Category Archives: Robotics

Pune, India, Jan. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global gantry industrial robots market size is expected to reach USD 4.65 billion by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 9.1% during the forecast period. Fortune Business Insights published this information in its report titled Gantry Industrial Robots Market, 2021-2028. One of the factors encouraging the growth of the market is the ongoing automation in industries and production processes. The rapid improvement in production and delivery with the help of industrial robots will fuel demand among industries.

In addition, increasing operational applications of gantry robots due to their advantages in the manufacturing process and material handling for many industries will further create opportunities for the market. The market stood at USD 2.41 billion in 2020 and USD 2.52 billion in 2021.

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List of Key Players in Gantry Industrial Robots Market:

Report Scope & Segmentation

COVID-19 Impact:

Many companies saw a fall in market growth during the Covid-19 pandemic; thus, the use of industrial robots is regarded to be extremely important for this period, in order to overcome the obstacles faced globally during the epidemic. However, closure of production facilities and lockdown regulations are likely to increase the usage of industrial robots in the near future. Because of the inconvenience caused by this compliance in various areas of the world and across economies, industrial units have been dispersed, and labourers have been displaced.

To get to know more about the short-term and long-term impact of COVID-19 on this market, please visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/gantry-industrial-robots-market-101764

Market Segments:

On the basis of industry, the market is segmented into packaging, automotive, pharmaceuticals, food & beverage, semiconductors & electronics, heavy engineering machinery, aerospace & railway, and others. On the basis of type, the market is fragmented into 4-axis, 3-axis, 2-axis, 1-axis, and others (6-axis). On the basis of application, the market is classified into welding, palletizing, handling, and others. Geograhically, the market is categorized into Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.

What does the report include?

The report focuses on all the parts and structures of the market. It offers superior insights and provides accurate data about all the prevailing trends of the market. It is contained after insightful analysis and highly indulging research to aid key players, financers, stakeholders, potential investors, and backers. The report provides a brief overview of the competitors and companies operating the market. The study involves market drivers, market restraints, recent trends, new developments, product launches, and acquisitions & mergers.

Drivers and Restraints:

Persistent Innovations in Industry Automation to Spur Demand for Gantry Robots

The growing demand for customized products at competitive prices has prompted the production and delivery process. This escalated the adoption of the automated production process. Automation allows manufacturers to retain and relocate production in established economies without sacrificing on the cost. Automation in manufacturing process surges the consistency of production with more precision & accuracy. Furthermore, the combination of intelligent systems in automation has made the production process easy. This has reduced and improved the complexity and control of machines. In addition, localization and regionalization of the manufacturing process has resulted in the demand for gantry robots, which, in turn, will boost the gantry industrial robots market trends.

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Regional Insights-

High Robot Production in China to Boost Growth in Asia Pacific

The market in Asia Pacific stood at USD 1.17 billion in 2020 due to the worlds largest robot industry in China. North America is projected to hold a considerable gantry industrial robots market share owing to ongoing inclination towards automated production. This will strengthen the U.S. industries in both domestic and global markets. In addition, Europe as a whole is predominantly far advanced in terms of automation.

Competitive Landscape:

Acquisition of Life Robotics by FANUC CORPORATION to Impetus Development

With increased technical developments, this market is developing, and many well-known brands, as well as some regional companies, are competing to meet the rising demand. FANUC CORPORATION, a group of companies that provide automation products and services such as robotics and computer numerical control wireless systems announced the acquisition of Life Robotics, a manufacturer of collaborative robots. The companies revealed that the new strategic development was the first acquisition in 15 years. Fanuc objective is to expand its lineup of collaborative robots to meet growing demand. The acquisition will cater to the demand for cartesian industrial robots and subsequently accelerate the growth of the market.

Key Development:

March 2021: Yaskawa Electric Corporation announced that the cumulative shipments of their first all-electric industrial robot MOTOMAN-L10 reached of 500,000 units.

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Gantry Industrial Robots Market to Reach USD 4.65 Billion by 2028 - GlobeNewswire

Global Robotic-Assisted Imaging Technologies Market to Reach $2,207. 8 Million by 2030. Market Report Coverage - Robotic-Assisted Imaging Technologies

New York, Jan. 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Robotic-Assisted Imaging Technologies Market - A Global and Regional Analysis: Focus on Imaging Modality, Mobility, Application, End User, and Country-Wise Analysis - Analysis and Forecast, 2021-2030" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06196270/?utm_source=GNW Market Segmentation

Imaging Modalities - X-Ray, CT, Ultrasound, MRI, and Others Application - Diagnosis and Imaging and Treatment Mobility - Stationary and Portable End User - Hospitals and Ambulatory Surgery Centers and Other Settings Region - North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest-of-the-World

Regional Segmentation

North America - U.S. and Canada Europe - Germany, U.K., France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Nordic Countries, Benelux Countries, and Rest-of-Europe Asia-Pacific - China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand, and Rest-of-Asia-Pacific Rest-of-the-World - Latin America and Middle East and Africa

Market Growth Drivers

Rise in Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures Across the Globe Evolution in Image Modalities and Features Rise in Application of Robotics in Medical Field

Market Challenges

Robotic Failures Leads to Low Rate of Adoption Lack of Acceptance of Robotic Procedures Safety and Privacy Concerns Related to Patients Data

Market Opportunities

Increased Prevalence for Misdiagnosis Makes Way for Robotics in Diagnostics and Surgery Domains High Growth Opportunity in Emerging Economies

Key Companies Profiled

Brainlab AG, Digisens SAS, Epica International, Inc. (Epica Human Health), General Electric Company, Globus Medical, Inc., Medirob AB, Medtronic plc, Neocis, Inc., Novasignal Corporation, Perfint Healthcare, Renishaw plc, Siemens Healthineers AG, Stereotaxis, Inc., Trivitron Healthcare

How This Report Can Add Value

Who should buy this report?

Surgical and imaging robotics providers to gain a holistic view of the market potential of various offerings and developing economies for business expansion AI-enabled imaging devices, haptics, and cloud service providers Established healthcare companies integrating software, machine learning, robotics, haptics, and artificial intelligence (AI) into the radiology field Established medical technology companies to gain insights into the market potential, market entry strategies, new technologies in the market, and key competitors

Key questions answered in the report

What are the key trends that have a strong influence on the global robotic-assisted imaging technologies market? How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact the growth of the robotic-assisted imaging technologies market? What are the key development strategies which are implemented by the key players to maintain and capture market share? How does the patent landscape of robotic-assisted imaging technologies look like? What are the major market drivers, challenges, and opportunities in the global robotic-assisted imaging technologies market? Which leading companies are dominating the global robotic-assisted imaging technologies market? What are the regulations about the global robotic-assisted imaging technologies market? What was the market value of the leading segments and sub-segments of the global robotic-assisted imaging technologies market? How is each segment of the global robotic-assisted imaging technologies market expected to grow during the forecast period, and what is the expected revenue to be generated by each of the segments by the end of 2030? Which region carries the potential for the significant expansion of key companies within the robotic-assisted imaging technologies market?

Global Robotic-Assisted Imaging Technologies Market Overview

The surgical medical specialty has matured to deliver in-depth and precise clinical outcomes for both doctors and patients, as well as to enhance surgical workflow patterns in healthcare systems.In comparison to prior eras, the healthcare sector is now integrating more advanced technology that is more informed and connected.

The use of robotic-assisted imaging technologies makes diagnosis and surgery safer for patients by making it more precise and minimally invasive.

The global robotic-assisted imaging technologies market products include X-ray, CT, ultrasound, MRI, and others under the imaging modalities segment.It can be further segmented based on mobility and application.

It is categorized as stationary and portable segments based on mobility, whereas under the application segment, it is categorized as diagnosis and imaging and treatment.

The global robotic-assisted imaging technologies market was valued at $617.7 million in 2020 and is projected to reach $2,207.8 million by the end of 2030, growing at a CAGR of 13.74% during the forecast period 2021-2030.

Market Drivers

Presently, the factors driving the growth of the market include rise in minimally invasive surgical procedures across the globe, evolution in image modalities and features, and rise in applications of robotics in the medical field.

Market Challenges

The challenges that are restricting the growth of the market include robotic failures leading to a low rate of adoption, lack of acceptance of robotic procedures, and safety and privacy concerns related to patient data.

Market Opportunities

Potential opportunities that are likely to boost the growth of the market include increased prevalence for misdiagnosis makes way for robotics in diagnostics and surgery domains high growth opportunities in emerging economies.

Impact of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic had an ambiguous impact on the robotic-assisted imaging technologies market.Few of the imaging modalities, such as X-ray and CT, were used for screening during the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas the majority of the imaging modalities were not used due to postponement of elective surgeries and procedures during the pandemic.

In the first half of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant influence on elective surgical procedures.On a global scale, the COVID-19 pandemic also significantly impacted regular hospital routine services.

During the early stages of the pandemic, hospitals drastically restricted or stopped performing elective surgical procedures to ensure patient safety and to focus on COVID-19 patients.

Market Segmentation

by Imaging Modalities

Under this segmentation, the market is categorized into X-ray, CT, ultrasound, MRI, and others.

The X-ray segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 12.87% during the forecast period 2021-2030.

by Mobility

Under this segmentation, the market is categorized into stationary and portable.

The stationary segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 13.43% during the forecast period 2021-2030.

by Application

Under this segmentation, the market is categorized into diagnosis and imaging and treatment. The diagnosis and imaging segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 13.48% during the forecast period 2021-2030.

by Region

The different regions covered under the market report include North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest-of-the-World.

North America dominated the market in 2020 and is anticipated to uphold its dominance throughout the forecast period 2021-2030. The growth in the market is majorly driven by the increasing research and development activities and many companies being located in the U.S.

Key Market Players and Competition Synopsis

Some key players operating in the market include Brainlab AG, Digisens SAS, Epica International, Inc. (Epica Human Health), General Electric Company, Globus Medical, Inc., Medirob AB, Medtronic plc, Neocis, Inc., Novasignal Corporation, Perfint Healthcare, Renishaw plc, Siemens Healthineers AG, Stereotaxis, Inc., and Trivitron Healthcare

The robotic-assisted imaging technologies market has witnessed several strategic and technological developments from January 2017- November 2021, undertaken by different market players to attain their respective market shares in this emerging domain.Some strategies covered in this segment are product development and upgradation, partnerships, collaborations, business expansion, funding activities, regulatory approvals, mergers, and acquisitions.

The preferred strategy for companies has been regulatory activities.

Countries Covered North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany Italy France U.K. Spain Russia Nordic Countries Benelux Countries Rest-of-Europe Asia-Pacific China India South Korea Japan Australia and New Zealand Rest-of-Asia-Pacific Rest-of-the-WorldRead the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06196270/?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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Robotic-Assisted Imaging Technologies Market - A Global and Regional Analysis: Focus on Imaging Modality, Mobility, Application, End User, and...

Doosan Robotics,a South Korea-based developer of collaborativeroboticarms,lastweek announced $33.7 million in funding, led Praxis Capital Partners and Korea Investment Partners.

Funds will be used to expand global sales base and strengthen R&D to attract additional partnerships both global and domestic. The company also plans to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) with the ambition to become a global market leader of cobots in the manufacturing and service fields.

Doosan has demonstrated the company's unprecedented lineup of innovative robotics at the recent CES.Marking Doosan's first-ever entry into the entertainment industry marketplace is the unveiling ofNINA (New Inspiration. New Angle).Designed with prosumer content creators and mid-level enterprises in mind, the innovative camera robot system defines the next generation of motion control through its proprietary user-friendly software, empowering anyone to adopt professional cinematography skills and create production quality content at the highest levels.

The NINA system automatically senses an object and calculates distance, allowing smooth and consistent robotic-assisted filming. Users will be able to pre-test angles by running simulations before actual filming to conserve time and save production costs.

William (Junghoon) Ryu, CEO at Doosan RoboticsNINA brings in a whole new era for Doosan as we expand our offerings into the entertainment and content genre. Our goal has been to deliver something accessible yet innovative for professional content creators across entertainment, advertising, social media, and other relevant industries, and we're confident NINA will deliver in big ways across the board.

Read more:

Doosan Robotics Raises $33.7 million in Funding - The Fast Mode

Power Moves is a column where we chart the comings and goings of talent across the region. Got a new hire, new gig or promotion? Email us at pittsburgh@technical.ly.

Though Technical.ly only launched its full-time coverage of Pittsburgh in June, weve seen a massive number of leadership changes across the tech industry here but some from this year stood out more than others. As we head into the new year, well be looking to these new leaders as a signal of what the future of Pittsburgh tech might look like, and how we can build on the success of the companies already growing here.

Here are the hires, promotions and career changes that stood out to us most in Pittsburgh this year:

Local healthcare giant UPMC announced that Jeffrey Romoff would be succeeded by Leslie Davis as president and CEO of the nonprofit after leading the organization since 1992. Previously, Davis served as the president of UPMCs Health Services Division.

Leslie Davis. (Courtesy photo)

The new leadership of UPMC, an international network of 40 hospitals that also has ties to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, signals a new era for healthcare innovation in Pittsburgh. As technologists and entrepreneurs alike have pointed to the life sciences as potential new frontier for economic success in the next decade, the expertise from an institution as connected and well-resourced as UPMC will be key to ensuring that happens.

I look forward to continuing to ensure that health care is accessible and affordable to our communities while driving innovation, employee engagement, academic excellence and research across all of our hospitals and practices, Davis said in a July release for the news. I am confident in our organizations future and look forward to continuing to serve our patients, our members, our employees and our communities as UPMC soars to even greater heights in the future.

At the top of this year, life sciences innovation hub and incubator LifeX Labs announced Max Fedor as the organizations new director. Prior to taking on the new position, Fedor was the president and CEO of BIOSAFE Inc. as well as a VP of development and operations for Tissue Informatics.

The news of Fedors appointment came shortly after LifeX announced its new president and CEO as Gerald Vardzel. He took the reins from interim CEO Evan Facher, joining LifeX after being the president and director at Predictive Oncology, which uses artificial intelligence as a tool in oncology treatments and tumor modeling.

We have the opportunity to build a novel and innovative platform to not only be a major contributor to the growth of the life sciences regional ecosystem, but to be recognized as a premier life sciences incubator across the country, said Vardzel in a statement to the Pittsburgh Business Times last January. Our region has the infrastructure and resources to have a meaningful impact in the near term, but we must leverage our existing strategic relationships while building new ones outside our region.

2021 was a big year for Carnegie Mellon University, which saw a slew of announcements on funding, innovation and community collaborations. Helping to lead this new era for the university are two key new appointments in executive positions on the schools tech divisions.

In January, the university announced Stan Waddell as the new CIO and VP for information technology, after serving as an associate VP for computing services since 2019. A press release said that much of Waddells role would involve developing a strategy for technology and data management, as well as improving the IT infrastructure of the school as needed.

Matthew Johnson-Roberson. (Courtesy photo)

CMU is extremely well-positioned to embrace data-driven and technology-enhanced approaches across its missions, and I look forward to working with the campus to make the most of these opportunities, he said. (Notably, Waddell is also on the board of internet accessibility startup Meta Mesh Wireless Communications.)

This November, CMU also announced new leadership for its Robotics Institute. A university alum, Matthew Johnson-Roberson, will take over as the institutes director starting in January 2022. Given Johnson-Robersons expertise in autonomous vehicles as codirector of the University of Michigans Ford Center for Autonomous Vehicles and former team member for CMU in the 2004 and 2005 DARPA Grand Challenges, the hire is a strategic move for the university as it continues to be a supportive innovator and talent mill for local companies in that industry.

To close out a successful year for the company after several key announcements, including a finalized acquisition of Ubers Advanced Technologies Group and a SPAC deal that took the company public, Aurora Innovation shared that it would expand its finance team, with former VP of Finance Richard Tame hired as the companys first CFO.

In his former role, Tame helped lead the company through the SPAC deal with Reinvent Technology Partners Y, which will open the door to future funding to help advance the companys mission of being the first commercially available autonomous vehicle company. Prior to the finalization of that deal, Tame also spearheaded financial maneuvers for many new key industry partnerships that position Aurora as a leader for AVs.

Lance VandenBrook. (Courtesy photo)

In May, IAM Robotics a mobile robot developer for material handling solutions announced that Lance VandenBrook would be the companys new CEO. VandenBrooks hire comes as IAMs founder and former CEO Tom Galluzzo moved into a CTO role to refocus engineering and technical needs for the company.

IAM Robotics has built a solid foundation and is poised for growth, VandenBrook said in a press release. I am excited to be joining the company during this time and I look forward to what our future holds.

This fall, IAM also appointed Seegrid alum Jay Linkas its new chief commercial officer.

Autonomous cleaning robotics startup Thoro.ai announced Patrick Mondi as the companys CEO. Launched in early 2020, Thoro.ai is the result of a partnership between Carnegie Robotics (which is itself a CMU spinoff) andNilfisk, a cleaning equipment company. Prior to taking on the top position at Thoro, Mondi cut his teeth in autonomous robotics at Ubers Advanced Technologies Group, which was acquired by Aurora at the end of last year. Most recently, he was global head of supply chain, logistics and workplace at transportation company Lime.

Our mission is to create reliable, cost-effective, industrial-grade robotic solutions that enable the equipment to function as an extension of the cleaning workforce, said Carnegie Robotics CEOJohn Baresin a statement upon Thoro.ais formation in September 2020. Thoro technology is about being thorough using robotics and artificial intelligence to ensure a new standard of clean in public spaces.

Thoro.ai CEO Patrick Mondi. (Photo via LinkedIn)

Shortly after alternative energy-powered bitcoin mining firm Stronghold Digital Mining launched its IPO in November, the company announced that RustBuilt Pittsburgh refounder and head of network Kit Mueller would join the company as its new VP of corporate development. It still remains unclear what Muellers move will mean for the RustBuilt Pittsburgh community, where hes helped connect entrepreneurs and technologists with the resources they need to grow companies here. But Mueller did advertise a job posting for a community manager at RustBuilt last month on LinkedIn.

Regarding his new role however, Mueller shared on social media that he was very excited to announce that Ive joined the Stronghold Digital Miningteam, and will be growing our Pittsburgh office, and helping increase the positive impact were making across the country. Mueller also added that the company is actively hiring for multiple roles across engineering, finance and operations.

After one of the most successful IPOs in recent history, Duolingo has continued to expand its operations, with new product features, a growing social media presence, local office expansion and of course, new hires.

Kendra Ross. (Courtesy photo)

One of those hires Kendra Ross as head of social impact is a first for the company, though Duolingo has long advertised itself as being mission-driven. When Technical.ly spoke to Ross (who has a background in consulting, nonprofit work and nearly two decades of experience in the music business), she shared new community-focused goals for the company in an effort to give back to the Pittsburgh neighborhoods that have helped it grow. Beyond Duolingo specifically, the hire signals a growing number of technologists who are interested in working for companies with social missions that align with their own values.

Pittsburgh has been a key part of Duolingos success, and we want that to translate back into success for our local community, saidLuis von Ahn, cofounder and CEO of Duolingo, in a statement. By creating this role and hiring Kendra to lead our social impact efforts, it allows us to better plan and operationalize our efforts with greater intention and scalability.

Read more:

Super Power Moves: From robotics to bitcoin mining, these were 2021's biggest promotions and hires in Pittsburgh tech - Technical.ly

Robots might not be taking over the world just yet, but they are becoming increasingly popular in our lives. Think about it, they clean our floors, make the products that we use everyday, mow our lawns and some of them are even serving as our pets!

Robotics is a huge part of so many industries today from healthcare to manufacturing and logistics to construction. The industry has the potential to positively transform lives and work practices, raise efficiency and safety levels and provide enhanced levels of service across various different sectors.

There has never been a better time to get involved in this field. But where are the top places to launch or kick-start a career in robotics? Keep reading to find out.

Tokyo is among the best places in the world to create novel robotic applications because of its highly skilled workforce, impressive universities, and large customer-base. The country has seen a surge in robotics since the pandemic. The market is expected to grow from around 1 trillion in 2010 to some 10 trillion in 2035, according to an estimate by the industry ministry.

Top employer:

TELEXISTENCE Inc was founded in 2017. The company designs, manufactures and operates robotics that promote telexistence i.e. the idea that people can work and communicate from anywhere. In 2021, they closed a $20M Series A-2 financing round. Overall, the company has raised about $41 million since the companys inception in 2017.

You probably didnt know that all around Bristol there are engineers working on world-beating technologies, from driverless cars to the latest in artificial intelligence. The city is home to quite a few robotics companies, such as Reach Robotics. Researchers there are working on ground breaking organic robots that can eat waste to provide power and then decompose out in the field.

Top employer:

The Bristol Robotics Laboratory, established in 2004, is the largest academic centre for multi-disciplinary robotics research in the UK. Its the result of a collaboration between the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England in Bristol and is home to a community of over 450 academics, researchers and industry practitioners.

Detroit tops the list as the best city for robotics in the US thanks to its legacy as a world-leading automotive hub. Of course, robotics is a huge part of car manufacturing and this link has allowed the city to expand into a robotics hub that is unrivaled elsewhere. According to a research paper on Robotic regions across the United States, Detroit has 66 establishments putting it well ahead of the competition.

Top employer:

Auburn Hills is a global supplier of robotics. In 2019, they opened a huge facility near Detroit. The 461,000-square-foot facility includes engineering, product development, manufacturing, and warehousing departments for the company, which supplies robotics, CNCs, ROBOMACHINEs and Industrial IoT solutions.

Paris is fully embracing robots and how they can benefit the city. In fact the French capital even used a fire-fighting robot to protect Notre Dame back in 2019. There are multiple promising robotics startups in the capital including Aldebaran Robotics and Blue Frog Robotics.

Top employer:

Wandercraft is one of Paris top robotics companies. Founded in 2012, this impressive company is focused on helping wheelchair users to walk again by developing the first autonomous exo. In the clinical trials, the company demonstrated that people with paraplegia could walk like normal humans without crutches, thanks to their product. They have received over 20 million in funding,

Boston has become a hub for robotics over the past few decades thanks to the nearby technical universities such as MIT. The surge of robotic startups in the city is also a direct result of the amount of investors in the area. In fact, Boston ranks third in the world in terms of venture capital investment.

Top employer:

We cant talk about the robotics scene in Boston without mentioning Boston Dynamics, a world-famous company famed for completely reimagining what a robot can and cannot do. Robotics fans will probably remember their humanoid robot Atlas who could do parkour back in 2018 or their dog-like robot named Spot.

See original here:

5 best cities for jobs in robotics - The Next Web

This article is part of our exclusive IEEE Journal Watch series in partnership with IEEE Xplore.

Each step for an inchworm may be small, but the diversity of terrains and orientations that these critters can crawl over is vast. They are able to inch their way across both horizontal and vertical surfaces, and use their great dexterity to navigate over uneven terrain. For these reasons, many researchers have sought over the years to create robots inspired by the inchworm.

Guoying Gu is a professor at the Robotics Institute, School of Mechanical Engineering, at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, who recognizes a number of benefits of such robots. However, most of existing inchworm-inspired soft robots have limited and specified working environments, he says. Especially, [the ability to] transition between horizontal and vertical planes has remained elusive.

But, Gu and his colleagues have made significant headway on developing such a versatile robot, which they describe in a study recently published in IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

Notably, transitioning between horizontal and vertical planes is difficult for soft robots because they must be both strong and flexibleenough so to lift a foot from the ground and reach a foothold on the vertical wall or surface.

To allow more flexibility, Gu's team endowed their robot with three fiber-reinforced pneumatic actuators, which help give precise control over the tail, head and body of the robot. A control system monitors the positioning of the actuators, and provides a coordinated movement across the robots whole body, allowing it to achieve the shape of an inch worm as it crawls.

As well, the design includes two pressure suckers that have a double layer of silicone. Air between the layers can be pumped out, causing the suckers to become stiffer and more capable of dealing with higher amounts of external force and torque when suctioned to challenging surfaces.

The pneumatic actuators and suckers work together synchronously propel to the robotic inchworm forward. Just like a real inchworm, the robot extends its body, attaches its front foot (aka pressure sucker), and contracts its body before suctioning its back foot and taking another step forward. It can achieve a top speed of 21 mm/s on horizontal planes and 15 mm/s on vertical walls. In terms of loads, the robot is capable of carrying 500 grams (about 15 times its own weight) on horizontal planes, or 20 g on vertical walls.

It is the first time to achieve transition locomotion of a soft mobile robot between horizontal and vertical planes, which may expand the workspace of the soft robot, says Gu, noting that the robot could be useful for tasks such as inspection, cleaning, maintenance, and surveillance. The researchers also note that this design could be adapted for water, if the muscles were hydraulically actuated.

[Our] next steps include implementing more sensors to further automate the control of the robot, reduce the size of the actuation system to make the robot untethered, and explore the possibility for our soft robot to move in more complicated environments, like on the ceiling and in unstructured territories, says Gu.

See the article here:

This Robotic Inchworm Just Made It to Higher Ground - IEEE Spectrum

Cathy Wu is the Gilbert W. Winslow Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a member of the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society. As an undergraduate, Wu won MITs toughest robotics competition, and as a graduate student took the University of California at Berkeleys first-ever course on deep reinforcement learning. Now back at MIT, shes working to improve the flow of robots in Amazon warehouses under the Science Hub, a new collaboration between the tech giant and the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. Outside of the lab and classroom, Wu can be found running, drawing, pouring lattes at home, and watching YouTube videos on math and infrastructure via 3Blue1Brown and Practical Engineering. She recently took a break from all of that to talk about her work.

Q: What put you on the path to robotics and self-driving cars?

A: My parents always wanted a doctor in the family. However, Im bad at following instructions and became the wrong kind of doctor! Inspired by my physics and computer science classes in high school, I decided to study engineering. I wanted to help as many people as a medical doctor could.

At MIT, I looked for applications in energy, education, and agriculture, but the self-driving car was the first to grab me. It has yet to let go! Ninety-four percent of serious car crashes are caused by human error and could potentially be prevented by self-driving cars. Autonomous vehicles could also ease traffic congestion, save energy, and improve mobility.

I first learned about self-driving cars from Seth Teller during his guest lecture for the course Mobile Autonomous Systems Lab (MASLAB), in which MIT undergraduates compete to build the best full-functioning robot from scratch. Our ball-fetching bot, Putzputz, won first place. From there, I took more classes in machine learning, computer vision, and transportation, and joined Tellers lab. I also competed in several mobility-related hackathons, including one sponsored by Hubway, now known as Blue Bike.

Q: Youve explored ways to help humans and autonomous vehicles interact more smoothly. What makes this problem so hard?

A: Both systems are highly complex, and our classical modeling tools are woefully insufficient. Integrating autonomous vehicles into our existing mobility systems is a huge undertaking. For example, we dont know whether autonomous vehicles will cut energy use by 40 percent, or double it. We need more powerful tools to cut through the uncertainty. My PhD thesis at Berkeley tried to do this. I developed scalable optimization methods in the areas of robot control, state estimation, and system design. These methods could help decision-makers anticipate future scenarios and design better systems to accommodate both humans and robots.

Q: How is deep reinforcement learning, combining deep and reinforcement learning algorithms, changing robotics?

A: I took John Schulman and Pieter Abbeels reinforcement learning class at Berkeley in 2015 shortly after Deepmind published their breakthrough paper in Nature. They had trained an agent via deep learning and reinforcement learning to play "Space Invaders" and a suite of Atari games at superhuman levels. That created quite some buzz. A year later, I started to incorporate reinforcement learning into problems involving mixed traffic systems, in which only some cars are automated. I realized that classical control techniques couldnt handle the complex nonlinear control problems I was formulating.

Deep RL is now mainstream but its by no means pervasive in robotics, which still relies heavily on classical model-based control and planning methods. Deep learning continues to be important for processing raw sensor data like camera images and radio waves, and reinforcement learning is gradually being incorporated. I see traffic systems as gigantic multi-robot systems. Im excited for an upcoming collaboration with Utahs Department of Transportation to apply reinforcement learning to coordinate cars with traffic signals, reducing congestion and thus carbon emissions.

Q: You've talked about the MIT course, 6.007 (Signals and Systems), and its impact on you. What about it spoke to you?

A: The mindset. That problems that look messy can be analyzed with common, and sometimes simple, tools. Signals are transformed by systems in various ways, but what do these abstract terms mean, anyway? A mechanical system can take a signal like gears turning at some speed and transform it into a lever turning at another speed. A digital system can take binary digits and turn them into other binary digits or a string of letters or an image. Financial systems can take news and transform it via millions of trading decisions into stock prices. People take in signals every day through advertisements, job offers, gossip, and so on, and translate them into actions that in turn influence society and other people. This humble class on signals and systems linked mechanical, digital, and societal systems and showed me how foundational tools can cut through the noise.

Q: In your project with Amazon youre training warehouse robots to pick up, sort, and deliver goods. What are the technical challenges?

A: This project involves assigning robots to a given task and routing them there. [Professor] Cynthia Barnharts team is focused on task assignment, and mine, on path planning. Both problems are considered combinatorial optimization problems because the solution involves a combination of choices. As the number of tasks and robots increases, the number of possible solutions grows exponentially. Its called the curse of dimensionality. Both problems are what we call NP Hard; there may not be an efficient algorithm to solve them. Our goal is to devise a shortcut.

Routing a single robot for a single task isnt difficult. Its like using Google Maps to find the shortest path home. It can be solved efficiently with several algorithms, including Dijkstras. But warehouses resemble small cities with hundreds of robots. When traffic jams occur, customers cant get their packages as quickly. Our goal is to develop algorithms that find the most efficient paths for all of the robots.

Q: Are there other applications?

A: Yes. The algorithms we test in Amazon warehouses might one day help to ease congestion in real cities. Other potential applications include controlling planes on runways, swarms of drones in the air, and even characters in video games. These algorithms could also be used for other robotic planning tasks like scheduling and routing.

Q: AI is evolving rapidly. Where do you hope to see the big breakthroughs coming?

A: Id like to see deep learning and deep RL used to solve societal problems involving mobility, infrastructure, social media, health care, and education. Deep RL now has a toehold in robotics and industrial applications like chip design, but we still need to be careful in applying it to systems with humans in the loop. Ultimately, we want to design systems for people. Currently, we simply dont have the right tools.

Q: What worries you most about AI taking on more and more specialized tasks?

A: AI has the potential for tremendous good, but it could also help to accelerate the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots. Our political and regulatory systems could help to integrate AI into society and minimize job losses and income inequality, but I worry that theyre not equipped yet to handle the firehose of AI.

Q: Whats the last great book you read?

A: "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster," by Bill Gates. I absolutely loved the way that Gates was able to take an overwhelmingly complex topic and distill it down into words that everyone can understand. His optimism inspires me to keep pushing on applications of AI and robotics to help avoid a climate disaster.

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Q&A: Cathy Wu on developing algorithms to safely integrate robots into our world - MIT News

Human hands are excellent at manipulating things in the world, but the same isnt necessarily true of a metallic robotic hand, which could have a hard time picking up an object.

If it clamps down too hard on something delicate, it could destroy it. But if it doesnt grab onto the object hard enough, it could drop it. Stanford engineers hope to solve this problem with a new robotic hand designed with finger pads that can grip like a gecko. A study detailing their prototype, farmHand, was published this week in Science Robotics.

The project was born out of Stanford engineering professor Mark Cutkoskys Biomimetics and Dextrous Manipulation Lab, which has been focused on creating bio-inspired robots for about 30 years. Some of its best-known inventions are the sticky, gecko-like robots that climb walls and grab onto space junk. But in this instance, sticky, is not the same kind of sticky as a substance like duct tape, which leaves a gummy residue. When Cutkosky says sticky, hes referring to a drier, rubberier kind of sticky that takes advantage of the attractions between tiny molecules courtesy of van der Waals forces.

Instead of being all metal all the way through, this robot hand has semi-squishy fingertips, and each finger pad surface is made from a film of gecko adhesive supported by a rubber bone-like structure underneath. Cutkosky imagines that with hands like these, one day the device could perform more intricate tasks, like picking and handling heirloom tomatoes.

[Related: This gecko-inspired robot could help solve our space debris dilemma]

In the animal world, actual gecko fingers have microscopic features: little wedge-like stalks that taper into tiny, spatula-like tips. When you pull them the right way, they all lie down sideways, and it goes from having hardly any contact area to having almost continuous contact area, says Cutkosky. That large area of contact is what allows van der Waals forces to produce adhesion.

The gecko adhesive that his lab made, which looks like a strip of plastic, is a simplified imitation of what real life gecko fingers can do. Unlike tape, the artificial gecko adhesive only sticks onto a surface if you pull in a certain wayotherwise it will fall off. Thats because when the adhesive is lying on a surface, only the very tips of the wedges are touching it, and theres hardly any contact area. But when the strip is pulled sideways, those wedges all lie down, increasing the contact area.

It works well for climbing, says Cutkosky. We had been thinking for years how we might be able to use it for more down-to-Earth applications like grasping with a robot hand.

[Related: This magnetic robot arm was inspired by octopus tentacles]

To accomplish this, the team had to think about how to design the structure and the control of that hand such that the gecko adhesive would always work the way it needs to, and not lose its grip. And to correctly grasp an object, the team had to ensure that all the adhesives on the individual fingers are experiencing, and maintaining, the same type of force, or else the object its trying to grip might slip off.

One of the big features that makes the farmHand effective at grabbing and holding onto a range of different items is the centimeter-thick pad that sits between the adhesive patch and the robot phalange, notes Wilson Ruotolo, a PhD student from Cutkoskys lab and the first author on the paper. This pad has a buckling rib design with diagonal beams running across the two contact surfaces.

When force is applied to the adhesives, those beams will all start to buckle together. This design allows for a distribution of the force across all the fingers, so that on average, the pressure each individual finger exerts on the object it is grasping is the same.

The robots fingers also have bend sensors that can roughly gauge where the fingers are in space. They help position the hand. The robot hand uses feedback from the force that comes from the motors, through the tendons, and to the fingers to approximate how hard or soft an object generally is, and the right zone of force to use on it.

Ruotolo hopes to integrate more sensors into the next generation of the robot hand, perhaps sensors that can measure touch.

Our lab also makes tactile sensors so it would be really cool to integrate those behind the pads so not only can you detect how much force youre squeezing with, but also how much contact area you have, says Ruotolo. That would allow the robot to dynamically adapt its grasp based on contact conditions it detects in an arbitrary object.

The adhesives are essential to having a robot hand that can grab firmly but gently. You can do something where you exert pretty high pull forces without a lot of compressive force, Ruotolo says. And if you imagine picking a fruit off a vine, what you really want to be able to do is twist and pull without squeezing at all.

Originally posted here:

Engineers created a robotic hand with a gecko-like grip - Popular Science

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More robotics are coming to the supply chain.

GXO Logistics on Dec. 14 announced it is deploying 6 River Systems or 6RS collaborative robots, also known as cobots, on multiple mezzanine floors in one of its distribution centers in Milton Keynes, England.

GXO said it collaborated with 6RS to develop and test new features on the cobots, which can automatically travel from one location to another carrying picked items, reducing employees walk time and helping them pick items from inventory more efficiently.

Williams

This multitiered installation is groundbreaking for us and a first in our industry, said Gavin Williams, GXOs managing director in the U.K. and Ireland. The solution illustrates our significant investment in technology that helps us improve productivity for our customers and safety for our colleagues while optimizing vertical warehouse space in Europe.

At another GXO location, in Stroke-on-Trent, England, cobots known as Chucks have improved picking accuracy of products in warehouses by 40% and reduced new employee training time by 80% since the units have been deployed.

Our work with GXO at the Milton Keynes distribution center is a prime example of 6 River Systems ability to meet the needs of high-volume organizations that are building multitiered warehouse installations, 6RS co-founder and co-CEO Jerome Dubois said. As businesses continue to seek automation solutions to meet increasing consumer demands, were innovating to equip them with technology to enhance safety and productivity.

GXO said as part of its increased use of robots and increased automation the company has more than tripled its cobot count year-on-year and reported improvements in pick rates, accuracy and employee satisfaction. Transport Topics

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GXO Announces Expanded Use of Robotics in UK Warehouses - Transport Topics Online

Cio Review

Although robotics in agriculture is still in its initial stage, several start-ups across the United States are already reaping the benefits of integrating robotics into agriculture activities.

Fremont, CA:Robotics, with its AI technology, is infiltrating many aspects of society. While many farmers use artificial intelligence to cultivate, monitor and harvest their crops, robotics is still an underutilized and limited innovation. There are two major reasons why integrating robots into agriculture is difficult. To begin with, just a few farmers truly comprehend the mechanics of how this technology works. Second, the farming community is becoming increasingly concerned about how the advent of robotics may not only disrupt but also limit the opportunities.

The food and agriculture organization (FAO) of the United States has been trying to convince farmers about the innovation and specialized job opportunities that robotics will bring into agriculture. Several Agtech companies have held workshops in an attempt to educate the public about the benefits of robots in the field. AG 4.0 is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for individuals to learn, discover, and network with one another for accurate and profitable industry-wide solutions.

Harvesting robots for different crops

Among all the crops, the greenhouse sector has managed to pique the most interest in harvesting robotics. The decision to invest in them has been made by 34 percent of the growers. In greenhouses, robots could be used to their full potential since they provide steady and tailored settings for robotics machinery. Furthermore, greenhouses do not function on a seasonal basis, resulting in a higher number of permanent personnel and a higher possibility of using a robotic harvester all year. 66 percent of producers are hesitant to invest in robotics because they believe their farms are small enough to be managed by human harvesters.

Other sectors where harvesting robots can be used in agriculture are Vegetables and fruits.Thirty percent of vegetable growers have expressed an interest in purchasing harvesting robots, which is slightly higher than the national average. One reason is that vegetable growers have a more stable workforce than other field crops, with permanent staff accounting for 40 percent of vegetable farms. Robotics would not only save money on labor, but it would also improve the quality of the harvest.

Fruit-specific harvesting solutions, according to 27 percent of fruit growers who have expressed interest in this technology, could aid in picking the best fruit without it being harmed. Fruits are among the most delicate produce, so they must remain appealing and free of blemishes all the way to the grocery store. It might be conceivable with the advent of robotics in fruit plantations.

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Robotics Changing the Agriculture Landscape - CIOReview