General purpose humanoid robot developer Figure AI recently announced that it has raised $675M in Series B funding at a $2.6B valuation. Series B investors came from Microsoft, OpenAI Startup Fund, NVIDIA, Jeff Bezos (through Bezos Expeditions), Parkway Venture Capital, Intel Capital, Align Ventures, and ARK Invest. Both Microsoft and OpenAI will collaborate with Figure to develop its robots. Figure said this investment will accelerate its timeline for commercial deployment of its humanoid robot. OpenAI collaboration aims to enhancing humanoid language processing In conjunction with its Series B investment, Figure and OpenAI have entered into a collaboration agreement to develop…
Electric Sheep, a California-based outdoor maintenance company powered by AI and robotics, recently announced the launch of a brand-new robot. This new robot, named Verdie, like other offerings from Electric Sheep, is powered by the company’s AI agent, ES1. This technology helps enable an outdoor autonomous system to operate in any outdoor setting with zero teaching. Advanced AI and learning models to expand outdoor maintenance Using recent advances in generative AI, ES1 is a learned world model that enables reasoning and planning for both its RAM robot for mowing and its Verdie robot used for edging, trimming lawns and bushes,…
Cypher Robotics announced at MODEX 2024 in Atlanta a new offering for efficient and accurate cycle counting and industrial scanning, the Captis autonomous ground vehicle (AGV). The company also revealed partnerships with AI-driven organization GreyOrange, technology company Ericsson and Canadian retailer Indro Robotics. From air and ground in the warehouse Cypher calls its offering ‘The Future of Warehouse Robotics’ because it combines both aerial and ground robotics technology into a single, integrated package. The Captis AGV can find its way around warehouses all on its own. It won’t bump into people or objects, and requires no infrastructure changes. When it’s…
Industrial battery charging systems provider PosiCharge, a division of Webasto Charging Systems Inc., recently announced the expansion of its ProCore Edge line with the introduction of the ProCore Edge 10 Bay. Formerly reserved for select key customers, the ProCore Edge 10 Bay is now available to all material handling equipment customers and other interested parties. The ProCore Edge 10 Bay is available for immediate shipping. ProCore Edge 10 Bay charger suitable for large-scale, continuous operations The ProCore Edge 10 Bay integrates into Webasto Charging Systems' charging systems, catering to various industrial material handling batteries of different types, brands, voltages, and…
February 5 – 7, 2024 in Las Vegas for the premiere gathering that unites the entire eco-system of Fortune 500 global supply chain executives, logistics service providers, innovators and investors at the forefront of logistics tech and end-to-end supply chain. Experience unprecedented access to the people and technologies changing the way the world moves. Manifest Vegas brings together the most comprehensive ecosystem of those innovating and transforming end-to-end supply chain and logistics.
Deployments of Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) and Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) are surging as warehouses in a broad range of industries continue to struggle with workforce challenges. According to Next Move Strategy Consulting, the mobile robotics market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.2% between now and 2030. Yet, without proper preparation of the surfaces AMRs and AGVs will be rolling over, the vehicles will not work as anticipated and the deployments could fail. Here’s how to make sure your warehouse floor is ready for robotics. Warehouse Floor Condition Matters Most warehouse floors are concrete. While…
The NVIDIA Isaac robotics platform is tapping into the latest generative AI and advanced simulation technologies to accelerate AI-enabled robotics. At GTC 2024, NVIDIA announced Isaac Manipulator and Isaac Perceptor - a collection of foundation models, robotics tools and GPU-accelerated libraries. During Monday’s keynote, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang demonstrated Project GR00T, a general-purpose foundation model for humanoid robot learning. Project GR00T uses various new tools from the NVIDIA Isaac robotics platform to create AI for humanoid robots. “Building foundation models for general humanoid robots is one of the most exciting problems to solve in AI today,” Huang said.…
Real-time AI is helping with the heavy lifting in manufacturing, factory logistics and robotics. In such industries - often involving bulky products, expensive equipment, cobot environments and logistically complex facilities - a simulation-first approach is ushering in the next phase of automation. NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang demonstrated at Monday’s GTC 2024 keynote how developers can use digital twins to develop, test and refine their large-scale, real-time AIs entirely in simulation before rolling them out in industrial infrastructure, saving significant time and cost. NVIDIA Omniverse, Metropolis, Isaac and cuOpt interact in AI gyms where developers can train AI agents…
Mobile robot power-in-motion provider CaPow demonstrated its Genesis charging system at MODEX 2024. The trade show was held March 11-14 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA. As part of the demonstration, the Genesis system powered two mobile robots from different manufacturers while in motion. CaPow’s charging-in-motion systems use supercapacitors to ensure adequate electricity pickup. Genesis can be installed on new robots as well as retrofitted onto existing autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). CaPow said it reduces upfront automation costs by removing the need to invest in additional fleets, charging stations, or third-party logistics providers. With constant energy delivery…
Machine vision software provider RGo Robotics and computer hardware provider Theobroma Systems recently announced availability of an integrated computer system for mobile robots. The system combines RGo’s Perception Engine with Theobroma’s JAGUAR computer board. RGo also announced at MODEX 2024, in collaboration with Intel, that its Perception Engine is optimized to run on Intel core processors. The trade show was held March 11-14 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA. The RGo team will also be available at LogiMAT in Stuttgart, Germany from March 19-21 in Hall 6, stand D25. Theobroma Systems JAGUAR designed for mobile robots RGo’s…
