Industrial Automation, Robots and Unmanned Vehicles General Newsletter - Jan 2016

Japan Virtual Robotic Challenge - Fostering Innovation

Many robotic competitions in the world including DARPA and JVRC have a homogeneous goal: to significantly impact the human society by their contributions.

Robotics 2016: Doubling Throughput in Distribution and Factory Operations

Two existing bakery facilities were successfully integrated into one and finished goods capacity nearly doubled from 6,500 lbs. /hour to 12,000 lbs. /hour.

Five Open Source AutoPilot UAV Projects

Here are five open source Autopilot UAV projects that are helping accelerate the adoption of autopilot drones.

Time-of-Flight Camera - An Introduction

In this paper, we introduce the TOF technology and the theory of operation. We also compare TOF sensors with 2D machine vision and other 3D vision technologies and highlight TOF sensors' differentiating advantages.

Startup Gets $11M Funding for GPS-enabled Robots

In our automated future, the navigation capabilities of autonomous vehicles, devices and machines will demand high precision, stability and flexibility.

2016 Will Be A Pivotal Year For Social Robots

There really is an unusual affinity for human-like robotic things - which is why so much money is flowing to adapt these new social robots to quickly speak Chinese and Japanese in addition to English and to provide localized apps for their software stores.

Three Heavily Funded Robotic Arms Projects on Kickstarter

Well over a million dollars pledged for these projects.

Space Bots & Android Waste Collectors: What's Ahead for Robotics

By Elizabeth Palermo for LiveScience:  It was a good year to be a robot.

In 2015, researchers in Korea unveiled a robotic exoskeleton that users can control with their minds, a four-legged bot in China set a new world record by walking 83.28 miles (134.03 km) without stopping and 3D-printing robots in Amsterdam started work on a new steel footbridge.

What Robots and AI Learned in 2015

By Will Knight for MIT Technology Review:  The  robots didn’t really take over in 2015, but at times it felt as if that might be where we’re headed.

There were signs that machines will soon take over manual work that currently requires human skill. Early in the year details emerged of a contest organized by Amazon to help robots do more work inside its vast product fulfillment centers.

CES 2016 - Autonomous Cars Set To Dominate

BY DAVID GILBERT For International Business Times:  As cars become less about horsepower and torque and more about the technology inside, CES has become one of the most important showcases of the year for auto manufacturers. It's a sea change in how cars are built and marketed, with technology now the core, rather than an added feature. Connected, autonomous and electric vehicles will all be on display at CES 2016, with some of the world’s most talk-about companies in the field looking to make a major impact.

Google Attracts Top U.S. Automakers With Self-Driving Technology

Jack Clark for Bloomberg Business:  Google’s self-driving car technology is attracting top U.S. automakers, as Ford, Fiat Chrysler and General Motors talk with the company while laying the groundwork for a future with autonomous cars.

Bitflow is the leader in CoaXPress

With the introduction of its Cyton and Karbon CXP frame grabbers, BitFlow has established itself as the leader in CoaXPress (CXP), a simple, yet powerful, standard for moving high speed serial data from a camera to a frame grabber. With CXP, video is captured at speeds of up to 6.25 Gigabits/Second (Gb/S). Simultaneously, control commands and triggers can be sent to the camera 20 Mb/S (with a trigger accuracy of +/- 2 nanoseconds). Up to 13 W of power can also supplied to the camera. All this happens over a single piece of industry standard 75 Ohm coaxial cable. Multiple CXP links can be aggregated to support higher data rates (e.g. four links provide 25 Gb/S of data). BitFlow CXP frame grabbers open the door to applications where cable cost, routing requirements and long distances have prevented the move to high resolution, high speed digital cameras. In many cases, existing coaxial infrastructure can be repurposed for CXP with very low installation costs.

Learn More About BitFlow, INC.

Motion Controls Robotics, Inc.

As a FANUC Certified Servicing integrator with complete design, manufacturing, installation and support services, Motion Controls Robotics provides fully integrated robotic systems built to the excellent engineering standards you expect. Our systems help manufacturers and packaging companies save time and money.

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Bob Hetherington bobh@roboticstomorrow.com

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