Daily Archives: February 1, 2022

ELMHURST Students at St. Bartholomew Catholic Academy became the teachers on Monday, Jan. 31, when Bishop Robert Brennan toured their classes at the start of Catholic Schools Week 2022.

The SBCA Robotics Team dubbed The Sharp Blades demonstrated their skills in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) by applying them to a real-world issue: pollution caused by cargo ship traffic in New York Harbor.

The team described how alternative fuels and mechanical applications can be used to help restore the harbors ecosystems. Eighth-grader Jesson Thagoo and seventh-grader Mauricio Sosa operated small, motorized Lego robots to simulate more efficient and environmentally friendly ways to unload cargo. The Sharp Blades will compete with these robots in February in the FIRST Lego League (FLL) Queens Qualifiers Robotics Competition.

There were a couple of small glitches in their demonstration, prompting the students to concede, Its a work in progress. Still, Bishop Brennan was fascinated by the team members ingenuity.

This is amazing, he told them. And Im glad to see its a work in progress. Id rather see that so that later we can see how you will overcome the problem. Im really proud of you.

Bishop Brennan talked about Catholic education and his commitment to it before he was even installed in November to lead the Diocese of Brooklyn. He said he was eager to meet students, faculty, administrators, and parents at diocesan schools throughout the week.

For more than 50 years, the annual Catholic Schools Week has highlighted how Catholic education benefits children nationwide in learning about their faith, academics, and service to humanity.

Ive had the chance to visit a couple of schools along the way, Bishop Brennan said before touring St. Bartholomew. But now Im excited to be able to dedicate this week in a very intense way to visiting schools.

From the moment I arrived at this school, I could see how impressive it is, like so many of our schools, he added. I met a number of parents and I get a sense of their profound appreciation for what the school does for their children, and also for some of the support that is given through the Futures in Education program scholarships. It really, really makes a difference.

Father Rick Beuther, pastor of St. Bartholomews Parish, called SBCA a place of mission, where parents sacrifice to send their children, and where that sacrifice pays off in how the students are guided in their Catholic faith, and in the knowledge of important subjects, such as STEM.

Danielle Tuble and Nicholas Borja, both 8th graders, said their Catholic faith is reinforced by science.

Its really cool because, you think that science and religion arent alike, theyre not together, Tuble said, When, in fact, there are things that do correlate.

What happens, Borja added, is that science actually makes religion look a lot more detailed, and a lot more planned. Like with DNA its really complicated and super precise. And its in every cell. It just makes you think about how God programmed us.

Father Beuther estimated that about 5,000 parishioners attend Mass at St. Bartholomew each Sunday, adding that about 70% are from countries throughout Latin America, and 30% are from Asian nations. The schools kindergarten through 8th-grade enrollment reflects those demographics, he said.

Most of our parents here in the academy were not born here in this country, Father Beuther said. I would say a lot of our families are undocumented, some are Dreamers, on the way there, but theyre all first-generation who believe in the Church. And they believe in the Church community.

SBCA Principal Denise Gonzalez estimated that about 65% of the 162 students come from undocumented families. She said 70 of these families receive scholarships from the diocese.

Our families are very committed to their childrens education a Catholic, faith-based education, she said. And so they sacrifice, especially after the pandemic when they struggle economically. They still want to keep their children here.

The rest is here:

Catholic Schools Week Starts With Robotics Demonstration For Bishop Brennan - The Tablet Catholic Newspaper

Four days a week after school and on Saturdays, a group of students from Worthington Kilbourne and Thomas Worthington high schools make their way to a workshop at Kilbourne.

There, instead of playing sports or instruments or doing other extracurricular activities,they build robots.

The 43 students comprise Worbots 4145, a Worthington Schools robotics team that builds and programs robots to compete in annual international FIRST Robotics Competition events, which drawthousands ofrobotics teams and high schoolers from around the world.

"It's a lot of fun;it's pretty competitive,"said Tom Karns, a STEM teacher at Worthington Schools who has been running the program since it was founded a decade ago. "It's actually considered to be the sport of the mind."

One of the Worbots 4145 students is Owen Marano, a Kilbourne junior in his third year with the team. Marano is the fabrication lead who heads the development of the team's robots; he also serves asthe driver.

Ive learned so much about the whole building aspect of the robot, he said. Ive learned a lot about the engineering process that we focus heavily on.

We start with an initial designand move onto prototyping and final build. And we just test it further and try to keep improving. Its kind of helped me learn you can always continue to do better, and theres no one great solution.

Worbots 4145 was launched in 2012 with fewer than a dozen members and limited resources, according to its website, worbots4145.org.Since then, the group has increased in size and capabilities and has experienced success, having won the FIRST Buckeye regional event in 2018 and 2019.

This year, the team is lined up to compete at regional competitions at the California University of Pennsylvania from March 16-19, at the Cleveland State University Wolstein Center fromMarch 23-26and at the University of Illinois Chicago from April 6-9.

If the team performs well, it will compete in the world championship at the University of Houston in Texas from April 20-23.

Each competition takes place on a court where robots have to complete such feats as shooting oversized tennis balls into a large hub and traversing a set of metal barsakin to monkey bars on what is termed a hangar, according to a FIRST Robotics Youtube video describing the competition.

At each contest, three Worthington students are matched up with two teams of three students from other schools to create a nine-person team, and they then compete against another nine-person team on the playing field.

Its not easytheres about 60 teams at each event, Karns said. "You roll in there, and every game you play you play (is) with someone different. And whats interesting is the people you just played with, theyre on the other team the next time.

The students build and program Worbots robots, including a large, complicated build named Atlas that is programmed to shoot tennis balls into a bucket.

They includeTyler Zupfer, a senior at Thomas in his fourthyear with Worbots 4145 who serves as the assistant program lead.

Ive learned not only a lot of programming and software skills, but Ive also learned how a lot of the electrical and electrical mechanical aspects interface with a lot of that, he said.

The robots and the program itself arent cheap.

Karns said in the 2019 season, FIRST Robotics teams were permitted to spend up to $4,000 overall on their projects. That figure was increased to $5,000 in the 2020 season.

This year, Karns said, teams are permitted to spend up to $600 per individual part, but theres no limit to how much they can spend.

Theres where business outreach and corporate sponsorships come in.

Braylee Hsu, a junior at Thomas in her second year with Worbots 4145, works on business outreach and securing sponsorships for the team and works on such community outreach efforts as a food drive planned in the coming weeks.

Hsu said she has worked this year to acquire sponsorships fromATS Ohio andLake Shore Cryotronics.

Its taught me how to interact with other businesses, and how to reach out to these people, she said. And get to know my team and understand our strengths and weaknesses so I can communicate with others, This is what were doing, and this is how we can make our community better.'"

The work during their extracurricular time develops STEM and business skills for the students, Marano said.

And if all goes according to plan, theyll win more FIRST Robotics accolades this year to show their efforts, he said.

I think it really helps the students and our team to prepare for whats ahead, Marano said. Around 90-95% of the kids that do our program go into engineering.

For more information on the Worbots team, go toworbots4145.org.

sborgna@thisweeknews.com

@ThisWeekSteve

View post:

Worthington Schools students building skills for career and life on Worbots robotics team - The Columbus Dispatch

ST Robotics has been making robot arms for 30 years but the fact is robot arms are very limited in what they can do. They are basically machines that, once programmed do exactly the same thing over and over. They are versatile enough that the same robot can do a vast range of different tasks and moreover can be re-programmed to do a different task at any time. But we are moving to a world where robots need to make intelligent decisions about what to do based on what they see. Hence the need for machine learning, vision and AI.

AI and machine learning are often confused. Most AI works by comparing a complex input (like an image or a voice) with a data base of similar matches. These data take ages to build and label usually with 1000s of images used to compare. The input, ie a camera image, is then captured, usually with a box drawn around it. It is then compared to the huge database in layers of a neural network until a desired output is reached and a decision can be made. This is not quite the same as machine learning where the machine acquires its own data or changes what it has. The machine might be teaching itself from its experience of the real world or may be assisted by a human operator.

Steve Wozniak has dismissed AI as not coming near real intelligence. AI doesn't even have the intelligence of an ant; we are simply working at the limits of what computers can do. And while he is right ST Robotics and many other companies are now working at these limits to make robots that can actually make intelligent decisions about what they do and what to do next. Some are fairly simple, like the Roomba but there are autonomous AI powered robots that will mow your lawn. They don't have to be quick leave them to get on with it; come back later and it's done. And overnight too!

Autonomous AI lawnmowers

ST are developing autonomous robots for crop harvesting. We are currently working on a robot to harvest asparagus and are about to start a project for picking grapes. Both these systems need a vision system that can recognize the asparagus spears or bunches of grapes and harvest them the way a human being would do. This is a completely different approach from farm machines with rotating blades and so on pulled by tractors. Such techniques are unsuitable for delicate crops like asparagus that can only be picked by the human or robot hand.

Another example is the Dogtooth robot that picks strawberries. ST Robotics licensed the R12 robot arm to them to get them started. They are now going on to large scale production.

A Dogtooth strawberry picking 'team'.

Like ST's Asparacut the Dogtooth robots rely on sophisticated vision with multiple cameras.

Joseph Engelberger once dismissed vision as unnecessary, writing I don't expect to see a Ford coming down a Chrysler line (or something like that!). But such a repetitive product doesn't appear in the natural world. For example the ST Robotics GUS robot harvests living asparagus. Asparagus spears grow in random places; they can be tall, short, bent and different colors. The robot has got to recognize it for what it is, make decisions about quality and shape and know exactly where it is and where to cut it.Autonomous robots need to be self navigating (by definition). Dogtooth and others may use GPS. ST's approach is more like a space craft (I can't reveal how we do that due to IP confidentiality). It means our robot can navigate down between asparagus beds or rows of vines. Intelligent suspension keeps the robot level.

Concept drawing of ST Robotics robot chassis.

Agricultural robots can't use surroundings as a means of location. Back in 1989 we designed an autonomous robot that could find its way around a factory floor, building a map as it went along using ultrasonics and a flux-gate compass. Of course, factory machines don't change their shapes and are in fixed predictable positions; plants are not. Alas back then it was viewed as a crackpot idea and got no interest. (never invent something too soon!)

The ST platform is designed to harvest the way a human being harvests and can be adapted to any crop from asparagus to cannabis.

About ST Robotics

Manufacturer of low cost bench top robot arms with a unique approach to robotics. We have a range of robot arms for routine testing, manufacturing, sample handling, education and many others. Our robots are not only affordable but are incredibly easy to use - anyone can apply and program an ST robot regardless of experience or lack of it thanks to our acclaimed manuals and tutorials and unlimited free technical support.

Excerpt from:

The Next Generation of Robots | RoboticsTomorrow - Robotics Tomorrow

Its hard to know where to start this week. Any temporary slowdown we might have experienced over the holidays has been wiped away. Once again, we find ourselves knee deep in robotics news, like the trash compactor scene in A New Hope only without the closing walls, Death Star and weird little one-eyed monster. Honestly, the whole analogy really falls apart under the slightest scrutiny.

Theres a wild flurry of news this week, and it really runs the gamut, in terms of variety. Were talking space, cops (but not Space Cops), mountain climbing, lawnmowing and a whole lot of factory work. Seeing as how we here in New York City once again find ourselves bearing down something called a bomb cyclone, lets kick things off on the New York Stock Exchange floor.

Knightscope rang the bell this morning, as it became the latest robotics firm to IPO. You might not know the firms name, but youve more than likely seen its robots, either in person or on the news. Founded in 2013, the companys profile grew quickly, courtesy of egg-shaped mobile robots designed to patrol public spaces as well as partnerships with a number of police departments across the U.S.

Image Credits: Knightscope

I recently spoke with the companys CEO, William Santana Li, a former Ford executive who uttered the phrase, Im going to get in trouble for saying this a lot during the interview. We covered a range of topics, from the decision to IPO to automation accidents to questions over profiling. Several highlights:

Ive said to the media, our underwriters, our lawyers, our teams, our clients, our investors more incidents will occur. Its not an unreasonable thing to say accidents happen. In a lot of cases, we have the evidence to prove that humans are not perfect and maybe have issues driving. In many cases, its maybe not the robot, its accidents happen. Will more incidents occur in the future? Absolutely. Guarantee it. The most important thing is: How do we handle it? How do we conduct ourselves? How do we take care of our clients? Do we make sure everyone is safe and, wherever possible, make whatever revisions need to happen?

and:

If youre inferring issues with racial bias and I might get in trouble for saying this but to me, its garbage in, garbage out. You tell a kid, when theyre growing up that pistachio ice cream is really bad, when they grow up, pistachio ice cream is really bad. If you feed an algorithm all the wrong data or an incomplete set of data, thats an engineering bad input problem. Thats not that the technology is biased. Im hoping that over time, that gets corrected over the natural course of engineers always making things better and better.

and:

I worry theres some conflation happening between questions of implicit biases in AI and broader concerns over automation. The former is a very real problem and something that absolutely needs to be addressed. Theres a lot of truth to the fact AI models are only as what humans put into them which is precisely what creates biases. These are things that need to be addressed now, as were in the very early stages of using robots to police society.

Image Credits: Boston Dynamics

Some big news out of Boston Dynamics this week something far more grounded than we saw from the company onstage with Hyundai. In fact, this is the sort of stuff Id like to see highlighted more in the world of robotics: sophisticated systems getting to work doing unglamorous jobs like unloading trucks. Its far more down-to-earth than the videos Hyundai was showing off with Spot hanging out on Mars. Its perfectly possible for things to be pragmatic and impressive at the same time.

And for a product with no existing commercial clients, this was some big news. DHL agreed to a $15 million deal to bring Boston Dynamics Stretch robot to its North America logistics centers. The number of units hasnt been disclosed yet, but they will roll out over three years, serving as a key proving ground for the firms commercial potential beyond Spot. Moving boxes around is a highly repetitive, intensive task that will really push the tech to its limit. Theres also often an expectation here that these systems be able to effectively run 24/7.

This will be the first major test for Boston Dynamics under the Hyundai umbrella, as well as DHLs own automation ambitions as it looks to remain competitive with the likes of Amazon encroaching on its logistics territory.

Sorting Robot in Paack Distribution Centre Madrid. Image Credits: Paack

Speaking of, staying competitive with Amazon (something that sure seems to come up a lot in this newsletter), there were a couple of big raises for robotic logistics firm. Paack announced this week a $225 million Series D led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, as it looks to expand further into Europe.

Says founder and CEO Fernando Benito, Demand for convenient, timely, and more sustainable methods of delivery is going to explode over the next few years and Paack is providing the solution. We use technology to provide consumers with control and choice over their deliveries, and reduce the carbon footprint of our distribution.

Meanwhile, Massachusetts-based Vecna Robotics announced a $65 million Series C that more than doubles its funding to date. Forklift injuries are a very real issue in the world of warehouses, so the firm is looking to help automate pallet lifting with its robotic systems. The round was led by Tiger Global Management, which also led the $21.5 million Electric Sheep raised for its robotic lawnmowers.

Image Credits: Electric Sheep Robotics

In spite of the indefinite delay of iRobots Terra, there are a number of players in this field (well, lawn), aimed at both commercial and professional applications. Electric Sheeps (yeah, its a Philip K. Dick reference, got it) approach is similar to what the John Deere-owned Bear Flag Robotics is doing in the tractor space, allowing users to effectively retrofit their existing mowers, using the Dexter system.

Former TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield contestant Wandelbots continues to raise big numbers. This time out its an $84 million Series C. The companys among those looking to tackle a key issue in automation: How can workplaces train robots without programming expertise? The firms solution comes in the form of a Trace Pen, which workers use to create movements the robots can then mimic. The company already has a number of high-profile clients, including BMW and VW, and will be using the funding to further expand into markets like the U.S. and Asia.

Image Credits: Starship Technologies

Is it truly an issue of Actuator without some funding for delivery robots? Starship just collected around $57 million from the EUs European Investment Bank. As Ingrid notes, the San Francisco-based startup has already seen a fair bit of deployment in Europe.

Image Credits: Takahiro Miki/ETH Zurich

And just so its not all funding this week, a fun one out of ETH Zurich, which taught the quadrupedal ANYmal robot how to hike specifically up nearby Mount Etzel. Researchers say that, using visual and tactile feedback, the robot learned to hike some 120 vertical meters in 31 minutes four minutes faster than the standard for human hikers.

A little higher up, the Bezos-owned Blue Origin has agreed to acquire Honeybee Robotics, which creates drills and other tools for Earth and space travel. CEO Kiel Davis confirmed the acquisition on the companys blog:

Weve been building Honeybees capabilities and brand for almost forty years. Joining Blue Origin is a major step forward for us. We thank the entire EBI family for their support over the last four and a half years. With Blue Origin we look forward to further expanding our capacity to meet the most exciting challenges in next-generation space transportation, space mobility, space destinations, and planetary science and exploration.

Terms of the deal, which is set to close next month, have not been disclosed. Honeybee says it expects to operate business as usual under its newer, bluer, parent.

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch

Actuator: To infinity and subscribe!

View post:

The robotic arm of the law - TechCrunch

Posted in Montana Attractions January 31, 2022by Clarisa

If youve ever been interested in computer & robotics systems, youll have a great time exploring this one-of-a-kind museum in Montana. When you find yourself with extra time in Bozeman, stop by for a while and see how the technology we use daily evolved over decades past. Bookmark this museum for a future day trip and plan on learning a ton while youre here!

During these uncertain times, please keep safety in mind and consider adding destinations to your bucket list to visit at a later date.

If you've ever wondered what you might have missed during technological advances, here's the place to learn.

Those steps are important!

Truly, inspiration for the future can be found here in the old wires and chips on display.

From wires down to tiny spots of solder, art and design are in every piece.

If you find yourself in Bozeman, why not stop by for a while?

For more information, check out the official American Computer & Robotics Museum website, or follow the official Facebook page for events and updates.

Address: American Computer & Robotics Museum, 2023 Stadium Dr #1A, Bozeman, MT 59715, USA

Read the original here:

Montana Has An Entire Museum Dedicated To American Computer & Robotics And Its As Awesome As Youd Think - Only In Your State

He Huang is a partner at Northern Light Venture Capital supporting early-stage enterprise companies.

Its been a tumultuous few years, but Chinas manufacturing industry is now on the rebound. Once an industry characterized by low-end manufacturing and intensive labor, it has transformed into a high-end manufacturing hub aided by technology.

Automation and robotics has the potential to modernize Chinas manufacturing while improving labor efficiency and alleviating labor shortages. Predictably, companies and investors want to capitalize on this trend.

Robotics has been a hot sector for a while, but its popularity has shot up over the past couple of years. The sector recorded investments and financing of $6 billion in 2021, according to statistics from market research firms, and is expected to double in size in five years.

However, its unknown when these investments will provide a suitable return. Robotics is experiencing the biggest bubble in Chinas venture capital industry, and is riddled with speculation and overvalued companies. Compared with similar investment bubbles over the last 10 years, this one is larger in scale, longer in duration, and could be more devastating than any before.

However, the bust is entirely avoidable. Investors and companies need to go back to business basics and resist the industrys typical impatience for exits on both sides of the negotiation table.

With the influx of capital investment, were seeing a partial and cyclical overheating of the market in China. Many investors caught in this investment tide are replicating the software investment model, because many institutions that invested in Internet startups are also aggressively entering this field.

So whats behind this surge? Everything from Chinas government policy to the launch of the Science and Technology Innovation board, which has opened a convenient exit channel. Compounding the surge is the drive to upgrade Chinas industrial structure.

Its crucial, however, that investors do not apply software investment rules to industrial technology investments. For one, the investment to exit period is different. Investment in robotics and other industrial technologies is relatively long-term compared to internet companies. Internet companies can go public in three to five years after investment, but industrial technology firms are likely to take twice as long or more to go public.

Here is the original post:

To cool down China's overheated robotics industry, go back to the basics TechCrunch - TechCrunch

Global Industrial Robotics Market 2022-2026 The analyst has been monitoring the industrial robotics market and it is poised to grow by 145. 02 th units during 2022-2026, decelerating at a CAGR of 6.

New York, Jan. 31, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Industrial Robotics Market 2022-2026" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p04988896/?utm_source=GNW 62% during the forecast period. Our report on the industrial robotics market provides a holistic analysis, market size and forecast, trends, growth drivers, and challenges, as well as vendor analysis covering around 25 vendors.The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current global market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. The market is driven by surge in demand for industrial robots and rising demand for collaborative robots across industries. In addition, surge in demand for industrial robots is anticipated to boost the growth of the market as well.The industrial robotics market analysis includes the application segment and geographic landscape.

The industrial robotics market is segmented as below:By Application Electrical and electronics Automotive Metal and machinery Plastic and chemical Others

By Geographical Landscape APAC Europe North America MEA South America

This study identifies the vendor initiatives to improve service deliveryas one of the prime reasons driving the industrial robotics market growth during the next few years.

The analyst presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources by an analysis of key parameters. Our report on industrial robotics market covers the following areas: Industrial robotics market sizing Industrial robotics market forecast Industrial robotics market industry analysis

This robust vendor analysis is designed to help clients improve their market position, and in line with this, this report provides a detailed analysis of several leading industrial robotics market vendors that include ABB Ltd., Comau Spa, DENSO Corp., FANUC Corp., Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., MIDEA GROUP, Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Seiko Epson Corp., Universal Robots AS, and Yaskawa Electric Corp. Also, the industrial robotics market analysis report includes information on upcoming trends and challenges that will influence market growth. This is to help companies strategize and leverage all forthcoming growth opportunities.The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to an analysis of the key vendors.

The analyst presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources by an analysis of key parameters such as profit, pricing, competition, and promotions. It presents various market facets by identifying the key industry influencers. The data presented is comprehensive, reliable, and a result of extensive research - both primary and secondary. Technavios market research reports provide a complete competitive landscape and an in-depth vendor selection methodology and analysis using qualitative and quantitative research to forecast the accurate market growth.Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p04988896/?utm_source=GNW

About ReportlinkerReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.

__________________________

Story continues

Originally posted here:

The Global Industrial Robotics Market is expected to grow by 145.02 th units during 2022-2026, decelerating at a CAGR of 6.62% during the forecast...

Did you miss a session from the Future of Work Summit? Head over to ourFuture of Work Summit on-demand libraryto stream.

As pandemic headwinds continue to put a strain on the global supply chain, companies are increasingly investing in warehouse automation technologies. It is estimated that more than 80% of warehouses today have no automation whatsoever. However, the market for warehouse automation solutions is expected to climb from $15 billion in 2019 to $37.6 billion by 2030, according to Research and Markets. In a recent survey of warehouse executives published in Forbes, a full 96% indicated that they expect the warehouse automation value proposition to increase over the next three years. Moreover, a separate report found that 27% of decision-makers in manufacturing, transportation and logistics, and other industries plan to leverage warehouse automation in some form by 2024.

Investors, eager to get in on the ground floor, have poured significant amounts of capital into startups developing warehouse automation products. According to PitchBook, warehouse robotics startups alone raised a combined $381 million in the first quarter of 2020 up 57% from the same period in 2019. Locus Robotics, Exotec, InVia Robotics, Fabric, Geek+, and Attabotics are among those whove received windfalls. So is Vecna Robotics, which automates manufacturing and warehouse operations for customers including FedEx, Medline, and Milton CAT.

Vecna today announced that it raised $65 million in a series C round led by Tiger Global with participation from Lineage Logistics, Proficio Capital Partners, and IMPULSE, bringing the companys total capital raised to $128.5 million. Vecna says that the funds will be used to fulfill new orders while expanding the companys existing operations.

Waltham, Massachusetts-based Vecna specializes in warehouse workflow orchestration and driverless pallet lifter technologies. Founded by Daniel Theobald in 2018, Vecnas platform automatically manages fleets of autonomous pallet trucks and tow tractors while allowing warehouse workers and managers to customize the robots behaviors.

Vecna a spin-off from Vecna Technologies, which was cofounded in College Park, Maryland over two decades ago by Theobald, an MIT engineering alumni initially received funding from the U.S. Army,DARPA, and other government agencies to develop a humanoid robot (the Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot, or BEAR) capable of rescuing wounded soldiers from the battlefield. However, ahead of its incorporation in 2018 as a wholly owned Vecna subsidiary, Vecna pivoted its focus, repurposing the autonomy software from the BEARs hardware and using it to develop logistics and delivery robots.

In its simplest form, materials handling comes down to moving materials, like ecommerce goods, products or shipped items, within a building or between a building and a vehicle. Traditionally, materials handling relied on humans to move goods throughout a warehouse or distribution center. However, this strategy leads to critical inefficiencies today, Craig Malloy, CEO of Venca, told VentureBeat via email. To combat these challenges, organizations invested in semi-automated solutions. However, this type of technology requires fixed infrastructure, purpose-built to a specific building and its needs. While these solutions provide automation, they lack the flexibility to adapt to fluctuating demands and changes in building use and business models. This is why the hype and interest in robotics is growing.

Vecna claims it can automate the process of unloading materials from an incoming truck into outbound trailers, vans, or rail cars. Its robots are designed to gather full cartons or boxes of products and group and package related items together as one unit, delivering materials to assembly lines and moving products to fulfillment operators who pick whats needed.

Instead of automating an individual piece of hardware, [Vecna] delivers the functionality to drive automation across any piece of equipment. The AI-powered solution also provides warehouses with system-wide orchestration, unifying and seamlessly allocating tasks between humans, robots and equipment to increase efficiency and productivity, Malloy explained. This technology acts as the brains of the warehouse, coordinating humans, robots and manual equipment to ensure each task is getting completed in the most optimal way ensuring the right resource is delivering the right goods to the right place at the right time in the most optimal fashion.

All of Vecnas robots are managed through the companys Pivotal software, which handles firmware updates and analytics. With Pivotal, warehouse workers can view pick lists containing product images and other information and corral the robots based on their location, availability, and more.

Vecnas automation technology is primarily designed to boost overall efficiency, safety, and productivity to enable more stable and transparent supply chains, Malloy said. For example, one human worker can oversee the work of several self-driving forklifts at one time, while also gaining insight into every order being processed by the system and where every vehicle is in real-time by using Pivotal, allowing for more efficient material flow and traffic management Additionally, data from deployed robots collected through embedded industrial internet of things and cloud technologies can be used to both provide real-time monitoring and analytics of the operation through Pivotal, as well as fuel AI models and improve the performance and intelligence of these connected systems over time.

In the past year, Vecna has introduced self-driving forklifts equipped with path planning and obstacle avoidance two capabilities that the company claims is an industry first for autonomous forklifts. Vecna more recently partnered with Alta Material Handling, a construction and material handling equipment dealer based in Michigan, Ohio, to spec, sell, and service Vecnas vehicles to new and its 30 existing customers.

Tech and logistics giants appear confident in the future of warehouse automation. Amazon has about 350,000 mobile drive unit robotscurrently working alongside the hundreds of thousands of humans employed at its fulfillment centers. DHL, for its part, last year announced that it would spend $360 million to expand and automate its distribution center network.

The pandemic has greatly accelerated the need for Vecnas solutions, as global supply chain challenges have heightened on top of increased consumer demand, Malloy continued. As demonstrated by growing ecommerce expectations, which have heightened due to the continued COVID-19 crisis, a failure to evolve with changing demand significantly hinders productivity, on-time deliveries, and customer satisfaction. But this time, its a change that cant be solved by adding more static robots. Instead, these challenges require smart, flexible solutions.

But despite the challenges that warehouses face today, which range from insufficient space to labor shortages, many face barriers to adopting automation. No technology is perfect, and errors can propagate more quickly with the faster pace of automation.

Retailer Asos suffered a loss of about $25 million in 2019 due to a failure by a new Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) to properly put away inventory, leaving products backlogged in receiving areas. Mechanical issues can crop up, too, putting a system out o f commission until replacement parts can be tracked down.

Its been well-documented that Amazons use of robots in its warehouses has led to more injuries for human workers. Retailer Asoslost $25 millionin 2019 when its new automated storage and retrieval system failed to properly put away inventory, leaving products backlogged in receiving areas. Also in 2019, Rent the Runway experienced a software glitch that failed to account for outgoing orders, meaning that customers could make orders that the company couldnt fulfill.

Companies like 140-employee Vecna counter that robots, on the whole, make fewer mistakes than humans and can measurably boost productivity. According to a paper from Londons Center for Economic Research, robotics and automation technologies have increased labor productivity by about 0.35% annually between 1993 and 2007, which might not sound like much but represents 10% of total GDP growth in the countries canvassed in the study.

Vecnas [automation solution] improves society by empowering human workers to pursue more fulfilling and less dangerous, repetitive work, Malloy said. The solution does this by deploying human associates to tasks that require creativity and problem-solving and their robot counterparts to tasks that are repetitive in nature. By fulfilling the mundane, dirty and dangerous jobs humans were once tasked with this technology is enabling workers to find more fulfillment by upskilling and pursuing new opportunities, sometimes even alongside these innovative solutions by working with their new robotic coworkers or managing them as robot experts. As a result, Vecnas customers have realized a decrease in employee turnover and an increase in employee satisfaction, helping to combat the labor shortage.

VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Learn More

Here is the original post:

Vecna Robotics raises new capital as the warehouse automation industry grows - VentureBeat

When Craig Rogers patients wake up after life-saving surgery to remove cancer cells in their prostate glands, they are left with a single, 3cm scar. By the end of the same day, many of them have been discharged and returned home. But Rogers, who has been operating on prostate cancer patients at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit for more than a decade, does not take complete credit for their speedy recovery.

It would not be possible, Rogers says, without the help of his trusty assistant: a $2m robot.

In the two decades since becoming commercially available, 6,700 Da Vinci surgical machines the newest version of which operates through only a single incision have been installed in hospitals worldwide. And more than 10m procedures have been performed using the technology.

Robotic-assisted surgery differs from conventional keyhole surgery, otherwise known as laparoscopy, as surgeons operate on patients using one or several robotic arms directed from a control panel.

Intuitive Surgical, the company behind the Da Vinci system, had dominated the field. But the surgical robotics market, which is now worth $6bn, is being enlivened by fresh competition, as Intuitives core patents on the technology expire. By 2028, the market is projected to more than triple in value, to around $22bn, according to Verified Market Research, a data company.

However, scepticism around the technology remains with some experts warning that uptake of robotic surgery has outpaced evidence of its benefits for patients and cost-conscious healthcare systems.

Rogers sees it differently, though. He compares the trend towards robotic surgery to the use of painting robots in the car industry, with which his hometown is synonymous. Im from Detroit where they use robots to paint cars: if you need to get to a hard to reach area, you dont do it with a person, a robot does it, he explains. He likens conventional keyhole surgery to building a ship in a bottle with chopsticks.

So far, the US has embraced surgical robotics more than any other country, accounting for around half of the global market. Across the country, the vast majority of prostate, bladder and kidney surgeries are carried out using robots and, in the state of Michigan, 15 per cent of all surgical procedures involve a robotics, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

By contrast, in western Europe, robotic-assisted surgery accounts for just 2 per cent of the total procedures performed each year, according to estimates from medical technology company Medtronic.

Richard Sullivan, director of the institute of cancer policy at Kings College London, says the rush towards robotic surgery, which the US has spearheaded, has been driven in part by technophilia.

He says patients often think robotic-assisted surgery self-evidently must be better because the technology looks sexier, adding that US surgeons who are hesitant about surgical robots are increasingly regarded as luddites.

In the US, its a fully competitive system...[if] you dont have a robot, your patients dont come to you, says Sullivan. You can see why a patient would think if the incisions on my stomach are small, rather than a whopping great six-inch scar, surely it must be doing less damage. But thats not what counts. What counts is what we do inside.

Advocates of surgical robotics argue that the difference is not just cosmetic, though. Michael Stifelman, director of robotic surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center in New York, who works with Intuitive, says the technology offers a culmination of subtler benefits that really add up.

For his patients, he says robot-assisted surgery has shortened their wait to be discharged, reduced complications after surgery, and sped up recovery times.

The technology has also made minimally invasive surgery more accessible to a greater number of surgeons than conventional keyhole surgery. In addition, it has extended surgeons careers as it is less demanding on their bodies, according to Stifelman. He estimates that the freedom to perform surgery while seated will extend his career by a decade.

Were not just doing it to say we do it, we always make sure were doing it for the right reasons, he says.

Englands NHS has pinned its hopes on robotic surgery to help its workforce tackle a post-pandemic backlog of 6m patients waiting for non-urgent procedures.

As the Covid-19 caseload in hospitals eased last summer, Stephen Powis, NHS England national medical director, said the technology had propelled us much further along in our Covid recovery than would have been possible before, adding that it would play an increasingly pivotal role in reducing patient wait times for surgery.

But, in spite the faith placed in the technology, there is not a huge amount of hardcore evidence for its cost-effectiveness, says Christopher Peters, a consultant upper gastrointestinal surgeon at Imperial College Healthcare Trust in London. Hence, the slow uptake by Englands thrifty NHS it had only 61 surgical robots in use across the country in autumn 2020, although it has more added since.

Nor are the benefits clear-cut. An analysis published in the Annals of Internal Medicine last year found that the results from 50 studies looking at a combined total of nearly 5,000 robotic surgery patients showed no difference between robotic-assisted techniques and laparoscopy or open surgery in the likelihood of complications or long-term outcomes.

In fact, the researchers found that gynaecological robotic surgery took up to 265 minutes, or 13 per cent, longer than the most time-intensive laparoscopy, and 41 per cent longer than the equivalent open surgery.

Separately, a study by researchers at the University of California San Diego found that robotic surgery cases stayed in hospital for 3.3 days on average, less than half the stay of open surgery patients but slightly longer than patients who received conventional keyhole surgery. The cost per day in hospital was also 1.7 times higher for robotic surgery patients.

Nevertheless, Peters predicts that robotic-assisted surgery will become the default in European countries over the next decade as robots become so ubiquitous and such good value for money that the bar you have to cross to justify using it will be much lower. He says: Hospital bosses will just ask: why not?

Peters also believes the technology will become more affordable and widely available as Intuitives stranglehold over the surgical robotics market loosened. The company enjoys a market share in excess of 80 per cent, but time is running out on many of the 20-year patents it registered around the time of its US launch in 2000. This will free up space for competitors.

Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson and UK-based CMR Surgical are among the leading companies now vying for a share of the growing market and in the process making the technology more affordable.

Terry Chang, director of strategy at surgical robotics manufacturer Medicaroid, which gained regulatory approval in its home country of Japan last year, believes Intuitive was trying to build [a] moat around the business by renewing patents. However, he says he is starting to see a lot more companies being creative and getting into the market.

Per Vergard Nerseth, chief executive of CMR Surgical, says he is confident his company can outcompete Intuitive on CMRs home turf of Europe, where surgical robotics is still fairly nascent. Our robot has a very unique wrist, says Nerseth. Its why were able to make our robots so much smaller than any other brand, which gives us a really unique offering.

However, experts stressed that improving access to the best surgical care in richer nations and developing countries will depend far more on resolving the scarcity of surgeons, who take more than a decade to train. Even in the well-resourced US, staff shortages across the main surgical specialities could reach 30,200 by 2034, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Surgical robotics is, therefore, not a panacea, its merely a plaster over labour force issues, says Roger Kneebone, professor of surgical education at Imperial College London. On their own, these robots are just an impressive piece of kit, they dont improve things without highly skilled surgeons to operate them and theres not enough of those.

Despite the scepticism, surgical robotics continues to extend its reach into new specialisms and territories. In recent months, surgical robots have removed eye tumours and inserted cochlear implants for the first time.

Where the US goes, the world tends to follow, says Jelle Ruurda, an upper gastrointestinal surgeon at the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands. He compares the change to the uptake of CAT and MRI scanners.

Twenty years ago, there was one CAT scanner in every hospital in Europe, and in the US there were hospitals that already had 10, Ruurda points out. Now, every self-respecting hospital has at least 10 CAT scanners and a couple of MRI scanners. I think it will be the same for robotics.

Read the rest here:

Robots give surgeons a helping hand - Financial Times