Embark, developer of self-driving technologies for commercial transportation, has unveiled its self-driving truck technology to the public. The company - which gained approval by the State of Nevada earlier this year to begin testing its truck on public roads - has created a technology that allows trucks to drive from exit to exit on the freeway without any human input. Embark’s truck uses a combination of radars, cameras and depth sensors known as LiDARs to perceive the world around it. The millions of data points from these sensors are processed using a form of Artificial Intelligence known as Deep Neural…
Bell and Howell has announced that it has been selected by Seegrid, a leader in connected self-driving vehicles for materials handling, for technical service and support in North America. The partnership expands Seegrid’s service capabilities as the company’s manufacturing and distribution customer base continues to grow. Seegrid self-driving vision guided vehicles (VGVs) provide flexible material movement in large manufacturing plants and fulfillment centers. Bell and Howell supports Seegrid’s portfolio of VGVs, including the recently announced GP8 Series 6 self-driving pallet truck, which offers fully automated material movement from pickup to drop-off. Bell and Howell’s service organization excels at robotics, production…
Few pieces of modern hardware have inspired as much excitement as the drone. While nonmilitary unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were initially marketed as purely recreational gadgets, it has not taken long for entrepreneurs and industrial giants to seize on the endless possibilities they offer. Annual sales in the United States are expected to reach seven million units by 2020, and many are already predicting a future in which drones reshape our cities – through remote delivery of goods, airborne surveillance, or as yet unforeseen applications. Yet one possibility has captured our collective imagination more than any other: the idea that…
President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order designed to speed the approval of drone flights over crowds and for longer distances. The administration says it wants to open new commercial uses for the aircraft and create jobs. “In order to maintain American leadership in this emerging industry here at home, our country needs a regulatory framework that encourages innovation while ensuring airspace safety,” Michael Kratsios, a deputy assistant to the president at the Office of Science and Technology Policy, said in a briefing with reporters. Trump’s order, a response to calls from companies making and using drones, will…
Technology helps Walmart save time Whether it’s at work or at home, things like a smartphone or a car’s voice-activation software free up valuable minutes of your day. That’s exactly the idea behind something new Walmart is testing in a small number of our stores: using automation to handle tasks that are repeatable, predictable and manual, like scanning shelves for out-of-stock items, incorrect prices, and wrong or missing labels (see the video above). This new shelf-scanning technology frees up time for Walmart associates to focus on what they tell Walmart are the most important and exciting parts of working at…
The Robotic Industries Association (RIA), North America’s robotics trade group, has signed an alliance partnership with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). OSHA has established alliances with a number of industry groups to share expertise and knowledge about safety practices in the industries involved. The OSHA/NIOSH/RIA Alliance will focus on communication and education about best practices in robot safety. “RIA has a long history of helping to keep workers safe around industrial robotics,” said Jeff Burnstein, president, RIA. “We developed the first American national robot safety standard, R15.06, in…
If you’ve been following the development of additive manufacturing (AM) systems focused on the electronics industry, you’ve heard about Nano Dimension. In 2012, the company began developing its dual-material DragonFly system for 3D-printing prototype multi-layer printed circuit boards (PCBs). The approach combines inkjet technology with 3D printing using proprietary nanotechnology-based conductive and dielectric inks. Users are able to produce their own complex, high quality prototype PCBs in hours instead of days or weeks (the usual turn-around time for out-sourced boards). 3D-printed multilayer PCB. Top layer displays traces with various trace- and space-widths, as well as non-plated and plated through-holes and…
An unprecedented wave of innovation engulfs today’s supply chain professionals, and they know that they will have to adapt to survive. New breakthrough developments, such as drones and driverless vehicles, seem to be everywhere. Download this new white paper to learn: • What is going on now with the integration of drones, robotics, driverless vehicles, and other innovations in the supply chain? • What does the future hold for these innovations? • What are the benefits for adopting these new technologies? • What barriers must these innovations overcome?
Big Data, Industry 4.0, the Internet of Things, the Amazon Effect—no matter what your business is up against, it’s probably safe to say your warehousing and distribution operations do not look like they did five years ago. Start-ups have shaken up the solutions landscape with innovative software, hardware and go-to-market strategies. Established systems suppliers have made meaningful shifts in how they provide solutions and services. In the process, the warehousing and distribution playing field has leveled somewhat. Thanks to consumer demands, massive automated facilities and mom-and-pop shops are expected to deliver similar service. And, thanks to faster and cheaper technology,…
Pushed by Amazon to compete with free delivery, often in two days or less, and to provide subscription-based offerings (such as curated box-of-the-month products or routine replenishment of consumables) atop incredibly slim margins, more omnichannel and e-commerce retailers are turning to third-party logistics and fulfillment service providers (3PLs) for fulfillment solutions. View: Top 50 U.S. & Global 3PLs “Just about everybody in retail is being dragged along by what Amazon does,” says Robert Lieb, professor of supply chain management at Northeastern University who has surveyed 3PL CEOs for nearly 25 years. “They are trying to respond with an omnichannel solution…
