Category Archives: Robotics

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- In todays rapidly changing world, society needs children to explore, discover and think deeply so that they can be the innovators, developers and inventors who will solve the pressing challenges of our future.

For many youth, there is no better experiential learning that taps into this than STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math)and thats why Camp Fire Central Oregon is thrilled to announce two significant grant awards received recently in support of a robust STEM program expansion. The combined award amounts total $30,000.

An initial amount of $15,000 was granted by the Braemar Charitable Trust, which seeks grant applications that emphasize education, community service, arts & culture, youth activities and historic preservation. Building on that gift, another $15,000 was bestowed by a match from the Central Oregon Health Council, which strives to build an equitable and integrated health ecosystem that improves the health of Central Oregonians through collaborative work and community partnerships, utilizing data-driven decisions, to achieve quality improvements, lowered costs and empowered providers.

Research shows us that STEM inspires students to think more broadly about real-world problems and to solve them with a hands-on, collaborative approach, says Kecia Kubota, Camp Fire Central Oregons executive director. We are above the moon with the news of these two grants as we can now better our current STEM offerings, add more programs with greater access and affordability to underserved populations, and provide the infrastructure and staffing to help ensure the programs success.

The expansion has already begun with Camp Fire opening registration for a new FIRST LEGO Robotics Team in Redmond, Ore. In addition to this and several other Bend-based robotics teams, Camp Fire is building on its Spanish-Speaking robotics team, coached by a native-Spanish speaking instructor. Aside from its robotic teams, Camp Fire is enhancing its tech and robotics camps and programs, which run year round and include free Bit(e) of Robotics workshops at Deschutes Public Libraries and various regional locations throughout the fall and spring.

The grants will support all these community outreach and education efforts, plus boost staffing and marketing for the tech programs expansion. And yet another possibility includes bringing tech programs to homeschool communitiesa potential option that Camp Fire is asking guardians of homeschooled students throughout Central Oregon to consider, contacting Camp Fire directly if interested.

According to Javier Leiva, Camp Fire Central Oregons technology program manager, the focus on the programs growth is in direct response to an evolving need. And to have an impact on the community, sustainability of the program is key.

These funds are amazing as they align closely with our expansion goals and strategies, Leiva says. The youth will feel a positive difference through greater staffing, resources and materials, all of which are vital to a strong, healthy robotics program that attracts, challenges and empowers these very bright, curious and eager technology learners. Its very exciting for Camp Fire youth and the broader community alike!

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Camp Fire Central Oregon receives two grants for tech and robotics program - KTVZ

The proportion of pharmaceutical companies hiring for robotics related positions dropped in August 2022 compared with the equivalent month last year, with 17.1% of the companies included in our analysis recruiting for at least one such position.

This latest figure was lower than the 19.6% of companies who were hiring for robotics related jobs a year ago and a decrease compared to the figure of 20.2% in July 2022.

When it came to the rate of all job openings that were linked to robotics, related job postings rose in August 2022 from July 2022, with 0.8% of newly posted job advertisements being linked to the topic.

This latest figure was the highest monthly figure recorded in the past year and is an increase compared to the 0.7% of newly advertised jobs that were linked to robotics in the equivalent month a year ago.

Robotics is one of the topics that GlobalData, from whom our data for this article is taken, have identified as being a key disruptive force facing companies in the coming years. Companies that excel and invest in these areas now are thought to be better prepared for the future business landscape and better equipped to survive unforeseen challenges.

Our analysis of the data shows that pharmaceutical companies are currently hiring for robotics jobs at a rate higher than the average for all companies within GlobalData's job analytics database. The average among all companies stood at 0.6% in August 2022.

GlobalData's job analytics database tracks the daily hiring patterns of thousands of companies across the world, drawing in jobs as they're posted and tagging them with additional layers of data on everything from the seniority of each position to whether a job is linked to wider industry trends.

Laboratory Informatics, Strategic Business & Technology Consulting, and Staffing Services

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Robotics hiring levels in the pharmaceutical industry fell to a year-low in August 2022 - Pharmaceutical Technology

ReportLinker

Global Inspection Robots Market 2022-2026 The analyst has been monitoring the inspection robots market and it is poised to grow by $ 5. 27 bn during 2022-2026, accelerating at a CAGR of 18.

New York, Sept. 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Inspection Robots Market 2022-2026" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p03376028/?utm_source=GNW 88% during the forecast period. Our report on the inspection robots 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 of the current global market scenario, the latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. The market is driven by the advantages of robotic inspection over manual inspection, rising demand for automated inspection and testing, and the increasing number of M&A.The inspection robots market analysis includes the type and end-user segments and geographic landscape.

The inspection robots market is segmented as below:By Type ROVs Autonomous robots

By End-user Oil and gas Petrochemicals Food and beverages Others

By Geographic Europe North America APAC South America The Middle East and Africa

This study identifies advancements in the robotic inspection as one of the prime reasons driving the inspection robots market growth during the next few years. Also, the integration of IoT and ai to optimize inspection operations and advancements in mobile robots will lead to sizable demand in the market.

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 the inspection robots market covers the following areas: Inspection robots market sizing Inspection robots market forecast Inspection robots 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 inspection robots market vendors that include Blue Origin Enterprises LP, Cognex Corp., Cross Co., Cyberhawk Innovations Ltd, Eddyfi NDT Inc., FARO Technologies Inc., Flyability SA, GECKO ROBOTICS INC., General Electric Co, Genesis Systems, Groupe Gorge SA, Invert Robotics Group Ltd, IPG Photonics Corp., JH Robotics Inc, Mistras Group Inc., Robotic Automation Systems, SuperDroid Robots Inc., TechnipFMC plc, and Teradyne Inc. Also, the inspection robots 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 accurate market growth.Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p03376028/?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.

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The Global Inspection Robots Market is expected to grow by $ 5.27 bn during 2022-2026, accelerating at a CAGR of 18.88% during the forecast period -...

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Global K-12 Robotic Toolkits Market 2022-2026 The analyst has been monitoring the K-12 robotic toolkits market and it is poised to grow by $ 410. 17 million during 2022-2026, accelerating at a CAGR of 18.

New York, Sept. 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global K-12 Robotic Toolkits Market 2022-2026" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05082094/?utm_source=GNW 65% during the forecast period. Our report on the K-12 robotic toolkits 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 of the current global market scenario, the latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. The market is driven by product premiumization due to technological advances, increased emphasis on STEM education, and focus on interactive learning.The K-12 robotic toolkits market analysis includes the school level segment and geographic landscape.

The K-12 robotic toolkits market is segmented as below:By School Level High school Middle school PreK-elementary school

By Geographic North America Europe APAC South America The Middle East and Africa

This study identifies the growing demand for international schools as one of the prime reasons driving the K-12 robotic toolkits market growth during the next few years. Also, the introduction of drones in k-12 robotic learning programs and increased adoption of online retail channels for purchasing educational products will lead to sizable demand in the market.

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 the K-12 robotic toolkits market covers the following areas: K-12 robotic toolkits market sizing K-12 robotic toolkits market forecast K-12 robotic toolkits 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 K-12 robotic toolkits market vendors that include Amtek Company Inc., ArcBotics LLC, Boxlight Corp, Digital Dream Labs, Eduscape, Evollve Inc., EZRobot Inc., India First Robotics, Innovation First International Inc., LEGO System AS, Makeblock Co. Ltd., Modular Robotics Inc., Pitsco Inc, Raspberry Pi Foundation, Robolink Inc., ROBOTIS Co. Ltd, RobotLAB Inc, Sony Group Corp, Sphero Inc., Valiant Technologies Pvt. Ltd., and Wonder Workshop Inc. Also, the K-12 robotic toolkits 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 accurate market growth.Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05082094/?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.

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The Global K-12 Robotic Toolkits Market is expected to grow by $ 410.17 million during 2022-2026, accelerating at a CAGR of 18.65% during the forecast...

Summary

Robospot: The Responsible Robotics Knowledge Hub is a platform created within the Robotics4EU project, free and open to anyone.

Sept.13, 2022 - Robotics technology influences every aspect of work and home. It has the potential to positively transform lives and work practices, raise efficiency and safety levels and provide enhanced levels of service. Therefore, the topics of robotics are transversal to all audiences and the solutions presented in this area concern the whole society - from researchers or industry workers to educators, from decision-makers to curious citizens.Building on this idea, a new and open European online community was born to promote the widespread and responsible adoption of robotics in our society. Robospot presents a hub focused on non-technical aspects of robotics, such as ethics in the areas of healthcare, inspection, and maintenance of infrastructure, agri-food, or agile production.On this platform, it is possible to find a community of projects, organizations, and individuals working towards making robotics more responsible. Users will be able to build their network, talk with experts, discover new robotics events and check open resources on the subject (as well as add their own). To join this online network, it is necessary to register on Robospot. This registration is free and open to anyone.Robospot comes within the framework of Robotics4EU (R4EU), a project funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. R4EU aims to ensure more widespread adoption of AI robots, as well as to promote the societal acceptance of robotics solutions by advocating for responsible robotics among all stakeholders.Robotics4EU is a 3-year-long project, composed of 7 organizations from 6 EU countries representing expertise in robotics.

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Robospot: European Commission Launches the Meeting Point for the Online Robotics Community - Automation.com

With recent advances in artificial intelligence and robotics technology, there is growing interest in developing and marketing household robots capable of handling a variety of domestic chores.

Tesla is building a humanoid robot, which, according to CEO Elon Musk, could be used for cooking meals and helping elderly people. Amazon recently acquired iRobot, a prominent robotic vacuum manufacturer, and has been investing heavily in the technology through the Amazon Robotics program to expand robotics technology to the consumer market. In May 2022, Dyson, a company renowned for its power vacuum cleaners, announced that it plans to build the U.K.s largest robotics center devoted to developing household robots that carry out daily domestic tasks in residential spaces.

Despite the growing interest, would-be customers may have to wait awhile for those robots to come on the market. While devices such as smart thermostats and security systems are widely used in homes today, the commercial use of household robots is still in its infancy.

As a robotics researcher, I know firsthand how household robots are considerably more difficult to build than smart digital devices or industrial robots.

One major difference between digital and robotic devices is that household robots need to manipulate objects through physical contact to carry out their tasks. They have to carry the plates, move the chairs and pick up dirty laundry and place it in the washer. These operations require the robot to be able to handle fragile, soft and sometimes heavy objects with irregular shapes.

The state-of-the-art AI and machine learning algorithms perform well in simulated environments. But contact with objects in the real world often trips them up. This happens because physical contact is often difficult to model and even harder to control. While a human can easily perform these tasks, there exist significant technical hurdles for household robots to reach human-level ability to handle objects.

Robots have difficulty in two aspects of manipulating objects: control and sensing. Many pick-and-place robot manipulators like those on assembly lines are equipped with a simple gripper or specialized tools dedicated only to certain tasks like grasping and carrying a particular part. They often struggle to manipulate objects with irregular shapes or elastic materials, especially because they lack the efficient force, or haptic, feedback humans are naturally endowed with. Building a general-purpose robot hand with flexible fingers is still technically challenging and expensive.

It is also worth mentioning that traditional robot manipulators require a stable platform to operate accurately, but the accuracy drops considerably when using them with platforms that move around, particularly on a variety of surfaces. Coordinating locomotion and manipulation in a mobile robot is an open problem in the robotics community that needs to be addressed before broadly capable household robots can make it onto the market.

In an assembly line or a warehouse, the environment and sequence of tasks are strictly organized. This allows engineers to preprogram the robots movements or use simple methods like QR codes to locate objects or target locations. However, household items are often disorganized and placed randomly.

Home robots must deal with many uncertainties in their workspaces. The robot must first locate and identify the target item among many others. Quite often it also requires clearing or avoiding other obstacles in the workspace to be able to reach the item and perform given tasks. This requires the robot to have an excellent perception system, efficient navigation skills, and powerful and accurate manipulation capability.

For example, users of robot vacuums know they must remove all small furniture and other obstacles such as cables from the floor, because even the best robot vacuum cannot clear them by itself. Even more challenging, the robot has to operate in the presence of moving obstacles when people and pets walk within close range.

While they appear straightforward for humans, many household tasks are too complex for robots. Industrial robots are excellent for repetitive operations in which the robot motion can be preprogrammed. But household tasks are often unique to the situation and could be full of surprises that require the robot to constantly make decisions and change its route in order to perform the tasks.

Think about cooking or cleaning dishes. In the course of a few minutes of cooking, you might grasp a saut pan, a spatula, a stove knob, a refrigerator door handle, an egg and a bottle of cooking oil. To wash a pan, you typically hold and move it with one hand while scrubbing with the other, and ensure that all cooked-on food residue is removed and then all soap is rinsed off.

There has been significant development in recent years using machine learning to train robots to make intelligent decisions when picking and placing different objects, meaning grasping and moving objects from one spot to another. However, to be able to train robots to master all different types of kitchen tools and household appliances would be another level of difficulty even for the best learning algorithms.

Not to mention that peoples homes often have stairs, narrow passageways and high shelves. Those hard-to-reach spaces limit the use of todays mobile robots, which tend to use wheels or four legs. Humanoid robots, which would more closely match the environments humans build and organize for themselves, have yet to be reliably used outside of lab settings.

A solution to task complexity is to build special-purpose robots, such as robot vacuum cleaners or kitchen robots. Many different types of such devices are likely to be developed in the near future. However, I believe that general-purpose home robots are still a long way off.

Ayonga Hereid, Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Ohio State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Why Household Robot Servants are a lot Harder to Build than Robotic Vacuums and Automated Warehouse Workers - Nextgov

Greetings from Cupertino, California, where the temperature has cooled down to a far more reasonable 101 degrees. Its a nice change from the 109 degrees we hit here on Tuesday. Im out here this week for the big Apple event. There was no robotics news to speak of, but thats why were coming to you a day late with Actuator. Ill try not to make a habit of it.

Weve got an interesting selection of robotics news this week. Its a testament, really, to how broad this field has become in recent decades. But first, lets start with a couple of familiar companies. I wanted to call out this bit from Kirstens recent piece about Uber deploying Nuros autonomous sidewalk for Eats food deliveries:

Uber Eats customers will be charged the same for delivery, regardless of if its a Nuro bot or a human gig worker. However, there may be some cost savings as Nuro bots cant accept tips. Customers wont know at the time of their order whether theyre getting their own delivery or whether its a typical courier delivery. If the Eats customer pre-selects the tip option and Nuro makes the delivery, that tip will be refunded.

Im highlighting this for two reasons:

Image Credits: Nuro

Its a good opportunity to put yourself in the position of an Uber Eats customer (a position many of us have no doubt been in more than a few times over the course of the last 2.5 years). Picture this scenario: You put in an order for one of those massive mission-style burritos from your favorite neighborhood taqueria. As you wait for that massively dense cylinder of guacamole and beans, consider this: Who would you rather see at the door? A robot or a human being?

No judgment. There are a lot of things to consider. First and foremost is the novelty factor. This is something I discuss a lot with people who make food robots like Flippy. Theres a tangible bit of excitement there, seeing your pizza or hamburger being made by a robot for the first time. Of course, such things wear off fairly quickly and suddenly the products worth comes down to its efficacy. I suspect for a lot of people, theres going to be a genuine bit of excitement the first time one of these little robots pulls up to their door.

Beyond that, do you have a specific preference? Do you want the human touch? Do you want a robot that isnt a potential disease vector (something that, again, has no doubt been top of mind for many, these last few years)? Do you get a pang of guilt that a gig worker delivers your burrito on a bike in the rain when youre sitting home cozy and dry? What about the pang of guilt you feel knowing that a robot has replaced a source of income for a human?

Likely you dont feel especially guilty not tipping the robot the way you would a human (feeling guilt for not tipping people should be on the Turing Test, frankly). And certainly theres something to be said for saving $5 or $10 bucks on a tip for a $20 order. None of this happens overnight, of course. Even after years of research, development and piloting, there are still plenty of regulatory and other hurdles to navigate so youve got time to figure out all of the above.

The big funding news of the week is a medium-sized round raised by Realtime Robotics. The $14.4 million round comes 15 months after the Boston-based robotic deployment firm announced a $31 million Series A. Realtime is one of a handful of firms working to solve the issues around industrial robots. Specifically, how can nonroboticists deploy these machines and help avoid some potentially nasty accidents down the road?

We have seen a tremendous industry response to the launch of RapidPlan and its ability to make collision-free operations a reality for industrial robotics, speeding programming time and increasing throughput, CEO Peter Howard says in a release. Weve recently pivoted away from hardware to pure software, making it even easier for all customers and partners to integrate our revolutionary technology within their existing stack and workflows. This latest round of funding will assist us in scaling to meet demand.

Image Credits: Brian Heater

From the We All Saw This Coming Department comes word that the FTC is investigating Amazons planned acquisition of iRobot. The news both excited home robotics enthusiasts and sent up some serious red flags among privacy advocates.

If youve been following Amazon for any amount of time, you know the myriad concerns over things like law enforcement use of its Rekognition people-detecting software, as well as Ring security cams. An iRobot acquisition brings such issues to a new level. Specifically, high-end Roomba have sensors designed to map the inside of your home.

Politico notes in the report that the companies are bracing for a potentially lengthy, arduous investigation, according to two people with knowledge of the probe. The news comes as the Wall Street Journal reports that the agency is also looking into Amazons planned acquisition of One Medical.

Image Credits: Ghost Robotics

Speaking of governments and robots, the UK Ministry of Defences Defence Equipment and Support entity announced that it is testing potential use cases for the Ghost Robotics dog within the British Army. The DE&S Future Capability Group (FCG) is also piloting Boston Dynamics Spot robot, though Ghosts systems have raised many more eyebrows of late, due to the firms fairly agnostic approach to using the system in conflicts, including the third-party development of an autonomous rifle.

For now, at least, interest largely revolves around sending the robot into dangerous spots to potentially save human lives. Says Dave Swan of the incongruously delightfully named FCG Expeditionary Robotics Centre of Expertise:

In the modern battlespace, robotics are becoming increasingly important in allowing soldiers to operate faster, for longer. The Ghost V60 quadruped offers increased situational awareness for soldiers on the ground. It has the potential to act as the eyes and ears for military personnel on the frontlines increasing accuracy in identifying and acquiring targets.

This offers many potential use cases for the British Army, from delivering mission-critical supplies, scoping out hazardous areas, or performing combat tasks that are deemed too dangerous for humans. Ultimately, the Ghost V60 quadruped is designed to reduce the risk-to-life and the burden on military personnel.

Image Credits: Getty Images

Heres an eye-opening story about choosing the right herd for robotic milking systems. Marvel at such incredible sentences as, Good udder conformation. This makes it easy for the robot to attach the milking unit and clean the teats. Its, perhaps, an inversion of how we might traditionally think of this system, as the robots conforming to the cows, rather than the other way around.

Image Credits: Softbank Robotics

Finally, from the University of Cambridge comes a study aimed at determining how useful Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) can be as part of a therapeutic process for kids. The study, which utilized Softbanks Nao robot, examined children aged 8 to 13 and noted:

Our results show that the robotised evaluation seems to be the most suitable mode in identifying wellbeing related anomalies in children across the three clusters of participants as compared with the self-report and the parent-report modes. Further, children with decreasing levels of wellbeing (lower, medium and higher tertiles) exhibit different response patterns: children of higher tertile are more negative in their responses to the robot while the ones of lower tertile are more positive in their responses to the robot. Findings from this work show that SARs can be a promising tool to potentially evaluate mental wellbeing related concerns in children.

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch

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Please dont tip the robot - TechCrunch

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Realtime Robotics, the leader in collision-free autonomous motion planning for industrial robots, today announced that it has secured $14.4 million in additional funding, with Soundproof Ventures, Heroic Ventures and SIP Global Partners as lead investors.

The funding comes on the heels of the official launch of the companys new RapidPlan software, which helps manufacturers design and deploy industrial automation faster and more efficiently. With RapidPlan, customers can automate the programming, deployment and control of their industrial robots within applications such as automotive or logistics, autonomously creating and choreographing all robot movements without the need for brand-specific robot programming.

Within RapidPlans software environment, users create a digital twin simulation of their workcell and then simply point and click on robots and target points to visualize collision-free task plans, saving weeks to months of programming time per project. The same software used for the simulation environment controls real-world robots.

We have seen a tremendous industry response to the launch of RapidPlan and its ability to make collision-free operations a reality for industrial robotics, speeding programming time and increasing throughput, said Peter Howard, CEO of Realtime Robotics. Weve recently pivoted away from hardware to pure software, making it even easier for all customers and partners to integrate our revolutionary technology within their existing stack and workflows. This latest round of funding will assist us in scaling to meet demand.

Recent research indicates that more than 80% of warehouses today lack any type of automation. By combining that statistic with research by the Material Handling Institute stating that robotics adoption in warehouses will increase by more than 50% over the next five years - and news that robot sales had their strongest year ever last year - it becomes clear that there is a massive market opportunity available. Technology that can help streamline and optimize the use of industrial robotics in both logistics and manufacturing will be critical to companies looking to quickly drive ROI from their new robotics investments.

As supply chains are increasingly taxed, industry craves efficiency, added Michael Silverstein, Managing Partner of Soundproof Ventures. By automating the most challenging and costly aspects of operating industrial robots, Realtime Robotics enables customers to unlock the promise of automation and drive output well beyond what has ever been conceived.

Realtime Robotics motion control software enables major cost savings, flexibility and process efficiency gains at the worlds largest and most sophisticated robotics installations, stated Jeffrey Smith, General Partner, SIP Global Partners. Seamless programming, automated rollout and conflict resolution will drive large scale adoption and ROI. We look forward to working closely with Realtime as they deploy their uniquely innovative solutions globally.

Realtime Robotics will apply the new funds to help the company continue to scale and meet the growing industry demand for RapidPlan. It will also be used to invest in overall engineering development and to enable additional enhancements to its core software.

Watching Realtime Robotics software guide robot motions was a thing of beauty. The robots were interacting with each other, and were not crashing, said Greg Tormanen, Automotive Body and White Engineering Manager at Kawasaki Robotics. It has taken operators years of practice to become skilled enough to make robot motion and planning both efficient and effective. Realtimes technology decreases the amount of time it takes to perform the task, enabling those with less experience to realize the same results. This level of interaction is simply impossible with human programming.

The ability of Realtime Robotics RapidPlan software to help organizations optimize their robot programming and deployment, improving their efficiency and effectiveness, was recently on display at the Automate 2022 conference. Interactive demos of RapidPlan in use with partners Kawasaki Robotics Inc. and Mitsubishi Electric Automation were shown at the event, and the technology will be on display again at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) 2022, taking place next week, from September 12-17, 2022, in Chicago, IL. You can read more about RapidPlan by visiting: https://rtr.ai/meet-rapidplan/.

About Realtime Robotics

Realtime Robotics technology generates collision-free motion plans in milliseconds for industrial robots and autonomous vehicles. Its solution empowers robots to function together in unstructured and collaborative workspaces, as well as to react to dynamic obstacles the instant changes are perceived. Its solutions expand the potential of automation. Learn more about Realtime Robotics here, watch our technology in action here and connect on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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Realtime Robotics Announces Additional Funding of $14.4 Million - Business Wire

TOKYOIn Japan, robots are restocking the shelves of some of the countrys conbini, which are small stores that sell snacks, drinks and miscellaneous items, reports the Associated Press. The robot is called TX SCARA, and the units are in 300 out of the 16,000 FamilyMart stores in Japan. There are about 56,000 conbini in Japan.

The TX SCARA has a hand on one end of its mechanical arm, and it grabs beverages from stacks on the sides of the shelves and then restocks the shelves correctly, using AI and cameras to figure out what beverages on the shelf need to be replaced. The robot can restock up to 1,000 beverages a day.

We want to automate all the repetitive jobs and boring jobs done by humans. That is the direction we are going. And the best way to do that is to use the robots, said Jin Tomioka, CEO of Tokyo-based Telexistence, which created TX SCARA told AP.

Many of the Japanese conbini are open 24-7 and have thousands of products but few workers. The robots by Telexistence are meant for established retailers, and theres no need to change current store layouts. The robots are reportedly more affordable than industrial robots and are designed to coexist and collaborate with people, completing routine tasks.

The robots allow for remote control, and Telexistence employees can remotely see problems with the robots as they happen, such as a dropped beverage in the case of the TX SCARA robot.

Japans population is aging, leaving the country with a labor shortage that is expected to worsen. FamilyMart CEO Tomohiro Kano referred to the Japanese expression seeking even a cats paw for help to describe how the labor situation might escalate.

At FamilyMart, we are seeking a robots arm for help, he told the AP.

In the U.S., robot labor is growing amid the countrys own labor shortage. Robot orders for workplaces increased 40% during the first quarter of 2022 compared with the first quarter of 2021, which is a record amount. The U.S. has been slower to embrace robotics than other industrialized countries. The number of robots deployed in the U.S. per 10,000 workers has traditionally trailed countries such as South Korea, Japan and Germany. But Americas attitude is shifting.

With many industry observers stating the pandemic has triggered a fundamental reset of retail, new technologies including robotics, machine learning and AI also are being more rapidly deployed to enable operators to respond to the new norm. Read more in the NACS Magazine feature, Robots Deliver.

Mark your calendars for February 28 to March 2, 2023, when NACS Convenience Summit Asia heads to Bangkok, Thailand, where youll be transported into the epicenter of retail disruption and innovationAsiafor an immersive look into the future of convenience retailing. Sign up to be notified when registration opens.

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Robots Go to Work in Japanese C-Stores - NACS Online

Global contract manufacturer Magna International has agreed to produce and scale a fleet of autonomous delivery robots for silicon valley-based robotics company Cartken. The robots are being built at a Magna facility in Michigan and will soon offer autonomous last-mile deliveries to businesses around the world.

Magna International ($MGA) sits as one of the top contract manufacturers in the world, particularly in the world of automotive mobility. The company has produced over 3.7 million vehicles across thirty different models for 10 different OEM customers, including the likes of Ford, Rivian, and GM. This fall, Magna will begin production of Fisker Inc.s flagship EV, the Ocean.

As the entire automotive industry quickly pivots toward all-electric models, Magna has followed suit, developing everything from electrified power trains to battery enclosures and ADAS systems. That being said, there are plenty of advanced technologies Magna develops and implements on its own that not only apply to the automotive world but advanced mobility as a whole.

Magna International describes itself as a 65-year-old start-up and didnt become the largest contract manufacturer in North America by simply building cars for OEMs. Magna looks to help further new mobility by helping solve todays challenges sustainably.

This is a huge reason why an agreement to build autonomous delivery robots for Cartken makes a lot of sense.

Magna International announced its latest manufacturing collaboration in a press release today, sharing insight into the decision to help scale Cartkens autonomous delivery robot technology to help support a growing segment of sustainable last-mile delivery vehicles. Magnas executive vice president and global lead for new mobility, Matteo Del Sorbo, elaborated:

We continue to identify opportunities in the new mobility ecosystem where we use our capabilities to unlock new growth areas and new business models. This collaboration withCartken is great example of that approach. Our ability to design, engineer and manufacture complete vehicles makes Magna an ideal partner for companies looking to solve last mile delivery challenges with sustainable, autonomous and cost-effective solutions.

Cartkens Model C is a fully autonomous delivery robot, equipped with a remote monitoring and teleoperation system that allows for instant human override if needed. These robots can smoothly traverse indoor and outdoor situations and are equipped with multiple cameras, advanced machine learning, and simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM)-based navigation algorithms.

Under the current terms of the agreement, Cartken expects thousands of autonomous delivery robots to be manufactured once Magnas production capacity ramps up in the coming months.

Cartkens current fleet of Model C autonomous delivery robots is already in commercial operation, serving various use cases in malls, hotels, universities, retail, and warehouses around the globe.With Magnas help, Cartken looks to expand its autonomous footprint much further. Company cofounder and CEO, Christian Bersch, shared his thoughts:

We seek strategic partners that can accelerate the trajectory of Cartkens growth. This partnership is a significant step toward scaling our business and getting more Model Cs into the world. Were honored that Magna, as a global leader with deep systems knowledge and manufacturing excellence, recognized the potential of our robots and the quality of our technology. Were inspired by Magnas push into new spaces and are excited to move forward together in our effort to scale distribution.

Looking ahead, both parties are discussing additional autonomous delivery robot models joining the assembly line, based on the same platform as the Model C. Future models could serve additional business models like robot-as-a-service. For now, Model C production is underway at Magnas manufacturing facility in Michigan and will continue to expand through 2022.

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Magna to manufacture thousands of Cartkens fully autonomous delivery robots in the US - Electrek.co