Where Innovation Meets Imagination
Vecna Robotics, a provider of robotic material handling autonomous ground vehicles, has been awarded first place in the DHL and Dell Robotics Mobile Picking Challenge 2017.
The event was held last week at the DHL Innovation Center in Troisdorf, Germany.
The challenge required a mobile robot capable of navigating traditional warehouse shelves, and picking boxes and totes. [Read more…] about Vecna Robotics wins DHL logistics automation competition
A French company called Exotec Solutions has unveiled its warehouse robot, which looks similar to the mobile autonomous vehicles from a number of other companies.
The market for such vehicles has been expanding, at least in terms of the number of companies offering solutions.
It remains to be seen how well they sell, but if Amazon’s heavy utilisation of similar logistics robots is anything to go by, the market is likely to grow fast. [Read more…] about Exotec unveils new warehouse automation system with integrated robot
The local authorities in San Francisco have effectively banned robots from sidewalks in a vote a couple of days ago.
Local businesses, especially takeaway restaurants, had been experimenting with using autonomous wheeled robots to deliver customers’ orders.
A number of robotics companies have been developing such robots. They include:
Starship is probably the most well known among these companies, having already made deliveries in other parts of the US, and having developed a partnership with Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes. [Read more…] about San Francisco effectively bans sidewalk robots
Automation and robotics company GreyOrange has released its next-generation software platform, GreyMatter, which features artificial intelligence.
The company made the announcement at the launch of the latest warehouse of the Nitori, said to be Japan’s largest furniture and home furnishing chain with over 400 stores.
The Butler robotics system from GreyOrange is being used at the Osaka centre of Home Logistics, a logistics subsidiary of Nitori which operates 34 distribution bases and a logistics network for product delivery to stores and e-commerce customers across Japan. [Read more…] about GreyOrange launches new AI for logistics robots and warehouse automation
Fetch Robotics, a provider of a range of warehouse automation and logistics robot solutions, has raised $25 million in Series B funding.
The round was led by Sway Ventures with participation from existing investors O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, Shasta Ventures and SoftBank Group US.
The Series B round brings Fetch Robotics’ total funding to date to $48 million. [Read more…] about Fetch Robotics raises $25 million in investment round led by Sway Ventures
The European Commission is to accelerate the automation of intra-factory logistics of small and medium enterprises, through a project called Logistics for Manufacturing SMEs, or L4MS.
The EC says L4MS will “completely digitalize logistics automation in factories”.
Initially, the plan was for L4MS to conceive three pilots and 20 cross-border application experiments to demonstrate “highly autonomous, configurable and hybrid, or human-robot, logistics solutions”, driven by the business needs of the manufacturing SMEs and mid-caps. [Read more…] about European Commission to accelerate intra-factory logistics for small businesses
A company called Bleum has unveiled its integrated warehouse robotics solution at the grand opening of its new showroom in Denver, Colorado.
Bleum says that logistics robots are able to deliver cost savings of 70 per cent or more for warehouse operations, adding that the market is expected to grow to $22.4 billion by 2021.
The company says early adopters of logistics robots have found their “benefits extend beyond cost savings”, enabling greater agility to scale up and down operations to meet the ebbs and flows of demand, and significantly improve the speed and throughput of distribution centers. [Read more…] about Bleum launches warehouse and logistics robotic system
A company called Suning Commerce Group has unveiled its automated warehouse (video below) as part of what it calls its “smart retail” strategy.
Suning is a Fortune Global 500 company owned by Suning Holdings Group.
The company has put its automated guided vehicle warehouse into service in Fengxian District, Shanghai, “boosting its capabilities in the field of smart logistics”, according to Suning. [Read more…] about Suning launches ‘basically unmanned’ automated warehouse with plans to use 1,000 robots
Exclusive interview with NextShift Robotics CEO
The robotics and automation industry has always held a fascination for many people – for seasoned professionals and even passing observers alike.
And it’s been particularly interesting in the past couple of years, for several reasons.
One reason is the advancements in computing – both hardware and software, perhaps most importantly in networking. [Read more…] about Logistics robots: NextShift’s ‘unique workflow’ increases productivity and efficiency
Ansaldo STS says its technology and delivery capability were key to the success of mining giant Rio Tinto’s fully autonomous freight rail trial.
Ansaldo is a specialist supplier of driverless technology for metro, rail solutions.
The company says it has now proven its expertise in autonomous heavy freight rail, following Rio Tinto’s recent successful trial of Australia’s first fully autonomous heavy haul train journey (main picture). [Read more…] about Rio Tinto demonstrates autonomous freight train featuring Ansaldo technology
