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From the Editor
Record-Breaking Robot Sales Continue in North America
On the eve of next week’s big Automate trade show and conference in Detroit, the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) has announced another record-breaking quarter in terms of North American robot sales, surpassing the Q4 2021 record set only three months earlier. This is a very strong indication that companies across industries – not just automotive and electronics manufacturers – are embracing the idea that robotics can assist them with their automation and labor challenges. At next week’s Automate, I fully expect to see robots and applications that aim to assist companies in several markets that go beyond manufacturing, such as agriculture, construction and healthcare. If you are also attending the show and see me roaming the halls, stop and say hello and give me a high five!
– Keith Shaw, Managing Editor. |
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Cincoze Launches Industrial Embedded Computer for Edge Applications
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Taiwan’s Cincoze, which develops embedded computers, has announced the high-performance DV-1000 rugged series to its DIAMOND product line. The DV-1000 includes a compact chassis and flexible expansion options, designed for industrial applications with limited installation space, such as smart manufacturing, machine vision, and railway computing. The DV-1000 has a footprint equivalent to a sheet of A4 paper, measuring 224 mm by 162 mm by 64 mm, and is power by a 9/8th Gen Intel Core i7/i5/i3 CPU (Coffee Lake-R S series) that supports up to 128 GB of DDR4 2666 MHz memory. |
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MMI Launches Surgical Simulator for Robotic Microsurgery
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Italy’s Medical Microinstruments (MMI), a robotics company developing systems for patients undergoing microsurgery, has announced its Symani Surgical System Simulator developed by VirtaMed. The simulator aims to improve, expand and digitize pathways for Symani training as surgeons prepare to expand their microsurgical skills through robotics. VirtaMed was incorporated in 2007, and provides surgical training solutions and data-driven medical education, including relevant virtual reality simulators for medical disciplines such as orthopedics, obstetrics, gynecology, urology, and laparoscopy. |
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IDS Upgrades NXT System for Easier AI Vision App Creation
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Image Development Systems (IDS), which manufactures industrial cameras for image processing, has announced updates to its IDS NXT AI vision system, which focuses on simplifying app creation. The company said the initial phase of development is often one of the greatest challenges for customers. The new Application Assistant in IDS NXT lighthouse lets users configure a complete vision app under guidance in just a few steps, which they can run directly on an IDS NXT camera. With the new Block-based Editor, users can configure their own program sequences with AI image processing functions, such as object recognition or classification, without any programming knowledge. |
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Gideon Launches Casey, an Optimized AMR for Case Picking
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Croatia-based Gideon has announced the launch of Casey, an autonomous case picking and process optimization solution to help companies manage labor shortages and surging demand for products. The Casey solution pairs Guideon’s flexible, artificial intelligence and vision-based autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) with optimization software. The system “brings people and robots into an intelligent partnership” to help increase throughput and productivity by removing inefficient workflows, costly infrastructure, and scalability bottlenecks. Gideon said the system can eliminate product and equipment damage costs, and reduce labor costs by up to 40%. |
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Miso Robotics Teams With Wing Zone for Future Restaurant Builds
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Wing Zone, a fast-casual restaurant brand that makes made-to-order chicken wings, has announced a partnership with Miso Robotics. The agreement will include Miso’s Flippy 2 robotic system a part of the standard build for all future restaurant locations – making Wing Zone the first fast-casual brand to include food robotics into its operations at this level. The partnership also parallels the recently announced Wing Zone Labs – a franchisee of Wing Zone that will support the company’s overall corporate innovation efforts. Wing Zone Labs will deploy Flippy at its 20 upcoming locations in Southern California to handle the frying station for chicken wings and other fried menu items. |
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Shape Process Automation, Mujin Team up on Mixed-Case Depalletizing
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Robotic systems integrator Shape Process Automation (SPA) has announced a collaboration with Mujin to enhance its automation solutions with Mujin’s intelligent robotics platform. The two companies plan to showcase a Mujin-powered mixed-case depalletizing and palletizing solution at the upcoming Automate 2022 show in Detroit, June 6-9. The collaboration is designed to more quickly bring difficult-to-automate tasks such as mixed-case depalletizing and palletizing to more warehouses and manufacturing facilities throughout North America, the companies said. |
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In Case You Missed It
iRobot Unveils iRobot OS, an Evolution of its Home Platform
Consumer robotics leader iRobot has announced the iRobot OS, an evolution of the company’s Genius Home Intelligence platform. The new OS aims to deliver a new level of customer experiences for cleaner, healthier and smarter homes. Through leveraging an installed base of more than 20 million connected devices, the iRobot OS is already enabling more than 2.7 million cleaning missions every day around the world, iRobot said. “As iRobot expands its ecosystem of connected robots and smart home devices, we are placing a strategic emphasis on superior software intelligence delivered on high-performance, beautifully designed hardware,” said Colin Angle, chairman and CEO of iRobot. “iRobot OS brings it all to life, enabling products that understand the home environment, respect customer preferences and intuitively connect with the smart home ecosystem to get the job done. iRobot OS lets our robots get smarter and clean even more effectively over time, delivering valuable new features and functionality that benefits all customers, including pet owners, busy families and those looking to get the most out of their voice assistants. This is just the beginning, and we look forward to continuously building upon iRobot OS, providing customers with even more thoughtful ways to clean in the months and years ahead.” Read More |
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Featured Article
North American Robot Sales Surge Continues, Says A3
The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) reported that North American companies purchased the most robots ever in a single quarter during Q1 2022, with 11,595 robots sold at a value of $646 million. The Q1 numbers represent a growth of 28% over Q1 2021, and 7% higher than Q4 2021, the previous best quarter. Each industry segment experienced double-digit growth over the same quarter of 2021, A3 added. “Every industry, including agriculture, construction, retail and hospitality, is now looking at how they can take advantage of robotics to make their companies more successful,” said Alex Shikany, the vice president of membership and business intelligence at A3. “These companies recognize what we at A3 have long believed, that robots can not only take over the dull, dirty and dangerous jobs that are so hard to fill, but they can save and create jobs as automation helps them grow their business.” Read More |
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Event Coverage
A Closer Look: Iris Automation at Xponential 2022
At Xponential 2022 in Orlando, we caught up with Lori DeMatteis, Iris Automation’s global vice president of customer success, and got more information about its Casia G system, a 360-degree ground-based detect-and-avoid airspace perimeter monitor. Iris Automation is a safety avionics technology company pioneering on- and off-board perception systems and aviation policy services that enable customers to build scalable operations for crewed and uncrewed aircraft, across numerous industries. The company’s Casia system runs either onboard an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or in a ground-based configuration. Read More |
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A Closer Look: AlarisPro’s UAS Fleet Management Software
At Xponential 2022 in Orlando, we spent some time at the AlarisPro booth to discuss their advanced fleet management software for the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) market. The Baltimore-based company was founded in 2019 by a group of aviation experts “to induce and foster a culture of safety and innovation in the UAS community that benefits all stakeholders: Operators, Manufacturers, Component Suppliers, and Regulators.” AlarisPro’s cloud-based software provides UAS operators with a single, consolidated view of fleet operations to maximize crew efficiency, logistics and maintenance costs, as well as offer helpful guidance with FAA regulatory compliance issues. Read More
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A Quick Look at UAV Engines at Xponential 2022
At the recent Xponential 2022 event in Orlando, we got a quick look at some smart looking power plants that were on display at the UAV Engines exhibit. Based in the U.K., UAV Engines was formed in 1992 specifically to develop and market Wankel engine technology for use in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The company has many thousands of engines in more than 30 types of aircraft in service around the world, with its engines reportedly recording “well over 1.5 million flight hours.” Read More |
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A Closer Look: One Stop Systems at Xponential 2022
At the One Stop Systems (OSS) booth at Xponential 2022, we saw several computer systems designed for use in autonomous vehicles of several types, or at ground stations. The San Diego-based company designs and manufactures edge computing modules and systems. OSS’s vehicle systems are equipped with specialized high-performance edge computing equipment. This includes high-bandwidth data ingest components tied to a myriad of video, radar and lidar sensors, high-capacity and low-latency storage subsystems, as well as high-performance compute engines. Read More View Video |
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Robotic Mowers
Scythe Robotics Passes 5,000 Reservations for Autonomous Mower
Scythe Robotics, which develops commercial-grade autonomous systems for landscapers, has announced it surpassed 5,000 reservations for its Scythe M.52, an all-electric, fully autonomous mower. Founded in 2018, Scythe is aiming to transform the commercial landscaping industry, which continues to struggle with labor shortages yet has not seen substantial technological innovation in decades. The demand for its M.52 includes several businesses that include $1 million to hundreds of millions in annual revenue, the company said. Read More |
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Toro Launches New Battery-Powered Robotic Mower
Toro has announced a new robotic, battery-powered motor with new features and advances in technology to showcase the company’s “commitment to tech-forward property care.” Pre-orders of the mower will begin in fall 2022, with availability expected in spring 2023. The mower features a vision-based localization and wire-free navigation, with easy setup and the ability to tailor mowing to a yard without pricey and failure-prone underground boundary wire installation, Toro said. The proprietary vision system uses multiple cameras to map and localize in the yard, enabling the mower to navigate tight spaces and move around structures such as trees and landscaping. Toro said the mower can also cross surfaces, such as sidewalks and driveways, to maintain all areas of a property. Read More |
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Robotics News
AMP Robotics Continues European Expansion of Recycling Robotics
AMP Robotics, which develops artificial intelligence, robotics and infrastructure for the waste and recycling industry, has announced an expansion of its presence in Europe to meet demand and provide dedicated local support and services. The company installed its first AI-guided robotics systems in the U.K. and Ireland with Recyco in September 2021, and has since deployed more recycling solutions throughout Europe, including with FCC Medio Ambiente/Environment in Spain. The company said it has also grown its team to include sales support, training, service and marketing, along with direct sales staff to focus on Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Read More |
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FDA Grants Clearance for Stryker Q Guidance System for Spine Applications
Stryker, which develops medical technologies in orthopedics, neurotechnology and spine applications, has announced that its Q Guidance System has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). When used with Stryker’s Spine Guidance Software, the Q system is an advanced planning and intraoperative guidance system that can enable open or percutaneous computer-assisted surgery. Stryker said the Spine Guidance Software is the first spine navigation software to receive clearance from the FDA for use with pediatric patients aged 13 and older. The system aims to deliver surgical spine planning and navigation capability through multiple tracking options, software algorithms and smart instrumentation. Read More |
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