Category Archives: Robotics

There is a growing rate of inflation in patient's demand for robotic surgery in all the medical fields.The training programs continue to emphasize this as patients continue to demand it, and robotics will possibly in the future become the preferred method for all surgery platforms.

FREMONT, CA:The development and manufacturing of robotics have significantly lead to the transition from open surgery to minimally invasive events and actions. The technology allows surgeons to produce accurate and reliable outcomes to their patients compared to conventional open surgical approaches.

The robots' use in the operating room has expanded across all medical fields around the globe, beginning from urology to cardiothoracic surgery. Doctors can now perform for prostate, lung, and kidney extraction and all forms of major surgery using minimally invasive robotics. The use of robot-assisted techniques is now for more than 50% of the gynecological and urological processes, exclusively for cardiothoracic surgery.

Most medical fields have not yet sufficiently demonstrated and shown all of the benefits of robotic surgery. Nonetheless, urologists can display the advantages of robotics in different procedures, particularly in oncology cases, where robotics has turned into a standard approach.

Most urologists agree that the benefits of robotic surgery outweigh the downsides dramatically. Robots allow surgeons to operate with high freedom of motion in small spaces. The technological facilities with the latest advancement can provide sophisticated robotics processes to patients.

The latest robotic system development modified the operating room, but there is still a considerable potential for expansion in this technical area. The prevalence of robotic assistance in the urology field has not only increased in recent years, but it is also the standard approach for most processes in urologic oncology.

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What Transformations can Robotics Bring to Urology? - Healthcare Tech Outlook

A FIRST Robotics Team representing Benton Harbor Area Schools will be in West Bloomfield this weekend taking part in a statewide championship. At a meeting of the school board Tuesday, students in the FIRST Lego League and the FIRST Technical Challenge were honored by trustees for taking part in those programs. Board President Joseph Taylor told WSJM News the Mega Bots will compete in that Detroit area event on Saturday.

The Mega Bots are from Fairplain East, Taylor said. This is their third year as a program, and they had enough points to qualify for a state championship. Thats the first time weve done that for our Lego League in its three year existence.

Taylor has personally worked with the various FIRST Robotics teams at Benton Harbor Area Schools for 14 years now.

I was involved with both. I helped start the Fairplain East Lego League team in 2017, but the most recent one I was involved with was the one at ACA, which is the Fairplain Middle School.

Taylor says since FIRST Robotics came to the high school, the program has been gradually rolled out to other levels. He tells us it feels great to see the kids get a chance to shine and travel. The board of education approved the Mega Bots trip to West Bloomfield during Tuesdays meeting.

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Benton Harbor Robotics Team Headed To Detroit Area This Weekend - News/Talk 94.9 WSJM

Within five years, the country has doubled its number of industrial robots. Following Japan and China, the country ranked third in 2018. But the dynamics of robot installations has decreased in recent years and for 2019 a continued decrease is expected.Robot installations declined by 5% to 37,807 units in 2018, says Junji Tsuda, President of the International Federation of Robotics, in a press release. Both, the electrical/electronics industry and the automotive industry reduced installations together they account for 82% of total demand.South Korea is affected by the US-China trade dispute, but there could be positive as well as negative effects: China is an important export destination for Koreas intermediate products. The conflict could result in decreasing demand from China. In contrast, Korean products might substitute Chinese products. But currently, the South Korean economy is in troubled waters. Declining demand for electronic products and announcements of investment reductions by major electronics companies point towards another year of decreasing robot installations.Robots needed to remain competitiveIn the long run, the extensive use of robots is vital in order to maintain competitiveness. Koreas population is ageing rapidly. By the middle of this century, it will have one of the oldest populations out of all OECD countries, just behind Japan, Italy and Greece. This helps to explain why South Korea has already embraced robots, particularly in its manufacturing sector, where robot density ranks second place in the world - following Singapore. With 774 industrial robots per 10,000 employees, the Republic of Korea has more than twice the number of Germany (3rd with 338 units) and Japan (4th with 327 units).Koreas Workforce DevelopmentThe Workforce Development and Training Act, updated in 2019, is one important initiative in a series of government-driven programs. People get support to develop skills of how to handle robots and automated machines. The "Smart Manufacturing Innovation Strategy" announced the build-up of 50,000 smart factory workers by 2022.

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Korea hits new record of industrial robots in operation - evertiq.com

Robotics company Magazino has signed the shoe manufacturer and retailer Lloyd Shoes as a new customer, and will integrate its Toru robot into Lloyd Shoes operation.

From now on, the first two mobile picking robots from Magazino will be used in Lloyds dispatch warehouse in Sulingen, Germany. The Toru robots will support the employees in picking and stowing shoes in shelving racks.

With the use of intelligent picking robot Toru, Lloyd is one of the innovative pioneers in the industry.

The continuing growth in ecommerce and ever smaller batch sizes require automation solutions that can be adapted flexibly and scaled as required. Additional Toru robots can be integrated into an existing fleet in less than half a day.

Stephan Wiegmann, responsible project manager at Lloyd, says: We are convinced that Magazino robots are an important component for a flexible, scalable automation of our warehouse processes and help us to reflect the growth in ecommerce and above all to support our employees.

One of the key benefits of Toru is its ability to support human colleagues in their activities and the easy integration into the existing warehouse environment in Sulingen without any redesign of the warehouse itself.

This enables Toru to relieve employees of non-ergonomic tasks such as picking from the bottom or top shelf, or particularly long walking distances in the warehouse.

Thanks to numerous sensors, the Toru robot can perceive its environment, recognize people or obstacles in its path. This allows Toru to operate in a safe way in parallel with employees.

With up to 18 hours operating time, Toru can also work at night or outside core working hours.

After the delivery at the beginning of December 2019, the first two robots are now exploring their new working environment and are subject to a number of tests before being integrated into live operations.

Through a link to a global cloud and the use of artificial intelligence, Toru can constantly learn from its own experience in its daily work and share this knowledge with its robot colleagues. This makes all of the robots constantly faster and much more robust in unknown situations.

The Toru robots are already running at several customer sites in Germany and Europe. Among the users are the logistics service provider Fiege Logistics and the online platform Zalando.

Both have recently significantly increased their robot fleet.

In contrast to many other robotic solutions on the market, which either focused on static manipulation or transportation, Toru can pick individual items and transport them from A to B in the warehouse.

Covering both process steps, especially individual item picking within a vastly complex environment in live operation is revolutionary.

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Lloyd Shoes implements Magazino robots in warehouse - Robotics and Automation News

Boeing has reportedly abandoned the use of some robotic systems that were being used for fuselage work such as drilling and fastening.

According to the Seattle Times, the implementation of the robots proved painful to set up and (was) error-prone.

The news website quoted Jason Clark, Boeing vice president of 777/777X operations, who said back in 2015, when the robots were first introduced: Its a little tough in the teething. But as we get through it, it will create the rewards necessary for us to compete.

Interestingly, the robotic system Boeing was using is called Flex Track, and is similar to the system recently integrated by Airbus, as Robotics and Automation News reported.

Similar but probably not the same, as the Boeing system was developed by Electroimpact, while Airbus is using a system supplied by MTM Robotics, which is also called Flextrack.

The slight difference in the name may or may not indicate that they are different systems, More as we get it.

According to Fortune, Boeing is now switching to a system called flex tracks, which was honed over years of use on the 787 Dreamliner.

Fortune says the flex tracks system being used by Boeing is supplied by Electroimpact.

The operation of the two flex track systems seems the same.

Meanwhile, the other part of the robotic system integrates giant Kuka robots fitted with specially-made end effectors which are said to be capable of installing up to 60,000 fasteners per 777 fuselage.

Boeing had introduced all of the new robotic systems within a newly created process called Fuselage Automated Upright Build, which eliminates that stress on the (human) mechanics, as the company said a couple of years ago.

However, it not looks as if it the aerospace giant is going back to relying on human labour as it also appears to be transitioning to a modified robotic system.

It would seem unlikely that Boeing or Airbus or any other sizeable aircraft manufacturing company would go back to purely human labour for drilling and fastening tens of thousands of holes in plane fuselages. So a robotic system is inevitable.

However, whether or not the new robotic systems are capable of performing such tasks to a high enough quality equivalent to that previously achieved by humans remains to be seen.

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Boeing 'abandons' robots in favour of humans - Robotics and Automation News

Waypoint Robotics has moved to a larger facility to meet what it says growing demand for its autonomous mobile robots. Among the products the company supplies is the MAV3K, an AMR with the capacity to lift 3000 lb.

The new, larger manufacturing facility in Nashua, New Hampshire. The new location features expanded space for production, design, engineering, quality control, and robot testing.

Jason Walker, CEO and co-founder of Waypoint, says: The response for our Vector and MAV3K AMRs has been strong and we quickly outgrew our Merrimack, New Hampshire location. We need space to ramp up production as customers transition from pilot programs into scaling their robot fleets.

We also feel fortunate to remain in southern New Hampshire, an area that has been incredibly supportive and valuable in fostering our growth.

The new facility allows for more demonstration space for customers considering this relatively new technology to enhance their operation.

Walker says: Businesses of all sizes are having trouble attracting and retaining talent and want to give their existing, valued workforce the tools they need to be more effective in an Industry 4.0 environment.

We can demonstrate how quickly Vector and MAV3K can be set up to do real work in the real world. Workers on the job today can use these tools with confidence and take pride in making their companies more efficient and competitive.

With this larger location, Waypoint says it can also welcome local tech and community STEM events, such as the recent New Hampshire Tech Alliance Listening Tour, designed to foster new ideas, connections, and partnerships.

Members of the New Hampshire tech community and the public at large were treated to a tour of the new facility and autonomous mobile robot demonstrations.

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Waypoint Robotics moves to larger facility to 'meet growing demand' for its warehouse robots - Robotics and Automation News

We know everyHarry Potter fan has, at some point in their life, wanted to try on the real Sorting Hat and hear it yell out which Hogwarts House they will be joining. Now, thanks to a group of undergraduate students from the Robotics and Intelligence Systems (RIS) Laboratory at the Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Applied Sciences at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, that reality is closer than ever.

The hat was created as a way to not only read the wearers mind and place them into a House but also analyze the brain for other medical purposes.

This incredible creation was featured at the Innovate Sri Lanka 2019 exhibition and drew quite the crowd from attendees at the event.

The robotics team from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura demonstrates their Sorting Hat.

The immensely talented team that put this together consists of Adhisha Gammanpila, Asela Wijesinghe, Tehani Wanniarachchi, Viraji Amarajeewa, and Dovini Jayasinghe, and they represented the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and Sri Lanka at the International Conference on Social Robotics 2019 in Madrid, Spain. In Madrid, the team won an award for their innovation!

Would you try on the hat and see what it has to say? Let us know in the comments below!

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Sri Lankan Robotics Team Brings the Sorting Hat to Life - MuggleNet

CLEVELAND The headlines touting the rise of the robot can be scary at times and a study released this fall by the Century Foundation found that the Cleveland-Elyria region ranked as the 10th most susceptible to "robot intensity" or places where automation could impact workers and wages.

Still MAGNET, Cleveland's Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network says at least when it comes to manufacturing the rise of robotics doesn't the elimination of jobs.

"Our own surveys of hundreds of manufacturers show that a very small percent, less than 5% of manufacturers today would say they are using automation to replace people. Instead, they're using it to augment so that the person running a machine is able to run three of them at the same time and program them," said MAGNET CEO Ethan Karp. "The robot is doing the repetitive tasking that frankly isn't very inspiring for someone to do but also is something that a robot can do."

The Association for Advancing Automation says those collaborative robots actually help to grow jobs that allow companies to be more productive and hire more people. "What a robot application may do is it might take a task and typically it's, we call them the three D's, dirty, dull or dangerous tasks that either companies have a hard time finding qualified people to put in those tasks or if it's just not a job that anyone wants anyway," said Association Vice President Bob Doyle. "So if a robotic application is able to do that than the company is able to take that person, put them in a much more valuable type of task, allows them to be in a better work environment and a happier employee which is great for the company."

The re-training of that employee is key for the company because Karp says once a manufacturer has a good employee they don't want to lose them.

"Across Northeast Ohio today there are 8,000 open positions in manufacturing and these are careers," Karp said. "60% of manufacturers say that today they would have more growth, that means more revenue more profits, if they could find the people to run their companies. That statistic blows my mind."

Still to ensure that current employees are protected in the face of automation Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has proposed the Workers Right to Training Act that would require companies to provide training for workers whose jobs will change as a result of new technology, severance if they lose their jobs as a result and also he said, a simple heads up.

"Companies don't all of a sudden wake up and the next day add some technology, they plan it and they can plan to bring their employees in and to give them a shot at these jobs," Brown said. "And if a plant closes sometimes at least give the workers there some kind of parachute, some kind of soft landing."

Karp recognizes there are industries where that might be needed but in manufacturing right now market forces dictate otherwise.

"The shortage in manufacturing of individuals means every single manufacturer that we go out to has another role, probably a better role, for any person that is doing a repetitive task today," he said.

On a larger scale, Karp and Doyle agree that more needs to be done to change the mindset around manufacturing today to meet the needs of tomorrow. "There really is a skills gap and there's different studies that show their could be a gap of over 2 million jobs unfilled within the next several years in manufacturing if we don't do a better job of training these next generation workforce people," Doyle said.

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While robots are taking more low-skill jobs, other jobs are being created - News 5 Cleveland

The Valleys affinity for robotics shows no signs of cooling. Technical enhancements through innovations like AI/ML, compute power and big data utilization continue to drive new performance milestones, efficiencies and use cases.

Despite the old saying, hardware is hard, investment in the robotics space continues to expand. Money is pouring in across robotics billion-dollar sub verticals, including industrial and labor automation, drone delivery, machine vision and a wide range of others.

According to data from Pitchbook and Crunchbase, 2018 saw new highs for the number of venture deals and total invested capital in the space, with roughly $5 billion in investment coming from nearly 400 deals. With robotics well on its way to again set new investment peaks in 2019, we asked 13 leading VCs who work at firms spanning early to growth stages to share whats exciting them most and where they see opportunity in the sector:

Participants discuss the compelling business models for robotics startups (such as Robots as a Service), current valuations, growth tactics and key robotics KPIs, while also diving into key trends in industrial automation, human replacement, transportation, climate change, and the evolving regulatory environment.

Which trends are you most excited in robotics from an investing perspective?

The opportunity to unlock human superpowers:

How much time are you spending on robotics right now? Is the market under-heated, overheated, or just right?

Are there startups that you wish you would see in the industry but dont? Plus any other thoughts you want to share with TechCrunch readers.

I want to see more founders that are building robotics startups that:

Three years ago, the most compelling companies to us in the industrial space were in software. We now spend significantly more time in verticalized AI and hardware. Robotic companies we find most exciting today are addressing key driver areas of (1) high labor turnover and shortage and (2) new research around generalization on the software side. For many years, we have seen some pretty impressive science projects out of labs, but once you take these into the real world, they fail. In these changing environmental conditions, its crucial that robots work effectively in-the-wild at speeds and economics that make sense. This is an extremely difficult combination of problems, and were now finally seeing it happen. A few verticals we believe will experience a significant overhaul in the next 5 years include logistics, waste, micro-fulfillment, and construction.

With this shift in robotic capability, were also seeing a shift in customer sentiment. Companies who are used to buying outright machines are now more willing to explore RaaS (Robot as a Service) models for compelling robotic solutions and that repeat revenue model has opened the door for some formerly enterprise software-only investors. On the other hand, companies exploring robotics in place of tasks with high labor shortages, such as trucking or agriculture, are more willing to explore per hour or per unit pick models.

Adoption wont be overnight, but in the medium term, we are very enthusiastic about the ways robotics will transform industries. We do believe investing in this space requires the right technical know-how and network to evaluate and support companies, so momentum investors looking to dip their hand into a hot space may be disappointed.

Were entering the early stages of the golden age of robotics. Robotics is already a huge, multibillion-dollar market but today that market is dominated by industrial robotics, such as welding and assembly robots found on automotive assembly lines around the world. These robots repeat basic tasks, over and over, and are usually separated by caged walls from humans for safety. However, this is rapidly changing. Advances in perception, driven by deep learning, machine vision and inexpensive, high-performance cameras allow robots to safely navigate the real world, escape the manufacturing cages, and closely interact with humans.

I think the biggest opportunities in robotics are those which attack enormous markets where its difficult to hire and retain labor. One great example is long-haul trucking. Highway driving represents one of the easiest problems for autonomous vehicles, since the lanes tend to be well-marked, the roads have gentle curves, and all traffic runs in the same direction. In the United States alone, long haul trucking is a multi-hundred billion dollar market every year. The customer set is remarkably scalable with standard trailer sizes and requirements for shipping freight. Yet at the same time, trucking companies have trouble hiring and retaining drivers. Its the perfect recipe for robotic opportunity.

Im intrigued by agricultural robots. Ive seen dozens of companies attacking every part of the farming equation from field clearing and preparation, to seeding, to weeding, applying fertilizer, and eventually harvesting. I think theres a lot of value to be harvested here by robots, especially since seasonal field labor is becoming harder to find and increasingly expensive. One enormous challenge in this market, however, is that growing seasons mean that the robotic machinery has a lot of downtime and the cost of equipment isnt as easily amortized in other markets with higher utilization. The other big challenge is that fields are very, very tough on hardware and electronics due to environmental conditions like rain, dust and mud.

There are a ton of important problems to be solved in robotics. The biggest open challenges in my mind are locomotion and grasping. Specifically, I think that for in-building applications, robots need to be able to do all the thing which humans can do specifically opening and closing doors, climbing stairs, and picking items off of shelves and putting them down gently. Plenty of startups have tackled subsets of these problems, but to date no one has built a generalized solution. To be fair, to get to parity with humans on generalized locomotion and grasping, its probably going to take another several decades.

Overall, I feel like the funding environment for robotics is about right, with a handful of overfunded areas (like autonomous passenger vehicles). I think that the most overlooked near-term opportunity in robotics is teleoperation. Specifically, pairing fully automated robotic operations with occasional human remote operation of individual robots. Starship Technologies is a perfect example of this. Starship is actively deploying local delivery robots around the world today. Their first major deployment is at George Mason University in Virginia. They have nearly 50 active robots delivering food around the campus. Theyre autonomous most of the time, but when they encounter a problem or obstacle they cant solve, a human operator in a teleoperation center manually controls the robot remotely. At the same time. Starship tracks and prioritizes these problems for engineers to solve, and slowly incrementally reduces the number of problems the robots cant solve on their own. I think people view robotics as a zero or one solution when in fact theres a world where humans and robots work together for a long time.

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Leading robotics VCs talk about where they're investing - TechCrunch

The people who race to the scene and rescue survivors after disasters are undoubtedly brave as they accept the risks of putting themselves in danger to help others. Sometimes, technology plays a prominent role in making the circumstances less dangerous.

More specifically, here are some examples of how robotics and drones are enhancing rescue operations.

Disasters such as floods and hurricanes can complicate rescue efforts. Its often hard for rescuers to determine the likelihood of finding survivors in the water. In cases where conditions make the water especially rough, they may not want to take chances until they know for sure that survivors need help.

A company called Hydronalix has a product called theEmergency Integrated Lifesaving Lanyard (EMILY) to assist. A day after Hurricane Dorian hit Abaco Island in the Bahamas,rescue crews used EMILY to reach people who needed supplies. EMILY is a remote-controlled, sonar-equipped water vehicle that can show the underwater debris, which would otherwise make navigation difficult.

Rescuers can also send EMILY directly to someone stranded in the ocean. The boat has handles for victims to grab and pull themselves out of the water.

Wildfires are common occurrences for people who live in places like California. However, a worrying trend is that the wildfire season is getting longer, which puts a strain on firefighting crews and increases the likelihood of having trouble getting to victims in time. One method of limiting the damage caused by wildfires is to drop chemicals on them to intentionally start small fires that burn vegetation, and keep wildfires from continuing their rampage.

Nebraska-based company Drone Amplified uses drones to start those intentional fires without the danger. The firms representatives say the usual ways are to light those fires by walking through the area on foot, driving through it on a four-wheeler or by using helicopters. A drone called IGNIS offers another alternative that the company says lends itself to nighttime operations.

Its generally too hazardous to fly a helicopter to set blazes at night, for example, but drones can handle the job with no problems, and they dont put humans at risk. The fires created during the night help ground crews working the day gain advantages that werent possible before.

As professionals manage wildfires more efficiently with help from drones, they can get the area safe enough for rescuers to go and survey the damage, offering assistance to survivors and starting to assess how to promote ongoing recovery efforts for an affected area.

Tanker trucks are essential vehicles for firefighters, and choosing the right onesoften means taking a formulaic approach. For example, before purchasing one, a fire department might calculate things like the number of gallons per minute the tanker should produce, and how far the vehicle would likely be from a water source.

Firefighters still use tanker trucks to douse the flames, but some depend on robots, too. Its especially useful to take that approach when fires arent easily accessible to humans, or if the danger level is too high for people to go in safely.

Fire crews in Abu Dhabi recently began using a robot from an Austrian company called LUF. The machine, known as the LUF 60, can spray 2,400 liters of waterper minute while staying up to 60 meters away from the flames. The specialized piece of equipment can also remove obstacles in its path, make sharp turns and climb stairs.

Its easy to imagine a scenario where the LUF 60 could start fighting the fire at its worst. Then, when the conditions become relatively less dangerous, fire professionals could step in and finish the task while looking for survivors.

When earthquakes cause buildings to collapse, rescue efforts are typically slow and hazard-filled. Complications crop up when rescuers find debris that blocks their path, which would take time to remove. Or, a catastrophe might cause people to get trapped in tight spaces. When rescuers cant reach those individuals to assess their needs, rescue efforts slow down.

Sarcos has a snake-inspired robot named the Guardian S. The firm says its bot is ideal for situations involving hazardous materials that might require rescuers to take readings of the environment before deciding whether to send in their teams.Or, it sends real-time information about high-risk efforts above and below ground to people managing the recovery efforts from safer spots. Then, rescuers can be more informed while deciding which actions to take next.

Since drones fly and can take pictures, they provide aerial perspectives that can help rescue workers decide where to focus their efforts. For example, the photos taken by a drone could be effective in locating survivors. China is among the countries using them for earthquake rescues.

Ireland-based DroneSARis capitalizing on the potential of drones to find survivors. It offers an iPad app that enhances the rescue-related applications of commercially available drones. For example, the app can create custom grids and direct a drone to only search in those segments. Then, if the drone locates a survivor, the app enables sharing of the persons location to everyone on a team.

Since the app also allows viewing a drones position and its accompanying video feed from anywhere in the world, it suits rescue coordinators who may not be at a disaster site but still play prominent roles in finding the survivors and managing their rescues.

In another example of whats possible although this example is not yet commercially available researchers developed a computer vision attachment for aGoPro Hero 4 drone. It can detect the chest movement that happens as humans breathe. In lab tests, the scientists developing this technology placed humans lying on the ground in various positions among mannequins.

They reported that the computer vision gadget on the drone successfully differentiated between the people and the dummies.The researchers also hope to improve their work so that the drone camera could function while examining individuals wearing camouflage clothing. If that effort pays off, this drone accessory could meet a need in the military sector.

Reaching survivors after a disaster is typically challenging, and its frequently hazardous for humans. Thanks to these drone developments, people could get trustworthy information about whether the highest numbers of survivors are, then send rescuers to those places.

Theres no way to entirely remove the dangers that rescuers face. But the robots and drones covered here, as well as other systems, show that such technologies can give relevant, real-time information to the people overseeing the rescue efforts and determining the best ways to deal with a catastrophe and come to the aid of surviving victims.

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How Robots and Drones are Changing Rescue Operations - Robotics Business Review