Monthly Archives: June 2023

31 May 2023

Atkins and COVVI Robotics plan to develop a robotic solution using a bionic hand that would provide "near-human" dexterity for handling nuclear materials remotely, removing the need for operators to place their hands in gloveboxes when handling nuclear materials and wastes.

Building on SNC-Lavalin group member Atkins' patented work to deploy collaborative robots in the nuclear sector, the two firms aim to attach COVVI's bionic hand to a robotic arm, to enable dangerous manipulations to be carried out by remote control while more closely replicating human dexterity. This will reduce the presence of humans in hazardous areas and enable glovebox operations to continue over longer periods of time, reducing risk and increasing efficiency, as well as freeing up time for site operators to focus on other activities, the companies said.

COVII's bionic hand was originally developed for people with an upper limb difference, but - when paired with a remote control system - its small weight, size and high levels of dexterity make it ideal for use in small environments, the company says.

Atkins and COVII said they have already been working together for the last six months to develop the integration between the robotic hand and collaborative robots such as Kinova Robotics' Gen3 arm that Atkins already uses to work in gloveboxes, and now intend to develop and market a new variant of COVVI's bionic hand optimised to meet the needs of the nuclear sector. Atkins is also developing a digital twin to rehearse and pre-plan glovebox activity to increase efficiency.

"Robotics hold huge potential for the nuclear sector and we expect their use to become increasingly common over the coming decade as the industry seeks to improve safety, increase efficiency and address increasing skills shortages," SNC-Lavalin's Head of Digital, Nuclear, Sam Stephens said, adding that such collaboration was crucial to help accelerate innovation and bring forward new solutions to address some of the sector's biggest challenges swiftly and cost-effectively. "The new robotic hand has the potential to reduce risk and improve productivity for the nuclear operators that we work with in partnershiparound the world, and we look forward to seeing it deliver results soon," he said.

"The robotics market continues to develop at pace as it becomes more affordable, scalable, and customisable," COVVI Group CEO Simon Pollard said.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

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Robotic hand offers innovative nuclear solution : Waste & Recycling - World Nuclear News

With Hy-Tek's IntraOne enterprise logistics platform, the addition of Hai Robotics' automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) solutions will help reduce a customer's storage footprints, increase workflow efficiency, maximize order pick accuracy, and improve daily order fulfillment rate.

Hy-Tek Intralogistics, a premier integrator of full-service automation technology for the supply chain, has partnered with Hai Robotics, a leading provider of intelligent automated warehouse solutions. With Hy-Tek's IntraOne enterprise logistics platform, the addition of Hai Robotics' automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) solutions will help reduce a customer's storage footprints, increase workflow efficiency, maximize order pick accuracy, and improve daily order fulfillment rate.

Changing economic conditions, an increasingly tight labor market and consumer spending habits require today's supply chain to be adaptable and provide a faster ROI for customers than in the past. Hai's technologies, including their brand new HaiFlex and HaiPick A3 solutions, will allow Hy-Tek to provide solutions to their customers faster than ever.

"The Hai technology allows us to provide solutions that require fast start ups, future scalability, and competitive costs," says Dave Tavel, Senior Vice President of Sales at Hy-Tek Intralogistics. "There is no reason to delay your adoption of robotics as a strategy for fulfillment. Hai's technology will support your business today and into the future, and Hy-Tek Intralogistics' platform, IntraOne will manage and optimize our customer's operations."

With Hai's solutions, customers can further improve operational efficiency and storage density, meeting the needs of warehouses, DCs, and factories in the apparel, retail, e-commerce, and 3PL industries.

"Hy-Tek has been a strong organization in the market since before I began my career. I've always had a lot of respect for the quality of their solutions, equipment, and systems," said Brian Reinhart, Hai Robotics CRO. "Hy-Tek's commitment to growth and integration has positioned the company to be an industry leader for years to come and Hai Robotics, having done the same on the manufacturing side, is very excited about the partnership."

About Hy-Tek Intralogistics -

Headquartered in Columbus, OH, Hy-Tek Intralogistics is an automation technology integrator serving clients in diverse end markets and applications, including e-commerce, third-party logistics, and parcel. Hy-Tek is the premier single-source provider of material handling solutions for a wide range of industries including manufacturing, distribution, retail, construction, food, electronics, and automotive. Since 1963, Hy-Tek and its best-in-class industry partners have been providing customers large and small with turnkey solutions. From customized one-of-a-kind handling and storage systems to pre-assembled buildings and off-the-shelf productsHy-Tek's experienced team of engineering, sales, operations, and project management professionals' partner with customers to help enhance productivity, streamline processes, and boost profitability. With over 500 employees, Hy-Tek serves customers in the United States, Canada, and Mexico from offices in Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.

For more information, visit http://www.hy-tek.com.

About Hai Robotics-

Hai Robotics is a leading global provider of intelligent automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS). Their ASRS solutions provide modern storage density, reach up to 32+ feet high, reduce customer's storage footprints up to 75%, increasing workflow efficiency gains up to 4x, maximizing order pick accuracy to 99.9+%, and improve daily orders fulfilled rate over 170%.

Hai Robotics' Autonomous Case-handling Robots (ACR) are the key equipment in their systems. These robots maximize the use of vertical space, managing the storage of goods 32+ feet high. Hai Robotics' ACR solutions are independent of any storage medium, allowing the ASRS to be constructed of almost any industry standard racking structure with most kinds and sizes of bins, trays, cardboard cartons, and a variety of containers and materials.

Learn more: http://www.hairobotics.com.

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Hy-Tek Intralogistics and Hai Robotics Announce Partnership ... - Robotics Tomorrow

Dive Brief:

The expansion of Uber and Serve's partnership is a big step towards mass commercialization of autonomous delivery via robots, according to Kashani. Scale will be critical to the long-term success of companies in the space, helping them boost their volumes while tapping into efficiencies.

Delivery bot executives say funding has been harder to come by than in years past, which has complicated expansion efforts. Serve's partnership with Uber, an investor in the company, has been key in growing its delivery activity despite this challenging environment.

The partnership with Uber runs through the beginning of 2026 under its current terms, but Serve expects it to be extended as the expiration nears, Kashani said.

Serve has completed tens of thousands of contactless deliveries in San Francisco and Los Angeles with its self-driving robots, according to Tuesday's announcement. Deliveries in Los Angeles have seen growth since Serve launched there last year with Uber Eats, and more than 200 restaurants there are now participating.

Serve's partnerships extend beyond Uber. The company has also worked with 7-Eleven for testing in West Hollywood, California, and Pizza Hut Canada for a pilot program in Vancouver.

While Serve has a strong customer pipeline, it has sometimes run into the issue of not having the bandwidth to work with a new company, Kashani told Supply Chain Dive in a March interview. What Serve prioritizes in these decisions is customer fit.

"Are they at the right stage? Do they have the right components? Are they in the right areas for us?" Kashani said. "Basically, what's the lowest lift for us to keep building on what we have?"

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Serve Robotics to deploy up to 2000 delivery bots on Uber Eats - Supply Chain Dive

FLORENCE, Ala. (WHNT) This December, nearly 2,000 students and their families are expected to be in Florence for the BEST Robotics Competition.

The competition will take place inside Flowers Hall at the University of North Alabama, and its something university officials say theyre very excited to host. Previously, the Souths BEST Robotics Competition had taken place at Auburn University.

UNA Provost and Executive VP for Academic AffairsDr. Ross Alexandersays,It was a result of a competitive process, and we were pleased to go head-to-head with other larger research universities in the state and region to secure the host for the competition.

The BEST Boosting Engineering Science and Technology Competition is designed to engage and excite students about these topics and inspire them to pursue careers in these fields.

We are leaning into and expanding purposefully our degree programs in computing, engineering, and technology. I think the BEST team saw our commitment to those disciplines, and how their students would be advantaged by coming to UNA for the competition, said Dr. Alexander.

Competitions will take place throughout the fall at high schools in the southeast region.

The winning teams will then bring their best designs to the regional competition at UNA in December.

These students learn how to do marketing competitions to promote their robots. They also will do engineering notebooks. The teams that are put together are just so well-rounded and multi-facetedits more than just a robotics competition, UNA Assistant VP for Enrollment Management Julie Taylor said.

Taylor hopes the competition will also spark the students interest in their postsecondary education plans.

We do offer lucrative scholarships for particular programs that these students will be interested in (computing, engineering, accounting, etc.). So, were excited to be able to offer these students not only the opportunity to come to campus, but to show them the opportunities they will have if they become students here at UNA, added Taylor.

For more on how you can get involved, click this link.

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UNA dubbed new home to BEST Robotics Competition - WHNT News 19

Medtronic has announced that Ken Washington has been appointed chief technology and innovation officer.

Washington joins Medtronic from Amazon where he served as vice president and general manager of consumer robotics, and will lead technology development across industries including robotics, consumer products, automotive and space in a newly created role, Medtronic said in a press release.

This new leadership role will help Medtronic to harness the innovative spirit of our founders and ensure we are capitalising on our scientific and technological knowledge to invent, innovate and disrupt the healthcare technology market of the future, saidGeoff Martha, chairman and CEO, Medtronic. Dr Washington will help Medtronic expand use of our technology platforms across our portfolioincluding robotics, sensors, implantables and AIimproving our returns on investments in innovation and expanding our technological competitive advantage to drive durable growth.

Prior to his role at Amazon, he was chief technology officer at Ford Motor Company, overseeing development of the companys technology strategy including next-generation vehicle architectures, controls, and automated systems; and he spent seven years at Lockheed Martin in various leadership roles including chief technology officer, chief privacy officer and vice president, Advanced Technology Center, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company.

Dr Washington earned a Bachelor of Science, a Master of Science, and a doctorate in nuclear engineering from Texas A&M University (College Station, USA).

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Amazon executive joins Medtronic to spearhead development in ... - Vascular News

Armach Robotics, Hall D, D01-05 Armach Robotics (Armach) will be showcasing its innovative robotic hull cleaning service, EverClean. Identified as the solution to watch last year, Armachs technology has since successfully completed its proof-of-concept phase for the hull cleaning system by demonstrating the effectiveness of its robots to a select number of commercial ship operators, who have now entered into an early adopter phase with Armach. For more information, visit: https://www.armachrobotics.com

Representatives available for interview:

John Dunn Jr, Chief Operations Officer John holds a critical role in developing and overseeing Armachs ongoing business operations. Possessing over 20 years of previous experience in vessel engineering, vessel, and ROV management, his main focus at Armach Robotics is the strategic planning of the business and the operational infrastructure of its systems. John joined Armach because of the paradigm shift that intelligent, autonomous robots will bring to the ship-husbandry space, and the desire to help enable that change.

Rob Howard, Chief Growth Officer Rob joined Armach Robotics to be a part of revolutionizing ship husbandry through Armachs intelligence-based, proactive in-water hull cleaning service, and the change that will bring from a vessel efficiency and environmental standpoint to the maritime industry.

Alex Kern, Director of Sales and Marketing Alex Kern joined Armach Robotics as Director of Sales & Marketing, building upon his 10-year career in marine robotics. With a passion for marine robotics, Alex joined Armach Robotics for the opportunity to change the world for a more sustainable future.

Press Release

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Armach Robotics' To Showcase Their Novel Hull Cleaning Solution ... - Marine Insight

When AMP Robotics started in 2014, robots and artificial intelligence were still uncommon enough that recycling facilities often announced each new installation and even gave their robot a name.

Today, AMP still names the robots it builds, but thats mostly to help employees differentiate orders when managing the shipment of multiple similar-looking pieces of technology. To date, AMP has installed a fleet of almost 300robots in facilities around the world, and it has further plans to expand into the European market. The company says its AI-powered neural network, shared by all the robots, can recognize about 75 billion objects a year.

In November, AMP officially opened its nearly 84,000-square-foot headquarters in Louisville, Colorado, which the company says gives it the R&D, manufacturing and demonstration space necessary to carry out some of its long-term plans.Though AI-assisted robotic technology is still the companys focal point, CEO Matanya Horowitz has moved in recent years to expand its horizons, most recently by opening three company-run secondary sortation facilities:one a few miles away in Denver and two more in Cleveland and Atlanta. Breaking into that kind of operation is a fairly unique move among MRF equipment companies and within the industry in general.

In the near future, AMP aims get involved in building single-stream MRF facilities, Horowitz said. Details on what those MRF projects could look like, or whether AMP will operate them or partner with other waste companies on certain elements, are still in development. Yet Horowitz said its a logical next step for the company.

We think we have something very special when it comes to the whole facility, like the fact that you can be fully automated, said Horowitz. It really changes how you think about running 24/7. It really changes the economics of smaller recycling programs, changes the economics of where it's viable to put these facilities. We can start to see a path to making really substantive structural change in the industry.

Investors have recently put their faith in the company with new rounds of venture capital funding. AMP announced earlier in May that it received series C funding from the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, bringing in a total of $99 million for the round when combined with investments led by Congruent Ventures and Wellington Management.

The funding represents a major step forward from the early years of the company, when AMP received smaller contributions from the National Science Foundation and the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade that at the time served as an important boost.

AMP plans to eventually go public, but I wouldn't say that that's a near-term thing. Were not ready yet, Horowitz said. We have hundreds of robots out there. We have whole facilities now. And so bringing on additional capital to scale that further is really the goal.

Robotics and parts are stored at AMPs headquarters facility in Louisville, Colo.

Megan Quinn/Waste Dive

AMP has designed its headquarters facility to have space for all the innovations it hopes to build. In addition to providing offices for its 200 employees, the building is a demonstration center that allows customers like brands and packaging producers to test their materials on different machines or experiment with recent advancements.

The facility also houses the companys R&D functions and engineering lab, where AMP develops, tests and adjusts technology upgrades or brand-new designs.

On a recent day, Alex Kee, AMPs senior mechanical engineer, switched on one of the companys Cortex robotic sorting systems similar to the type installed in most customers facilities. Part of the companys business model is being able to upgrade fleet software with new features, such as one AMP is currently refining: an advanced targeting algorithm that helps make the robots grip more accurate.

Kee brought up a heat map on a large screen, which showed a crushed HDPE container on the belt. Glowing light-colored spots indicated ideal flat spots for the robot to grip, while darker areas showed folds and creases that would be tricker places to grab. Once optimized, the technology could increase pick precision for the material between 5% and 10%, he said.

Alex Kee,AMPs senior mechanical engineer, operates one of AMPs robots at the companys headquarters.

Megan Quinn/Waste Dive

In another corner of the lab, the companys new Cortex-C was sorting a sample set of bottles, cans and containers. The new sorter is a lightweight, belt-mounted version of the original Cortex.Although it operates about 20% slower than its larger cousin, Horowitz said it can replace at least one manual sorter and fit into tighter spaces at MRFs. AMP officially announced the new model at the beginning of May.

Another piece of equipment in the lab started as a bespoke R&D project: the Vortex, a sorter that hovers over the belt to suck up film plastic. It was originally developed as part of AMPs Customer Innovation Program, which works with industry stakeholders to build new technology.Engineers started thinking about how to use the Vortex to solve film contamination issues at AMPs own secondary sortation facilities, said Jake Fitzgerald, director of hardware engineering.

Some of the secondary facilities had up to 10% film in their input stream, an amount that would be catastrophic for a primary MRF, Horowitz said.We wanted [the Vortex] for ourselves pretty badly because were processing much more residue than a typical MRF, he said.

Only a few Vortex sorters have been deployed so far, including one at a Waste Connections facility in Pennsylvania, Fitzgerald said.Waste Connections announced last year that it had either ordered or deployed at least 50 AMP sorters in the last few years, making them AMPs largest customer.

Horowitz said the company is also positioning itself to capitalize on the industrys increased interest in film sortation, as companies like WM partner with Dow on curbside film collection and major plastic producers target film plastic as a possible chemical recycling feedstock.

AMP is a member of The Recycling Partnerships Film and Flexibles Recycling Coalition, which is working on ways to increase curbside recycling and find end markets for film and flexible products.

We're trying to solve a couple different things for people. One is the MRFs just want the film out of the system. Then there are the people buying the film who want high-quality film, Horowitz said.

At the same time, brands are using more flexible packaging than ever before. Theres a real need to make that compatible with the existing recycling industry, he said.

Whether a MRF treats items like flexible packaging as a commodity or as contamination, Horowitz wants AMP to be able to adjust the technology for either outcome. AMPs work in secondary sortation has already challenged the equipment to sort though dirtier and dirtier material. Its operationally challenging, but it also teaches the AI and robotics to work efficiently in harsh conditions. That could help other MRFs when handling periods of high contamination, he said.

Contamination can kill recycling programs, Horowitz said. You still want all the education programs to help, and you still want to have the value of the recyclables be as high as possible, but [the technology]can at least help you be a little bit more resilient if you don't get the material you want.

AI identification of materials on a conveyor belt

Permission granted by AMP Robotics

AI capabilities are at the heart of AMPs operations, but recent congressional hearings and discussions over how to regulate other forms of AI, like ChatGPT, have started national conversations about what role AI will play in the future.

Horowitz said AMP already facesU.S.export restrictions due to the AI it uses it cant ship to places like Iran and North Korea, for example but hes not concerned about the companys ability to continue developing and improving AI capabilities in coming years.

It's something we follow, but it's not going to substantially change our direction, and it certainly will not create any issues for the deployment of the technology, he said.It's actually a very exciting time to be in AI, and we're really well placed to take advantage of it.

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AMP Robotics breaks in Colorado headquarters as it eyes future ... - Waste Dive

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West Linn robotics team 2B Determined learns to lead and change ... - West Linn Tidings