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From the Editor
Will My Kids Be the Last Generation that Drives?
My oldest daughter turned 16 recently, and with that milestone achieved she obtained her learner’s permit and is itching to drive every chance she gets. To her, driving means more freedom, without having to ask “Dad Uber” for rides to school or the mall. While she is learning about how to safely perform a three-point turn, those developing self-driving cars continue to advance with their technology. New research suggests that sensors and AI are powerful enough to create a “zero deaths” world where self-driving vehicles can react quickly enough to bad conditions and other unexpected scenarios (see the “In Case You Missed It” article below). Long-haul trucking will eventually become self-driving for the most part, with truck drivers handling the more tricky local segments. While there are still those in my generation and older who won’t give up driving, it’s possible that kids being born today will likely not ever need to take a road test or ask their parents for a ride to the store. While I’m in favor of technology that prevents fatal accidents like this, I wonder about what we might be giving up in order to achieve this. We’ll see how this develops over the next few generations.
– Keith Shaw, Managing Editor. |
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Omron Automation Launches Compact, Affordable Vision Cameras
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Omron Automation has announced a new line of affordable and compact board-level cameras designed specifically for embedded vision applications. The Omron B Series GigE Vision cameras are full-featured cameras that do not need an enclosure. Featuring Sony’s Pregius and Starvis CMOS sensors with resolutions up to 20 megapixels and frame rates up to 282.8 fps, the cameras aim to address the problem of traditional vision systems that are often too bulky, complex or expensive for some projects. Measuring 1.25 inches (38 mm) per side, the cameras are small and lightweight enough to integrate into embedded systems without having to redesign. |
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ODU Expands Connector Line with Space-Saving MEDI-SNAP
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ODU has announced a new space-saving product design for its MEDI-SNAP, which offers a number of combination possibilities in the smallest installation spaces due to smaller design, high pole density and low weight. With the new size 3.5, even up to a maximum of 41 signal contacts are possible. However, the new connector is also ideally suitable for a whole range of hybrid requirements. The company said there are many possible applications for this plastic connector. The ODU MEDIāSNAP® in size 3.5 is used in the medical field as well as in industrial electronics or measuring and testing technology. In the field of medical technology, examples of possible applications include endoscopy or arthroscopy, dental applications as well as defibrillators, robot technology or cosmetic applications. |
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Sponsored Content
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Learn more HERE. |
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Turing AI Launches Mobile Security Robot
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Turing AI, which develops artificial intelligence and machine learning models for interconnected solutions, has announced the launch of its mobilized video security platform that combines patrol robots with security cameras. Claiming it as “the world’s most affordable indoor patrolling robot,” Turing said the new Turing Robot comes equipped with time-of-flight lidar with a range of up to 40 meters, high-definition IP cameras, a wide-view laser scanner and optional environmental or gas detection scanners. The robot can be operated remotely through mobile apps, and can be monitored from anywhere in the world through Turing’s centralized monitoring system. |
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AMP Robotics Expands Evergreen Partnership for Recycling Robots
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AMP Robotics, which develops robotics, infrastructure and artificial intelligence for the waste and recycling industry, has announced it extended its partnership with Evergreen, one of North America’s three largest producers of food-grade recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET). The company now has 15 of AMP’s robotic sorting systems guided by AI installed or planned across three facilities. In addition to six robots in Clyde, Ohio, Evergreen has added six in Riverside, Calif., and will soon add three in Albany, N.Y. AMP uses technology to identify and sort green and clear PET from post-consumer bales of plastic soft drink bottles at speeds up to three times faster and at a higher accuracy than manual sorters can achieve. |
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Israel Integrates Cognata Simulation Software for AV Testing
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Cognata has announced the integration of its simulation authoring software into Israel Defense Force’s technology to help further accelerate algorithm safety and readiness. The simulation and testing platform is designed for autonomous vehicles (AV) and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to help with vehicle perception training and challenges presented by unfamiliar terrain environments. Cognata said its AV off-road simulation is designed to test, train and validate perception and control challenges for terrains that do not offer a clear road definition. |
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Milrem Robotics, MSI-Defence Show New Counter-Drone System
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A joint venture between MSI-Defence Systems Limited (MSI-DSL) and Milrem Robotics has produced a new unmanned, kinetic counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS) platform. The two companies showed the new system at the World Defense Show in Saudi Arabia. The system comprises Milrem’s THeMIS unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) integrated with MIS-DSL’s Remote Weapon System and Electrical Optical Sensor System to help counter mini-UAV, loitering munitions and other small or difficult-to-detect airborne targets. |
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In Case You Missed It
Paper Suggests that Zero Roadway Deaths are Possible via Existing Sensors
Neural Propulsion Systems, which develops autonomous sensing platforms, has issued a paper that says compelling new innovations enable vehicles with or without human supervision to see enough, clear enough and far enough to eliminate roadway deaths. Many believe that achieving zero roadway deaths is necessary for universal adoption of autonomous driving. The whitepaper, by Behrooz Rezvani, Babak Hassibi, and Lawrence Burns, suggests that zero deaths require sensing and processing a peak data rate on the order of 10 terabits per second (100 x 1012 bits per second) for vehicles to safely operate under the worst roadway conditions. The paper said this immense requirement is 10 million times greater than the sensory data rate from our eyes to our brains. Read More |
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Sponsored Content
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Featured Article
Case Study: How Smart Imaging Supports German Factory with Production Robot
Due to Industry 4.0, digitalization, automation and networking of systems and facilities are becoming the predominant topics in production, and thus also in logistics. Industry 4.0 pursues the increasing optimization of processes and workflows in favor of productivity and flexibility and thus the saving of time and costs. Robotic systems have become the driving force for automating processes. Through the Internet of Things (IoT), robots are becoming increasingly sensitive, autonomous, mobile and easier to operate. More and more they are becoming an everyday helper in factories and warehouses. Intelligent imaging techniques are playing an increasingly important role in this. To meet the growing demands in scaling and changing production environments towards fully automated and intelligently networked production, the company ONTEC Automation GmbH from Naila in Bavaria has developed an autonomously driving robotic assistance system. The "Smart Robot Assistant" uses the synergies of mobility and automation: it consists of a powerful and efficient intralogistics platform, a flexible robot arm and a robust 3D stereo camera system from the Ensenso N series by IDS Imaging Development Systems GmbH. Read More |
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Robotics News
- Ouster, Third Wave to Automate Material Handling Vehicles with Digital Lidar
Ouster, which develops high-resolution digital lidar sensors, has announced signing a strategic customer agreement with Third Wave Automation, which develops autonomous systems for the material handling industry. The agreement forecasts the delivery of more than 5,000 OS sensors through 2025 to equip robotic material handling vehicles with 3D digital lidar, part of Third Wave’s autonomous driving sensor suite.
- U.K.’s Academy of Robotics Launches Crowdfunding Effort
Academy of Robotics, a U.K.-based autonomous vehicle and robotics company, has announced it launched its pre-series A fundraising, which will be accessible to all individuals. The company said it will provide an opportunity for professional and retail investors to participate in “pioneering autonomous technology that has a proven application in last-mile logistics and to invest in a company which already has a fully licensed, custom-built autonomous vehicle on the roads in the U.K.” The company developed its first AV, the Kar-go Delivery Bot, using proceeds from an initial crowdfunding round in 2017. Since then, the company conducted successful road trials with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in September 2021, which focused on last-mile airbase logistics around the airbase at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire.
- Innophys Brings Robotic ‘Muscle Suit’ to 5 More European Countries
Japan’s Innophys Co., a venture company associated with the Tokyo University of Science, has announced it is deploying its wearable work-assisting robotic suite, known as the “Muscle Suit,” to five countries in the European Union – Poland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Last year, the company launched the suite in Italian markets. Innophys says this now expands the number of EU countries where it operates to nine – France, Spain and Sweden were also made available through contracts with local sales agents following the robotic suit’s CE certification in December 2020. The Muscle Suit is a work-assisting robot that lightens the load on a user’s back when the user performs hard work, such as maintaining a half-crouching position and lifting up a heavy item or person.
- Researchers Aim to Improve Human-Robot Trust via Self-Assessment
Establishing human-robot trust isn’t always easy. Beyond the fear of automation going rogue, robots simply don’t communicate how they are doing. When this happens, establishing a basis for humans to trust robots can be difficult. Now, research is shedding light on how autonomous systems can foster human confidence in robots. Largely, the research suggests that humans have an easier time trusting a robot that offers some kind of self-assessment as it goes about its tasks, according to Aastha Acharya, a Draper Scholar and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Colorado Boulder.
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Robotics Funding
Gecko Robotics Raises $73M to Expand Infrastructure Inspections
Pittsburgh-based Gecko Robotics has announced raising $73 million in a Series C funding round, which will accelerate its mission of protecting critical infrastructure through robotic inspections. Co-founded by Jake Loosararian and Troy Demmer, Gecko focuses on industries such as power generation, oil and gas, heavy manufacturing, and defense. The Gecko robots can capture data at previously unheard-of scale and fidelity, with the ability to climb pipelines, boilers, tanks, ship hulls and more to search for damage, the company said. The Gecko software, in turn, enables human experts to contextualize the data and translate it into action. Read More |
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Pony.ai Closes First Round of Series D Financing, With $8.5B Valuation
Pony.AI, which develops autonomous driving technologies for cars and trucks, has announced it completed its first close of its Series D financing. While details of the funding were not disclosed, the company said it has a significant valuation uplift from the company’s 2020 C and C+ rounds, and now said the valuation of the company is at $8.5 billion. Pony said proceeds from the funding round will be used to further augment its hiring, investment in research and development, and global testing of robotaxi and robotrucking on an ever-growing fleet. Read More |
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Robotics Funding
Sanctuary Cognitive Raises $58.5M to Accelerate General-Purpose Robotics
Vancouver-based Sanctuary Cognitive Systems, which is focusing on creating human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots, has announced closing $58.5 million ($75.5 million Canadian) in Series A funding. Using breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, cognition and robotics, the company plans to improve the quality of the work experience, assist humans with difficult or dangerous tasks, and bring new opportunities to those who might be less capable of physical work. The company said many companies are developing special-purpose robots and AI to address singular tasks or activities. In contrast, Sanctuary is taking a more general-purpose approach to their hardware and software, drawing from AI, cognition, computer vision, machine learning, theoretical physics and quantum computing fields. Read More
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Erthos Raises $17.5M for Solar Panel-Cleaning Robot
Erthos, a solar energy company that is developing advances for utility-scale solar, has announced raising $17.5 million in Series B financing. The company said it will use the funds to double headcount and support further product development in the areas of robotic cleaning, system analytics, and modeling software. The round was led by Capricorn Investment Group, which aims to invest in companies developing novel technologies and business models to propel renewable companies and infrastructures. Read More |
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