A problem that keeps warehouse work from being fully automated has just been solved
Sarah Kessler for Quartz: A startup called RightHand robotics recently began piloting technology that automates a task robots have previously struggled to master: recognizing and picking up items from boxes.
Amazon's Robot War Is Spreading
Patrick Clark and Kim Bhasin for Bloomberg Technology: It was Amazon that drove Americas warehouse operators into the robot business.
Quiet Logistics, which ships apparel out of its Devens, Mass., warehouse, had been using robots made by a company called Kiva Systems. When Amazon bought Kiva in 2012, Quiet hired scientists.
Law requires reshaping as AI and robotics alter employment, states new IBA report
The present wave of automation, driven by artificial intelligence (AI) - the development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence - is creating a gap between current legislation and new laws necessary for an emerging workplace reality, states a report published today by the International Bar Association Global Employment Institute (IBA GEI).
Manufacturing automation to drive China's robotics spending to US$59b by 2020, says IDC
Bien Perez for South China Morning Post: Annual spending on robotics in mainland China is forecast to continue its rapid expansion and exceed US$59 billion by 2020, as demand ramps up in the countrys manufacturing industry.
Drones and robots are headed to ISC West 2017
Spencer Ives for Security Systems News: The Unmanned Security Expo will have its own section of the show floor, marked by banners and different colored carpeting. The area will feature a "flying cage" that allows ground-based robots and aerial drones to display their movement capabilities. The expo currently has about 30 exhibitors, according to Sessa, with more still joining as of mid-March.
A3 to Kick Off Automate 2017 with White Paper on Jobs in the Automation Age
The white paper explores the impact of automation on the ever-evolving job market and the growing shortage of skilled employees with experience and training in advanced technologies. A3 examines the types of jobs that are going unfilled and reviews workforce development initiatives, including education, apprenticeships, and on-the-job training that will fill labor shortages and support ongoing economic growth and productivity.
Mnuchin on robots taking US jobs: 'It's not even on our radar screen ... 50-100 more years' away
David Reid for CNBC: U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he was not worried about the mass displacement of U.S. workers by robots and could be a century before a labor crisis eventuates. "It's not even on our radar screen ... 50-100 more years," Mnuchin said.
How Open-Source Robotics Hardware Is Accelerating Research and Innovation
Erico Guizzo for IEEE Spectrum: Weve seen how, over the last several years, open source software-platforms like the Robot Operating System (ROS), Gazebo, and OpenCV, among others-has played a huge role in helping researchers and companies build robots better and faster. Can the same thing happen with robot hardware?
America may miss out on the next industrial revolution
Preparing for automation means investing in robotics
Nick Statt for The Verge: Robots are inevitably going to automate millions of jobs in the US and around the world, but there’s an even more complex scenario on the horizon, said roboticist Matt Rendall. In a talk Tuesday at SXSW, Rendall painted a picture of the future of robotic job displacement that focused less on automation and more on the realistic ways in which the robotics industry will reshape global manufacturing.
The takeaway was that America, which has outsourced much of its manufacturing and lacks serious investment in industrial robotics, may miss out on the world’s next radical shift in how goods are produced. That’s because the robot makers — as in, the robots that make the robots — could play a key role in determining how automation expands across the globe. Full article:
New Study Shows U.S. is World Leader in Robotics Automation - With $732 Billion of Robots
A new study from Redwood Software and the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) finds that the U.S. is the world leader in robotics automation investment, with an estimated robotics stock of $732 billion* - larger than the economy of Switzerland, which stood at $446 billion* in 2015.
U.S. investment in robotics was $86 billion in 2015, up from less than $40 billion in 2009, when investment hit a low following the financial crisis, and more than 15 times higher than the OECD average. Between 2011 and 2015, U.S. investments in robotics rose 30%.
"The U.S. is the world leader in robotics investment, and spending has recovered quickly since the financial crisis in 2009," said David Whitaker, Managing Economist at CEBR. "The sheer size of the economy and its large base of production in the automotive and electronic sectors make it a natural candidate for increased automation." Full Press Release:
ABB sells its first ever robot manufactured in the US to Hitachi Powdered Metals USA
ABB has sold its first robot manufactured in the United States. The IRB 2600 robot is the first to be produced at the ABB Auburn Hills, Michigan facility, and was sold by ABB Value Provider, CIM SYSTEMS, INC. to Hitachi Powdered Metals USA.
The compact robot, which is painted with special commemorative red, white and blue paint, will be used for material handling of in-process engine component parts at the Hitachi Greensburg, Indiana facility. It is the 180th ABB robot at the Hitachi plant, which installed its first ABB robot in 2005.
"The sale of ABBs first robot produced in the US to Hitachi is a tremendous milestone in the development of our manufacturing presence in the Americas," Full News Release:
Grocery 4.0: Ocado reshapes retail with robotics and automation
Jon Excell for The Engineer: Online grocer Ocado is establishing a reputation as a major technology player. Jon Excell reports
If prompted to name a UK company at the cutting edge of robotics and automation, few of us would cite one of the countrys best-known grocery retailers.
But, as The Engineer learned on a recent visit to one of its key facilities, online supermarket Ocado is establishing a reputation as a major technology player: harnessing and developing machine-learning systems, Internet of Things concepts and robotic hardware to a degree that leaves many traditional engineering businesses in the shade. Full Article:
Miso Robotics Unveils "Flippy" in CaliBurger Kitchen, Plans Worldwide Rollout
Miso Robotics and Cali Group today unveiled Flippy, an artificial intelligence-driven robot that will work alongside kitchen staff to grill burgers at CaliBurger restaurants. Flippy had its debut at the CaliBurger location in Pasadena, California. A video demonstration captured the robotic kitchen assistant flipping burgers and placing them on buns. Flippy will roll out in early 2018 and expand to more than 50 CaliBurger restaurants worldwide by the end of 2019.
Miso Robotics is pioneering the use of computer vision and deep learning software to bring low-cost, adaptable robotics into restaurants. The company's collaborative kitchen assistant handles the hazardous, tedious and time-sensitive aspects of grilling and cooks burgers to perfection every time. It easily integrates into CaliBurger's current kitchen layout without needing to reconfigure existing equipment. Full Press Release:
Rise of the Robots
If manufacturers are going to flourish in America, they’ll need to buy a lot more robots. Here are six ways to play this hot trend.
Jack Hough for Barron's: For long-term investors, robots could be one key to securing healthy corporate profit growth, and stock returns, even as wages rise. There are specific opportunities, too. Japan’s Fanuc (ticker: 6954.Japan) is far and away the U.S. market leader in industrial robots, and it’s quickly ramping up production. Its shares have been outperforming, and they could offer 20% more upside over the next year. Germany’s Kuka (KU2.Germany), which sold a majority stake last year to China’s appliance giant, Midea Group (000333.China), has similar return potential. Other stocks with high exposure to industrial robotics and factory automation include Rockwell Automation (ROK), Switzerland’s ABB(ABB), and Yaskawa Electric (6506.Japan). And for one-stop shoppers, there’s the Robo Global Robotics & Automation Index exchange-traded fund (ROBO), which tracks 85 stocks, charges annual expenses of 0.95%, and has returned 37% over the past year. Cont'd...
Brain-controlled robots
CSAIL system enables people to correct robot mistakes using brain signals.
Adam Conner-Simons via MIT News: For robots to do what we want, they need to understand us. Too often, this means having to meet them halfway: teaching them the intricacies of human language, for example, or giving them explicit commands for very specific tasks.
But what if we could develop robots that were a more natural extension of us and that could actually do whatever we are thinking?
A team from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and Boston University is working on this problem, creating a feedback system that lets people correct robot mistakes instantly with nothing more than their brains. Cont'd...
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