maxon says it can provide all key components of a tightly integrated robotics drive from a single source. | Source: maxon

maxon group has launched its new drive systems portfolio specifically designed for modern robotics applications. The company said it believes that developers and startups should focus on their core value drivers and challenges and leave it to maxon to take care of key complexities typically associated with robotic actuators, including high performance, reliability, supply chains, integration, and testing. 

Modern robots require highly scalable manufacturing of complex and high-performance actuators, asserted maxon. Therefore, robustness and reliability are key, especially for systems operate in unstructured environments, the company added. maxon said this is one of its strengths because it designs and tests all of its robotics products to the highest quality standards. 

The Sachsein, Switzerland-based company’s new portfolio contains 15 different actuators divided into two families: High Efficiency Joints and High Precision Joints. It said each provides unique benefits to address a broad range of industrial applications. 

maxon’s High Efficiency Joint line

The High Efficiency Joints integrate torque-dense electric motors from maxon’s EC frameless DT motor lineup, planetary gears, electronics, sensing, and support structures into a fully integrated IP67 ingress-protected actuator unit. 

maxon said this line of joints can achieve up to 86% efficiencies and can output high continuous power, thanks to their integrated cooling capabilities. The joint line’s control system can be configured flexibly and support independent control of the joint. 

Target applications are mobile robots in unstructured environments, explained maxon. This includes humanoids, quadrupeds, exoskeletons, or mobile manipulators. The company said its systems enable roboticists to quickly create a high-performing robot that follows modern design principles such as those dictated by deep reinforcement learning and related simulation approaches. 

Thje new High-Efficiency Joint HEJ 90-48-140 provides 140 Nm and 13 rad/s at the joint, is IP67 rated, and contains electronics and sensors for modern robotics control systems. | Source: maxon

maxon targets systems integrators with High Precision Joints

The High Precision Joints are more configurable systems based on strain-wave gearboxes and high-resolution output encoders, said maxon. While these actuators also feature torque-dense electric motors, the company said it’s targeting systems integrators. It said hopes to enable them to quickly create robotics systems like collaborative or industrial manipulators or surgical robots. 

maxon’s High Precision Joints allow the creation of well-optimized robots. When combined with its customer-facing robotics design simulation, optimization, and consulting services, the company said it can ensure that customers obtain the right systems for their applications. 

maxon is a fully vertically integrated provider of actuation systems ranging from brushed to brushless motors, sensors, gears, and electronics. The company said this enables it to provide robotics actuators that are high-performing, low-cost, and adaptive to customer requirements.

maxon’s High Precision Joints feature strain-wave gearboxes with no backlash and high-resolution output encoders. | Source: maxon

See maxon at webinar and Robotics Summit & Expo

Carsten Horn, applications engineering manager at maxon, and Dario Renggli, business development engineer at maxon, will participate in a free webinar at noon EDT on Wednesday, April 17, on “Motion Control for Healthcare Robotics Applications.”

In addition, Tobias Wellerdieck, head of robotic drive systems at maxon, will be speaking at the Robotics Summit & Expo, which will be on May 1 and 2 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. His talk, “Holistic Drive System Optimization for Robotics,” will discuss the challenges that come with developing robotic systems for new, complex markets. 

maxon will also be exhibiting on the Robotics Summit & Expo show floor at Booth 327. The company is also a Gold Sponsor of the event. Registration is now open.

Learn from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and many more.

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igus relies on AI-supported low-cost robotics, smart maintenance, and AI-based online tools like the igusGO app to get customer applications ready for Industry 4.0. | Source: igus

igus GmbH will be introducing igusGO, an AI-powered app, alongside a series of smart sensor technologies at Hannover Messe. The company said it designed its latest sensor technologies “to streamline maintenance and optimize production processes for the lubrication-free industry of tomorrow.”

The Cologne, Germany-based company said igusGO is the centerpiece of its innovation. The app uses artificial intelligence to instantly identify optimization opportunities for designers using motion plastics. 

The app simplifies the selection process without the need for traditional catalog browsing, according to igus. The company said the app reflects its commitment to enhancing operational reliability and cost-efficiency across various applications, from heavy-duty machinery to everyday devices. 

“Our aim with igusGO and our suite of smart products is to navigate the vast potential of motion plastics with unprecedented efficiency and transparency,” stated Tobias Vogel, CEO of plain bearings and linear technology at igus.

Michael Blass, CEO of E-Chain Systems, added that innovations such as superwise, a digital service for comprehensive maintenance insights, can bolster competitiveness during challenging times. 

“By merging our innovative products with digital services, we’re demonstrating how our motion plastics can significantly enhance a wide array of applications, driving them towards a more sustainable and technologically advanced future,” he said.

The benefits of polymer bearings

igus cited its collaboration with RWTH Aachen University as an example of the economic and ecological advantages that its polymer bearings offer. They could result in potential savings of up to $14.9 million (€14 million) annually. 

Polymer bearings can also provide substantial CO₂ reductions, as exemplified by Heineken Brazil’s savings of 396.8 lb. (180 kg) of CO₂ equivalents per year through the switch to polymer bearings, said igus. 

igus also offers affordable, precise automation

igus also offers low-cost automation. The Rumford, R.I.-based company has introduced user-friendly robotics with AI-based voice and gesture control, exemplified by the ReBeL collaborative robot and its plug-and-play capabilities.

The company won a 2024 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award for its $2,760 finger gripper for the cobot. igus said these advancements are complemented by its RBTX online marketplace, which facilitates access to compatible accessories and promotes an inclusive approach to automation for companies of all sizes. 

Earlier this year, igus launched a double-shaft stepper motor for its drylin linear technology. The company said the double-shaft design allows for precise control over linear motion, enabling a range of automation, transfer-station, and format-adjustment applications.

Editor’s note: At the Robotics Summit & Expo, which will be held in Boston, igus will exhibit at Booth 414. The company will also participate in a session on “Democratizing Automation” at 2:45 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 1. Register now to attend.

Learn from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and many more.

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Collaborative Robotics has been developing a system for trustworthy operations. Source: Adobe Stock, Photoshopped by The Robot Report

Collaborative Robotics today closed a $100 million Series B round on the road to commercializing its autonomous mobile manipulator. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company said it is developing robots that can safely and affordably work alongside people in varied manufacturing, supply chain, and healthcare workflows. In many cases, this is the same work that humanoid robots are jockeying for.

Brad Porter, a former distinguished engineer and vice president of robotics at Amazon, founded Collaborative Robotics in 2022. The Cobot team includes robotics and artificial intelligence experts from Amazon, Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft, NASA, Waymo, and more.

“Getting our first robots in the field earlier this year, coupled with today’s investment, are major milestones as we bring cobots with human-level capability into the industries of today,” stated Porter. “We see a virtuous cycle, where more robots in the field lead to improved AI and a more cost-effective supply chain. This funding will help us accelerate getting more robots into the real world.”

The Robot Report caught up with Porter to learn more about the company and its product since our last conversation in July 2023, when Cobot raised its $30 million Series A.

Nothing to see here

Collaborative Robotics has been secretive about the design of its robot. You won’t find any photos of the cobot on the company’s site or anywhere else on the Web yet.

However, Porter told The Robot Report that it is already in trials with several pilot customers, including a global logistics company. He described the machine as a mobile manipulator, with roughly the stature of a human. However, it’s not a humanoid, nor does it have a six degree-of-freedom arm or a hand with fingers.

“When talking about general-purpose robots versus special-purpose robots, we know what humanoids look like, but with a new morphology, we want to protect it for a while,” he said. “We’ve been looking at humanoids for a long time, but in manufacturing, secondary material flow is designed around humans and carts. Hospitals, airports, and stadiums are usually designed around people flow. A huge amount of people is still moving boxes, totes, and carts around the world.”

The new cobot’s base is capable of omnidirectional motion with four wheels and a swerve-drive design, along with a central structure that can acquire, carry, and place totes and boxes around the warehouse. It is just under 6 ft. (2 m) tall and can carry up to 75 lb. (34 kg), said Porter.

The robot can also engage and move existing carts with payloads weighing up to 1,500 lb. (680 kg) around the warehouse. How the robot engages carts remains part of the mystery. But by automating long-distance moves and using existing cart infrastructure, Porter said he believes that the Collaborative Robotics system is differentiated from both mobile robot platforms and humanoid competitors.

“We looked at use cases for humanoids at Amazon, but you don’t actually want the complexity of a humanoid; you want something that’s stable and could move faster than people,” Porter added. “There are orders of magnitude more mobile robots than humanoids in day-to-day use, and at $300,000 to $600,000 per robot, the capital to build the first 10 humanoids is very high. We want to get robots into the field faster.”

Collaborative Robotics has kept its actual robot out of public view. | Source: Adobe Stock image Photoshopped by The Robot Report

Robots must be trustworthy

Porter said that he “believes that robots need to be trustworthy, in addition to being safe. This philosophy is driving the design and user-interface decisions that the company has made so far. Users need to understand what the robot should do by looking at it, unlike some of the existing designs of mobile robots currently on the market.”

In addition to a human-centered design approach, Collaborative Robotics is using off-the-shelf parts to reduce the robot bill of materials cost and simplify the supply chain as it begins the process of commercialization. It is also taking a “building-block” approach to hardware and plans to adjust software and machine learning for navigation and learning new tasks.

“The robot we’ve designed is 70% off-the-shelf parts, and we can design around existing motors, while every humanoid company is hand-winding its own motors to find advanced actuation capabilities,” Porter noted. “We designed the system digitally, so we don’t have to hand-tweak a bunch of things. By using 3D lidar, we know the state of the art of the technology, and it’s easier to safety-qualify.”

With large language models (LLMs), Porter said he sees the day when someone in a hospital or another facility can just tell a robot to go away. “It’s about user interaction rather than just safety, which is table stakes,” he said. “We think a lot about trustworthiness.”

Learn from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and many more.

Collaborative Robotics preps for commercialization

General Catalyst led Collaborative Robotics’ Series B round, with participation from Bison Ventures, Lux Capital, and Industry Ventures. Existing investors Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures, Mayo Clinic, Neo, 1984 Ventures, MVP Ventures, and Calibrate Ventures also participated.

Since its founding in 2022, Cobot said it has raised more than $140 million. The company plans to grow its headcount from 35, adding production, sales, and support staffers.

In addition, Collaborative Robotics announced that Teresa Carlson will be joining it as an advisor on go to market at scale and industry transformation. She held leadership roles at Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Splunk, and Flexport.

“I’m super-excited to be working with Teresa,” said Porter. “We’ve kept up since Amazon, and she thinks a lot about digital transformation at a very large scale — federal government and industry. She brings a wealth of knowledge about economics that will elevate the scope of what we’re doing.”

Paul Kwan, managing director at General Catalyst, is joining Alfred Lin from Sequoia on Collaborative Robotics’ board of directors. 

“In our view, Brad and Cobot are spearheading the future of human-robot interaction,” said Kwan. “We believe the Cobot team is world-class at building the necessary hardware, software, and institutional trust to achieve their vision.”

Editor’s note: Eugene Demaitre contributed to this article.

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Collaborative robots could become easier to program and use, thanks to new developer tools. Universal Robots A/S yesterday said it has strengthened its partnership with The MathWorks Inc. by joining the MathWorks Connections Program. The program supports developers and distributors of commercial products, training, and consulting based on MATLAB and Simulink.

The two companies have already worked closely together, co-developing a support package for Robotics System Toolbox that launched in 2023. Engineers can design, simulate, test, and deploy collaborative robot applications onto UR cobots using MATLAB and Robotics System Toolbox from MathWorks.

In addition, MathWorks became a UR+ partner last year, joining Universal Robots’ ecosystem of more than 300 companies creating products for the UR platform.

MathWorks brings MATLAB and Simulink to cobot apps

“In conjunction with MathWorks joining UR+, Universal Robots’ entry into the Connections Program formalizes the organizations’ commitment to helping engineers develop advanced cobot applications and ensures compatibility with new MathWorks releases,” said Jim Tung, a fellow at MathWorks. “With Universal Robots’ market leadership and the ability of MATLAB and Simulink to accelerate the pace of innovation, integrators and end users will continue to solve ever-more complex automation workflows.”

Founded in 1984, MathWorks is a leading developer of mathematical computing software. MATLAB, the language of technical computing, is a programming environment for algorithm development, data analysis, visualization, and numeric computation.

The Natick, Mass.-based company described Simulink as a graphical environment for simulation and model-based design of multidomain dynamic and embedded systems. MathWorks said engineers and scientists worldwide rely on its products to accelerate the pace of discovery, innovation, and development in automotive, aerospace, electronics, financial services, biotech-pharmaceutical, and other industries.

MathWorks asserted that its products are “fundamental teaching and research tools in the world’s universities and learning institutions.” It employs more than 6,000 people in 34 offices around the world.

Universal Robots co-sponsors ARM Challenge

“We are delighted to be a part of the Connections Program and to expand our collaboration with MathWorks,” said Jesper Kildegaard Poulsen, senior director of digital ecosystems at Universal Robots.

“At Universal Robots, we constantly push the boundaries of what can be automated and how easily it can be done,” he added. “Together with MathWorks, we look forward to continuing our common quest to simplify advanced cobot deployments for robotics engineers.”

In addition, Universal Robots has partnered with MathWorks to organize the Autonomous Robot Manipulation (ARM) Challenge this July in Eindhoven, Netherlands, as an affiliated event to RoboCup 2024. The ARM Challenge young researchers and students to address problems related to autonomous robot manipulation.

RoboCup and MathWorks have organized the competition since 2021. As a co-organizer in 2024, Universal Robots will provide its UR5e cobots to participants for the final rounds of the competition.

Founded in 2005, Universal Robots is a leading provider of collaborative robots used across a wide range of industries and in education. The Odense, Denmark-based unit of Teradyne Inc. offers a portfolio of cobots with a range of reaches and payload capacities.

Universal Robots said it has sold more than 75,000 robots worldwide, and its partner ecosystem offers components, kits, and systems for a a wide range of applications. The company said it “aims to create a world where people work with robots, not like robots.”

Editor’s note: Ujjwal Kumar, group president of UR parent Teradyne Robotics, will present a keynote on “Driving the Transformation of the Robotics Industry” on Day 2 of the Robotics Summit & Expo.

An RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award Winner, Universal Robots will be among those honored at the first RBR50 Gala at the Robotics Summit. Registration is now open for the event, which will be at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center on May 1 and 2.

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NEURA has developed cognitive robots in a variety of form factors. Source: NEURA Robotics

Talk about combining robotics and artificial intelligence is all the rage, but some convergence is already maturing. NEURA Robotics GmbH and Omron Robotics and Safety Technologies Inc. today announced a strategic partnership to introduce “cognitive robotics” into manufacturing.

“By pooling our sensor and AI technologies and expertise into an ultimate platform approach, we will significantly shape the future of the manufacturing industry and set new standards,” stated David Reger, founder and CEO of NEURA Robotics.

Reger founded the company in 2019 with the intention of combining sensors and AI with robotics components for a platform for app development similar to that of smartphones. The “NEURAverse” offers flexibility and cost efficiency in automation, according to the company.

“Unlike traditional industrial robots, cognitive robots have the ability to learn from their environment, make decisions autonomously, and adapt to dynamic production scenarios,” said Metzingen, Germany-based NEURA. “This opens new application possibilities including intricate assembly tasks, detailed quality inspections, and adaptive material handling processes.”

Omron has sensor, channel expertise

“We see NEURA’s cognitive technologies as a compelling growth opportunity for industrial robotics,” added Olivier Welker, president and CEO of Omron Robotics and Safety Technologies. “By combining NEURA’s innovative solutions with Omron’s global reach and automation portfolio, we will provide customers new ways to increase safety, productivity, and flexibility in their operations.”

Pleasanton, Calif.-based Omron Robotics is a subsidiary of OMRON Corp. focusing on automation and safety sensing. It designs and manufactures industrial, collaborative, and mobile robots for various industries.

“We’ve known Omron for quite some time, and even before I started NEURA, we had talked about collaborating,” Reger told The Robot Report. “They’ve tested our products, and we’ve worked together on how to benefit both sides.”

“We have the cognitive platform, and they’re one of the biggest sensor, controllers, and safety systems providers,” he added. “This collaboration will integrate our cognitive abilities and NEURAverse with their sensors for a plug-and-play solution, which everyone is working toward.”

Omron Robotics’ Olivier Welker and NEURA’s David Reger celebrate their partnership. Source: NEURA

Collaboration has ‘no limits’

When asked whether NEURA and Omron Robotics’ partnership is mainly focused on market access, Reger replied, “It’s not just the sales channel … there are no really big limits. From both sides, there will be add-ons.”

Rather than see each other as competitors, NEURA and Omron Robotics are working to make robots easier to use, he explained.

“As a billion-dollar company, it could have told our startup what it wanted, but Omron is different,” said Reger. “I felt we got a lot of respect from Olivier and everyone in that organization. It won’t be a one-sided thing; it will be just ‘Let’s help each other do something great.’ That’s what we’re feeling every day since we’ve been working together. Now we can start talking about it.”

NEURA has also been looking at mobile manipulation and humanoid robots, but adding capabilities to industrial automation is the “low-hanging fruit, where small changes can have a huge effect,” said Reger. “A lot of things for humanoids have not yet been solved.”

“I would love to just work on household robots, but the best way to get there is to use the synergy between industrial robotics and the household market,” he noted. “Our MAiRA, for example, is a cognitive robot able to scan an environment and from an idle state pick any known or unknown objects.”

MAiRA cognitive robot on MAV mobile base. Source: NEURA Robotics

Ease of use drives NEURA strategy

NEURA and Omron Robotics promise to make robots easier to use, helping overall adoption, Reger said.

“A big warehouse company out of the U.S. is claiming that it’s already using more than 1 million robots, but at the same time, I’m sure they’d love to use many more robots,” he said. “It’s also in the transformation from a niche market into a mass market. We see that’s currently only possible if you somehow control the environment.”

“It’s not just putting all the sensors inside the robot, which we were first to do, and saying, ‘OK, now we’re able to interact with a human and also pick objects,'” said Reger. “Imagine there are external sensors, but how do you calibrate them? To make everything plug and play, you need new interfaces, which means collaboration with big players like Omron that provide a lot of sensors for the automation market.”

NEURA has developed its own sensors and explored the balance of putting processing in the cloud versus the edge. To make its platform as popular with developers as that of Apple, however, the company needs the support of partners like Omron, he said.

Reger also mentioned NEURA’s partnership with Kawasaki, announced last year, in which Kawasaki offers the LARA CL series cobot with its portfolio. “Both collaborations are incredibly important for NEURA and will soon make sense to everyone,” he said.

NEURA to be at Robotics Summit & Expo

Reger will be presenting a session on “Developing Cognitive Robotics Systems” at 2:45 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 1, Day 1 of the Robotics Summit & Expo. The event will be at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, and registration is now open.

“I’ll be talking about making robots cognitive to enable AI to be useful to humanity instead of competing with us,” he said. “AI is making great steps, but if you look at what it’s doing, like drawing pictures or writing stories — these are things that I’d love to do but don’t have the time for. But if I ask, let’s say, AI to take out the garbage or show it a picture of garbage, it can tell me how to do it, but it’s simply not able to do something about it yet.”

NEURA is watching humanoid development but is focusing on integrating cognitive robotics with sensing and wearables as it expands in the U.S., said Reger. The company is planning for facilities in Detroit, Boston, and elsewhere, and it is looking for leadership team members as well as application developers and engineers.

“We don’t just want a sales office, but also production in the U.S.,” he said. “We have 220 people in Germany — I just welcomed 15 new people who joined NEURA — and are starting to build our U.S. team. In the past several months, we’ve gone with only European and American investors, and we’re looking at the Japanese market. The U.S. is now open to innovation, and it’s an exciting time for us to come.”

Learn from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and many more.

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Here are the top 10 most popular stories on The Robot Report this past month. Subscribe to The Robot Report Newsletter or listen to The Robot Report Podcast to stay updated on the latest technology developments.

10. Robotics Engineering Career Fair to connect candidates, employers at Robotics Summit

The career fair will draw from the general robotics and artificial intelligence community, as well as from attendees at the Robotics Summit & Expo. Past co-located career fairs have drawn more than 800 candidates, and MassRobotics said it expects even more people at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center this year. Read More

9. SMC adds grippers for cobots from Universal Robots

SMC recently introduced a series of electric grippers designed to be used with collaborative robot arms from Universal Robots. Available in basic and longitudinal types, SMC said the LEHR series can be adapted to different industrial environments like narrow spaces. Read More

8. Anyware Robotics announces new add-on for Pixmo unloading robots

Anyware Robotics announced in March 2024 an add-on for its Pixmo robot for truck and container unloading. The patent-pending accessory includes a vertical lift with a conveyor belt that is attached to Pixmo between the robot and the boxes to be unloaded. Read More

7. Accenture invests in humanoid maker Sanctuary AI in March 2024

In its Technology Vision 2024 report, Accenture said 95% of the executives it surveyed agreed that “making technology more human will massively expand the opportunities of every industry.” Well, Accenture put its money where its mouth is. Accenture Ventures announced a strategic investment in Sanctuary AI, one of the companies developing humanoid robots. Read More

6. Cambrian Robotics obtains seed funding to provide vision for complex tasks

Machine vision startup Cambrian Robotics Ltd. has raised $3.5 million in seed+ funding. The company said it plans to use the investment to continue developing its AI platform to enable robot arms “to surpass human capabilities in complex vision-based tasks across a variety of industries.” Read More

5. Mobile Industrial Robots launches MiR1200 autonomous pallet jack

Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are among the systems benefitting from the latest advances in AI. Mobile Industrial Robots at LogiMAT in March 2024 launched the MiR1200 Pallet Jack, which it said uses 3D vision and AI to identify pallets for pickup and delivery “with unprecedented precision.” Read More

4. Reshape Automation aims to reduce barriers of robotics adoption

Companies in North America bought 31,159 robots in 2023. That’s a 30% decrease from 2022. And that’s not sitting well with robotics industry veteran Juan Aparicio. After working at Siemens for a decade and stops at Ready Robotics and Rapid Robotics, Aparicio hopes his new startup Reshape Automation can chip away at this problem. Read More

3. Mercedes-Benz testing Apollo humanoid

Apptronik announced that leading automotive brand Mercedes-Benz is testing its Apollo humanoid robot. As part of the agreement, Apptronik and Mercedes-Benz will collaborate on identifying applications for Apollo in automotive settings. Read More

2. NVIDIA announces new robotics products at GTC 2024

The NVIDIA GTC 2024 keynote kicked off like a rock concert in San Jose, Calif. More than 15,000 attendees filled the SAP Arena in anticipation of CEO Jensen Huang’s annual presentation of the latest product news from NVIDIA. He discussed the new Blackwell platform, improvements in simulation and AI, and all the humanoid robot developers using the company’s technology. Read More

1. Schneider Electric unveils new Lexium cobots at MODEX 2024

In Atlanta, Schneider Electric announced the release of two new collaborative robots: the Lexium RL 3 and RL 12, as well as the Lexium RL 18 model coming later this year. From single-axis machines to high-performance, multi-axis cobots, the Lexium line enables high-speed motion and control of up to 130 axes from one processor, said the company. It added that this enables precise positioning to help solve manufacturer production, flexibility, and sustainability challenges. Read More

The post Top 10 robotics news stories of March 2024 appeared first on The Robot Report.

RoboticsCareer.org has been redesigned to help people find careers in manufacturing. Source: ARM Insitute

The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing, or ARM Institute today said it has added capabilities to RoboticsCareer.org, its resource for robotics careers in U.S. manufacturing. The institute said they will provide guidance to help students and workers understand training and job opportunities and plan their careers.

The site redesign also aims to increase interest in manufacturing careers by illustrating the importance of these roles to the nation, said the ARM Institute.

“RoboticsCareer.org is a key driver to filling the manufacturing workforce gap and making these important careers more accessible,” stated Lisa Masciantonio, chief workforce officer at the ARM Institute. “The new capabilities on the site will help to support workers at each stage of their career, from finding training to connecting to personalized career opportunities.”

RoboticsCareer.org helps people find manufacturing jobs

Millions of manufacturing roles are at risk of being left unfilled in the coming years because of demographic trends, according to the ARM Institute. It said it built RoboticsCareer.org was built to address this historic workforce gap by increasing interest in manufacturing roles and supporting students and workers at each stage of their journeys, from getting started with training to connecting to jobs and upskilling opportunities.

Designed using input from the institute’s more than 400 member organizations, the updated site also connects hiring manufacturers to qualified candidates and helps schools and training programs engage with interested students, the ARM Institute said.

Since its introduction, RoboticsCareer.org has helped more than 70,000 people, it added. In a recent survey, users of the site echoed Masciantonio’s statement:

• “Using RoboticsCareer.org, I was able to figure out if starting a career path in robotics was right for me,” said Annabelle Pasiecki.
• “As a robotics engineer looking to change jobs, I found RoboticsCareer.org to be a great website to search for jobs in the robotics and automation sector, better than any other websites I have used before,” added Jatin Vijay Mayekar.
• “As an advanced manufacturing and robotics instructor, I am always looking for ways to connect what I am teaching to actual career opportunities for my students. RoboticsCareer.org has become one of my best resources for helping to match students with careers where they can utilize their robotics training,” said Charles Nabrit.

ARM Institute adds functionality

RoboticsCareer.org is the nation’s only resource dedicated specifically to empowering the robotics workforce in manufacturing, claimed the ARM Institute. More than 16,700 training programs are listed on RoboticsCareer.org, ranging from high school through Ph.D. programs.

Thousands of jobs are added and updated regularly on the site, with each job matching to the skill profiles the ARM Institute has created for robotics jobs in manufacturing. The organization has added the following:

• A re-designed homepage that features in-depth previews of robotics jobs, including the skills and education needed for these jobs, information about salaries and wages, and more. It also offers a quiz that matches users to personalized career recommendations, an interactive graphic illustrating work on a factory floor, and numerous videos showcasing people working in manufacturing.
• Internships are now included in the job-matching functionality.
• New LinkedIn integration allows a individual to create an account using their LinkedIn profile.
• Testimonials from students who have graduated from training programs that have been endorsed by the ARM Institute.

Learn more about career opportunities

On April 24 at 2:00 p.m. ET, the ARM Institute is hosting a public webinar to help the following; 

• Educators and training providers understand how RoboticsCareer.org can connect them to interested students at no cost.
• Individuals learn how connect to job opportunities and identify training options to prepare for the future.
• Employers understand how they can use RoboticsCareer.org to fill open positions using its growing talent database and targeted job board.

In addition, Larry Sweet, director of engineering at the ARM Institute, will host a session at the Robotics Summit & Expo on “Delivering AI and Machine Learning-Enabled Robotics to Manufacturing and Field-Service Operations” at 2:45 p.m. on May 1. Registration is now open for the event, which will be in Boston.

Sweet will share updates on current ARM projects, technical approaches, best practices, and lessons learned, plus steps to make robotics accessible to manufacturers large to small and facilitating technology transition through systems integrators. The institute will also be exhibiting at Booth C-131.

The ARM Institute is a Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) funded by the Office of the Secretary of Defense under Agreement Number W911NF-17-3-0004 and is part of the Manufacturing USA network. Its ecosystem includes members and partners across industry, academia, and government.

The institute said it is working to make robotics, autonomy, and artificial intelligence more accessible to U.S. manufacturers large and small, train and empower the workforce, strengthen the U.S. economy and global competitiveness, and elevate national security and resilience.

Based in Pittsburgh since 2017, with a regional office in St. Petersburg, Fla., the ARM Institute said it “is leading the way to a future where people and robots work together to respond to our nation’s greatest challenges and to produce the world’s most desired products.”

Learn from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and many more.

The post RoboticsCareer.org adds functionality from ARM Institute to address manufacturing skills gap appeared first on The Robot Report.

The Robot Report editorial director Eugene Demaitre recently returned from the R-24 international robotics event in Odense, Denmark. From this trip, he immediately headed out to San Jose, Calif., to attend NVIDIA GTC 2024 with senior editor Mike Oitzman.

In this episode, Gene and Mike talk about what Gene saw and learned during his latest visit to Odense. From there, the co-hosts discuss their experiences at the GTC event, and all of the interesting sessions on artificial intelligence and robotics, NVIDIA’s product announcements for robotics, and the demonstrations by vendors that exhibited on the busy show floor.

R-24: Robots, Automation, and Drones

• Odense Robotics is one of the largest robotics clusters in the world, with 350 members across Denmark, about half of which are in the Odense area.
• It employs about 18,000 people, with plans to double that over the next decade. Local leaders attributed that to a culture of collaboration.
• Among the interesting things the international delegations saw around R-24 was Odense Port, which is now building giant wind turbines in addition to maintaining container ships.
• They also visited the drone test center at the Hans Christian Andersen Airport; the Danish Technological Institute, which hosts the Odense Robotics Startup Fund; and the Maersk-McKinney Moller Institute at the University of Southern Denmark, as well as Universal Robots headquarters.
• Odense is also hosting ROSCon later this year.

Highlights from NVIDIA GTC 2024

In addition to CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote, here are some highlights from NVIDIA‘s latest GPU Technology Conference:

New foundation for humanoid robotics

The big news from the robotics side of the house was that NVIDIA launched a new general-purpose foundation model for humanoid robots called Project GR00T. This new model is designed to bring robotics and embodied AI together while enabling the robots to understand natural language and emulate movements by observing human actions.

GR00T uses the new Jetson Thor

As part of its robotics announcements, NVIDIA unveiled Jetson Thor for humanoid robots, based on the NVIDIA Thor system-on-a-chip (SoC). Significant upgrades to the NVIDIA Isaac robotics platform include generative AI foundation models and tools for simulation and AI workflow infrastructure.

The Thor SoC includes a next-generation GPU based on NVIDIA Blackwell architecture with a transformer engine delivering 800 teraflops of 8-bit floating-point AI performance. With an integrated functional safety processor, a high-performance CPU cluster, and 100GB of Ethernet bandwidth, it can simplify design and integration efforts, claimed the company.

NVIDIA updates Isaac simulation platform

The Isaac tools that GR00T uses are capable of creating new foundation models for any robot embodiment in any environment, according to NVIDIA. Among these tools are Isaac Lab for reinforcement learning, and OSMO, a compute orchestration service.

NVIDIA DRIVE Thor for robot axis

The company also announced NVIDIA DRIVE Thor, which now supersedes NVIDIA DRIVE Orin as a SoC for autonomous driving applications.

Other notable sessions (worth watching the replays):

• Geordie Rose, CEO of Sanctuary: “Using Omniverse to generate first-person experiential data for humanoid robots”
• Aaron Saunders, chief technology officer of Boston Dynamics: “Deploying AI in real-world robots”
• Vincent Vanhouke, senior director of robotics at Google Deepmind: “Robotics in the age of GenAI”

Interesting robots seen at GTC24:

• Agility DIGIT (static)
• Apptronik Apollo (static)
• Unitree H1
• 1X Eve
• Fourier Analysis – GR1
• Disney BD-X droids
• ANYbotics ANYmal
• Enchanted Tools Mirokai
• Richtech Robotics ADAM

The post GTC 2024 and R-24 recap appeared first on The Robot Report.

The SensONE T5 force-torque sensor on a UR collaborative robot. | Source: Bota Systems

Bota Systems AG has launched the SenseONE T5, a high-sensitivity version of its SensONE multi-axis force-torque sensor. The company said its latest sensor provides a sensitivity level of 0.05 N / 0.002 Nm, which is three to five times higher than its predecessor.

Zurich-based Bota Systems said it built the SenseONE T5 for collaborative robots with small payloads of up to 11.02 lb. (5 kg). The compact and lightweight sensor offers optimal sensitivity for small robots, according to the company. 

“This new force-torque sensor’s excellent sensitivity opens up exciting new possibilities for collaborative small-payload robots, which are used for performing highly sensitive applications,” said Ilias Patsiaouras, co-founder and chief technology officer of Bota Systems, in a release. “The SensONE T5 will find its niche in end-of-line quality testing of small parts, such as buttons in electronics, as well as precision assembly of highly detailed, delicate tasks, such as the routing and installation of electric cables into cabinets.”

Learn from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and many more.

SenseONE T5 designed for ease of integration

A robotic force-torque sensor is a device that simultaneously measures force and torque that is applied to a surface. The measured output signals are used for real-time feedback control, thus enabling cobots to perform challenging human-machine interaction tasks, explained Bota Systems.

It added that the sensor most commonly used for such robotic applications is a six-axis force-torque sensor, which measures the force and torque on all three axes. Bota Systems said it designed its latest system for challenging applications.

The SenseONE T5 comes in a dustproof, water-resistant, and compact package. The company claimed that it is easy to integrate into a robotic arm and requires no mounting adapter. 

Temperature drift on the sensor is negligible, and the new sensor provides accuracy exceeding 2% with a sampling rate of up to 2,000 Hz, said Bota. The sensor is available in two communications options: Serial USB/RS422 and EtherCat. It comes with smooth TwinCAT, URcap, ROS, LabVIEW, and MATLAB software integration, according to the company.

The SensONE T5 force-torque sensor can be integrated into robotic arms without a mounting adapter. | Source: Bota Systems

See Bota Systems at the Robotics Summit & Expo

Bota Systems is an official distribution and integration partner of Universal Robots and Mecademic. In October 2023, the company added NEXT Robotics to its distributor network.

NEXT is now its official distributor for the German-speaking countries of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. That same month, Bota Systems raised $2.5 million in seed funding. 

Marathon Venture Capital led the round, along with participation from angel investors. Bota Systems said it plans to use the funding to grow its team to address increasing demand by leading research labs and manufacturing companies. It also plans to accelerate its product roadmap.

To learn more about Bota Systems, visit it at Booth 315 at the Robotics Summit & Expo, which will be held on May 1 and 2 in Boston.

This will be the largest Robotics Summit ever. It will include more than 200 exhibitors, various networking opportunities, a women in robotics breakfast, a career fair, an engineering theater, a startup showcase, and more. Registration is now open for the event.

The post Bota Systems launches upgraded force-torque sensor for small cobots appeared first on The Robot Report.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Artificial intelligence is already making robots smarter. Teradyne Robotics announced at GTC 2024 a collaboration with NVIDIA to add new AI capabilities to collaborative and mobile robots.

North Reading, Mass.-based Teradyne owns collaborative robot maker Universal Robots A/S (UR) and autonomous mobile robot (AMR) company Mobile Industrial Robots A/S (MiR), both of which are in Odense, Denmark.

“This is the first of a series of planned AI offerings by Teradyne Robotics,” stated Ujjwal Kumar, group president of Teradyne Robotics. “By adding high-performance compute hardware to our control systems, as well as investing in targeted upgrades to our software stacks, we are investing to establish UR and MiR as the preferred robotics platforms for developing and deploying AI applications.”

“We are working to shape the future of robotics by combining NVIDIA’s state-of-the-art AI platform with Teradyne Robotics’ real-world domain expertise in industrial automation,” he added. “We’re creating the platform for new solutions to previously unsolvable problems.”

Kumar will deliver a keynote at the Robotics Summit & Expo in Boston in May.

Universal Robots integrates accelerated computing

Universal Robots is demonstrating at this week’s GPU Technology Conference (GTC) an autonomous inspection system using its cobot arms and AI. The company has integrated NVIDIA accelerated computing into its cobots for path planning 50 to 80 times faster than today’s applications.

“NVIDIA has been working with Universal Robots for three years,” Kumar explained to The Robot Report. “Its researchers were used to the UR cobots, which are inherently safe and thus good for testing AI.”

“While the Microsofts and Googles of the world may own digital AI, NVIDIA wants to be the market leader in physical AI, as CEO Jensen Huang mentioned in his keynote,” he said. “In digital AI, 90% might be OK for an image or text generated with AI, but that’s not sufficient in the real world. Teradyne has experience with quality and reliability.”

The partners said the application combines the following to increase efficiency for automation customers:

• NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin, a complete system-on-module (SOM) designed for edge AI applications
• cuMotion path planner from the NVIDIA Isaac Manipulator platform
• UR’s new PolyScope X software and its UR5e cobot platform

The combination of cuMotion, PolyScope X, and the UR cobot makes possible a range of applications that were previously not feasible to automate fully, according to the partners. It can also improve existing programming concepts.

Teradyne and NVIDIA cited benefits including ease of programming and lower computation time for planning, optimizing, and executing trajectories. For customers, this technology can simplify the setup of common industrial applications, facilitating robot adoption for high-mix, low-volume scenarios.

Not only can cuMotion allow automatic calculation of path planning for collision-free trajectories, but it also enables path optimization for other criteria such as speed, minimum wear, or energy efficiency, according to Universal Robots.

At the GTC demonstration, The Robot Report watched the cobot-mounted camera move to inspect a workpiece that was randomly reoriented. It did so automatically, and a digital twin mirrored its maneuvers.

For the inspection application, users can load CAD files for up to 20 parts with associated test procedures. NVIDIA’s technology enables the robot to identify each part and procedure and conduct path planning accordingly, explained Andrew Pether, principal innovation research engineer at Universal Robots. He said the combination of cuMotion on AGX Orin for dynamic positioning, Isaac Sim for digital twins of the current state and trajectories can improve inspections for automotive, large electronics, and “white goods”/appliances manufacturers.

Teradyne, NVIDIA expect AI robotics apps to grow

Mobile Industrial Robots also announced the MiR1200 Pallet Jack, which uses the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin module for AI-powered pallet detection. This enables it to identify and precisely move objects, navigate autonomously, and operate in complex factory and warehouse environments.

“There are two kinds of workers in factories or warehouses — those in static cells or who are moving,” said Kumar. “We have robots to help both sorts of tasks. Mobile robots and cobots could jointly meet needs in welding, semiconductors, and more.”

Teradyne noted that autonomous inspection and the autonomous pallet handling are two use cases with significant potential for scalability. The MiR1200 Pallet Jack and UR’s cuMotion demo are the two most recent examples of “physical AI” solutions, with others already available through Teradyne Robotics’ ecosystem partners, OEMs, and end users.

“NVIDIA’s Isaac platform is enabling increased autonomy in robotics with rapid advancements in simulation, generative AI, foundation models and optimized edge compute,” said Deepu Talla, vice president of robotics and edge computing at NVIDIA. “This collaboration with Teradyne Robotics will bring the power of AI and accelerated computing to rapidly growing cobot and AMR markets.”

The post Teradyne partners with NVIDIA to add AI to cobots appeared first on The Robot Report.

Teradyne’s Robotics Group is one of the world’s leading providers of collaborative robot arms and autonomous mobile robots. In 2023, the group generated $375 million in revenue from Universal Robots (UR) and Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR). Teradyne has said its market penetration for robotics is under 5%, leaving Teradyne with plenty of room for long-term growth. In the future, Teradyne said it expects its robotics group to make up 20% of the company’s entire sales.

Ujjwal Kumar, who in mid-2023 was named president of Teradyne Robotics, is keynoting the Robotics Summit & Expo (May 1-2 in Boston). He will share some lessons he has learned and how they can be applied to accelerate the transformation of industry with robotics. Over his 25-plus-year career, Kumar has successfully scaled businesses at major multinationals including General Motors, General Electric, and Honeywell.

Kumar has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland, and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology.

This will be the largest Robotics Summit ever. It will include more than 200 exhibitors, various networking opportunities, a women in robotics breakfast, a career fair, an engineering theater, a startup showcase, and more!

New to the event is the RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards Gala. The event will include a cocktail hour, plated dinner, photo opportunities, and the chance to hear from the Robot of the Year, Startup of the Year, and Application of the Year winners. Each RBR50 winner will receive two complimentary tickets to the Robotics Summit and RBR50 Gala. A limited number of tickets are available to attendees, but they’re selling fast.

The Robotics Summit & Expo will be co-located with DeviceTalks, an event focused on medical devices, and the inaugural Digital Transformation Forum. Registration is now open for the event.

Sponsorship Opportunities
For information about sponsorship and exhibition opportunities, download the prospectus. Questions regarding sponsorship opportunities should be directed to Colleen Sepich at csepich[AT]wtwhmedia.com.

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Søren Elmer Kristensen, CEO of Odense Robotics, greets global delegates at R-24. Credit: Eugene Demaitre

ODENSE, Denmark — Last week, the R-24 conference for robots, automation, and drones demonstrated why the city of about 206,000 residents is one of the most vibrant for technology in Europe and the world. The spirit of collaboration, from cobots to corporate partnerships, is key, according to Søren Elmer Kristensen. For the past year, he has been CEO of Odense Robotics.

One of the organizers of the event, Odense Robotics represents companies across Denmark. The organization works with local and national industry, academia, and the public sector to share insights, accelerate growth, forge partnerships, nurture people, and drive innovation, said Kristensen in an R-24 keynote.

“Collaborative robots, flexible automation, and drones are changing how we live and work,” he said. “We’re looking at agriculture, food, construction, healthcare, logistics, and manufacturing — places used to automation and not so used to it.”

Denmark turns industry decline into an opportunity

Odense’s robotics cluster has its roots in the city’s steel working and shipbuilding industry, explained Rasmus Torpegaard Festersen, investment manager for robotics and drones at Invest in Odense. By the early 1980s, manufacturing had shifted to Asia, and AP Moller – Maersk decided to invest in research into more efficient means of production.

“The shipyard wanted robotic help with welding, and it was the first collaboration between industry and the University of Southern Denmark,” Kristensen told The Robot Report. “Like other cities, we’ve been through tough times, but visionaries from both parties and the municipality recognized the need to shift the paradigm from production to technology innovation.”

Although the shipyard still closed, the investment led to the founding of cobot leader Universal Robots A/S (UR) and Mobile Industrial Robots ApS (MiR), which Boston-based Teradyne Inc. acquired in 2015 and 2018, respectively.

“That really put us on the map globally,” Festersen said. “Talent attracts talent, and we now have a critical mass.”

Not only have UR and MiR grown, with plans to open a collaborative robotics hub in Odense in May, but Denmark is now home to 593 robotics companies, noted Kristensen.

“Our ecosystem also recognized that to grow, we needed to build trust,” he added. “People can freely move, but companies can’t just steal talent from one another. We’re also looking at mentoring more startups in our incubator.”

Learn from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and many more.

Insight Report tallies growth

Odense Robotics and its partners also last week released its annual Insight Report, which described the growing sector but also noted challenges. Danish robotics, automation, and drone companies employ 13,700 people in Denmark and 4,800 abroad, reflecting 9% growth in the past year, it said.

In 2022, the cluster had a total turnover of DKK 27.5 billion (€3.7 billion or $4 billion U.S.), of which DKK 13.1 billion (€1.8 billion or $1.9 billion) came from exports, said the report. However, supply chain constraints, market awareness, and global economic hurdles have arisen, acknowledged Kristensen. A survey of more than 300 Danish companies found that:

• 91% face constraints related to limited time, resources, and finances for innovation and product development
• 82% must increase customer awareness regarding their technologies’ potential benefits
• 81% struggle with the shortage of qualified workers
• 67% encounter difficulties because of a lack of capital

Still, the Danish robotics cluster expects the creation of 30,000 jobs in the next decade, said Peter Rahbæk Juel, mayor of Odense. He mentioned that two startups had recently relocated from Finland to be part of Odense’s ecosystem.

Peter Rahbæk Juel, the mayor of Odense, Denmark, at the opening of the R-24 conference. Credit: Eugene Demaitre

Odense Robotics continues collaborative approach

“Of our 350 members, 20% were established since 2020, and 87% collaborate with other robotics companies,” said Kristensen. “We’re also working on training and delegation visits with other clusters in Europe and North America, such as Pittsburgh.”

“Denmark punches above its weight,” said Lars Appel Haahr, special advisor to Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which works with Invest in Odense. “It is the most competitive and least corrupt nations, and has proven resilience with dual-use and digital companies.”

From 2015 to 2024, more than €1 billion ($1.09 billion) has been invested in local robotics companies, said the Insight Report. More than 160 robotics organizations are in the vicinity of Odense, making it one of the biggest concentrations in Europe.

The Financial Times recently named the Odense Robotics StartUp Fund as one of Europe’s best startup hubs. The cluster goes through the foreign ministry to work with international partners, and the R-24 conference included delegations from Germany and South Korea.

The Robot Report joined the delegations in visiting the Odense Port, the Danish Technological Institute, the drone test center at Hans Christian Andersen Airport, and Universal Robots. More coverage of these and the Investor Summit to come.

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The Lexium cobot product line, from left to right: RL3, RL5, RL7, and RL12 (not to scale). | Credit: Schneider Electric

Schneider Electric today at MODEX announced the release of two new collaborative robots: the Lexium RL 3 and RL 12, as well as the Lexium RL 18 model coming later this year. From single-axis machines to high-performance, multi-axis cobots, the Lexium line enables high-speed motion and control of up to 130 axes from one processor. This enables precise positioning to help solve manufacturer production, flexibility, and sustainability challenges, said the company.

“As U.S. manufacturing increases, the demand for smart machines is growing, and customers are requiring robots with digital twin capabilities that validate machine performance to help them quickly increase production consistently, efficiently, and sustainably,” stated Christine Bush, leader of the Robotics Center of Excellence at Schneider Electric.

“We are partnering with our customers to understand their challenges and pain points, then responding with complete, customized automation solutions – from power products and HMIs [human-machine interfaces] to PLCs [programmable logic controllers] and robotics – to simplify the process and meet their needs,” she added.

In addition to robots, Schneider Electric said it offers digitally engineered automation from concept to operation and maintenance. The company‘s EcoStruxure architecture connects smart devices, controls, software, and services to enable collaborative data flow from shop-floor to top-floor machine control.

Schneider Electric also said it provides robots using Modicon motion controllers, which combine PLC, motion, and robotics control on a single hardware platform with the EcoStruxure Machine Expert software.

Lexium digital twins offer layout, programming

The Lexium Cobots feature a positioning accuracy of +/- 0.02 mm (+/- 0.00079 in.), as well as a wide range of payloads from 3 to 18 kg (6.6 to 39.6 lb.), coming soon. The cobots range in price from $27,368 to $41,170.

The Lexium Cobot product line is compatible with EcoStruxure Machine Expert Twin, a software suite that creates digital models of real machines. It allows for virtual test strategies and commissioning, as well as shortened factory acceptance testing (FAT).

Digitizing these processes can reduce time-to-market by up to 50% and commissioning time by up to 60%, according to Schneider Electric. A 20% to 40% savings in investment costs can also be realized due to faster time to market, the company claimed.

Robot assembly, installation, and maintenance are faster with increased computational power, open software, and networking, it said. Software and automation work together using a centralized architecture and open-standard programming platform.

In addition to fast deployment, collaborative robots allow for more ergonomic work, easier integration with existing equipment and processes, and consistent output for higher product quality, said Schneider Electric. It also cited the benefit of reduced workplace strain and injuries.

For U.S. manufacturers to stay globally competitive, they must modernize processes by embracing the digitization of Industry 4.0, which includes advances in AI, machine learning, the Internet of Things (IoT), and digital twins, said Schneider Electric. The latest software can help makers develop new ideas quickly, cut down on working time, and meet shifting customer demand, it noted.

As the business world moves toward Industry 5.0, Lexium’s motion and robot solutions will likely change the way things are done and make personalized automated manufacturing possible.

Learn from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and many more.

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Cambrian is developing machine vision to give industrial robots new capabilities. Source: Cambrian Robotics

Machine vision startup Cambrian Robotics Ltd. this week announced that it has raised $3.5 million in seed+ funding. The company said it plans to use the investment to continue developing its artificial intelligence platform to enable robot arms “to surpass human capabilities in complex vision-based tasks across a variety of industries.”

Cambrian Robotics said its technology “empowers to automate a broad range of tasks, particularly those in advanced manufacturing and quality assurance that demand high precision and accuracy within dynamic environments. The London-based company has offices in Augsburg, Germany, and the U.S.

Cambrian noted that its executive team, led by CEO Miika Satori, has over 50 years of combined experience in AI and robotics. Joao Seabra, chief technology officer, is an award-winning roboticist, and Dr. Alexandre Borghi, head of AI, previously led research teams at a $3 billion AI chip startup.

“We are incredibly excited about the possibilities that our recent fundraising opens up,” said Satori. “Our primary goals are to enhance the scalability of the product and strengthen our sales and operations in our main target markets.”

“In addition, we are bringing new AI-vision-based skills to robot arms, further pushing boundaries in the field of robotics,” he added. “We are equally thrilled to begin collaborating with our new investors, whose support is pivotal in driving these advancements forward.”

Learn from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and many more.

Cambrian Robotics vision already in use

Cambrian Robotics claimed that its AI-driven vision software and camera hardware enables existing robots to automate complex tasks that were previously only possible with manual methods. It said its systems enable robots to execute intricate assembly processes, bin picking, kitting, and pick-and-place operations “with unmatched accuracy in any lighting condition — a true breakthrough compared to current industry-leading AI vision capabilities.”

In addition, Cambrian can be installed in about half a day, works with all major industrial and collaborative robots, and can pick microparts precisely and in less than 200ms, said the company. Cambrian claimed that its technology is unique in that it can pick a wide range of parts, including transparent, plastic, and shiny metal.

Appliance manufacturers globally have deployed Cambrian for monitoring quality assurance and manufacturing defects that were previously unseen to the human eye, the company said. Cambrian is testing and deploying its vision systems to leading manufacturers including Toyota, Audi, Suzuki, Kao, and Electrolux.

“Although in our factories we have a high level of automation, we still have an important quantity of flexible components and manual processes, which add variability,” said Jaume Soriano, an industrial engineer at Electrolux Group. “Cambrian helps us keep moving toward a more automated manufacturing reality while being able to deal with variable scenarios.”

Cybernetix Ventures leads investment

Cybernetix Ventures and KST Invest GmbH led Cambrian Robotics’ seed funding, with participation from Yamaha Motor Ventures and Digital Media Professionals (DMP).

“Machine vision is a crowded space, but Cambrian has strong differentiation with its unique ability to identify small and transparent items with proprietary visual AI software,” said Fady Saad, founder and general partner of Cybernetix, who will join Cambrian’s board of directors. “Miika and his exceptional team have also managed to bring the product to market with active revenue from top brands.”

Boston-based Cybernetix Ventures is a venture capital firm investing into early-stage robotics, automation, and industrial AI startups. It offers its expertise to companies poised to make major impacts in sectors including advanced manufacturing, logistics/warehousing, architecture, engineering and construction and healthcare/medical devices.

KST Invest is a private fund established by one of the owner families of a leading German industrial automation firm. The fund has the objective to invest in robotics and advanced manufacturing among other themes. “Innovation is the livelihood of any business in industrial automation, specifically the combination of vision and robotics,” it said.

Cambrian is also backed by ff Venture Capital (ffVC), which invested in the company’s seed round. ffVC initially seeded Cambrian after the startup graduated from its accelerator, AI Nexus Lab, in partnership with New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering in Brooklyn.

Cambrian is already working with major manufacturers. Source: Cambrian Robotics

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SMC recently introduced a series of electric grippers designed to be used with collaborative robot arms (cobots) from Universal Robots (UR). Available in basic and longitudinal types, SMC said the LEHR series can be adapted to different industrial environments like narrow spaces.

The new series offers gripping forces between 60 to 140 N and have M8, 8-pin plug-and-play connectors. SMC said it can be operated with the connection of 1 electrical wire. The grippers feature a battery-less absolute encoder and a motor type rated 24VDC.

SMC said that by using the dedicated software certified for Universal Robots, URCap, the teach pendant can conduct various operations of SMC grippers intuitively, allowing for sensor signals to be easily incorporated. SMC also said all that’s needed to install the software is to save a copy of the URCap software to a USB flash drive and insert it into the cobot’s teach pendant.

SMC will be exhibiting in booth 301 at the Robotics Summit & Expo, which takes place May 1-2 in Boston. Produced by The Robot Report and parent company WTWH Media, the Robotics Summit will have 5,000 attendees from the commercial robotics development ecosystem and 200+ exhibitors. The event will feature 75-plus speakers in 45 technical sessions, including keynotes from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Medtronic and Teradyne, which owns UR. Register by March 8 to save 25% on full access passes to the Robotics Summit & Expo.

SMC’s new LEHR grippers are design for Universal Robots’ collaborative robot arms. | Credit: SMC

SMC said the new LEHR series has a durable and flexible design with IP20-rated housing with a rounded protective cover and simplified tool changing. SMC added that the durable design makes the gripper resist vibration and impacts and is also able to work in relatively harsh environments.

UR is the world’s leading developer of cobot arms. The Denmark-based company generated $304 million in revenue in 2023. While its sales were down 7% year-over-year from the record $326 million generated in 2022, the cobot maker ended the year on a high note. The fourth quarter of 2023 was UR’s largest revenue quarter ever. This represented 21% growth from Q4 2022 and 47% growth from Q3 2023, which the company attributed to demand for its the UR20 and UR30 cobots.

Ujjwal Kumar, who was named president of Teradyne’s robotics group in mid-2023, will deliver a keynote at the Robotics Summit. Kumar has a 25-year career spanning multiple industries and major multi-national corporations, including General Motors, General Electric, and Honeywell. He has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland and Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology.

The conversation with Kumar will discuss ways to drive the transformation of the robotics industry. He will share some lessons he has learned and how they can be applied to accelerate the transformation of industry with robotics.

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