Industrial Robot Arms

Covariant400x275Covariant, which uses artificial intelligence to allow robots to see the world around them, has announced it raised $80 million in Series C funding, bringing its total capitalization to $147 million within two years of the company’s public launch. The company said it plans to use the funding to continue investment in AI Robotics research and development, as well as expand its team globally to accelerate bringing AI into the physical world.

 

AmbiRobotics AmbiKit400x275Ambi Robotics, which develops simulation-to-reality AI for highly-dexterous robot applications, has announced AmbiKit, a multi-robot kitting system that leverages AI data collection to expedite e-commerce kitting operations. Ambi said AmbiKit automates product bundling for faster delivery, increasing order accuracy and reducing operating costs.

 

FSReport LightsOut400x275A new analysis by Frost & Sullivan suggests that the rapidly falling prices of robots and continually increasing labor costs will accelerate manufacturers’ shift to a lights-out manufacturing setting, in which minimal human intervention is needed to run day-to-day operations.

 

PearsonDePalletizing400x275End-of-line packaging automation firm Pearson Packaging Systems and robotics software company Plus One Robotics have announced a partnership to offer easier solutions for complex packaging challenges for manufacturers, warehouses, and eCommerce fulfillment and distribution centers.

 

BerkshireGrey400x275Berkshire Grey, which develops artificial intelligence-enabled robotic solutions to help automate supply chains, has announced securing more than $23 million in a multiphase order with a global retailer for online same-day grocery fulfillment. The company’s Intelligent Enterprise Robotics (IER) solutions will robotically pick grocery items from inventory and pack them into customer bags to fill orders that are placed online and via mobile apps. The company declined to name the name of the retailer in the agreement.

 

SICKRuler3000 400x275SICK has announced the first in a new generation of Ruler3000 3D streaming cameras, designed to offer systems integrators with a way to harness the speed and measurement precision of SICK’s high-definition 3D imaging technology. The Ruler3000 is a pre-calibrated device that combines SICK’s Ranger3 streaming camera with a Class 2 eye-safe laser, pre-selected optics and fixed geometries to enable simpler configuration and commissioning.

 

MechMindMechEye400x275Mech-Mind Robotics, a Chinese AI startup, has announced the launch of its next-generation Mech-Eye Nano Industrial 3D Camera. Featuring a smaller size with high-quality 3D imaging, the Mech-Eye Nano is aimed at precision-required applications and on-arm mounting for pick-and-place robot applications.

 

FanucRobots400x275Two robot manufacturers have announced milestone deployments or shipments of its robots this week. Japan’s FANUC, which develops CNCs, robots and factory automation systems, announced the production of its 750,000th industrial robot, which it said represents a record high point in the industry. Meanwhile, China’s Geek+ announced it has sold 20,000 autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) worldwide for global supply chain purposes.

 

IFR Yaskawa400x275Preliminary data from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) indicates that China saw a sales increase of 19% for industrial robots in 2020, with 167,000 robots shipped. While global robot installations in 2020 were down 2%, the IFR said the sales decline was more moderate than expected.

 

SoftRoboticsChicken400x275Soft Robotics, which develops AI-powered automated picking solutions through modular soft robotic gripping technology, has announced raising $10 million in a Series B extension funding round. The new funding will help expand its commercial operations to meet COVID-19 pandemic-fueled demand, as well as go to the launch of its SoftAI-powered robotic solutions.

 

PearsonRTL HV 400x275Pearson Packaging Systems, which develops end-of-line packaging automation, has launched its RTL-HV, a standardized, modular case packing solution that can load horizontally and vertically. The unit addresses the needs of manufacturers of lightweight products with flexible packaging formats, such as bags, pouches, or flow-wrapped products, as well as those looking for cost-efficient yet flexible solutions.

 

AmbiPitneyBowes400x275Pitney Bowes, a global leader in the areas of eCommerce, shipping, mailing, and financial services, has announced plans to deploy AmbiSort robots, the automated parcel sorting systems from Ambi Robotics, in its eCommerce hubs within the U.S. over the next five years. The AmbiSort AI-powered systems aim to help Pitney Bowes speed up parcel sortation to last-mile delivery providers on behalf of its clients, while improving operational efficiency, accuracy, and worker safety as parcel volumes continue to surge, the company said.

 

Micropsi MIRAI 400x275Micropsi Industries has announced the next-generation of its MIRAI software, which uses artificial intelligence to help industrial and collaborative robots learn to perform camera-guided movements more quickly. Through the software, robots can flexibly react to variances in their tasks in real time by learning from humans. The company said MIRAI customers will notice quicker setup times, down from 2-3 days per skill to about three hours, along with increased robot speeds.

 

SICK Vention400x275SICK has announced a partnership with Vention that will combine SICK’s PLB and PLOC2D systems with Vention’s manufacturing automation platform to accelerate the design and deployment of custom-built applications for robot guidance systems.

 

RealtimeRobotics400x275Realtime Robotics, which develops autonomous motion planning for industrial robots, has announced completing a $31.4 million Series A round of funding. The company said it will apply the new funds to accelerate product rollouts and deepen its reach in the warehouse automation industry while continuing to serve global automotive manufacturers and their supply chain.

 

Cobot MachineTending400x275A new report from research firm ABI Research predicts that the cobot market will grow substantially over the next decade. With a global valuation of $475 million in 2020 and expansion to $600 million this year, BI said the market will surge to $8 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 32.5%.