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FROM THE EDITOR
Robot Dogs and Hovering Phone Drones Mark Interesting Variety in Robotics
This week, Sony announced a limited edition version of its aibo robot dog for the U.S. market (except in Baltimore and Illinois, which has anti-facial recognition rules in place), and a startup also expanded its leadership team to try and bring its PhoneQuad product to market. The PhoneQuad is a drone-based quadcopter phone case that hovers in place for activities like selfies, video recording and video calls (like FaceTime). What’s interesting is it shows the range of products that involve robotics that are being innovated on – by both large corporations (Sony) and small startups looking for funding (LeshTronix Drone Systems). It also indicates that it’s a great time for companies to begin developing robotic concepts for both the commercial and consumer markets. Meanwhile, I’ll stick with my own dog, Pepper, who has surprisingly good facial recognition on her own.
– Keith Shaw, Managing Editor |
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Sponsored Content
Robust and Precise Angle Measurement over Multiple Revolutions
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Neurala Launches Detection Feature to Improve Production Line Quality Inspection
Neurala, which develops vision AI software, has announced its new detection technology, designed and developed for manufacturing and industrial settings. The new feature enables manufacturers to find and identify objects in a field of view that can improve the quality inspection process. The feature is the latest AI model from Neurala, adding to its existing classification and anomaly recognition capabilities. With the addition of detection, manufacturers can now easily find objects in a field of view, opening up new use cases and applications across segments, including robotics, automotive and logistics. |
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Topcon Launches New Robotic Scanning Positioning System
Topcon Positioning Group, which designs and manufactures precision measurement and workflow solutions for construction, geospatial and agriculture markets, has announced the release of the GTL-1200. The new system combines the power of a robotic total station with a best-in-class laser scanner, enabling users to perform digital layout and capture high-resolution 3D scans within a single setup. Topcon said the combined technology approach eliminates workflow steps for scanning applications, greatly reducing the need for post-processing because captured scan data is already on survey control or job site coordinates. |
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Elroy Air Unveils Autonomous Cargo Aircraft, the Chaparral
Elroy Air, which is developing an end-to-end autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aerial cargo system, has unveiled its pre-production Chaparral aircraft. The Chaparral can autonomously pick up 300 to 500 pounds of cargo and deliver it by air up to 300 miles, pushing beyond the limits of delivery drones and the airport infrastructure needed for piloted air cargo operations, the company said. The system is designed for commercial, humanitarian and defense logistics processes. The company said it secured agreements for more than 500 aircraft from commercial, defense and humanitarian customers that amount to more than $1 billion in aircraft demand. |
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Ecolab Partners with UVD Robots to Fight Hospital Infections
Denmark’s UVD Robots has announced that Ecolab, a global leader in infection prevention solutions and services, has expanded its portfolio to include UVID Robots in offerings to healthcare customers, hospitals, in-patient and out-patient clinics, ambulatory surgical facilities, and rehabilitation clinics. The company’s autonomous UV-C disinfection robots are utilized to help customers address hospital acquired infections (HAI) as well as protect against new coronavirus variants and other contaminants. The company said at least 20% of HAIs are considered avoidable through better infection prevention practices within healthcare settings. In addition to Ecolab, UVD is partnering with ISS World Services and its global offering of cleaning services. |
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Chevron Orders American Robotics’ Drones for Oil & Gas Inspection
Ondas Holdings, which operates American Robotics, has announced that AR received a new purchase order from Chevron for its fully autonomous, FAA-approved Scout Systems. American Robotics said this is their second Fortune 100 customer within the oil and gas space. The company’s fully automated drone systems can conduct up to 20 autonomous missions per day without having a pilot or visual observer on the ground. This technology allows for automated inspections, regular site monitoring, and enhanced safety for employees, with a lower cost and increased accuracy. American Robotics said millions of acres of assets must be continually monitored to check for oil leaks, methane emissions, and damaged equipment. |
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Silent Arrow Delivers 1,026 Pounds of Cargo Autonomously Overseas
Silent Arrow, which develops autonomous cargo drones, has announced that the air force of a U.S. allied government in the Middle East conducted the first overseas deployment of the Silent Arrow GD-2000 cargo delivery drone, under a $1.5 million operational evaluation contract. In the operation, 1,026 lbs (465 kg) of an undisclosed cargo was secured inside two GD-2000s, bringing the vehicle weight of each aircraft to 1,520 lbs (689 kg), which is below the certified maximum gross of 2,000 lbs (907 kg). |
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In Case You Missed It
MiR Says its Mobile Robot Sales Grew 42% in 2021
Denmark’s Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR), which develops autonomous mobile robots for warehouses and manufacturing environments, has announced it saw a 42% increase in sales in 2021 when compared to 2020. In addition, the company reported a record month of sales in December, with close to 300 robots shipped, higher than any previous month. “We grew significantly in 2021 despite component shortages as customers recognize the value of our safe, reliable and easy-to-deploy AMRs, said Søren E. Nielsen, president of MiR (pictured, left). “We enter 2022 with strong expectations that growth will continue, and with a very strong order book.” The company said its products have been popular in the automotive and electronics industry sectors, with large multinational companies such as Schneider Electric, Ford and Faurecia. Read More |
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Featured Article
Universal Robots Reports $300M in 2021 Revenue
Cobot manufacturer Universal Robots has announced it earned $311 million in revenue in 2021, up 41% compared with 2020 and 23% higher than revenue from 2019, pre-pandemic. The revenue numbers for Universal also represent a new record. “Universal Robots has had a great year,” said Kim Povlsen, president of Universal. “In a company like ours, which manufactures sophisticated hardware to high quality standards, this sort of growth requires tremendous commitment from all involved. Our production team in Denmark has broken internal records for the number of cobots built, producing 400 cobots in a single week in Q4. Our supply chain experts have worked hard to keep our business running smoothly despite global supply challenges.” The company reported that Q4 revenue also broke records, with 22% growth over Q4 2020 and 28% higher than Q4 2019 revenues. Read More |
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Industry News
- Flirtey Rebrands as SkyDrop for Drone Delivery Business
Flirtey has announced that it rebranded its last-mile drone delivery business to SkyDrop. The company will continue to offer OEM services of drone delivery systems for operators of last-mile delivery, as well as for existing drone companies around the world. “We have been overwhelmed by demand since we started taking pre-orders for our best-in-class last-mile drone delivery product,” said Matthew Sweeny, founder and CEO. “We are seeing enormous demand coming from operators, who are rapidly adding delivery drones to their existing fleets. Today, we are announcing our new brand SkyDrop, and focusing on selling and licensing our hardware, software, and patents to leading operators around the world at the forefront of the trillion-dollar store-to-door delivery market.”
- Sam’s Club Adds Inventory Scanning to Robot Floor Cleaners
Sam’s Club, the membership warehouse club division of Walmart, has announced a national, chain-wide rollout of an inventory scanning feature to its existing fleet of robotic scrubbers. The deployment is in partnership with Brain Corp and Tennant Company, which recently launched its Inventory Scan attachment option. With the dual function design, the scanning accessory will be fitted to almost 600 autonomous floor scrubbers that are being used in Sam’s Club stores nationwide. The towers are powered by Brain’s BrainOS, and manufactured by Tennant, combining autonomy with ease of use. Once installed, the cloud-connected Inventory Scan tower captures data as it moves around the store autonomously.
- Viam Raises $30M to Scale Robotics Creation Platform
Viam, a robotics startup developing a new robotics platform, has announced raising $30 million in a Series A round. The funding was led by Tiger Global, with participation from returning investors Union Square Ventures and Battery Ventures. The new funding raises Viam’s total financing to $42 million. Founded in 2020 by MongoDB co-founder and longtime CTO Eliot Horowitz, Viam develops a hardware- and language-agnostic platform that lets developers create, configure and control any robot from anywhere.
- NEC Develops AMR Control Technology to Double Efficiency, Maintain Safety
Japan’s NEC Corporation has announced the development of a control technology that doubles the efficiency of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) in warehouses while maintaining a high level of safety. NEC said it plans to put the technology into practical use by March 2024, and to have it installed in NEC’s cooperative AMRs in Japan. NEC said that when robots have been introduced to automate transport work, it has been necessary to reduce traveling speed to ensure safety, making it harder to improve transport efficiency. Because companies have needed to construct passageways and areas dedicated to mobile robots in order to accelerate speed while ensuring safety, it has been difficult in some cases to introduce robots into existing warehouses.
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Consumer Robots
Sony Launches Limited Edition Aibo Robot Dog in U.S.
Sony Electronics has announced that the limited-quantity aibo Black Sesame Edition Litter (model ERS1000/H) is now available for pre-order in the U.S. directly from Sony. Released in Japan in late January 2021, the aibo Black Sesame Edition is the second color variation of its aibo (model ERS1000) robotic “puppy” companion in the U.S., with availability scheduled for Feb. 14. The new robot is available for a retail price of $2,899.99, while supplies last, Sony said. Read More |
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LeshTronix Drone Systems Expands Team for PhoneQuad Drone
Startup LeshTronix Drone Systems has announced the recent expansion of its leadership team, with the goal of developing and producing the PhoneQuad, a smartphone case that hovers in the air with drone technology to act as a “floating selfie stick.” Neil Lesher, founder and CEO of LeshTronix, announced that Farouk Khailann, CEO of Premium Africa Holdings and senior vice president of ezipay.africa, has taken on the role of managing partner at LeshTronix. In addition, Arijit Bhattacharyya, founder of Indian game-dev and deep-tech company Virtualinfocom, will lead the company’s executive advisory board. Read More |
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Robotics Funding
Superpedestrian Raises $125M to Scale AI-Based Safety Software for e-Scooters
Superpedestrian, which develops transportation robotics through electronic scooters, has announced raising $125 million in debt and equity capital. The new funding will be used to expand its LINK shared e-scooter service, boost research and development, and deploy scooters with its new Pedestrian Defense safety system in 25 cities across the U.S. and Europe during 2022. The company’s AI-based software fuses data from multiple vehicle sensors, and integrates them with the scooter’s on-board Vehicle Intelligence to take real-time action on the scooter. Read More |
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Distalmotion Raises $90M to Expand Dexter Surgical Robot
Switzerland-based Distalmotion has announced raising $90 million in Series E financing to help support the global commercialization of its surgical robot, Dexter. Revival Healthcare Capital led the funding round, with participation from 415 Capital and existing investors. The CE-marked Dexter aims to shift the paradigm of robotic surgery by bringing the surgeon back into the sterile field, allowing direct patient access at all times and integrating proven laparoscopic workflows into the robotic setup, the company said. The user-centric approach makes the surgeon the focal point of the procedure, reducing complexity and delivering simplicity and versatility to the robotic surgery market. Read More |
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