inc. today said that it has closed a $100 million Series D fundraising round. The startup said its latest financing will allow it to continue developing its self-driving technology, which includes a “revolutionary breakthrough in crash prevention.” Despite all of the modern features in vehicles, cars still crash, and accidents and fatalities have increased in the U.S., despite last year's decline in traffic during the COVID-19 pandemic, noted Ghost. Even semi-autonomous and fully autonomous vehicles struggle to recognize and avoid every potential obstacle on the road, instead relying on human intervention to handle edge cases and prevent crashes,…
FANUC Corp. is one of the world's leading suppliers of CNC machines, robots, and factory automation. The Japanese company today announced the production of its 750,000th robot. “With 750,000 robots installed globally, FANUC has become a household name in manufacturing,” stated Mike Cicco, president and CEO of FANUC America Corp. “I’d like to thank our customers, authorized system integrators, suppliers, and employees for helping us achieve such an impressive and important milestone.” The company said it can currently produce 11,000 robots per month in fully automated factories that use its own robots to make robots, controllers, and machine tools. FANUC,…
Mitsubishi Electric
Zebra Technologies Corp. today announced its intention to acquire autonomous mobile robot, or AMR, provider Fetch Robotics Inc. The companies said they will combine Zebra's asset tracking and management expertise with Fetch's automation to expand into the manufacturing, logistics, and warehousing markets. “The Fetch team is excited to join Zebra and accelerate the adoption of flexible automation through AMRs and our cloud-based robotics platform,” stated Melonee Wise, CEO of Fetch Robotics. “By helping customers dynamically optimize and holistically orchestrate their fulfillment, distribution, and manufacturing operations, together we help enable their ability to stay ahead of growing demand, minimize delivery times,…
Drone delivery provider Zipline Inc. yesterday said it has raised $250 million in financing. The San Francisco-based company claimed that it “operates the world's largest automated on-demand delivery service.” Zipline said it plans to use its latest funding to continue developing its integrated service and expand into new industries and locations. “At Zipline, our mission is to create the first logistics company that serves all humans equally,” stated Keller Rinaudo, founder and CEO at Zipline. “Around the world, our partners are reimagining how patients access care with fast, reliable on-demand delivery.” Founded in 2014, Zipline said it has made more…
Developers need large amounts of reliable data to train artificial intelligence and robots. There are several libraries of objects, but fewer of spaces. Matterport Inc. today said that it and Facebook AI Research are releasing the “largest-ever dataset of 3D indoor spaces available exclusively for academic, non-commercial uses.” Matterport said the Habitat-Matterport 3D Research Dataset (HM3D) spatial library includes high-resolution digital twins of real-world environments. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company claimed that it has digitized more than 10 bilion square feet (9.2 billion square meters) of sites in more than 150 countries. “Until now, this rich spatial data has been glaringly…
VELO3D Inc., which specializes in additive manufacturing for metal parts, today said that Vertex Manufacturing, a provider of CNC machining and manufacturing services from development through production, has chosen it to help meet growing demand for 3D-printed “impossible” metal parts. “At VELO3D, we help innovators like Vertex accelerate the future of manufacturing, not just for their customers, but to benefit all of humanity,” stated Benny Buller, founder and CEO of VELO3D. “This new partnership speaks to the real and transformational capabilities VELO3D is bringing to metal additive manufacturing.” Founded in 2014, VELO3D offers fully integrated, patented systems including the Flow…
One area that personally fascinates me is how digital technologies are increasingly shaping the physical spaces around us, such as our homes and workplaces. Amazon Alexa is a great example of this—an on-demand AI assistant that exists in the cloud but that we can access with our voices to control the lighting in our homes, run our sprinklers, and lock our doors. This is the embodiment of our physical environment evolving due to enhancements provided by digital technologies. The natural language processing, machine learning models, speech synthesis, and all of the other complexity is performed in a digital system that…
Ambi Robotics Inc. yesterday announced that it is partnering with DWFritz Automation to build custom pick-and-pack robots for supply chain customers. Ambi Robotics uses artificial intelligence and simulation to power dexterous robots, and DWFritz is a global provider of systems for high-volume manufacturing. “Our partnership with Ambi Robotics will help customers bring efficiencies of scale to their manufacturing capabilities while improving throughput and lowering costs,” stated Mike Fritz, CEO of DWFritz. “By leveraging our global supply chain, technology partnerships, precision automation, and advanced manufacturing capabilities, we can support the rapidly expanding demand for Ambi’s warehouse automation products.” Established in 1973,…
Pittsburgh's technological and industrial renaissance continues. The Pittsburgh Robotics Network today said that it now has more than 100 members, making Pittsburgh home to one of the world’s most dynamic robotics and artificial intelligence ecosystems. “We have created one of the world’s largest platforms where top robotics and AI companies work together,” said Joel Reed, executive director of the Pittsburgh Robotics Network (PRN). “We’re a community of innovators, builders and makers determined to solve the world’s toughest problems. The PRN bridges this community to growing pools of worldwide talent, emerging industry networks, investors, and users of autonomous solutions.” The PRN…
Toggle, which provides automation to optimize rebar assembly for reinforced concrete construction, today announced the closing of its $8 million Series A round. The New York-based company said it will use the funding to scale its production capacity, including opening a new, 50,000-sq.-ft. production facility and growing its team. “At a time when global construction is accelerating to an unprecedented pace, Toggle offers a way to add capacity while saving time and cost on some of the largest types of projects,” stated Daniel Blank, CEO of Toggle. “We are especially grateful for our partners who are helping us to bring…
Kindred Systems today said it will integrate its SORT pick-and-place robots with Hy-Tek Integrated Systems’ material handling products to automate retail and e-commerce order fulfillment operations. The partners said they will accelerate polybag picking processes at warehouses and distribution centers to meet increasing consumer demand at Hy-Tek’s apparel customers. “In this rapidly growing e-commerce fulfillment environment, Hy-Tek turned to Kindred and its SORT robotic system to solve challenges that our customers were facing,” said Donnie Johnson, president of Hy-Tek Integrated Systems. “Kindred offered an affordable yet flexible solution to efficiently and effectively improve their e-commerce fulfillment operations. We are very…