THEY MIGHT appear cutesy, but a pair of robots that turned up recently at the Ford Motor Company's Van Dyke Transmission Plant, in Detroit, are practical working machines. They may, indeed, point to the future of automation. Putting robots into factories is hardly a new idea—some 2.4m of them are already at work in plants around the world. But most of these are little more than giant arms, bolted firmly to the ground, that weld and paint things.
This pair of bright-yellow quadrupeds look a bit like dogs, prompting one to be nicknamed Fluffy and the other Spot (which latter moniker is also the official name given by Boston Dynamics, the American company that manufactures them, to this particular model of robot). The pair are not there to amuse the factory's human workers, though, but rather to perform an important task that Ford hopes will save it a ton of money.
While you're here, how about this:
Engineers bring surgical robots down to microscale size – Harvard Gazette
The mini-RCM is controlled by three linear actuators (mini-LAs) that allow it to move in multiple dimensions and help correct hand tremors and other disturbances during teleoperation.
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In a collaboration between Harvard and Sony, engineers have brought surgical robotics down to the microscale by creating a new, origami-inspired miniature manipulator to improve precision and control.
The robotic systems that currently assist surgeons in laparoscopic surgery can often take up an entire room, their tools larger than the delicate tissues and structures on which they operate.
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Amazon and FedEx Push to Put Delivery Robots on Your Sidewalk | WIRED
Lawmakers and lobbyists say the bill was drafted with help from Amazon. In later testimony to a state senate committee, Amazon lobbyist Jennie Massey said the bill would allow devices like Scout, the company's bright blue, six-wheeled robot , "to bring new technology and innovation to Kansas." She noted that Amazon had invested $2.2 billion in Kansas since 2010, and that the company employed 3,000 full-time workers in the state.
Sartorius knew the bill wouldn't fly. "I think some members of the committee hadn't really considered the impact on their communities," he says of the bill. He worried about a provision that would have barred cities and towns from creating their own robot regulations. Officials in Kansas City, Kansas, objected that the robots would be using public roads and sidewalks without paying into local coffers.
Other things to check out:
Dusty Robotics CEO Tessa Lau Discusses Robotics Start-Ups and Autonomous Robots for Construction
Tessa Lau is Founder/CEO at Dusty Robotics , whose mission is to increase construction industry productivity by introducing robotic automation on the jobsite. Dusty’s FieldPrinter autonomous mobile robots prints layout plans directly onto the floors of job sites using information from building information models (BIM) as a guide. FieldPrinter also generates status reports in real-time so project managers monitor progress and make adjustments if needed.
Prior to co-founding Dusty in April 2018, Lau was CTO/Co-founder at Savioke , where she orchestrated the deployment of 751 delivery robots into hotels and high-rises. Previously, she was a research scientist at Willow Garage , where she developed simple interfaces for personal robots. She also spent 11 years at IBM Research working in business process automation and knowledge capture.
Austin's Fox Robotics raises a $9M Series A for its robotic forklifts – TechCrunch
The COVID-19 pandemic is, understandably, proving to be a major driver for robotics and automation adoption. The already hot categories are proving to be even more appealing as companies look to technology amid the spread of a deadly and highly contagious virus.
Fox Robotics is the latest startup to reap the benefits of the accelerated interest in the category. The Austin-based startup told TechCrunch this week that it has raised a $9 million Series A, led by Menlo Ventures. The latest round brings its total funding to date up to $13 million, with support from previous investors Eniac, Famiglia, SignalFire, Congruent, AME and Joe.
I 'walked' Boston Dynamics' robot dog around San Francisco
The Boston Dynamics robot dog known as Spot stood out. Some people were fascinated. Others were annoyed and wary. Most, however, seemed excited to see the four-legged robot in person.
That's what I noticed from more than 4,500 miles away from home in Lima, Peru, while remotely operating the quadruped as it scurried along a busy sidewalk in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood.
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You've probably seen Spot in viral videos of it pulling a truck or opening a door . Boston Dynamics made the 65-pound robot available to the public for about $75,000 in June. Now San Francisco-based robotics management company Formant has one of its own.
LiDAR tech lets robots spot what soldiers may miss
When weapons such as IEDs (improvised explosive devices) are hidden along the roadside, they do visually change the environment, but in a manner which is subtle enough that it will likely be unnoticed by the human eye. The US Army Research Laboratory's Dr. Christopher Reardon set out to address that problem.
Working with colleagues from the University of California, San Diego, he equipped a small autonomous wheeled robot with LiDAR sensors – these detect objects and measure distances by emitting laser beams, then measuring how long it takes for the laser light to be reflected back by whatever it strikes.
Happening on Twitter
A pliable zinc-air #battery constructed by @HIT_China, @UMichChE scientists can act as both a power supply and a pr… https://t.co/S6WH3KKScv ScienceMagazine (from Washington, DC & Cambridge, UK) Wed Aug 26 09:00:41 +0000 2020
XYZ Robotics raises $17M for its pick-and-place logistics robots https://t.co/Dlu1bNVoUj by @bheater TechCrunch (from San Francisco, CA) Tue Aug 25 20:40:02 +0000 2020
iRobot Announces Major Software Update, Shift From Pure Autonomy to Human-Robot Collaboration https://t.co/UYuKxQHusb BotJunkie (from Washington DC) Tue Aug 25 18:31:19 +0000 2020
VIDEO: Taiwan robot show kicks off. Industrial robotic arms are the focus at the Taiwan Automation Intelligence a… https://t.co/8l94MEegIf AFP (from France) Fri Aug 21 04:24:33 +0000 2020
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