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October 2017 fundings, acquisitions and IPOs

Frank Tobe 02 Nov 2017

Twenty-eight different startups were funded in October cumulatively raising $862 million, up from $507 million in September. Three of the top four fundings were for startups involved in the self-drivi...

Global robot growth causing shortages in critical components

Frank Tobe 03 Oct 2017

Two reputable research resources are reporting that the robotics industry is growing more rapidly than expected. BCG (Boston Consulting Group) is conservatively projecting that the market will reach $...

Industrial robots in China up, up and away!

Frank Tobe 30 Aug 2017

China has rapidly become a global leader in robotics and automation. 2016 annual sales of industrial robots reached the highest level ever for any single country: 87,000 units (up 27% from 2015) and C...

July 2017 fundings, acquisitions, IPOs and failures

Frank Tobe 01 Aug 2017

July 2017 was a big month for robotics-related company funding. Four raised $588 million and 19 others raised $370.6 million for a monthly total of $958.6 million. Acquisitions als...

IROS Workshop: Best practices in designing roadmaps for robotics innovation

Hallie Siegel and AJung Moon 16 Jul 2017

Join us at the 2017 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2017) for a full day workshop that will bring together international stakeholders in robotics to examine ...

Robohub Digest 06/17: Robots in health and medicine, wheeling and dealing in the world of autonomous vehicles, and lots of new tech in action

Alex Kirkpatrick 14 Jul 2017

A quick, hassle-free way to stay on top of robotics news, our robotics digest is released on the first Monday of every month. Sign up to get it in your inbox....

Robotics industry growing faster than expected

Frank Tobe 11 Jul 2017

ARM Institute West Coast meeting review

Andra Keay and Silicon Valley Robotics 29 Jun 2017

Robotics manufacturing in the US will be getting federal support to match business or startup investments via the new Advanced Robotics Manufacturing (ARM) Institute. Perhaps more importantly, the ARM...

Uber regrouping after Levandowski firing

Frank Tobe 12 Jun 2017

Uber, the global ride-sharing transportation company, has named two replacements to recover from the recent firing of Anthony Levandowski who headed their Advanced Technologies Group, their OTTO truck...

Making Pepper walk: Understanding Softbank’s purchase of Boston Dynamics

Oliver Mitchell 12 Jun 2017

It is unclear if Masayoshi Son, Chairman of Softbank, was one of the 17 million YouTube viewers of Boston Dynamic’s Big Dog before acquiring the company for an undisclosed amount this past Thursday...

China’s strategic plan for a robotic future is working: 500+ Chinese robot companies

Frank Tobe 07 Jun 2017

In 2015, after much research, I wrote about China having 194 robot companies and used screen shots of The Robot Report's Global Map to show where they were and a chart to show their makeup. We've just...

May 2017 fundings, acquisitions, IPOs and failures

Frank Tobe 01 Jun 2017

May 2017 had two robotics-related companies get $9.5 billion in funding and 22 others raised $249 million. Acquisitions also continued to be substantial with Toyota Motor's $260 million acquisition o...

Two stars, different fates

Frank Tobe 31 May 2017

Andy Rubin, who developed the Android operating system at Google then went on to lead Google through multiple acquisitions into robotics, has launched a new consumer products company. Anthony Levandow...

The Wolf: The Hunt Continues shows calculated precision for hacking into an network

Frank Tobe 26 May 2017

Here's a video you will want to watch. "The Wolf: The Hunt Continues" is really an ad showing how a hacker can enter a network through an unprotected printer (or robot). Christian Slater stars as th...

SoftBank invests $5 billion into Didi Chuxing and $4 billion more in Nvidia

Frank Tobe 24 May 2017

SoftBank, the giant telecom company, is venturing out into the world of robotics and transportation services. DealStreet Asia said that SoftBank is trying to transform itself into the 'Berkshire Hatha...

To err is algorithm: Algorithm fallibility and economic organisation

Juan Mateos-Garcia 18 May 2017

Algorithmic fails Dig below the surface of some of today’s biggest tech controversies and you are likely to find an algorithm misfiring:[1] YouTube advertising controversy: The algorithm place...

An AI Primer for mechatronics

Oliver Mitchell 11 May 2017

This week I attended an “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Roundtable” of leading scientists, entrepreneurs and venture investors. As the discussion focused mainly on basic statistical techniques, I l...

24 research reports that dissect the robotics industry

Frank Tobe 05 May 2017

After reading the press releases for this batch of 24 research reports, although they vary widely in their forecasts, they almost all agree that most segments of the robotics industry are expected to...

iRobot, KUKA and other robotic stocks exceed earnings expectations

Frank Tobe 04 May 2017

iRobot (IRBT on the NASDAQ stock exchange) jumped from $70 to $80 per share on news that iRobot's quarterly earnings were so good that the company raised their forecast for 2017 to new highs. KUKA a...

As DJI dominates camera and commercial drone sales, drone funding falls

Frank Tobe 03 May 2017

According to AgFunder's 2016 AgTech Investing Report (supported by The Robot Report's own research), 2016 drone funding fell 64% from 2015 levels. Also, the type of companies getting funded were sens...

April 2017 fundings, acquisitions, IPOs and failures

Frank Tobe 02 May 2017

April 2017 had 16 robotics-related fundings totaling over $337 million - a fourth solid month for 2017 - $995 million year-to-date. Acquisitions also continued to be substantial with ABB's $2 billion...

Podcasts are the new blogs

Frank Tobe 28 Apr 2017

Most of us are familiar with the podcasts about robotics from the Robots Podcast group. For different perspectives, from the funder's point of view, here's a list of podcasts from the VC's that fund r...

Smart grasping demonstrated at Automate and ProMat trade shows

Frank Tobe 18 Apr 2017

Tactile sensing and force feedback are - and have been - problem areas for robot grasping. Humans could see, select and pick so much faster. Yet to handle the millions of different everyday items in o...

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podcast

Kickstart Accelerator, with Roland Siegwart and Matthias Hüni

Audrow Nash 17 Apr 2017

In this episode, Audrow Nash speaks with Roland Siegwart and Matthias Hüni about Kickstart Accelerator, a Swiss Startup Accelerator. Siegwart leads the Autonomous Systems Lab at ETH Zürich and is on...

CBS News outlines jobs and robotics debate; IFR fills in gaps

Frank Tobe 13 Apr 2017

CBS News, and reporter David Pogue, displayed some new technologies threatening jobs, while the International Federation of Robotics suggested that deploying robots actually increases jobs. Are either...

The startup Launch Pad Competition blasts off at Automate 2017

Oliver Mitchell 13 Apr 2017

What does Magic Johnson and a twenty foot robot have in common? You guessed it, Automate 2017. While this might seem like an odd pairing, it accurately reflects the current state of the robotics indu...

March 2017 fundings, acquisitions, IPOs and failures

Frank Tobe 10 Apr 2017

March 2017 had 29 robotics-related startups get funding totaling over $222 million - another solid month for 2017 and $658 million year-to-date. Acquisitions also continued to be substantial with ...

The robot industry is hiring. Do you have the skills?

Hallie Siegel 10 Apr 2017

A new white paper by the Robotics Industries Association (RIA) says that as many as 2 million US manufacturing jobs will go unfilled in the next ten years due to a lack of skilled workers. According t...

No, Detroit is not winning the robocar race

Brad Templeton, Robocars.com 05 Apr 2017

A new report from Navigant Research includes the chart shown below, ranking various teams on the race to robocar deployment. It’s causing lots of press headlines about how Ford is the top company an...

Billion $dollar acquisitions continue: ABB acquires B&R

Frank Tobe 04 Apr 2017

ABB, one of the Big Four global robot makers, has acquired Austrian industrial automation integrator and components manufacturer B&R (Bernecker & Rainer) Automation for an undisclosed amount b...

Robolliance on-hand for ISC West’s Unmanned Security Expo

Robohub Editors 03 Apr 2017

This week (April 05-07, 2017), the Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas will host ISC West 2017 in what they say is "the largest security industry trade show in the U.S.", drawing an estimated 29,000+ secur...

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