Germany's Kuka plans move into world of personal assistant robots
Patrick McGee for Financial Times: Industrial robotics maker will team up with Chinese parent Midea
How to Be a Winner in the Consumer Robotics Revolution
Entrepreneur: These devices are coming to a home near you, maybe your home. And that's not science fiction. How can your business get in on this?
Inside Amazon's robot-run supermarket that needs just 3 human workers
Josh Kosman for NY Post: If you’re a robot stealing somebody’s job, it’s best to stay hidden.
That’s what Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos appears to be thinking, as his Seattle-based web giant has contemplated a two-story, automated grocery store in which a staff of robots on the floor upstairs grabs and bags items for shoppers below.
The ground level of the futuristic prototype — a supermarket-sized version of its recently unveiled “Amazon Go” convenience store, with a bigger layout that could span anywhere between 10,000 and 40,000 square feet — would be devoted to goods that shoppers typically like to touch, sources briefed on the plans told The Post. Cont'd...
A robotic barista is now serving - really fast
Jon Swartz for USA TODAY: Something futuristic is brewing in a shopping complex here.
The first robotic barista in the U.S., nicknamed "Gordon," started serving up to 120 coffee drinks an hour Jan. 30— ironically, just several thousand feet away from a Starbucks in the same complex.
"A lot of us spend a lot of time in line waiting for coffee," says Henry Hu, CEO of Cafe X Technologies, the local start-up that created the robot. "And we decided to do something about it."
For about a year, the firm built a toll-booth-sized Cafe X with a sleek industrial design. The automated cafe offers seven drinks like espresso and cafe latte for $2.25 to $2.95 per 8-ounce cup. An app allows for mobile orders. (A quick sample of drinks, each flavored with hazelnut, caramel or vanilla, can attest to quality. The robotic arm moved a cup between several stations — from beans freshly ground to the pouring of coffee). Cont'd.. .
Segway's 'mobility robot platform' to begin mass production
Liu Zheng for China Daily: A China-made mobile robot is set to begin mass production for consumers later this year.
Ninebot (Beijing) Tech Co Ltd, backed by Smartphone maker Xiaomi, unveiled its self-balancing two-wheeled robot on Thursday in Beijing.
Named "Loomo", the robot was transformed from the Ninebot Mini series scooter, which was first launched in October 2015, months after the company made an announcement to acquire the 12-year-old US-based balancing-scooter pioneer Segway Inc, and became one of the largest patent holders in the industry.
The acquisition followed an $80 million investment in Ninebot by Xiaomi, Sequoia Capital and other investors. Cont'd...
The 'intelligent' robot companion that plays chess as a hobby, serves coffee and learns from its own experiences
The Daily Mail: A robot developed by engineers in Taiwan can pour coffee and move chess pieces on a board against an opponent - but he's looking for a real job.
The robot spent last week playing games against opponents at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It was displaying what developers call an 'intelligent vision system' which can see its environment and act with greater precision than its peers.
With this enhanced vision, the robot can perform variety of tasks for service and manufacturing, and can also learn on the job with artificial intelligence. Playing chess is just a hobby showcasing the robot's visual acuity - such as the ability to distinguish between different chessmen- and dexterity in gripping and moving objects. Cont'd...
Pepper the 'emotional robot' makes its way to Silicon Valley
Lauren Goode for The Verge: Pepper, the humanoid robot created by Aldebaran Robotics and SoftBank Mobile, is slowly making its way to the US — and it’s starting in Silicon Valley. The robot was seen in action this week at the b8ta store in Palo Alto, California, a gadget shop launched by former Nest employees.
Pepper was on a demo loop at the store, so we weren’t able to fully interact with it. But the idea behind Pepper is that it’s supposed to interpret and respond to a variety of customer needs. Using a combination of 2D and 3D cameras in its eyes and mouth, plus four multi-directional microphones, Pepper is able to "read" four human emotions — happiness, joy, sadness, and anger — and respond accordingly. It rolls up to you, raises its hands in greeting when you introduce yourself, and turns its head toward you when you move or talk. It is toylike and adorable. Cont'd...
Wal-Mart Experimenting With Robotic Shopping Cart for Stores
Spencer Soper & Shannon Pettypiece for Bloomberg: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is working with a robotics company to develop a shopping cart that helps customers find items on their lists and saves them from pushing a heavy cart through a sprawling store and parking lot, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Such carts are an emerging opportunity for robotics companies as brick-and-mortar stores look for innovative ways to match the convenience of Amazon.com Inc. and other online retailers, said Wendy Roberts, founder and chief executive officer of Five Elements Robotics.
Roberts, who spoke Tuesday on a robotics panel at the Bloomberg Technology Conference 2016, said her company was working with the "worlds largest retailer" on such a shopping cart.
That retailer is Wal-Mart, which is evaluating a prototype in its lab and giving feedback to the New Jersey robotics company, a person familiar said. Wal-Mart spokesman Ravi Jariwala said he couldnt immediately comment on the robotic shopping cart. Cont'd...
Qmatic's Customer Journey Platform Integrates Humanoid Robot to Serve Customers and Improve the Customer Experience in New Elisa Flagship Store
Elisa is the first retailer in northern Europe to use a humanoid robot in a live retail environment as key part of the customer journey aimed at enhancing personal and engaging interactions with customers.
Vyo Is a Fascinating and Unique Take on Social Domestic Robots
Evan Ackerman for IEEE Spectrum: A group of researchers including Michal Luria, Guy Hoffman, Benny Megidish, Oren Zuckerman, Roberto Aimi, and Sung Park from IDC Herzliya, Cornell, and SK Telecom have developed a prototype social robot called Vyo. Vyo is “a personal assistant serving as a centralized interface for smart home devices.” Nothing new there, but what sets Vyo apart is how you interact with it: it combines non-anthropomorphic design with anthropomorphic expressiveness and a tactile object-based control system into a social robot that’s totally, adorably different. But is it practical? Full Article:
Simbe Robotics launches new retail robot
By Silicon Valley Robotics via Robohub: The area of service robotics is getting active, with a new retail robot startup launching today. Tally is one of several robotics startups launching today at Haxlr8r’s 7th Demo Day. Tally is an inventory tracking robot platform fromSimbe Robotics and the “world’s first robotic autonomous shelf auditing and analytics solution” according to the press release.
Tally is in trials with several North American retailers and will traverse aisles scanning and auditing merchandise to help stores maintain ideal product placement, fill inventory gaps, and find misplaced or mispriced items. Tally is also capable of autonomously returning to base to charge.
“When it comes to the retail industry, shopper experience is everything. If a product is unavailable at the time the shopper wants to buy it, the retailer has missed an opportunity and disappointed their customer,” according to Brad Bogolea, CEO and Co-founder of Simbe Robotics. “Tally helps retailers address these challenges by providing more precise and timely analysis of the state of in-store merchandise and freeing up staff to focus on customer service.” Cont'd...
Sarcos to Debut First-of-its-Kind Snake Robot
Guardian S Robot, the Ultimate Unmanned Ground Vehicle for Security, Inspection and Non-Destructive Testing, to be Made Available in a Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS) Offering
Service Robots are Thriving in Japan
This Article contains the interview of Japan Robot Association`s Administration Department General Manager Mr. Shigeaki Yanai.
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