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Articles
DARC day one live
Andra Keay
11 Oct 2013
DARC, the Drones and Aerial Robotics Conference, is being held October 11-13 in New York. DARC is the first multidisciplinary conference about aerial robotics, with a focus on civilian applications. O...
Maps & apps
Frank Tobe
08 Oct 2013
Image: senseFly
... Two events, from different parts of the world, on the same day and subject: geographic information systems (GIS) and global positioning systems (GPS) and the use of “layering”...
Ship hull cleaning & inspection – ideal for robots
Frank Tobe
30 Sep 2013
... Harvest Automation launched their business after reviewing the top 10 areas where low-cost and often hard-to-find labor was most needed. They chose the ag business.
... Boating and shipping are...
There are mobile robots and then there’s KUKA’s MOBILE robot
Frank Tobe
26 Sep 2013
... At the recent Hannover Messe trade fair, KUKA displayed their concept mobile robot showing how it could work a huge turbine blade.
... The device consisted of a KUKA omnimove mobile platform, a K...
PacX Challenge winner shows large scale ocean mapping abilities
Andra Keay
25 Sep 2013
In 2011, Liquid Robotics launched the PacX Challenge for monitoring ocean data. More than 2000 people signed up for the challenge and 5 finalists were selected. 15 months, 9442 miles and 5.5 million d...
MAKO Surgical sells to Stryker for $1.65 billion
Frank Tobe
25 Sep 2013
... Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) to acquire MAKO Surgical Corp (NASDAQ:MAKO) for $1.65 billion - an action which brought MAKO’s stock from $16 to $29 in one fell swoop.
... Stryker is a medical t...
From the mouths of babes (or in this case, iCubs)
Frank Tobe
23 Sep 2013
... At a recent demo of iCub at the Italian Institute of Culture in Los Angeles, IIT Professor and director of the iCub project, Giorgio Metta discussed not only iCub’s progress, but the state of th...
150 robotics-related exhibitors in Las Vegas for PackExpo
Frank Tobe
22 Sep 2013
... 26,000 attendees are expected for this year’s PackExpo being held in Las Vegas, September 23-25.
... Over 150 robotics-related companies are exhibiting including Rockwell Automation, Adept, ABB...
It’s time to think about robotic Christmas gifts
Frank Tobe
19 Sep 2013
... Canadian EZ-Robot is the first to the gate with 2013 Christmas gifts: 3 modular robot kits and a software interface using simple “drag and drop” methods to make teaching the robot behaviors an...
IFR Reports show bright future for robotics industry
Frank Tobe
18 Sep 2013
... Two new Intl. Federation of Robotics (IFR) world robotics statistical reports covering 2012 with projections to 2016 were released today by the IFR and can be purchased separately or combined at p...
Robohub focus on robotics education
Mike Hamer
15 Sep 2013
Since posting the call for contributions in August, 2013, I was contacted by many enthusiastic and inspiring individuals who were interested in sharing their experience with budding roboticists.
...
Interest in industrial robots seen at Taipei Intl. Industrial Automation Exhibition and Robot Show
Frank Tobe
13 Sep 2013
... The trade show, held the last week of August in Taipei, had a record 550 exhibitors. “It is the age of intelligence and automation,” said Eric Chuo, chairman of TAIROA (Taiwan Automation Intel...
Medical robotic systems market to reach $13.6 billion by 2018
Frank Tobe
13 Sep 2013
... The global medical robotic systems market was worth $5.48 billion in 2011 and is expected to reach $13.6 billion in 2018, growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 12.6% from 2012. Surgical ro...
RoCKIn Robot Challenge looks at task scenarios to help shape future competitions
RoCKIn Robotics Challenge
07 Sep 2013
RoCKIn is a three-year EU project that aims to use robot competitions in order to innovate smarter, more dependable robots, and to increase public awareness of robotics. Part of its focus is to look...
‘Design a Robot’ competitions
Andra Keay
06 Sep 2013
Didn’t get a robot entered in the DARPA grand robotics challenge (DRC)? Never mind, there are several robot design and business model competitions on at the moment, from social robots, to affordable...
Get ready for IROS and iREX in Tokyo this November 3-9
Frank Tobe
31 Aug 2013
... The Japan Robot Association (JARA) and Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun host the 20th bi-ennial iREX International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo November 6-9. More than 100,000 people are expected to view over 1,...
VW launches robot that collaborates with workers
Frank Tobe
30 Aug 2013
Human working with a UR5 assistant.
At a VW diesel engine production plant in Salzgitter, a Universal Robots UR5 robot carefully picks up delicate glow plugs and puts them into hard-to-reach drill ho...
FounderDating hardware edition
Andra Keay
28 Aug 2013
First crowdfunding, now startup services – hardware is eating the software world. FounderDating launched a hardware vertical on Wednesday, after seeing increasing demand from hardware entrepreneurs ...
iRobot’s single-pass floor-mopping robots vs O’Cedar’s cheap duster
Frank Tobe
26 Aug 2013
... iRobot recently announced their new Braava floor-mopping robot line of products. The $199 robots sweep and mop hard floors in a single pass while it navigates under and around furniture and other ...
Israeli study on robot adoption suggests new-tech solutions
Frank Tobe
24 Aug 2013
... A study of small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMEs) in Israel concluded that new tech robots, i.e., those which are easily trainable, relatively safe to work alongside humans, and where user-ro...
25 Russian companies added to The Robot Report’s global map of robot providers
Frank Tobe
23 Aug 2013
... Susan McFarland, of robotguide, a site providing a guide to personal robots, compiled a list of Russian robotics companies which we vetted and posted to our Global Map of Robot Providers.
... 25 ...
Funding news
Frank Tobe
18 Aug 2013
... Neato Robotics - the NJ-based competitor with iRobot’s Roomba vacuum cleaner - raised $14 million in new funding from two VC firms. In 2012, Neato raised $12.2 from two different VC companies....
SpaceX Falcon 9 successfully completes 100m lateral maneuver before returning to launchpad
Robohub Editors
14 Aug 2013
Yesterday SpaceX's Falcon 9 test rig (code name Grasshopper) successfully completed a 100m lateral maneuver, beginning at an altitude of 250m, before returning to the center of the pad from which it w...
ShanghAI Lectures: Weidong Chen “Modeling and control of mobile robotic networks”
Nathan Labhart
14 Aug 2013
Guest talk in the ShanghAI Lectures, 2010-12-16
Swarm intelligence of mobile robots is defined as a mobile robot network with only local interactions and finite sensing capabilities which however c...
National Geographic uses AGVs and drones for photo story about lions
Frank Tobe
12 Aug 2013
... Once again National Geographic photographers have used innovative techniques to capture amazing images. Remember the polar bear cam in 2011 that got crushed by the curious bear as he examined and ...
China’s 5-Year Plan targets robotics as a growth industry
Frank Tobe
11 Aug 2013
... China's 12th 5-Year Plan (2011-15) targeted robotics as a growth industry necessary for China's development. It expects a compound growth rate of 25%, said Wang Weiming, deputy director of the Min...
CSAIL demos two robots assembling IKEA furniture
Frank Tobe
11 Aug 2013
... At last week’s White House Google+ Hangout, Daniela Rus, the director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), demonstrated two robots working together to asse...
White House hosts Google+ Hangout; NASDAQ gets new ETF targeting robotics and automation
Frank Tobe
10 Aug 2013
... Leading roboticists talked about their recent projects and what inspired them to become involved with robotics at a White House hosted Google+ Hangout Friday. The event was covered by many media i...
Dash launching Dragon hardware crowdfunding platform
Andra Keay
08 Aug 2013
Dash is the first product to launch today on Dragon Innovation‘s new hardware crowdfunding site. Dragon Innovation was founded in 2009 by Scott Miller and Herman Pang, ex iRobot and Hasbro. Dragon a...
Calling all do-it-yourselfers: Robohub seeking contributions for focus series on “Getting Started in Robotics”
Mike Hamer
08 Aug 2013
In light of the popularity of his AR.Drone tutorials, we have invited Robohub contributor Mike Hamer to act as Guest Editor for our next focus series "Getting Started in Robotics."
Like many ch...
Does crowdfunding derisk robotics?
Andra Keay
30 Jul 2013
Crowdfunding is often cited as one of the mechanisms accelerating robot startups, alongside COTS, reduced costs, rapid prototyping, digital manufacturing, smart phones, connectivity etc. The entire pr...
Two small drones approved by FAA for civilian use in the US
Frank Tobe
27 Jul 2013
Insitu's Scan Eagle x200.
Two small drones, Insitu's Scan Eagle X200 and AeroVironment's PUMA, have become the first federally certified unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for civilian use in the US. O...
SUSBEXPO: The first unmanned systems business conference
Andra Keay
27 Jul 2013
SUSBEXPO is the first conference about unmanned systems to really focus on the growing commercial opportunities of this market. AUVSI put on a spectacular annual show, but it is predominantly militar...
iRobot Q3 profits were good but revenue was static
Frank Tobe
25 Jul 2013
... Stock drops 13% on news that 3Q and next quarter revenues were and will be static.
... Everything else was fine.
... Go figure!...
Intuitive Surgical stock takes another big hit
Frank Tobe
20 Jul 2013
... After months of negative news about poorly trained surgeons, class action suits claiming misleading communications with shareholders, an FDA review, a product recall, an article saying that proced...
Three ag robot companies featured in AP story
Frank Tobe
19 Jul 2013
... In an Associated Press article by Gosia Wozniacka, using robots to sort, thin, harvest and handle fruits and vegetables were examined.
... Blue River Technology and their Lettuce Bot; Vision Ro...
