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From the Editor
Walmart Goes All in With Robots, Drones, Self-driving Trucks
Retail giant Walmart has been experimenting with automation technologies for a few years now, but this week it appears as if they’re all in on several technologies. The company announced an expansion of its partnership with Symbotic to deploy Symbotic’s warehouse automation storage-and-retrieval system to all 42 Walmart regional distribution centers. The company then also announced an expansion of its drone delivery services through a partnership with DroneUp. In the meantime, it continues to work with Gatik and its self-driving trucks to provide middle-mile logistics deliveries in Arkansas, and likely soon in Kansas, where the governor signed legislation to expand autonomous driving capabilities. It also continues to work with Alert Innovation, Dematic and Fabric on micro-fulfillment concepts to fill online grocery orders. While Walmart has been utilizing technology for years, early efforts with robots did not have the success they were looking for (they ended a program with Bossa Nova’s inventory-scanning mobile robots, for example). But what is now clear is that automation is a critical strategy for Walmart as it competes with online behemoths like Amazon for a share of the consumer’s dollar. What’s interesting to me is how open Walmart has been with its announcements, where other retailers, such as Target, keep their automation plans close to the vest. But it’s certain that for the world to get out of its supply chain problems, automation will be required over several of the links.
– Keith Shaw, Managing Editor |
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Heilind Electronics Stocking Amphenol’s RJF, RJFTV Connectors
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Heilind Electronics, a global distributor of electronic components and authorized distributor for Amphenol Pcd, has announced it is now stocking the manufacturer’s RJF and RJFTV6A series of Cat 6A modular Ethernet connectors. Applications include robotics, industrial process control, CNC machines, oil and gas, motion control and harsh environment data acquisition and transmission. The RJFTV 6A and RJF 6A allow the use of an Ethernet Class Ea/Cat 6A connection for 10BaseT, 100 BaseTx, 1000 BaseT or 10G BaseT (up to 500 MHz) networks in harsh environments. Through the patented RJStop system, a standard RJ45 cord set can be utilized in a metallic plug without the need for hazardous on-field cabling or grounding. |
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Hyundai, SOSLAB to Jointly Develop Lidar for Mobile Robots
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Hyundai Motor Group and SOSLAB, which develops solid-state lidar, have announced a partnership to help expedite the development of mobile robots. The companies will jointly develop 3D lidar for mobile robots that optimizes autonomous driving performance and aims to commercialize a new mobility platform for applications such as delivery services. Smart Optical Sensors Lab (SOSLAB) develops solid-state lidar sensors for industrial and automotive use cases. Compared to conventional mechanical lidar, the SOSLAB lidar sensors have strengths in size, weight, power consumption, price, and durability. |
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Flyability Unveils Elios 3 Indoor Lidar Drone for Inspections
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Switzerland’s Flyability has announced the Elios 3, a collision-tolerant drone equipped with a lidar sensor for indoor 3D mapping tasks. The drone is powered by a new SLAM engine called FlyAware that lets it create 3D models as it flies, and also includes a new version of Inspector 4.0, the company’s software for inspectors. The company first developed its confined-space inspection drones in 2016. With the launch of the Elios 3, Flyability said it continues its pledge to create cutting-edge technology designed to keep humans out of dangerous places to perform demanding inspection tasks. |
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Soft Robotics Expands Commercial Focus for mGripAI Gripper
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Soft Robotics has announced it expanded the commercial focus for its mGripAI artificial intelligence-enabled picking solutions, to include the consumer goods, e-commerce and logistics industries. The combination of 3D vision, AI and soft grasping gives industrial robots the dexterity and hand-eye coordination of human workers, enabling their use in unstructured applications that include order fulfillment, sortation, decanting, and kitting, the company said. Initially aimed at the food processing industry in 2021, mGripAI can reliably pick, place, and sort delicate and variable products at extremely high speeds (more than 90 picks per minute). |
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RobotPlusPlus Raises $15M to Scale Inspection Robots
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China’s RobotPlusPlus, which develops “aerial work robots” (inspection robots for ships, storage tanks, etc.), has announced raising $15 million in a Series B funding round. This brings a total of $35 million in funding for the company, since its founding in 2017. The company said it plans to use the new capital to accelerate its research & development timeline, and expand its global presence. New robotic offerings will be released for cargo hold cleaning, tank painting, and facade cleaning, in addition to upgrading current products through integrating more autonomous technology. |
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Infinitum Electric Raises $80M to Scale Sustainable Motors Production
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Infinitum Electric, which develops a sustainable, breakthrough air-core motor, has announced raising $80 million in Series D funding to scale motor production to meet increasing demand. The company said it will use the investment to vertically integrate and automate production of its motors for the commercial and industrial market segments. In addition, Infinitum said it will complete development and commercialization of a traction motor for the electric vehicle market, where the motor’s power density can significantly extend the range of electric vehicles. |
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In Case You Missed It
Survey: Most Americans Want to Try Food Cooked by Robots
In a survey conducted on behalf of Nala Robotics, 58% of Americans said they have either eaten food cooked by a robot, or would be interested in doing so. In addition, respondents said robot benefits in restaurants include better hygiene, consistency, food, and cost. Respondents also identified examples of how robots could help combat challenges for the restaurant industry, which has been slower to recover from the pandemic than other segments. For example, 42% said robots can help fill staffing shortages, and 36% said they believed robots would improve productivity. About 70% said robots will have either a positive or neutral effect on the future of the restaurant industry. Read More
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Featured Article
Gatik to Expand Operations in Kansas for Autonomous Vehicles
Gatik, which develops autonomous vehicles for middle-mile logistics tasks, has announced it will be expanding operations to Kansas following the signing of Senate Bill 313 into law by Governor Laura Kelly. The Kansas law enables the deployment of fully autonomous trucks on public roads in the state. Gatik said it worked closely with Walmart and key stakeholders, including the Kansas Department of Transportation, the Governor’s office, leadership in the House and Senate and the Kansas Sheriffs’ Association to develop and propose legislation that prioritizes the safe and structured introduction of autonomous vehicles in the state. It added it would work closely with state and local authorities to provide education and training sessions to law enforcement and first responders as part of its engagement strategy. Read More |
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Robotics News
- Walmart, Symbotic Expand Automation Partnership to All 42 Regional DCs
Symbotic LLC and Walmart have announced an expanded commercial agreement to implement Symbotic’s robotics and software automation platform in all 42 of Walmart’s regional distribution centers over the coming years. This agreement expands on Walmart’s prior commitment to deploy Symbotic Systems in 25 regional distribution centers. The Symbotic System automation technology platform is powered by a fleet of fully autonomous robots and artificial intelligence-powered software. Combined with a high-density physical structure, the system aims to improve efficiency, accuracy and agility while reducing costs.
- Axon, Skydio Add Livestreaming Integration to Drone Response Software
Axon and Skydio have announced an upgrade to its Axon Respond software that will allow public safety agencies flying Skydio Drones and using the Respond software to access drone live-streams to provide more comprehensive views of incidents. The partnership between the two companies is aimed to help public safety agencies deploy small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) for real-time situational awareness and evidence management tasks. The integration with Axon Respond will allow command staff and 911 dispatchers to combine the live-streaming capabilities of Axon body-worn and in-car cameras with the Skydio drone’s aerial perspective – all within the same network.
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Sponsored Content
Cobot-Ready End-Effector Kits
ATI’s all-in-one kits include options for automatic tool changing, force sensing, and material removal. Built for assembly, machine tending, part inspection and analysis, surface preparation and finishing and others, ATI’s End-Effectors make teaching your cobot quick and easy. Kits include the end-effector, hardware and software required to connect to Cobots from FANUC, Hanwa, Omron, Techman, Universal Robots and more. Watch the video HERE. |
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Robotics News
- Schneider Electric Launches Universal Automation Packs to Foster Innovation
Schneider Electric has announced the launch of their Universal Automation Discovery Packs program in the U.S., designed to give innovators the opportunity to explore the idea of universal automation. Through the program, OEMs, system integrators, end users, distributors, academics and others can receive a free license to explore this next-generation automation system for non-commercial purposes. Universal automation is technology based on the IEC61499 standard for interoperability that decouples hardware and software by addressing single-vendor lock-in, Schneider said. By having the opportunity to explore the technology before leveraging it for commercial projects, users can better understand how the platform can support their organizational goals and improve operational efficiency.
View Video
- Seegrid Launches Online Knowledge Base for AMRs
Seegrid, which develops autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for material handling companies, has announced launching its Seegrid Help Center. The new customer resource and online knowledge base gives customers in logistics, e-commerce, and manufacturing exclusive access to specialized insights, product information, and innovative mobile automation use cases curated by Seegrid’s engineering, service, and support teams. The Help Center complements Seegrid’s training, service, and support offerings. The online platform offers a personalized experience for end users, and is available 24x7, providing the ability to self-serve on several topics and categories, such as AMR models to support, optimize, and advance the use of their Seegrid mobile automation solution.
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Event Coverage
A Closer Look: maxon Group at Xponential 2022
During the recent Xponential 2022 event in Orlando, we visited the maxon Group, and had the pleasure of speaking with Debora Setters, maxon’s national marketing manager, as well as Michael Whisnant, business development manager for aerospace, and Marco Sicher, Michael’s European counterpart, based in Sachsein, Switzerland. maxon has been in the news worldwide given that maxon motors and electronics powered the Mars Ingenuity helicopter’s now famous aerial surveys. Read More |
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A Closer Look: Aergility at Xponential 2022
While exhibitors at Xponential 2022 provided an abundant array of products and components for unmanned systems, particularly impressive was Aergility’s ATLIS cargo UAV, a 24.33-foot wingspan hybrid-powered eVTOL cargo transport airplane. ATLIS features a kerosene or diesel-burning 90kW (120 hp) turboprop engine that turns a 67-inch, four-blade tractor propeller, which propels the aircraft in horizontal flight like any conventional airplane. The aircraft gains efficiency in forward flight owing to its patented “managed autorotation technology,” where the rotor (Aergility calls them ‘protors’) operates in auto-rotation in forward flight, similar to an autogyro. Read More |
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A Closer Look: Ghost Robotics at Xponential 2022
It was our pleasure to interview Michael Subhan (right), chief marketing officer at Ghost Robotics, at their very busy Xponential 2022 booth. The Vision 60 Q-UGV is a physically agile quadruped robot, and is uniquely capable of navigating and traversing rough outdoor terrain. It can be equipped with custom end effectors to deal with emergencies at critical infrastructures. It is in active use for perimeter security at Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Fla., and is also used by the Portland Air National Guard Base in Portland, Ore. The company said it expects to see Ghost Robotics Q-UGVs working in many more contexts across society in future years. Read More |
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Robotics News
Aurora, FedEx Expand Autonomous Trucking Pilot in Texas
Aurora Innovation and FedEx Corp. have announced the expansion of its pilot program to autonomously move FedEx shipments on an additional commercial lane in Texas. In March 2022, the next-generation autonomous trucks, based on the new Peterbilt 579, began transporting FedEx shipments between Aurora’s new terminals in Fort Worth and El Paso. Aurora said it is making the 600-mile trip on a weekly basis with safety drivers on board, and expects to increase the frequency of trips in the coming months. Aurora continues to move shipments for FedEx between Aurora’s South Dallas terminal and a new Houston terminal on a daily basis. Read More |
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Halodi Robotics, Immervision to Develop Next-Generation Vision for Humanoid Robots
Immervision, which develops advanced vision systems that combine optics, image processing and sensor fusion technology, has announced it was chosen by Halodi Robotics to provide their next-generation vision system for Halodi’s service robot platform, which can handle both human and computer vision. In order for robots to intelligently and accurately perform tasks, they often require mobility and the aptitude to explore, understand and function within various environments, said Immervision. In order for a robot to work autonomously, or problem-solve with human assistance, it needs sensor data to understand the human world and the ability to process the data and respond in a timely manner. Read More |
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Walmart Expands Drone Delivery via DroneUp Network
Walmart has announced it plans to expand its DroneUp delivery network to 34 sites by the end of the year, with the potential of reaching 4 million U.S. households across six states – Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. The retailer said the expansion would give them the ability to deliver more than 1 million packages by drone in one year. Stores participating in the expansion will operate a DroneUp delivery hub that includes a team of certified pilots, operating within FAA guidelines, that safely manage flight operations for deliveries. When customers place an order, the item is filled from the store, packaged, loaded into the drone and delivered to their yard with a cable that gently lowers the package. Read More |
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