This Robot Can Mix Drinks in Your Hotel Room
Michael Belfiore for Bloomberg: Makr Shakr’s robotic arms pull cocktail ingredients selected via touchscreen or app from a network of bottles above the bar.
Military robots are getting smaller and more capable
The Economist: “Slaughterbots” is fiction. The question Dr Russell poses is, “how long will it remain so?” For military laboratories around the planet are busy developing small, autonomous robots for use in warfare, both conventional and unconventional.
San Francisco Security Robot Fired After Public Outcry
David Z. Morris for Fortune: Mountain View-based Knightscope has said in a statement that the robot “was not brought in to clear the area around the San Francisco SPCA of homeless individuals,” but only to “serve and protect the SPCA.”
Schmalz Technology Development – Vacuum Generation without Compressed Air – Flexible and Intelligent
• Vacuum generation that’s 100% electrical;
• Integrated intelligence for energy and process control;
• Extensive communication options through IO-Link interface;
Schmalz already offers a large range of solutions that can optimize handling process from single components such as vacuum generators to complete gripping systems. Particularly when used in autonomous warehouse, conventional vacuum generation with compressed air reaches its limits. Compressed air often is unavailable in warehouses. Schmalz therefore is introducing a new technology development: a gripper with vacuum generation that does not use compressed air. The vacuum is generated 100% electrically. This makes the gripper both energy efficient and mobile. At the same time, warehouses need systems with integrated intelligence to deliver information and learn. This enables the use of mobile and self-sufficient robots, which pick production order at various locations in the warehouse. Furthermore, Schmalz provides various modular connection options from its wide range of end effectors in order to handle different products reliably and safely.
Honda Will Unveil 4 New Robots at This Year’s CES
Shelby Rogers for Interesting Engineering: Each robot has its own functions, and all of them have names reminiscent of Star Wars droids.
Your Online Shopping Habit is Fueling a Robotics Renaissance
Matt Simon for Wired: “Companies like Amazon and others are now delivering products at an unprecedented rate, something like 500 packages per second. And that is only going to grow.”
Vecna Robotics Wins DHL & Dell Robotics Innovation Challenge 2017 with Tote Retrieval System
Vecna Robotics, a leader in intelligent, next-generation, robotic material handling autonomous ground vehicles (AGVs), was awarded first place in the DHL & Dell Robotics Mobile Picking Challenge 2017. The event was held last week at the DHL Innovation Center in Troisdorf, Ge
San Francisco to robots: Don’t crowd our sidewalks
Carolyn Said and Benny Evangelista for the SF Chronicle: San Francisco’s ordinance resembles laws enacted in the early days of “horseless carriages” that required a person to walk in front of a car waving a red flag, said Bob Doyle, spokesman for A3.
Amazon drone designed to self-destruct in emergencies. Here’s why.
Patrick Caughill for Futurism: The feature would use the onboard computing system to analyze conditions to determine the best course of action.
Wandelbots wants to reinvent the way we program robots
Darrell Etherington for TechCrunch: Its first product is a sensor-laden suit that a person can wear to demonstrate actions so that a robot can then replicate what they do.
SIA Launches Autonomous Security Robots Working Group
The group will bring together members of the security industry, end users, technology experts and other interested parties to promote best practices regarding the use of robots in security