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New farming robot offers different method of pollination

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When you picture the black and yellow creatures that pollinate plants, you probably don’t think of a Husky, the unmanned guided vehicle by Clearpath Robotics.

But that’s exactly what the team from West Virginia University is using for their current project – a Husky UGV, that is. (See video below.)

After winning NASA’s Sample Robot Return Challenge in 2016, the researchers have continued to put the system to use, repurposing it for another use-case (one of the advantages of having an easily customized robot that runs on ROS). [Read more…] about New farming robot offers different method of pollination

New highly aerodynamic Audi design suggests cars may not have side mirrors in future

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Side mirrors on cars can sometimes be bothersome, especially if you are driving through a very narrow space in, for example, a car park or something. 

The chances of your side mirror making contact with another vehicle or some part of the building are obviously higher than any other part of your car – except maybe the front and back bumpers.

The idea of dispensing with side mirrors has probably occurred to many people before.  [Read more…] about New highly aerodynamic Audi design suggests cars may not have side mirrors in future

Siemens and Xsens develop super-advanced motion-capture technology

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Siemens and its partner company Xsens have developed a new technique which makes “lab quality motion capture a reality in the workplace”. 

The companies they achieved this through “a deeper integration, improved anthropometric avatar matching, and significantly improved tracking accuracy”, which further empowers enhanced ergonomics analysis outside of the lab.

Xsens is a specialist developer of professional 3D motion tracking technology.  [Read more…] about Siemens and Xsens develop super-advanced motion-capture technology

Growing use of biometrics and optoelectronics in building access systems

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Biometrics, beyond fingerprinting, will drive the next generation of mobile and office security

When it comes to optoelectronics technology in today’s biometrics, a lot of attention has been on its role in security – particularly its use in access control systems, for instance, in industry or at immigration checks. 

Optoelectronics refers to technology that uses light, or optics, and electronics.

With increasing numbers of users managing sensitive transactions, such as online banking and shopping, on mobile devices, user authentication is becoming essential.  [Read more…] about Growing use of biometrics and optoelectronics in building access systems

New study: Standards increase economic growth and help companies access foreign markets

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A new study conducted in the Nordic countries shows that standards are associated with 28 percent of GDP growth, according to its proponents.

Companies benefit from standards the most by getting access to new foreign markets and ensuring the quality of their products. A vast majority of the respondents, 87 percent, consider that standardisation plays a key role in their future business plans.

Standardisation is a key to a well-functioning, economically prospering and sustainable society. It is also a way to increase economic growth.

These conclusions can be made from the results of the new study, The Influence of Standards on the Nordic Economies.  [Read more…] about New study: Standards increase economic growth and help companies access foreign markets

Kawasaki duAro: Behind the scenes of collaborative robot development

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Kawasaki Heavy Industries, or Kawasaki, has developed a large number of industrial robots since the launch of its first domestically manufactured industrial robot, the Kawasaki Unimate 2000, in 1969.

It released the dual-arm SCARA robot “duAro”, in June 2015. duAro is the result of the pursuit of the ultimate user-/human-friendly robot.

Shogo Hasegawa from Kawasaki was involved in the project from its conception and took part in its development.

[Read more…] about Kawasaki duAro: Behind the scenes of collaborative robot development

Universal Robots in central role in JVC electronics factory

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Universal Robots is gaining market share in south-east Asia’s most populous nation, Indonesia. 

PT JVC Electronics Indonesia says it has enhanced productivity, output quality and workers’ wellbeing with Universal Robots’ cobots, while saving over $80,000.

Universal Robots is, by unit sales, the leading collaborative robotics company.  [Read more…] about Universal Robots in central role in JVC electronics factory

Smart cities: Bosch and e.Go bring free automated parking to Aachen, Germany

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This is what stress-free parking will look like in the future: pull up, step out of the car, pull out your smartphone, and use an app to tell your car to go park.

This future will arrive in Aachen before the year is out, when the new parking garage for the production engineering cluster on the RWTH Aachen campus, built by Immofinanz in 2018, is equipped with Bosch automated valet parking.

Now Bosch and the Aachen-based automaker e.Go have agreed to collaborate on this.  [Read more…] about Smart cities: Bosch and e.Go bring free automated parking to Aachen, Germany

Deliver: Europe’s biggest e-commerce and logistics marketplace

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It’s been called the “Davos for logistics in e-commerce”, and Robotics and Automation News is very pleased to be an official media partner for the event.

Davos is, of course, the mountainous place in Switzerland where every year the world’s most powerful and influential leaders from politics, business and other sectors meet and discuss the future of the world.

Similarly, the e-logistics event Deliver gathers together global leaders from the world of logistics and e-commerce.  [Read more…] about Deliver: Europe’s biggest e-commerce and logistics marketplace

Schaeffler reports three divisions for the first time and confirms guidance for the year

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Global automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler has announced its quarterly results for the first three months of 2018.

As a result of the organizational realignment initiated last year, this is the first time the company is also reporting on the performance of its three divisions:

  1. automotive original equipment manufacturers (64.2 percent of revenue);
  2. automotive aftermarket (12.5 percent of revenue); and
  3. industrial (23.3 percent of revenue).

[Read more…] about Schaeffler reports three divisions for the first time and confirms guidance for the year