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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...
Robot Launch 2016 – Robohub Readers’ Pick round three
Andra Keay
17 Nov 2016
For the next three weeks, Robohub readers can vote for their “Readers’ Pick” startup from the Robot Launch competition. Each week, we’ll be publishing 10 videos. Our ultimate Robohub Readers...
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...
New U.S. Robotics Roadmap calls for regulation, research and education
UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering
11 Nov 2016
A new U.S. Robotics Roadmap released Oct. 31 calls for better policy frameworks to safely integrate new technologies, such as self-driving cars and commercial drones, into everyday life. The document...
Robot Launch 2016 – Robohub Readers’ Pick round two
Andra Keay
10 Nov 2016
For the next three weeks, Robohub readers can vote for their “Readers’ Pick” startup from the Robot Launch competition. Each week, we’ll be publishing 10 videos. Our ultimate Robohub Readers...
Zoox raises $50 million for their stealthy Silicon Valley venture
Frank Tobe
08 Nov 2016
Zoox, the secretive Silicon Valley startup working to build its own self-driving cars, has quietly raised $50 million (in October) in a Series A round led by Composite Capital Management, a Hong Kong...
Clearpath Robotics launches “Warthog UGV”, the amphibious robot
Clearpath Robotics
03 Nov 2016
Clearpath Robotics, a leading provider of mobile robotic platforms for research and development, has partnered with ARGO XTR to release Warthog – a large, amphibious, all-terrain mobile robot desig...
Robot Launch 2016 – Robohub Readers’ Pick round one
Andra Keay
02 Nov 2016
For the next three weeks, Robohub readers can vote for their “Readers’ Pick” startup from the Robot Launch competition. Each week, we’ll be publishing 10 videos. Our ultimate Robohub Readers...
October fundings, acquisitions, IPOs and failures
Frank Tobe
02 Nov 2016
October fundings for robotics-related startups totaled $291.75 million bringing the year-to-date funding figure very close to $1.5 billion. For acquisitions, three of the six companies acquired report...
The changing landscape of drone funding
Frank Tobe
26 Oct 2016
CB Insights Drone Quarterly Financing Trends to VC-Backed Companies shows a downward trend. The Robot Report's monthly funding reports show something different: a change in the nature of drone applic...
Who are the most active robotics investors?
Andra Keay and Silicon Valley Robotics
19 Oct 2016
You may be surprised, but I’m not. These are the people I see regularly both in Silicon Valley and overseas interacting with the robotics community. That makes them the smart money (most of the time...
Automation should complement professional expertise, not replace it
Frank Pasquale
19 Oct 2016
Will your next doctor be an app? A cost-cutting NHS wants more patients to act as “self-carers,” with some technologized assistance. A series of flowcharts and phone trees might tell parents whose...
IFR’s two reports for 2015 show double-digit growth for remainder of decade
Frank Tobe
17 Oct 2016
Each year the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) surveys and tabulates data from its worldwide network of robotics associations. The two 2016 annual World Robotics Industrial Robots and World...
Zymergen gets $130 million from SoftBank and other VCs
Frank Tobe
12 Oct 2016
SoftBank, the Japanese telecom conglomerate, led a group that included Iconiq Capital, Prelude Ventures, Tao Capital Partners, and seven others in a $130 million funding round for Zymergen to help ...
Samsung acquires Viv in a quest to link all its appliances
Frank Tobe
10 Oct 2016
Dag Kittlaus, founder and CEO of Siri, Inc., produced and uploaded an app into the Apple App store February 2010. The app quickly rose to 1st in the 'Lifestyle Section.' In March, Steve Jobs called Ki...
September fundings, acquisitions, IPOs and failures
Frank Tobe
05 Oct 2016
September continued the big-money spree for funding robotic startups. 10 good-sized deals and three little ones. Almost $220 million (bringing the year-to-date total well over $1 billion)! Plus, ano...
A look at a Danish robotics cluster
Frank Tobe
04 Oct 2016
There are many robotics clusters around the world successfully providing for the needs of their respective communities and a few not really achieving their desired goals. Odense and the Danish cluster...
$60 million committed to Smart Cities Initiative
the National Science Foundation (NSF)
29 Sep 2016
From autonomous vehicles to flash flood alert systems, technology transforms how people lead their daily lives and how local cities and communities function.
Last September, the Administration laun...
46 research reports analyze the robotics industry and autonomous vehicles
Frank Tobe
29 Sep 2016
As autonomous cars begin to hit world markets in pilot tests and other ways, and before the International Federation of Robotics clarifies whether those vehicles are robots or not, two research firms ...
Integrators are dead, long live the integrator
Frank Tobe
15 Sep 2016
For many years integrators have engineered, built and installed automation machinery for their manufacturer clients. As manufacturing has begun to move from mass production to mass customization,...
Tune in: Economist holding Facebook Live Q&A about AI and the future of work
Robohub Editors
13 Sep 2016
How will artificial intelligence change the world of work? The Economist is holding a Facebook Live Q&A with their Deputy Editor on Tuesday, September 13, 4pm London time. You can watch, listen, ...
August fundings and acquisitions
Frank Tobe
05 Sep 2016
August was another big month for funding robotic startups. 18 deals. Almost $430 million (bringing the year-to-date total well over $1 billion)! Plus, another $1 billion paid in August for four acqui...
Two LiDAR makers each get big funding
Frank Tobe
26 Aug 2016
In anticipation of the need for LiDAR devices in cars with assisted steering and other self-driving technologies, both Velodyne and Quanergy received funding. Quanergy raised $90 million and Velodyne...
As Ford sets a date, Jibo retracts theirs
Frank Tobe
19 Aug 2016
Bringing a complex new product to market is an intensive process fraught with problems. Getting hardware ready for manufacturing is often the easy part; it's the software and regulatory compliance tha...
Midea’s masterplan to become China’s robot powerhouse
Frank Tobe
18 Aug 2016
Chinese consumer manufacturer Midea, after having spent over $4 billion to acquire 94% of German robot maker Kuka, is planning to spend an additional $1.5 billion to turn itself into China's preemin...
IDC awards 5 warehouse robotics innovators
Frank Tobe
17 Aug 2016
International Data Corporation (IDC) has awarded five pioneering players in the warehouse robotics market with the 2016 IDC Innovators Award. Companies selected met the following criteria: revenue of...
Robohub roundtable: Why do robotics crowdfunding projects fail?
Kassie Perlongo
16 Aug 2016
In this Robohub roundtable edition, we are joined by Sabine Hauert, Kassie Perlongo, John Payne, Audrow Nash, Yannis Erripis, with commentary by Andra Keay and Travis Deyle, to discuss the viabilit...
What coachmen from the 1920s can tell us about robots and jobs
Vincenzo Spiezia
16 Aug 2016
To many workers, the words “digital technologies” may evoke one simple, dismaying image: a human-like robot sitting at their desk, doing the work that they used to do! This anxiety is not differen...
What happens when a robot company sells off a division?
Frank Tobe
11 Aug 2016
Spin-offs are disrupting, but often necessary. Here are two recent examples: iRobot sold off its Defense & Security Business Unit to a private equity firm, and Harvest Automation sold the IP an...
July fundings, acquisitions and failures
Frank Tobe
03 Aug 2016
Despite all the high-profile billion-dollar acquisitions, eg: ARM by SoftBank, KUKA by Midea and Uber China by Didi Chuxing, M&A are down 19% this year, according to both Forbes and CB Insights. B...
Where are the previous Robot Launch winners now?
Andra Keay and Silicon Valley Robotics
21 Jul 2016
Catch up with past winners: CleverPet (2015), Preemadonna/Nailbot (2015 runner-up), and Leka (2014).
Will you be our next Robot Launch winner? There's 25 days left to register! You can register by...
Midea now owns 85.69% of KUKA’s shares
Frank Tobe
21 Jul 2016
Since the announcement of the month-long tender offer by Midea to buy 49% of the shares of German robot maker KUKA AG - and private negotiations - Midea now has 85.69% of the shares....
Coming very soon: robotic toys, robot-made hamburgers, mobile robot deliveries
Frank Tobe
12 Jul 2016
Re-joining the ranks, Sony announced a return to robotics. Momentum is opening a robot hamburger shop. And Starship is beginning to deliver food to three cities in Europe....
62 market research reports study robotics industry
Frank Tobe
11 Jul 2016
The number of research reports studying the robotics industry is growing exponentially. To date in 2016 there have been 109 on subjects ranging from overly broad to very drilled-down views of the in...
Robolliance focuses on autonomous robotics for security and survelliance
Kassie Perlongo
08 Jul 2016
Robolliance is a new forum for technology partners and industry experts. Sponsored by Sharp Electronics Corporation, the program is a place for partners and experts in "robotics, surveillance and sec...
Starship delivery robots getting ready to deliver in London, Germany, Bern
Brad Templeton, Robocars.com
07 Jul 2016
At Starship, we announced our first pilot projects for robotic delivery which will begin operating this summer. We’ll be working with a London food delivery startup Pronto as well as German parcel c...
