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Schaeffler acquires precision gearbox maker Melior Motion 

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Schaeffler, a billion-dollar German company which supplies bearings and other components to the automotive and aerospace industries, has signed an agreement to acquire all of the shares of Melior Motion.

The acquisition of this supplier of precision gearboxes for robotics and other applications in automation expands the robotics portfolio of the Schaeffler Group’s industrial division.

As automation of simple, repetitive tasks as well as complex mounting and manufacturing processes is progressing rapidly, Schaeffler’s industrial division is expanding its position as a supplier for robotics components and systems. [Read more…] about Schaeffler acquires precision gearbox maker Melior Motion 

Monarch Tractor showcases ‘world’s first fully electric, driver-optional tractor’

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Monarch Tractor has been showcasing what it says is “the world’s first fully electric, driver-optional tractor” and has been selected for 2022 CES Innovation Award in the process.

The annual CES competition honors outstanding design and engineering in consumer technology products.

Monarch says it has been named a CES 2022 Innovation Awards Honoree and was honored in the Robotics category for its flagship MK-V tractor, which it says is “the first to deliver a convergence of electrification, automation and data analysis that empowers sustainable farming, increases efficiency and safety, and maximizes profitability for farmers”. [Read more…] about Monarch Tractor showcases ‘world’s first fully electric, driver-optional tractor’

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Amazon owner’s Blue Origin to buy asteroid mining company Honeybee Robotics

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Amazon owner Jeff Bezos’s aerospace company Blue Origin is to acquire a robotic asteroid mining startup called Honeybee Robotics.

Honeybee Robotics has operations in Longmont, Colorado and Altadena, California, and will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Blue Origin, headquartered in Kent, Washington.

The deal between Honeybee’s parent organization, Ensign-Bickford Industries, and Blue Origin is expected to close in mid-February. [Read more…] about Amazon owner’s Blue Origin to buy asteroid mining company Honeybee Robotics

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New algorithm flies drones faster than human racing pilots

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To be useful, drones need to be quick. Because of their limited battery life they must complete whatever task they have – searching for survivors on a disaster site, inspecting a building, delivering cargo – in the shortest possible time.

And they may have to do it by going through a series of waypoints like windows, rooms, or specific locations to inspect, adopting the best trajectory and the right acceleration or deceleration at each segment. [Read more…] about New algorithm flies drones faster than human racing pilots

Richard King Mellon Foundation awards Carnegie Mellon $150 million to support science research

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Carnegie Mellon University and the Richard King Mellon Foundation have announced that the two long-time partners will together make a transformational investment in science and technology leadership at the university; in a more vibrant future for the Hazelwood neighborhood; and in Pittsburgh’s ongoing economic renaissance.

The Foundation has approved a $150 million grant to CMU – the largest single grant in the Foundation’s 74-year history. The first $75 million is the lead gift for a new cutting-edge science building on the CMU campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

The second $75 million will seed a new robotics innovation center and an institute focused on advanced materials and manufacturing at Hazelwood Green – a former riverside steel mill site that will attract the jobs and industries of the new economy, while enabling development of a true mixed-use destination that will be a positive and inclusive part of Hazelwood. [Read more…] about Richard King Mellon Foundation awards Carnegie Mellon $150 million to support science research

Chinese robotics sector files ‘44 percent of total global patents’

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The Chinese robotics sector generated almost half of total global patents in the most recent year available, according to a new report. 

The figure was published in the Annual Report on the Development of the Robot Industry in China, jointly written by HRG International Institute of Research and Innovation as well as the China Institute of Science and Technology Evaluation.

The two organizations produced what they call the 2021 Blue Book of the Robot Industry, based on their research. [Read more…] about Chinese robotics sector files ‘44 percent of total global patents’

Earthlings send three separate missions to Mars

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Earthlings have sent three separate missions to Mars which will all reach the Red Planet within the next few days.

One of them was sent by the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and is scheduled to land on 18th February 2021.

NASA’s spacecraft carried the Perseverance Rover (main illustration), a wheeled robotic vehicle which sports a robotic arm built by Motiv Space Systems, whose CEO Robotics and Automation News interviewed in September last year. (See video below.) [Read more…] about Earthlings send three separate missions to Mars

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Cloud robotics: Talking cloud and saying nothing

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Cloud robotics are enabling robots to access large amounts of computing power that their bodies do not have the physical space to accommodate. Hundreds if not tens of thousands of servers are potentially at the service of small robots which can be in remote locations well away from the nearest supercomputer or data centre, only being connected by, for example, Wi-Fi or Ethernet.

This allows robots to call on powerful, cloud-based applications, such as speech recognition and language, when they are interacting with their users.

At the moment, most cloud robotics systems are linked to specific robots. So, for example, SoftBank’s Pepper robot is linked to the cloud robotics artificial intelligence system developed by Cocoro, another SoftBank company.

Pepper has about 25 onboard sensors to collect a wide range of information – sight, sound, touch and movement. That covers three of the five senses that human beings generally use, the two missing are taste and smell.

Pepper can be connected to the internet through Wi-Fi or Ethernet, both of which are incorporated into the robot. [Read more…] about Cloud robotics: Talking cloud and saying nothing