To optimize their effectiveness, increase human-robot collaboration, and reduce the risk of mishaps, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) must understand, and take cues from, the social behavior of their human coworkers. Cloud-based technologies for deep learning training are key to making that happen.

InOrbit’s cloud-based, robot-agnostic software solution for deploying, managing and optimizing autonomous mobile robots is delivered as a service.

Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) business models have found favor with both providers and users of advanced robotics systems. Attend this online session on July 21st to learn how companies are employing RaaS models business , along with the various business, legal, technical and operational aspects of the approach.

Celltrio CEO and robotics industry veteran Charlie Duncheon has advice for young robotics entrepreneurs, and they should take heed. He has decades of robotics start-up experience (and the scars to prove it).

To increase the adoption rate of robotics and automation technologies, US manufacturers, especially SMEs, must have training support in place and acted on, as well as take advantage of governmental workforce development programs. Only then will the business value of robotic automation overcome adoption reluctance due to cost.

Flexibility in manufacturing provides quantifiable value creation and cost savings, and a great way to introduce flexibility in factories is to allow humans and robots to work together in the same space. For many applications, limited fencing or guarding is desirable to ensure workcell safety and support more fluid human-robot interaction.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can improve many operational aspects of AGVs and AMRs, and increase worker satisfaction. As such, AI must be a fundamental building block in robotics design and harnessed by management.

Distribution Centers are exploiting data and using Labor Management Software (LMS) to optimize processes, overcome labor challenges, and drive automation deployments, including robotics systems.

In this Robot Report podcast, Aaron Prather, Senior Advisor for Technology, Research, and Planning at FedEx discusses emerging logistics technologies, robotics start-ups and more.

Large companies are not immune to the negative effects of ‘Pilot Purgatory’ on their digital and manufacturing transformation initiatives, including their merger, acquisition, and divestiture efforts. Strategic, transparent, and cross-functional execution are key to avoiding stagnation.

The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute’s Suzy Teele recently interviewed Yaskawa Motoman ‘s Roger Christian about the strategic advantages of partnering with ARM, and how the relationship benefits Yaskawa and advances the role of robotics in manufacturing.

Pilot purgatory and industrial tourism has hindered the adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies in the manufacturing sector, and can be especially damaging to solution provider start-ups. Early diagnosis of the threat is key.

Purchasing robots, CNC machines and other industrial equipment for manufacturing operations can be a difficult process, and one fraught with uncertainty, especially for small-to-medium manufacturers. The US’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) has some suggestions and best practices designed to support decision making and reduce the risk.

Trade conflicts, geopolitical tensions, and now the COVID-19 crisis, is putting global supply chain at risk, and as a result companies are expected to reverse the multi-decade trend of offshoring. As robotics and automation becomes more capable, cheaper, and easier to implement, the technology is likely to accelerate reshoring initiatives.

Members of the ARM Institute, a public-private partnership of more than 250 member organizations that promote collaborative robotics and workforce development, will discuss the current state-of-the-art for robotics manufacturing, as well as what the future holds, during RoboBusiness Direct event on September 3rd, 2020.

To bring Embodied’s Moxie social companion robot to as many families as possible, the company knew the price point needed to be much more affordable than robots of the past AND present. Here’s how they did it.

AMR developer Waypoint Robotics and fulfillment and distribution services provider Advanced Handling Systems (AHS) recently announced new systems integrator partnership. Tim McCabe, Director of Business Development for Waypoint Robotics, and Dave Tavel, EVP for AHS, discuss what led to the alliance and the capabilities AMRs provide for fulfillment and distribution operations.

As retailers continue to adopt and roll out omni-channel distribution models, new logistical challenges arise, along with industrial automation technologies and techniques, including autonomous mobile robots, that can overcome them.

Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) have proven to increase the productivity and reduce the cost of warehouse automation operations. While the costs of AMRs continue to drop, even as their capabilities increase, there are often hidden, and sizable, costs associated with their deployment. Here’s what to look for, and how to mitigate their impact.

Robots and industrial automation enable disproportionate GDP gains, but are they resilient to disruptions and changing demands?

Increased automation—with its ability to significantly boost societal productivity—is needed to help modern nations address seemingly intractable challenges such as sluggish wage growth, aging populations, rising health care costs, environmental restorations, global competitiveness, and often-worrisome levels of public sector debt.

The emergence and rapid proliferation of collaborative robots have resulted in the proliferation of a new class of ‘lean’ integrators specially adapted to the needs of SMEs who wish to leverage automation. The lean integrator has evolved precisely to deliver robot installations that yield higher productivity at a lower price point, and that can be installed in a fraction of the time of a traditional robot work cell.

New research by MIT economist Daron Acemoglu shows that since 1987, automation has taken away jobs from lower-skill workers without being replaced by an equivalent number of labor-market opportunities.

Both China and the US are incorporating AI into their industrial manufacturing operations… China from the top down and the US from the bottom up.

The RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards, widely recognized as a leading indicator of robotics innovation leadership, have been broadened in 2020 to celebrate robotics innovation in a wider range of forms.