Daily Archives: November 12, 2019

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Global Robotics and Automation Actuators Market Size, By Actuation, By Type, By Application, By End-User Industry By Region; Growth Potential, Trends Analysis, Competitive Market Size and Forecast, 2015-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Robotics and Automation Actuators Market is estimated to grow with a significant rate during the forecast period 2019-2025, due to increasing investments in automation across industry verticals as well as digitalization of production processes.

Moreover, the major factor driving market growth is increased need for various industrial automation to leverage their profits and provide better quality products.

Furthermore, the growing use of Robotics and Automation Actuators in the automotive, aerospace, and healthcare industries for reduction of labor-cost and overcoming the lack of skilled labor will accelerate the growth of the Robotics and Automation Actuators market. Additionally, increasing investment in process automation across various industries will contribute to Robotics and Automation Actuators market growth during the forecast period.

Also, the precise movements and accuracy in performing tasks, the increased awareness about the activities performed by the industrial robots, and applications of robots for improving output and quality and complex tasks performed are expected to boost the Robotics and Automation Actuators market in the upcoming year. In addition, the rapid adoption of robotics in food & beverages and electronics industry will influence the global Robotics and Automation Actuators market over the forecast period.

Electric Actuation of Robotics and Automation Actuators market is projected to be the leading segment of the overall market during the forecast period

On the basis of Actuation, the Robotics and Automation Actuators market has been segmented into Electric, Pneumatic, and Hydraulic. Electric dominates the global Robotics and Automation Actuators owing to their higher efficiency and greater levels of control than Pneumatic and Hydraulic. Pneumatic will boom by its application in miniaturization, materials, and integration with electronics and condition monitoring.

A rotary type of Robotics and Automation Actuators market is projected to be the dominating segment of the overall market during the forecast period

On the basis of Type, the Robotics and Automation Actuators market has been segmented into Rotary and Linear. The rotary segment will lead the global Robotics and Automation Actuators market owing to growing applications in automation industries such as gates, valves, etc. Linear segment will be trigger by its features such as process repeatability, reduce variability, and meet quality expectations and lower manufacturing cost.

Robotics are projected to lead applications of the Robotics and Automation Actuators during the forecast period

On the basis of Application, the global Robotics and Automation Actuators market has been segmented into Process Automation and Robotics. By Application, Robotics segment will lead the market owing to the increasing adoption of robots in automotive and electrical & electronics, pharmaceutical, pulp & paper, and food & beverages. Process automation will drive by its features like increase speed of/reduce errors in customer-facing processes to increase customer satisfaction, reduce manual data edits, increasing quality of data, reducing compliance risks and simplifying audit.

Automotive is projected to lead the industry for utilizing applications of the Robotics and Automation Actuators during the forecast period

On the basis of End-user industry, the global Robotics and Automation Actuators market has been segmented into Automotive, Electronics, Food & Beverages, Construction, and Healthcare. By End-User Industry, Automotive segment will lead the market due to The rising adoption of robots to provide high-quality products to the customers has resulted in increased adoption of industrial robots in this industry. Food & beverages will grow by growing usage of robots for packaging segment.

The Asia-Pacific accounts for the lion's share of the global Robotics and Automation Actuators market during the anticipated period.

On the basis of region, the Robotics and Automation Actuators market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. The Asia Pacific dominates the world Robotics and Automation Actuators market over the forecast period owing to the increasing demand for industrial robots and process automation in different industrial verticals. North America market will trigger by the huge demand for robots for better productivity across various industries.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Research Framework

2. Research Methodology

3. Executive Summary

4. Industry Insights

4.1. Industry Value Chain Analysis

4.2. Industry Impact and Forces

4.2.1. Growth Drivers

4.2.2. Challenges

4.2.3. Opportunities

4.3. Regulatory Framework

4.4. By Company (Market Share 2018)

4.5. Growth Potential analysis, 2018

4.6. Strategic Outlook

4.7. Porter's Five forces analysis

4.8. PESTEL Analysis

5. Global Robotics and Automation Actuators Market Overview

5.1. Market Size & Forecast

5.1.1. By Value

5.2. Market Share & Forecast 2015-2025, (USD Million)

5.2.1. By Actuation

5.2.1.1. Electric

5.2.1.2. Pneumatic

5.2.1.3. Hydraulic

5.2.2. By Type

5.2.2.1. Rotary

5.2.2.2. Linear

5.2.3. By Application

5.2.3.1. Process Automation

5.2.3.2. Robotics

5.2.4. By End-User Industry

5.2.4.1. Automotive

5.2.4.2. Electronics

5.2.4.3. Food & Beverages

5.2.4.4. Construction

5.2.4.5. Healthcare

5.2.5. By Region

5.2.5.1. North America

5.2.5.2. Europe

5.2.5.3. Asia Pacific

5.2.5.4. LATAM

5.2.5.5. MEA

6. North America Robotics and Automation Actuators Market

7. Europe Robotics and Automation Actuators Market

8. Asia Pacific Robotics and Automation Actuators Market

9. Latin America Robotics and Automation Actuators Market

10. Middle East & Africa Robotics and Automation Actuators Market

11. Company Profile: Overview, Financial Matrix, Key Product landscape, Key Personnel, Key Competitors, Contact Address, SWOT Analysis and Strategic Outlook

11.1. Rockwell Automation

11.2. Moog

11.3. Curtiss Wright

11.4. ABB

11.5. Altra Industrial Motion

11.6. Rotork

11.7. Auma

11.8. Flowserve

11.9. Emerson

11.10. Misumi Group

11.11. SKF

11.12. DVG Automation

11.13. Festo

11.14. Harmonic Drive

11.15. IAI

11.16. Nook Industries

11.17. Rotomation

11.18. Tolomatic

11.19. Kinitics Automation

11.20. Chuanyi Automation

11.21. SMC

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/jv06xi

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Global Robotics and Automation Actuators Markets, 2015-2018 & 2019-2025 - ResearchAndMarkets.com - Business Wire

Six things are happening in robotics in the Boston area right now.

The warehouse remains hot. The news last week that Amazon Robotics is adding jobs and workspace in Westborough was a ripple from Amazons 2012 acquisition of a local robotics startup, Kiva Systems, which now supplies much of the infrastructure that enables Amazons massive warehouses to fulfill orders so efficiently. In 2015, a couple of Kiva alumni founded 6 River Systems of Waltham, which also sought to make warehouses more efficient. It was snapped up in September by Shopify, a Canadian company that provides support services to online retailers.

Investors remain cool. Kiva and 6 River may be the two biggest financial successes of the past decade in robotics, says Ajay Agarwal, a venture capitalist at Bain Capital Ventures in Boston who put money into Kiva. In robotics, there have been a handful of successes and a lot that have not worked, Agarwal says. Even though his firm did well when Amazon bought Kiva, Agarwal says that he hasnt seen a lot that we were excited about backing since Kiva. Agarwal and Bilal Zuberi, an investor at Lux Capital, agree that many robotics companies are more interested in working on really tough technical problems often a continuation of their founders academic research. Most of the robotics sectors wins have been under people who are not trying to commercialize research, but identifying real business opportunities, and only then putting solutions together that address those problems, Zuberi says. (His firm was an investor in CyPhy Works, a Danvers maker of surveillance drones that ceased operations earlier this year.)

The most consistent local investor in the robotics sector? iRobot Ventures, an arm of Burlington-based iRobot. Since 2014, it has put money into about a dozen startups including 6 River.

Simplicity sells. Perhaps the hottest-selling bot at the MassRobotics expo is made by a Lincoln startup called MVP Robotics. Its a 160-pound, $5,500 tackling dummy with a top speed of 16 miles per hour, designed for football practices. There are no artificial intelligence routines running in this robots noggin: its actions on the field are controlled by a coach on the sidelines. But its a way for teams to practice tackling in a realistic way, without human putting players at risk. And MVP already counts as customers half of the National Football Leagues teams, and about 50 colleges. The companys next product is a mobile dummy dubbed HEKTR that police officers can shoot at with live ammo during training. If your aim is good enough, HEKTR falls over.

Drones for business use may soon take flight. American Robotics is a drone-maker that has built a fully-automated system thats contained in what looks like a big white crate. Its basically a drone airport in a box. When its time to fly, doors on the top slide open and an aircraft with four rotors rises into the sky. When the drone returns, it can be recharged without human intervention. American Robotics CEO Reese Mozer says the first market they will focus on is agriculture, giving farmers a high-resolution picture of how well their crops are doing on a daily basis. But before American Robotics is cleared for take-off, it needs to prove to the Federal Aviation Administration that its system can detect and avoid other aircraft without the need for a human pilot or visual observer, Mozer explains. The company hopes that will happen next year.

Can Boston Dynamics transform YouTube views into revenue? Some of the best-recognized robots in the world right now are produced by Boston Dynamics, a Waltham company owned by the conglomerate SoftBank of Japan.

You know the dog-like and humanoid bots youve seen on YouTube that fall over, get back up, open doors, and generally look like theyre ready to take over the world. Boston Dynamics wasnt showing off its robots at the MassRobotics open house last month; CEO Marc Raibert says its too busy doing testing of a four-legged walking robot called Spot at customer locations all over the country, including construction sites, an airport, gas and oil facilities, electric power distribution facilities, and an unnamed entertainment company. (Raibert says there will be a Boston-area demo at the Museum of Science on Dec. 15.)

Zuberi, the venture capitalist at Lux, says hes still a skeptic when it comes to Boston Dynamics, which spun out from MIT way back in 1992: I havent see any signs that they are building systems that solve any specific problems as yet, he says.

Boston startups are trying to identify lots more jobs robots can do. One thing that makes robotics such an interesting field to track is the continual search for ways that todays technologies can perform a useful task.

Root.ai is developing a robot that can tell when fruits like tomatoes or strawberries are ripe and if so, pluck them without accidentally juicing them. Impossible Innovations is developing a snake-like robot that would be able to inspect the inside of pipes and other tight spaces.

Pickle Robot Co. is building a robot (named Dill, naturally) that will be able to load or unload trucks. And Franklin Robotics, based in Billerica, has already delivered 2,000 solar-powered robots that can whack weeds in a garden. But founder Joe Jones notes that there are 42 million gardeners in the United States, and most of them dont love dealing with weeds. He wants to make Franklins $350 weeding robot as ubiquitous as the hoe, he says.

Sounds crazy, until you learn a bit about Jones background: while working at iRobot, he led the team that created the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner. That product is the Big Mac of the consumer robotics biz, with more than 25 million sold.

Scott Kirsner can be reached at kirsner@pobox.com. Follow him on Twitter @ScottKirsner.

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The robots are coming, faster than ever - The Boston Globe

Robotic arms can move fast enough to snatch thrown objects right out of the air but should they? Not unless you want them to unnerve the humans theyre interacting with, according to work out of Disney Research. Roboticists there found that slowing a robots reaction time made it feel more normal to people.

Disney has, of course, been interested in robotics for decades, and the automatons in its theme parks are among the most famous robots in the world. But there are few opportunities for those robots to interact directly with people. Hence a series of research projects at its research division aimed at safe and non-weird robot-human coexistence.

In this case the question was how to make handing over an item to a robot feel natural and non-threatening. Obviously if, when you reached out with a ticket or empty cup, the robot moved like lightning and snapped it out of your hands, that could be seen as potentially dangerous, or at the very least make people nervous.

So the robot arm in this case (attached to an anthropomorphic cat torso) moves at a normal human speed. But theres also the question of when it should reach out. After all, it takes us humans a second to realize that someone is handing something to us, then to reach out and grab it. A computer vision system might be able to track an object and send the hand after it more quickly, but it might feel strange.

The researchers set up an experiment where the robot hand reached out to take a ring from a person under three conditions each of speed and delay.

When the hand itself moved quickly, people reported less warmth and more discomfort. The slow speed performed best on those scores. And when the hand moved with no delay, it left people similarly uneasy. But interestingly, too long a delay had a similar effect.

Turns out theres a happy medium that matches what people seem to expect from a hand reaching out to take something from them. Slower movement is better, to a certain point one imagines, and a reasonable but not sluggish delay makes it feel more human.

The handover system detailed in a paper published today (and video below) is robust against the usual circumstances: moving targets, unexpected forces and so on. Itll be a while before an Aristocats bot takes your mug from you at a Disney World cafe, but at least you can be sure it wont snatch it faster than the eye can follow and scare everyone around you.

See more here:

This robotic arm slows down to avoid the uncanny valley - TechCrunch

Robotics today has emerged as a distinct area and skill in engineering, combining the field of mechanical, electrical, computer science, programming, among others. It deals with the design, operation, construction and use of robots. With the progress of computer science and related research technologies, Robotics jobs in India are gaining more traction. However, while the job seems straightforward, the path to a career in robotics is more complex.

Fortunately, there are ample of best institutions and universities offering courses and certifications in Robotics. Here we list the best from the rest.

Location: Hyderabad

Description: IIITH, an autonomous university, founded as a not-for-profit public-private partnership (N-PPP) in 1998 and is the first IIIT in India under this model. The university offers a large variety of programmes undergraduate, post-graduate, Ph.D. alongside part-time programmes. IIITH has a Robotic Research Lab, aims to work on research problems and innovative projects that extend the state-of-the-art in robotics.

Intake Through: JEE Mains

Location: Kanpur

Description: IIT Kanpur has the Center for Robotics, which offers courses by faculty members from Aeronautical, Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering Departments.

Intake Through: GATE

Location: Allahabad

Description: IIIT Allahabad offers M.Tech. in Robotics through CCMT counseling based on the score obtained in GATE. Candidates for robotics to join in IIITA must complete B.E./ B.Tech. in the relevant stream.

Intake Through: GATE

Location: Manipal

Description: MIT offers a Bachelors and Masters program in engineering streams. The institute also offers an M. Tech programme in Industrial Automation and Robotics under its Mechatronics Department.

Intake Through: GATE and MU-OET

Location: Vadodara

Description: Parul University offers B.Tech. in Robotics and Automation under the department of Robotics and Automation. For this course, candidates must pass 10+2 in Science Stream with the mandatory subject and other subjects from a recognized Institute/Board with 45%.

Intake Through: GUJCET and JEE Main

Location: Gurugram

Description: Amity University offers an integrated B.Tech. + M.Tech. in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. Eligible candidates need to appear for the Amity Joint Entrance Examination (Amity JEE). Additionally, JEE-Mains qualified candidates are exempted from Amity JEE.

Intake Through: Marks obtained in 10+2 and rank in Amity JEE/ JEE-Mains

Location: Hyderabad

Description: University College of Engineering, Osmania University offers M.E. in Automation and Robotics. Candidates must pass with 50% in graduation and the score obtained in Post Graduate Engineering Common Entrance Test (TS PGECET) or GATE score.

Intake Through: GATE

Location: Delhi

Description: Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University offers M. Tech. in Robotics and Automation Engineering. For this programme, candidates must complete B.Tech./B.E. in Computer Science/Computer Engineering / Computer Science and Engineering/Information Technology or equivalent with 60%.

Intake Through: IPU CET and GATE

Location: Mysore

Description: NIE Mysore offers M.Tech. in Industrial Automation and Robotics for 2 years full-time programme. Candidate must complete B.E./ B.Tech in relevant stream with 50%.

Intake Through: GATE and Karnataka PGCET

Location: Coimbatore

Description: PSG College of Technology (PSGCT), Coimbatore offers B.E. in Robotics and Automation Engineering under the department of Robotics and Automation Engineering. Candidates who have passed 10+2 (Academic) or its equivalent with 45% in Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry put together, will be eligible for this programme.

Intake Through: TNEA (Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions)

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Top 10 Robotics Institutes in India - Analytics Insight

The robots are coming. To Westborough.

Amazon on Wednesday will announce a big expansion of its robotics operation, leasing 350,000 square feet at a shuttered drug manufacturing plant in the MetroWest town. The company plans to spend $40 million upgrading a former AstraZeneca facility, where it expects to add about 200 workers over the next few years, designing, building, and testing robotics equipment.

The move will further cement Bostons status as a robotics hub for the e-commerce giant, which bought North Readings Kiva Systems in 2012. That firms technology, which picks and sorts packages for faster delivery, has proved to be a key ingredient in the explosion of Amazons ever-more-automated logistics and distribution centers around the country, and the presence of whats now called Amazon Robotics in Greater Boston has grown to several hundred employees.

Amazons move to Westborough really validates the strength of the robotics cluster here, said Mike Kennealy, the state economic development secretary. It speaks volumes about the future of robotics in Massachusetts, to have a world-leading company double down on what theyve already done in North Reading.

Along with North Reading, Amazon Robotics already has a small office in Westborough with a few dozen workers. They will move to the old AstraZeneca plant on Otis Street off Route 9, next year, with the full plant set to open after renovations in 2021.

This will be a world-class facility where our teams can design, build, program, and ship our robots, all under the same roof, said Tye Brady, chief technologist at Amazon Robotics. This expansion will allow us to continue to innovate quickly and improve delivery speed for customers around the world.

Itll also bring new life to a white elephant of the MetroWest.

The vast plant, with its distinctive three-story glass pyramid, has sat empty for nearly three years since AstraZeneca moved out at the end of 2016. The facility was long Westboroughs biggest taxpayer, and at its peak employed more than 800 people making Pulmicort, a childrens asthma medication, until the drugmaker consolidated production elsewhere.

After AstraZeneca left, Framinghams Atlantic Management bought the 66-acre campus for $6.5 million and has been marketing it since. The deal with Amazon will fill about three-quarters of the space in the existing building.

Atlantic also co-owns the former NECCO candy plant in Revere where Amazon last month announced plans for an enormous delivery station to improve next-day and same-day delivery in Greater Boston. Amazon is also planning a nearly 4-million-square-foot fulfillment center in North Andover and is also constructing a 17-story office building in the Seaport District that will eventually employ about 2,000 tech workers. Thats on top of roughly 4,000 people already working for Amazon in Massachusetts today.

Amazon said it chose Westborough in part because of its ability to draw workers from across the state, along the Massachusetts Turnpike to the west and along Interstate-495 to both the north and south. The company will not seek tax incentives from either the state or the town.

Governor Charlie Baker touted the move as further validation of the states talented workforce and strong knowledge economy.

Massachusetts is home to a nation-leading innovation economy with a highly educated and skilled workforce, Baker said in a statement. We are proud of the life-changing research and high quality of life that attracts leading companies to invest and grow here.

Jon Chesto can be reached at Jon.Chesto@globe.com.

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Amazon expanding robotics operation to Westborough - The Boston Globe

CHEYENNE As teammates and coaches from Cheyennes Meadowlark Elementary looked on, their Lego robot slowly rolled forward and stacked blocks on top of each other.

Nice try! Keep going! said Sarah Holle, one of the coaches for the Meadowlark team, following one of the test runs.

Using their robot, the team was trying to find a new use for the old Cheyenne Regional Airport terminal. The teams idea?

We would change it into an aeronautical flight museum, said team member Jace Ketcham, 11.

Their project was in line with the City Shapers theme for the second annual Laramie County Robotics Scrimmage, which was hosted Saturday by Laramie County School District 1 at the administration building and Storey Gym.

They had to look out in the community for things that were an issue, said Julie Calkins, the districts science coordinator. They have to choose, as a team, what mission theyre going to accomplish, and then they have to figure out how theyre going to do that.

During the day, about 20 teams from local elementary schools participated in the First Lego League, which was divided into two competitions based on grade level.

Saturdays scrimmage served as a dress rehearsal for the State Robotic Competition next month in Casper, and Calkins said it helped the teams last year.

We had one of our elementary teams take second place overall in the state, and it qualified them for an international competition, Calkins said.

The team members from Meadowlark Elementary said the presentation aspect of the competition is important.

Its a little stressful, said Ketcham, to which his teammate, Vesper Seitz, quickly added, Very stressful.

Seitz, 11, said despite the stress, the competition becomes fun once it gets started.

Its a great opportunity to learn how to code because our world is very rapidly changing, and coding is becoming one of the new things, Seitz said.

Since kids are coding in class, Calkins said they should get a chance to use their skills in a fun, competitive setting.

Coding is another language, and the younger you are when you learn a language, the more proficient youre going to be at it later on, Calkins said. These kids are ready to code, they want to code, so why wouldnt you let them code?

Though kids have the desire to code, it still requires persistence. Jessice Freeman, a teacher and coach at Bain Elementary, said her schools students started coding last year as part of their curriculum, allowing them to develop some initial background knowledge.

Coding itself is challenging, Freeman said. It involves a lot of trial and error and a lot of patience and flexibility on their part, but I do feel like theyre getting to where they need to be.

While most teams had been working on their robots since the start of the school year, others were participating on short notice. Freeman said her team just started in October.

Everything just started way later than what we wouldve preferred it to start, Freeman said. Coming into this scrimmage, we felt a little bit behind where we needed to be, but watching how the kids stepped up this morning in front of the judges ... they did awesome.

Calkins said the competition has long-term effects, helping kids to thrive in college and beyond.

One of my favorite things I hear them say is, Now I know why we did that today in class. I get it. That will work here, Calkins said. How awesome is that to make our instruction applicable in their everyday life?

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Students put skills to the test in robotics competition - Wyoming Tribune

Two of the most well-known robotics companies have jointly opened a collaborative automation center in Barcelona, Spain.

Universal Robots, the maker of the best-selling collaborative robotic arms, and Mobile Industrial Robots, which makes mobile robots for warehouses, say the new facility will help promote collaborative automation in southern Europe.

Described as the first worldwide hub focusing on collaborative robotics, the center is located in 22@ district of Barcelona.

More than 150 people attended the recent launch event.

The new hub is 1,500 sq meters that are occupied by each companys different offices, plus a joint showroom where the latest technology and applications for cobots will be demonstrated. About 30 people work in the hub.

Conceived as an inspirational space to innovate in collaborative robotics and mobile robotics, the new site will also host training sessions and meetings for generating synergies between developers, distributors and manufacturers.

Founded in the city of Odense, Denmark, UR and MiR are the two largest and leading robotics companies in Odense. The two companies are now extending their presence in Barcelona as well.

In recent years, the Catalan capital has become a focal point in automation. According to the Agency for Competitiveness of the Government of Catalonia, nowadays there are a thousand foreign companies in technology sectors in Catalonia.

Matilde Villarroya, general director of industry for the Government of Catalonia, who attended the opening, said: Catalonia has the qualities that foreign companies value to invest in: a dynamic, diversified and internationalized economy with excellent infrastructure and an innovative business environment.

The project of UR and MiR is very relevant for the Catalan economy: Industrial robotics is a key factor in the transition to Industry 4.0 and plays a very important role for the society development.

According to Jrgen von Hollen, president of UR, the selection of the 22@ district of Barcelona as the place for the new hub responds to a strategic decision.

Hollen said: We have chosen Barcelona because it gives us access to qualified resources, ability to attract talent from around the world, a vibrant business activity and good infrastructure.

Thomas Visti, CEO of MiR, said: This collaborative robot hub will bring us even closer to the Southern European market and to letting us share the latest technologies.

This is a great opportunity for us, as this is a market of high potential, where we see continuously more companies in all types of industries that are interested in optimizing processes with collaborative robots to stay competitive.

Jens Kisling, Danish Ambassador for Spain and Andorra, said: The alliance between companies, academic institutions and the public sector developed a high level technological center in Odense, Denmark.

UR and MiR are two excellent representatives of that. Now the model has been exported to Barcelona, creating a collaborative robotics center for Southern Europe.

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Universal Robots and Mobile Industrial Robots open collaborative automation center in Spain - Robotics and Automation News

Listen to another podcast from the team at Robohub. More podcasts from them can be found here.

In this episode, Lilly Clark interviews Nicholas Roy, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, about the Quest for Intelligence initiative and his research in robust robotics. Roy discusses how cognitive science pushes artificial intelligence, further pushing the capabilities of engineering tools and services, and speaks about the importance of explainable and ethical AI. He explains the challenges of capturing context and semantics in useful models of a system and designing unmanned aerial vehicles and robots which interact with humans.

Nicholas Roy

Nicholas Roy is the Bisplinghoff Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT and leads the Robust Robotics Group in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. He received a BS and MS from McGill University and a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University. His research interests span robotics, machine learning, planning and reasoning, and human-computer interaction.

A.I. Artificial IntelligenceMIT CSAILRobust Robotics

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Robohub Podcast - Robust Robotics and the Quest for Intelligence, with Nicholas Roy - Irish Tech News

In the current era, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and a few other technologies are in the spotlight. However, robotics remains to be a major tech of the future as everything is becoming automated. Understanding this, there are some startups in the robotic sector that are aiming to deploy robots and cobots in an efficient way.

Heres a call out for those interested to participate, reserve your spot now.

The Dutch startup Smart Robotics combines robotics with AI to enable the fast and flexible deployment of robots. Established in 2015 by Mark Menting and Heico Sandee, Smart Robotics is a leading developer of intelligent, and robot-independent software for the fast development of collaborative robots and cobots.

The Dutch robotics startup just announced that it has secured a substantial investment in a round led by Dutch high-tech VC Innovation Industries and Mirai Creation Fund II, which is backed by Toyota Motor Corporation.

Smart Robotics will use this investment to accelerate the rollout of the companys palletising and item picking applications. Also, it will be used for the development of new software applications.

The AI-based software platform of Smart Robotics enables the fast deployment of cobots across industries such as FMCG, pharma, and e-commerce. With its software platform, the company configures the cobots easily so that there is no need to program any longer. This speeds up the process of setting up a cobot as it can be done within a few minutes. Also, it makes it possible to easily reconfigure the cobots as required.

We are excited to have Innovation Industries and Mirai on board as investors. Both parties bring valuable experience in scaling up a high-tech company to the table, said Mark Menting, Founder and Managing Director of Smart Robotics. This investment enables Smart Robotics to maintain its leadership position in cobot software.

Smart Robotics software platform deploys robotic solutions that are flexible, safe, smart, innovative, and user-friendly for logistics, packaging, e-commerce, pharma, and other industries. The startup also partners with distributors in order to scale its sales and delivery globally.

Main image picture credits: Smart Robotics

Stay tuned toSilicon Canalsfor more European technology news.

The two-day event takes place on November 14th and 15th in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

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This Dutch startup that speeds up the deployment of robots gets funded - Silicon Canals

Military robots have always been pretty dumb. The PackBot the US Army uses for inspections and bomb disposal, for example, has practically no onboard intelligence and is piloted by remote control. What the Army has long wanted instead are intelligent robot teammates that can follow orders without constant supervision.

That is now a step closer. The Armys research lab has developed software that lets robots understand verbal instructions, carry out a task, and report back. The potential rewards are tremendous. A robot that can understand commands and has a degree of machine intelligence would one day be able to go ahead of troops and check for IEDs or ambushes. It could also reduce the number of human soldiers needed on the ground.

Even self-driving cars dont have a high enough level of understanding to be able to follow instructions from another person and carry out a complex mission, says Nicholas Roy of MIT, who was part of the team behind the project. But our robot can do exactly that.

Roy has been working on the problem as part of the Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance, a 10-year project led by the Army Research Laboratory (ARL). The project team included researchers from MIT and Carnegie Mellon working alongside government institutions like NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory and robotics firms such as Boston Dynamics. The program finished last month, with a series of events to show off what it had achieved. A number of robots were put through their paces, showing off their manipulation skills, mobility over obstacles, and ability to follow verbal instructions.

The idea is that they are able to work with people more effectivelynot unlike a military dog. The dog is a perfect example of what were aiming for in terms of teaming with humans, says project leader Stuart Young. Like a dog, the robot can take verbal instructions and interpret gestures. But it can also be controlled via a tablet and return data in the form of maps and images so the operator can see exactly what is behind the building, for example.

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The team used a hybrid approach to help robots make sense of the world around them. Deep learning is particularly good at image recognition, so algorithms similar to those Google uses to recognize objects in photos let the robots identify buildings, vegetation, vehicles, and people. Senior ARL roboticist Ethan Stump says that as well as identifying whole objects, a robot running the software can recognize key points like the headlights and wheels of a car, helping them work out the cars exact position and orientation.

Once it has used deep learning to identify an object, the robot uses a knowledge base to pull out more detailed information that helps it carry out its orders. For example,when it identifies an object as a car, it consults a list of facts relating to cars: a car is a vehicle, it has wheels and an engine, and so on. These facts need to be hand-coded and are time consuming to compile, however, and Stump says the team is looking into ways to streamline this. (Others are looking at similar challenges: DARPAs Machine Common Sense (MCS) program is combining deep learning with a knowledge-base-centered approach so a robot can learn and show something like human judgment.)

Young gives the example of the command Go behind the farthest truck on the left. As well as recognizing objects and their locations, the robot has to decipher behind and left, which depend on where the speaker is standing, facing, and pointing. Its hard-coded knowledge of the environment gives it further conceptual clues as to how to carry out its task.

The robot can also ask questions to deal with ambiguity. If it is told to go behind the building, it might come back with: You mean the building on the right?

We have integrated basic forms of all of the pieces needed to enable acting as a teammate, says Stump. The robot can make maps, label objects in those maps, interpret and execute simple commands with respect to those objects, and ask for clarification when there is ambiguity in the command.

When it came to the final event, a four-wheeled Husky robot was used to demonstrate how well the software allowed robots to understand instructions. Two of the three demonstrations went off perfectly. The robot had to be rebooted during the third when its navigation system locked up.

We did overhear the comment that if the robot hadnt failed, it would have seemed like the demo was canned, so I think there was an appreciation that we were showing a system actually doing something, says Stump.

As with military dogs, Young says, trust is the key to getting robots and humans to work together. Soldiers will need to learn the robots capabilities and limitations, and at the same time, the machine will learn the units language and procedures.

But two other big challenges remain. First, the robot is currently too slow for practical use. Second, it needs to be far more resilient. All AI systems can go wrong, but military robots have to be reliable in life-and-death situations. These challenges will be tackled in a follow-on ARL program.

The Armys work could have an impact in the wider world, the team believes. If autonomous robots can cope with complex real-world environments, work alongside humans, and take spoken instruction, they will have a myriad of uses, from industry and agriculture to the domestic front. However, the military involvement in the project raises concerns for roboticists such as Oren Etzioni, CEO of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence.

Current AI and robotics systems are brittle and prone to misunderstandingthink Alexa or Siri, says Etzioni. So if we put them in the battlefield, I sure hope we dont give them any destructive capabilities.

Etzioni cites a number of issues associated with autonomous military robots, such as what happens when a robot makes a mistake or is hacked. He also wonders whether robots intended to save lives might make conflict more likely. Im opposed to autonomous robo-soldiers until we have a strong understanding of these issues, he says.

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The US Army is creating robots that can follow orders - MIT Technology Review