Robotics & Automation News

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Adapting Robotic Production Lines for a Titanium-Focused Economy

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With the post-pandemic recovery well on its way, the new jobs market has placed a clear focus on hygiene.

According to CNBC, 66 percent of workers want cleaner, even sterile, working conditions, and that’s independent of their industry. Creating the tools and surfaces required to meet this demand will fall on factories and robotic, or automated, machining.

In turn, this will require innovation to work with materials that are conducive to that sterile environment – which poses a challenge to manufacturers and their robotic factory lines. [Read more…] about Adapting Robotic Production Lines for a Titanium-Focused Economy

Addverb Technologies expands warehouse robotics solutions to Americas

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Addverb Technologies, an automation solutions provider for warehouses and factories, is expanding into North and South America.

The move comes on the heels of $132 million in funding from Reliance Industries.

This expansion establishes an experienced US leadership team with more than four decades of robotics, manufacturing, and business development experience. [Read more…] about Addverb Technologies expands warehouse robotics solutions to Americas

Vecna Robotics raises $65 million in Series C funding

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Vecna Robotics, a provider of robotic material handling automation, has raised $65 million in its Series C funding round led by Tiger Global Management, along with additional funding from new investors Lineage Logistics, Proficio Capital Partners, and Impulse.

The new financing will help fund the company’s technology roadmap with new autonomous mobile robots (AMR) and software, and will accelerate fulfillment of new orders and expanded operations to address the $165 billion market opportunity for pallet-moving autonomy.

Craig Malloy, CEO of Vecna Robotics, says: “There is huge headroom for growth in automated material handling with over 5 billion pallets in the world being moved by more than 5 million forklifts and nearly 5 million manual operators. [Read more…] about Vecna Robotics raises $65 million in Series C funding

Ouster and Vecna Robotics partner to accelerate material handling automation

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Ouster, a provider of high-resolution digital lidar sensors, has signed a strategic customer agreement with Vecna Robotics, a material handling automation company and autonomous mobile robot maker.

The agreement includes a non-binding forecast for approximately 3,000 OS digital lidar sensors through 2025 as Vecna Robotics scales production to meet increasing customer demand for warehouse and logistics automation.

Vecna Robotics plans to fuse Ouster lidar into its multi-sensor autonomy stack to equip self-driving pallet trucks, tow tractors, and lift trucks for high-capacity material handling operations. [Read more…] about Ouster and Vecna Robotics partner to accelerate material handling automation

Universal Robots’ latest results are ‘a strong indication of growth to come’, says president

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Collaborative industrial robot maker Universal Robots’ latest results are “a strong indication” of future growth, says its president, Kim Poylsen.

Universal Robots, which has just released its Q3 results for 2021, has reported record quarterly revenue of $78 million, up 46 percent on last year’s Q3 revenue and 31 percent up from its pre-pandemic Q3 revenue of 2019.

Since creating the world’s first commercially viable collaborative robot in 2008, the Danish company has gone on to sell over 50,000 of its ‘cobots’ for use across a range of industrial uses, primarily in the manufacturing sector. [Read more…] about Universal Robots’ latest results are ‘a strong indication of growth to come’, says president

Symbio Robotics unveils software update to ‘further modernize manufacturing assembly’

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Symbio Robotics, the provider of a platform that enables AI-powered automation solutions, launched SymbioDCS 2.0, which the company describes as “a major update” to the company’s flagship middleware and python programming framework.

With a streamlined automation solution development and deployment process, the updated platform contains a series of breakthrough features to support accelerated electric vehicle timelines and emissions-reduction goals by automakers through real-time robot-controlled apps such as insertion, fastening, and moving lines.

Max Reynolds, Symbio CEO and co-founder, says: “The demand for Symbio’s technology continues to increase as mounting pressure on automotive companies to change their factory footprint and increase production of EVs grows. The recent Ford and GM announcements to put billions into EV-focused factories is hard evidence of this. [Read more…] about Symbio Robotics unveils software update to ‘further modernize manufacturing assembly’

Basil Street partners with Celestica to meet ‘strong demand’ for its automated pizza kiosks

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Basil Street Pizza, a startup which has built an automated pizza kiosk, is partnering with Celestica, an engineering company.

The companies will work together to meet what Basil Street says is “strong demand” for its automated pizza kiosks as well as “growing consumer interest for automated pizza kitchens”.

In anticipation of its nationwide rollout slated for Fall 2021, Basil Street says Celestica is a leader in design, manufacturing and supply chain solutions for the world’s most innovative companies. [Read more…] about Basil Street partners with Celestica to meet ‘strong demand’ for its automated pizza kiosks

Geek+ and Circle K implement ‘Asia’s largest smart warehouse for grocery deliveries’

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Geek+ is supplying 100 autonomous mobile robots to Circle K for its distribution center in Hong Kong.

The companies say the implementation represents the commitment of Geek+ and Circle K Hong Kong to “build supply chain resilience using technology and support customers with a wide selection of products and excellent services”.

Today, the distribution center of 140,000 square feet handles the deliveries of more than 300 Circle K convenience stores in Hong Kong, serving over 600,000 customers daily. [Read more…] about Geek+ and Circle K implement ‘Asia’s largest smart warehouse for grocery deliveries’

Seegrid creates ‘Blue Labs’ research and development group

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Seegrid, a provider of autonomous mobile robots for material handling, has established something it calls “Blue Labs”, a research and development group to further the company’s technical progress.

With an in-house team of innovators in mobile automation building upon Seegrid’s proprietary, artificial intelligence technologies, the company will accelerate its expanding footprint throughout the manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics sectors it serves.

This year the company has launched multiple new automated workflows for its fleet of Palion AMRs along with a cloud-based data analytics platform, and has been heavily focused on faster development of new products and rapid expansion of its product offering. [Read more…] about Seegrid creates ‘Blue Labs’ research and development group

Intelligent multi-camera system for quality control of vaccine bottles

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Combating the Covid-19 pandemic is at the top of the global agenda. Around the world, efforts are being made to supply the population with vaccine as quickly as possible. But providing around 8 billion doses – at least one for every person in the world – is no easy task.

Glass vials are a crucial factor in the delivery of the billions of doses of vaccine. About 50 billion of them are produced worldwide every year. Currently the producers of the vials are massively ramping up their production so as not to become the proverbial bottleneck in the supply chain.

However, medical-grade vaccine vials are not standard glass tubes. Whether rolled-rim bottles, threaded bottles or ampoules, they are all made of the special glass borosilicate and require customized production lines. [Read more…] about Intelligent multi-camera system for quality control of vaccine bottles