A study commissioned by the Intl. Fed. of Robotics found that 3.6 jobs are created for every robot deployed. The logic is complicated and nets out jobs displaced against jobs saved by not moving offshore, but also shows where new jobs in robotics, and downstream, are actually created. Read a review of the details here…
The Logic Behind Bailing Out the Auto Industry
By Frank Tobe, editor/publisher, The Robot Report Pres. Obama, speaking at Carnegie Mellon University, June 24, 2011 “Today, I’m calling for all of us to come together- private sector, industry, universities, and the government – to spark a renaissance in American manufacturing and help our manufacturers develop the cutting-edge tools they need to compete with…
Did you know? 12,500 robot milking systems installed by Lely
Lely, the world's first robotic milking system provider, reached the 12,500 sales event in December. AgriNews recently featured an Albany farmer that uses the Lely system and describes the myriad benefits derived from its use. The system tracks and reports upon each cow's production, milk quality, and issues which can be indicators for further breeding…
Medicine and Mechatronics
My wife had surgery recently. We were told the surgery would be done robotically with a DaVinci surgical system. Fortunately, the condition for which she is being treated appears to be resolved by the surgery. But the events give me pause to contemplate the role of mechatronics in modern medicine. I remember reading for many […]
Kiva Systems Presents a Glimpse of Future Pick n’ Pack Fulfillment
At the recent Modex 2012 in Atlanta, Kiva Systems’ booth featured a fully-functioning warehouse operation where attendees walked up and placed their orders on an iPad and then picked their order right from the Kiva system just seconds later. It even validated the product was as called for and that the picker took only the…
Japanese Robotic Farming Experiment
Japan just launched a $130 million (10 billion yen) robotic farming project on a 600 acre plot of land, It is hoped the 6 year experiment will rejuvenate the Japanese agricultural industry. Funding is from a consortium of farmers, high-tech manufacturers and the government’s agricultural ministry; the land was swamped by the March tsunami. Unmanned…
CGI Sponsors Youth Robotics Competition
CGI, Inc announces their pledge towards becoming the main event sponsor for the Northern Nevada FTC® Championship Tournament February 24-25 at Carson City High School, Carson City, NV. Founded by Dean Kamen in 1992, FIRST’s mission is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that […]
From concept to commercialization: one woman’s journey into robotics
After observing that children attentively played with her interactive animatronic robot, she decided that it had commercial value and began her journey. Interbots, a small 5-person Boston start-up, is her vehicle. It has received funding through competitions, awards, regional grants and angel investors. Interbots’ robots come bundled with software, an interactive website, and lesson plans…
Seema Patel, fusing robotics and games with Interbots
Copied with permission from New Venturist.Written by Babs Carryer, serial entrepreneur and Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at CMU. Seema never had any plans to go into business and never in a million years thought she’d start a company. But the opportunity fell into her lap and she couldn’t resist taking the plunge. Seema was always…
Prototypes and Production
There is a perception that Motion Control technology can be somewhat pricey. This is a constant challenge to engineers seeking to develop new applications. The problem is that prototyping a new application may have little or no resemblance to the hardware required in production. The gap between prototyping and production is quite significant, for […]
Paraplegic patients walk during first session
Ekso Bionics delivers first commercial-version exoskeleton to Denver hospital and is beginning to ship additional units to hospital rehab centers across the US. The new 45# exoskeleton is ready-to-wear, battery-powered, and designed for patients with spinal cord injuries that inhibit their ability to walk. Preliminary results of the 70-person investigational studies showed that all were…
Robotics and smart technologies merge for material handling
There were more buyers than in previous years and they appeared to be holistic in their approach to material handling in the factory and picking and packing in the warehouse. Their reasoning and underlying economic drivers detailed in this report. Brad Berger, editor-in-chief of SupplyChainBrain magazine, said that investing in automation for material handling is…
Adept begins to use Willow Garage’s ROS for their line of industrial robots
Adept Technology appears to be bridging the gap between industrial robotics and the very real need for safer, more flexible, vision-enabled, mobile and easily trainable service robots. Today they announced a collaboration with Willow Garage to harness Willow Garage’s ROS (robotic operating system) so that new methods can be used to control, simulate and program…
Modex 2012: Robotic and smart technologies for handling material in factories and warehouses
In the emerging world of service robotics, many markets are opening to robotics that were once only handled by industrial robot manufacturers. Safely unmanned, or working alongside human workers, in a show focused on handling materials in the factory and also in the warehouse, Modex 2012, held in Atlanta (after 16 years in Cleveland), displayed the wares…
Hiring Demand for Robotics Jobs Grows 44% and Robot Sales Jumped 30%
According to WANTED Analytics, a real-time talent analytics site, there were over 2,100 U.S. job ads for robotics skills in January, 2012, a 44% year-over-year growth rate from 2011. The majority of listings (650) were for engineering jobs and represented a 51% year-over-year increase. Underlying this surge in employment, the International Federation of Robotics reported…
Mechatronics and Economic Recovery
Mechatronics is a major driver in economic recovery. That may sound like an extreme claim, but it is something I experience with some regularity. Every time someone comes up with a better solution for a process or new way to make a piece of machinery, there is economic recovery. Mechatronics doesn’t get the attention of […]
iRobot shares plummet 33%; GM of government & industrial robots division to leave
Fourth quarter net income jumped 52 percent compared to the year before on strong demand for robots built for the consumer market. But CEO Colin Angle warned that robot sales to government agencies might slow in 2012. iRobot expects revenue in 2012 to be between $465 million and $485 million while net income will be…
Pres. Obama funds and encourages STEM education
Obama, at a White House Science Fair honoring winners of the nation’s top science competitions, announced (and partially funded) a goal of 1 million more math and science graduates in the next decade. 100,000 science teachers will be trained by Carnegie University – future roboticists all!
American Entrepreneurship 101
In my travels, I continue to find people hard at work doing something that has never been done before. With the hope of making a profit while doing it. Just such a situation came up recently when I met with the owner and founder of Transcon Steel. Among the mainstays of an industrial economy is […]
Ubiquitous displays – Corning’s vision for the decade
In a wonderfully illustrative video, Corning shows how its glass and fiber, with companion technologies, will shape our world and shift our ways of communication in the near future. Teachers, healthcare providers, techies, car-buffs, and investors will want to invest 11 minutes to watch this video.