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NHTSA ODI report exonerates Tesla in fatal crash
Brad Templeton, Robocars.com
20 Jan 2017
NHTSA released the report from their Office of Defects Investigation on the fatal Tesla crash in Florida last spring. It’s a report that is surprisingly favorable to Tesla. So much so that even I am...
How AR technology can help farmers stay relevant
John Payne
19 Jan 2017
I've long believed that Augmented Reality (AR) and robotics are closely related. Both model their environments to some degree. Robotics uses that model to guide the behavior of a machine, whereas AR u...
$250 million awarded to new Advanced Robotics Manufacturing Innovation Hub
Frank Tobe
18 Jan 2017
Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, the new institute is made up of governments, industry, academia, and non-profit organizations from across the country. Combined they have contributed $173 million t...
CES 2017, part one: Robocar technology and concept cars
Brad Templeton, Robocars.com
17 Jan 2017
CES is the big event for major car makers to show off robocar technology. Most of the north hall, and a giant parking lot next to it, were devoted to car technology and self-driving demos....
21 research reports forecast double-digit growth for robotics industry
Frank Tobe
16 Jan 2017
After reading all the press releases for this batch of 21 research reports, one can see that although they vary widely in their forecasts they almost all agree that the robotics market is expected to...
Parrot struggling, Lily fails and Google closes Titan Project as drone industry disunites
Frank Tobe
13 Jan 2017
Toy and entertainment drones, camera drones for professional and business use, moon-shot drones and military drones are all becoming more and more distinct as much of the drone industry gets commodit...
Rethink Robotics raises another $18 million
Frank Tobe
12 Jan 2017
Rethink Robotics, the Boston-based maker of the Baxter and Sawyer robots founded by iRobot co-founder Rodney Brooks, raised an additional $18 million in an unfinished $33 million Series E round led ...
No, a Tesla didn’t predict an accident and brake for it
Brad Templeton, Robocars.com
11 Jan 2017
You may have seen a lot of press around a dashcam video of a car accident in the Netherlands. It shows a Tesla in AutoPilot hitting the brakes around 1.4 seconds before a red car crashes hard into a b...
$18.867 billion paid to acquire 50 robotics companies in 2016
Frank Tobe
06 Jan 2017
2016 was a banner year for acquisitions of companies involved in robotics and automation: 50 sold; 11 for amounts over $500 million; five were over a billion. 30 of the 50 companies disclosed trans...
2016: the best year yet for funding robotics startups
Frank Tobe
02 Jan 2017
2016 was a busy and abundant year for seed, crowd, series A,B,C,D and VC funding of robotics-related startups. 128 companies got funded, some multiple times. $1.95 billion, 50% more than 2015 whic...
De-automation is a thing
Alan Winfield
29 Dec 2016
We tend to assume that automation is a process that continues - that once some human activity has been automated there's no going back. That automation sticks. But, as Paul Mason pointed out in a rece...
Jibo look-alike appears on Chinese websites
Frank Tobe
29 Dec 2016
For all of us who participated in the Jibo IndieGoGo crowdfunding and are anxiously awaiting delivery - which has been delayed again - this Chinese knock-off came as quite a surprise....
Ethically Aligned Design
Alan Winfield
27 Dec 2016
Having been involved in roboethics for some years, I was delighted when the IEEE launched its initiative on Ethical Considerations in AI and Autonomous Systems, early this year. Especially so because ...
What are the right disability rules for robotaxis?
Brad Templeton, Robocars.com
26 Dec 2016
Robocars are broadly going to be a huge boon for many people with disabilities, especially disabilities that make it difficult to drive or those that make it hard to get in and out of vehicles. Exist...
Designing robots with bugs??
Jibo
26 Dec 2016
Ask a child to design a robot, and they’ll produce a drawing that looks a little like you or I—the parts may be gray and boxy, but it will have two arms, two legs, and a head (probably with an ant...
Uber must follow California’s laws
Bryant Walker Smith
19 Dec 2016
Uber is testing its self-proclaimed “self-driving” vehicles on California roads without complying with the testing requirements of California’s automated driving law. California’s Department o...
Holiday gifts ideas for Robogeeks – 2016
Kassie Perlongo
15 Dec 2016
Robotic toys and gear are getting better every year! Need some gift ideas for that special robot geek in your life? We put together some favourite gift ideas, from stocking stuffers, amazing robot t...
Teledyne Technologies acquires British imaging sensor maker E2V Technologies
Frank Tobe
15 Dec 2016
Teledyne Technologies, which specializes in deepwater gas and oil exploration and production, oceanographic research, air and water quality environmental monitoring, electronics design and developmen...
Google car is now Waymo
Brad Templeton, Robocars.com
14 Dec 2016
Google’s car project (known as “Chauffeur”) kickstarted the entire robocar revolution, and Google has put in more work, for longer, than anybody. The car was also the first project of what becam...
Robots may save the global economy
Frank Tobe
13 Dec 2016
A recent article in The Washington Post by Morgan Stanley strategist and author of "The Rise and Fall of Nations" Ruchir Sharma, provides a nuanced overview of the issues of jobs, robots, productivi...
Liquid Robotics acquired by Boeing Defense, Space & Security
Frank Tobe
12 Dec 2016
In a move consistent with many other recent acquisitions of stars within the robotics industry, Liquid Robotics announced that they sold their company to Boeing's Autonomous Systems for Defense, Spac...
What if the city ran Waze and you had to obey it? Could this cure congestion?
Brad Templeton, Robocars.com
09 Dec 2016
I believe we have the potential to eliminate a major fraction of traffic congestion in the near future, using technology that exists today which will be cheap in the future. The method has been outlin...
Beijing World Robot Conference drew big crowds and notable speakers
Frank Tobe
07 Dec 2016
The Beijing World Robot Conference (WRC), sponsored by Beijing City, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the China Association of Science and Technology, was held October 21-25. ...
Self-driving cars, networks, and the companies and people that are stimulating development
Frank Tobe
06 Dec 2016
Intel is establishing an autonomous driving division; hacker George Hotz is open-sourcing his self-driving software in a bid to become a network company; LiDAR and distancing devices are changing. Wh...
Robocar news: Comma One goes open source, creating simulations for robocars in New Zealand earthquakes
Brad Templeton, Robocars.com
02 Dec 2016
There have been few postings this month, as I took the time to enjoy a holiday in New Zealand around speaking at the SingularityU New Zealand summit in Christchurch. The night before the summit, we en...
November fundings, acquisitions, IPOs and failures
Frank Tobe
01 Dec 2016
Seventeen robotics-related companies got funded for a combined total of over $225 million. Four more got acquired. Three went public to raise funds. And one failed....
Rising need for nursery, indoor and vertical farming
Frank Tobe
28 Nov 2016
To meet rising food demands from a growing global population, over 250 million acres of arable land will be needed – about 20% more land than all of Brazil. Alternatively, agricultural production wi...
US auto industry installed 135,000 robots and added 230,000 jobs
Frank Tobe
24 Nov 2016
In the last six years, (2010–2015), according to the IFR (International Federation of Robotics), US industry has installed around 135,000 new industrial robots. The principal driver is automation ...
Let’s hope Trump does what he says regarding robots and robotics
Frank Tobe
23 Nov 2016
In President-elect Trump's interview with the NY Times yesterday, when discussing jobs, closed factories and factories that may leave the country, he was asked: "Are you worried that those companies w...
Two robotic stock IPOs coming to market
Frank Tobe
22 Nov 2016
For the last few years, there have been very few stock IPOs (Initial Public Offerings). Promising companies have been acquired instead, eg: Kiva Systems and Universal Robots. But two robotics-relate...
Why are some social robots selling well, whilst others are stalled or failing?
Frank Tobe
18 Nov 2016
Amazon's Echo sales have exceeded 4 million and they are ramping up to sell 10 million in 2017; Google's Home has received positive reviews and have just begun selling in large numbers; but SoftBank's...
The Ford factor: Mad scientists and corporate villains
Michael Szollosy
16 Nov 2016
Please note: The following article may contain spoilers up to Episode 5 of Westworld.
HBO’s Westworld (on Sky Atlantic here in the UK) is progressing nicely, though even now at five episodes in ...
Lofty goals crash land while B2B drones prosper
Frank Tobe
15 Nov 2016
Key executives leaving (or were requested to leave) Goggle's drone delivery Project Wing; GoPro recalls all of its newly launched Karma drones and doesn't offer a replacement; DJI slashes prices. What...
Should both the successes and failures of space robots curb the ambition of a manned Mars mission?
Alex Kirkpatrick
11 Nov 2016
Late morning, red skies over Mars, and the first human interloper emerges from her landing craft to review the dusty expanse. As she eases carefully down the ladder towards the alien earth, her mind s...
Digital farms are already a reality
Frank Tobe
10 Nov 2016
Farmers, ranchers and growers the world over are transitioning to precision agricultural methods, i.e., subdividing their acreage into many unique sub-plots -- in some cases right down to the indivi...
SOCIAL ROBOTICS JAPAN: Robot Town Sagami’s strange, yet surprisingly hopeful, anime promo
Reno Tibke
09 Nov 2016
SOCIAL ROBOTICS JAPAN is adapted from a bimonthly column published in Japan’s Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun (日刊工業新聞/Business & Technology Daily Newspaper). The 101-year-old, nationally circul...
