Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 8.41
May 21, 2019
…have adopted it. Customers include major automotive manufacturers including Ford Motor Company, manufacturing services company Jabil, the U.S. Air Force, and the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR), among others. Features of the CBAM-2 include: Production speed: The machine can produce high volumes of production parts quickly—up to 10x faster than conventional 3D printing, according to the company. Support for high-strength composites: The CBAM-2 can print 3D parts from composites that are not available through any other 3D printing method. Combining carbon fiber and fiberglass with high-performance thermoplastics like PEEK and Nylon can produce parts with better strength-to-weight ratios than…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 6.06
May 01, 2019
…In its online declaration titled “Looking Further,” American carmaker Ford said, “[By] 2021 … [the] vehicle will operate without a steering wheel, gas pedal, or brake pedal within geofenced areas as part of a ride-sharing or ride-hailing experience. By doing this, the vehicle will be classified as a SAE Level 4 capable-vehicle.” However, last month Ford CEO Jim Hackett publicly acknowledged that the vehicle’s application will be limited because autonomous driving is more complex than the industry anticipated. Part of the difficulty with designing a Level 3 car is human nature itself. Can a human be relaxed and alert at…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 10.74
February 01, 2019
…development initiatives.” Early customers of the Studio System include: Ford, Stanley Black and Decker, Goodyear, 3M, Google’s ATAP, BMW, ProtoLabs, Owens Corning, L3, TerraPower, Medtronic, Continental AG, Applied Materials, TECT Aerospace, US Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, MITRE and educational institutions such as MIT, University of Texas, Texas A&M and Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School, the nation’s first high school to install a metal 3D printer. Additional investors in the Series E funding round include GV (formerly Google Ventures), Panasonic and Techtronic Industries, as well as previous venture capital investors in the company, including Lux Capital, New…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.81
January 25, 2019
…workers in a variety of industries: Manufacturing: Boeing and Ford Motor Company both have been pursuing robotic exoskeletons to help reduce risks to workers (Hitch 2018). For even more human-robot collaboration, Volkswagen is teaming up with Dresden, Germany-based startup Wandelbots to more efficiently train industrial robots using an innovative jacket fitted with sensors and actuators. The sensors on the jacket detect human movements in real time, and the actuators provide haptic feedback. In this way, a robot can watch a human complete a task and then absorb the movement data to imitate the actions (MM&D Online Staff 2018). Distribution: In…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 42.48
December 18, 2018
Earlier this month, Ford Motor Co. gave the media a peak inside its new Advanced Manufacturing Center, a $45 million facility in Redford that will use 3D printing, virtual reality, simulation and collaborative robots to create new innovations in vehicle production. “More than 100 years ago, Ford created the moving assembly line, forever changing how vehicles would be mass-produced,” said Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of Global Operations. “Today, we are reinventing tomorrow’s assembly line — tapping technologies once only dreamed of on the big screen — to increase our manufacturing efficiency and quality.” The 3D printing in the facility includes…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 4.62
November 22, 2018
…and has partnered with Uber Technologies Inc. Apple, Microsoft, Ford, and many others are also involved in the development of autonomous vehicles. There is another combine, Waymo/Google/Alphabet, working out kinks in the technology. Lyft and General Motors are combining efforts. And of course, Tesla and its innovative CEO Elon Musk, the peripatetic Canadian-American business magnate, investor, engineer, and inventor are bullish. The U.S. chip-making giant Intel announced Monday that it had reached a deal to acquire an Israeli company called Mobileye for $15 billion. The combination is expected to accelerate innovation for the automotive and trucking industry and position Intel…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 6.56
September 05, 2018
…impact of new technologies on work supported by the Ford Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and the Open Society Foundations. “This report makes clear that it’s time to move beyond robots apocalypse thinking,” said Annette Bernhardt, director of the Low-Wage Work Program at the UC Berkeley Labor Center. “The real challenge of the next 20 years may be less about rampant job losses than about technology having the effect of degrading wages and working conditions and exacerbating already high levels of inequality.” Driverless? identifies and analyzes six possible scenarios for how autonomous trucks could be introduced by industry, with different…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 9.60
July 11, 2018
…its web site. Fictive's customer list includes NASA and Ford, among others. With both Xometry and Fictiv, the highly automated ordering system manages the file transmission, inspection, and job quote requests. But the humans are also in the loop. When it comes to reviewing parts to ensure they won't cause manufacturing issues, both companies employ a pool of expert engineers for the task. The New Manufacturing Climate Cronin said Xometry's service providers are mostly based on the U.S. The recent U.S. government's steel and aluminum tariffs could have an effect on part manufacturers and service providers who obtain raw materials…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 7.89
April 24, 2017
…granted a license in California to test autonomous vehicles. Ford and General Motors are also doubling down on creating autonomous vehicles. Now Amazon could be eyeing driverless car technology as a way to get items to people's doors faster, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. “Amazon.com Inc. has created a team focused on driverless-vehicle technology to help navigate the retail giant’s role in the shake-up of transportation, according to people briefed on the matter.” The initiative, still in its early phases, could help the Seattle-based company overcome one of its biggest logistical complications and costs: delivering…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 33.00
February 13, 2017
Ford Motor Company has announced it is investing $1 billion during the next five years in Argo AI, an artificial intelligence company, to develop a virtual driver system for the automaker’s autonomous vehicle coming in 2021 – and for potential license to other companies. Founded by former Google and Uber leaders, Argo AI is bringing together some of the most experienced roboticists and engineers working in autonomy from inside and outside of Ford. The team of experts in robotics and artificial intelligence is led by Argo AI founders Bryan Salesky, company CEO, and Peter Rander, company COO. Both are alumni…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 17.90
December 04, 2016
…of Product Integrity Steve Kenner, who used to be Ford's Global Director of Automotive Safety. It's not known when Kenner joined Apple, as his LinkedIn still lists Ford as his employer. Update: Apple issued a statement to Financial Times confirming the letter and Apple's interest in helping to define rules for self-driving vehicles. “We’ve provided comments to NHTSA because Apple is investing heavily in machine learning and autonomous systems,” the Apple spokesman said. “There are many potential applications for these technologies, including the future of transportation, so we want to work with NHTSA to help define the best practices for…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 9.68
September 22, 2016
…up with a uniform set of policies. Google and Ford are among the top companies pushing driverless car innovations. The 15-point federal checklist, intended to serve as a benchmark for all autonomous vehicles to meet before they go to market, hits on a variety of safety expectations. Among them: Sharing driving data with regulators so they can do root cause analysis on crashes or system breakdowns; the ability for vehicles to respond safely in the event of crashes or system malfunctions; and the need for safeguards to ensure security and prevent online attacks. Also outlined in the checklist was the…
