The February 2023 issue includes the following articles:

Cobot assists plastic finishers with quality inspection

Like many companies that turn to automation, FMO Surface had difficulty attracting human employees for monotonous yet demanding tasks.

5 robotics predictions for 2023

2023 will be the year of turnkey robotics solutions.

Teaching simple grippers new tricks

Using its environment, even a simple gripper can perform complex manipulation tasks.

The post February 2023 Issue: How Soft Robotics uses simulation to train its grippers appeared first on The Robot Report.

The October 2022 issue includes the feature story along with the following article:

4 tenets of medical robotics development

Teams must embrace a multileveled approach to product development and employ “deliberate innovation” that flows from the ideation stages all the way to commercialization.

The post October 2022 Issue: Why NASA is sending a surgical robot to the ISS appeared first on The Robot Report.

The September 2022 issue includes the following articles:

IKEA deploys MiR robots to help clean up warehouse

MiR500 autonomous mobile robot works with warehouse employees to transport pallets and other loads that weigh up to 500 kg.

How 5G can enhance AMRs

5G private wireless networks can deliver the high bandwidth, reliable, low-latency connectivity and IoT capabilities to meet the needs of current and future AMR deployments.

And more…

The post September 2022 Issue: AMRs and the Cloud: brains & brawn powering demand-driven warehouses appeared first on The Robot Report.

The August 2022 issue includes the following articles:

What’s the difference between a servo drive and motion controller?

There can be a fine line between what is considered a motion controller and what represents a basic servo drive. It is critical to understand the functionality and intelligence of both.

How precise motion systems drive AMRs

Selecting the correct motor is critical to overall performance for autonomous mobile robots.

How the mini cheetah robot learns to run

MIT developed a learning pipeline for the four-legged robot that learns to run entirely by trial and error in simulation.

And more…

The post August 2022 Issue: How a new joint design powers the UR20 cobot appeared first on The Robot Report.

Welcome to the 2022 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards

What do a universal operating system, mobile robot interoperability standard, sorting robot, and robotaxi have in common? Well, if you are reading this paragraph, you can probably guess “robotics,” and you would not be wrong.

But the similarities do not end there, and they are more pointed and correlated. All the examples are representative of winners of the 2022 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards (RBR50).

For more than a decade, Robotics Business Review has produced the RBR50, which recognizes and celebrates forward thinking companies from across the globe and the original, impactful solutions they have created. Widely recognized throughout the world as a leading indicator of robotics innovation leadership, the RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards are also a critical indicator of robotics sector growth.

For the robotics sector, the role, importance, and impact of innovation has never been greater. Moreover, it is the confluence of multiple, diverse innovation determinants – technological, business, and market – that act to accelerate robotics sector growth overall.

The 2022 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards reflect that diversity of innovation, and celebrates robotics innovation in all its forms including:

• Business and Management Innovation – Business and management initiatives or practices that enhance a company’s commercial standing, fosters robotics sector growth or improves society.
• Technology, Products and Services Innovation – New commercial solutions that have the potential to positively impact markets or the whole robotics sector.
• Application and Market Innovation – Industry specific, newly developed applications that deliver value, provide entry to new markets, or improve performance over existing approaches (i.e. improve productivity, increase quality, reduce cost, etc.).

The editors in WTWH Media’s Robotics Group enjoyed the challenge of evaluating and selecting the 2022 RBR50 awards winners, and learned much during the process. We hope you share that enthusiasm, and the 2022 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards also acts to increase your understanding of the global robotics sector. In that small way, the RBR50 will have done its part to drive the robotics sector forward.

The post April 2022 Issue: RBR50 Innovation Awards appeared first on The Robot Report.

The February 2022 issue includes the following articles:

Why component makers should target cobots

Collaborative robots are expected to see high growth in the years ahead, with end effectors representing the largest component market.

A system for general in-hand object re-orientation

Model-free framework for robotic hand performs in-hand reorientation of 2,000-plus objects without prior knowledge of the object’s shape.

Tactile sensing provides advantages for cobots

Touch sensing technologies are quickly evolving to increase both the applicability and safety of cobots, especially for demanding applications that require handling delicate materials.

And more…

The post February 2022 Issue: Swiss Manufacturer Automates CNC Machine Tending appeared first on The Robot Report.

Inflatable robotic hand gives amputees real-time tactile control

A computer model relates a finger’s desired position to the corresponding pressure a pump would have to apply to achieve that position.

Building on success Q&A with Intuitive CEO Gary Guthart

CEO of surgical robotics leader discusses how Intuitive coped with COVID, what must be done to maintain market dominance, and what keeps him up at night.

The post October 2021 Issue: Building on success during COVID: Q&A with Intuitive CEO Gary Guthart appeared first on The Robot Report.

The September 2021 issue includes the following articles:

Novanta acquisition a win-win for ATI employees

ATI offers an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, a federally-qualified ERISA benefit plan that makes employees owners in the company.

Metallic glass gears up for collaborative robots

Bulk metallic glass could reduce the prices of cobots and lead to advanced 3D printed metals.

Designing a durable cobot arm joint

The design had to meet industry-leading cobot requirements, including high levels of functional safety, high load-bearing capacity with increased arm speed.

Tips for choosing your robot’s motors

This guide will simplify your motor selection process.

And more…

The post September 2021 Issue: How Atlas Runs, Flips & Vaults appeared first on The Robot Report.

The May 2021 issue includes the following articles:

Designing an omnidirectional mobile manipulator with 7 DoF

ROS integration, reduced power consumption, ease of use, and flexibility are key to new mobile manipulator.

WTWH Media acquires Mobile Robot Guide

Acquisition of industry-leading mobile robotics website strengthens WTWH Media’s robotics brand and serves as a catalyst for future growth.

5 critical sensor integration challenges for AMRs

Sensor integration challenges can lengthen product development roadmaps and create unexpected downtime during deployments.

Evolution of Boston Dynamics box-moving robots

The company’s newest robot, Stretch, is a mobile manipulator designed to move boxes out of trucks and build pallets inside warehouses.

The post May 2021 Issue: Evolution of Boston Dynamics box-moving robots appeared first on The Robot Report.

The April 2021 issue includes the following articles:

Designing sit-to-stand motions for lower-limb exoskeletons

Lower-limb exoskeletons are assisting patients with mobility impairments. Up to this point, most can’t support sit-to-stand motions without outside assistance.

How computer vison, deep learning help exoskeletons adapt movements

Similar to autonomous cars that drive themselves, autonomous exoskeletons walk themselves and adapt to their surroundings.

Inside the development of Sarcos’ Guardian XO exoskeleton

Ben Wolff, chairman and CEO of Sarcos Robotics, discusses the evolution and challenges of developing its full-body exoskeleton.

The post April 2021 Issue: Inside the development of Sarcos’ Guardian XO exoskeleton appeared first on The Robot Report.

The March 2021 issue includes the following articles:

ABB develops next-gen GoFa, SWIFTI cobots

ABB’s GoFa and SWIFTI lines offer higher payloads and speeds to complement its YuMi cobots.

Tactile sensing for feedback control, object classification

Enabling object classification and real-time feedback control based on tactile sensing enhances manipulation capabilities and will be especially important for cobots being designed to operate with more human-like capabilities.

Q&A: Greg Smith, President, Teradyne Industrial Automation Group

Inside Teradyne’s acquisition strategy and the future of collaborative robotics.

How ActiNav automated a challenging bin-picking task

Facing challenges due to labor shortages, Allied Moulded turned to Universal Robots’ ActiNav to automate an important bin-picking application.

The post March 2021 Issue: How ActiNav automated a challenging bin-picking task appeared first on The Robot Report.

The February 2021 issue includes the following articles:

How piece-picking robots benefit from bottom-up design

Why cobbling together robotic arms, cameras, and AI software from different vendors is a risky approach.

Robot arm opens new doors for Spot

With Spot Arm, Boston Dynamics’ Spot is no longer just a data collection robot, but rather a highly-skilled mobile manipulation platform.

Precision gripper key to machine tending application

Faucet manufacturer has seen a 5% increase in production throughput per hour and is now considering a second automation system.

Laser-steering end-effector aims to refine minimally invasive surgery

Miniaturized to a cylinder measuring merely 6 mm in diameter and 16 mm in length, the laser-steering end-effector mapped out and followed complex trajectories in which multiple laser ablations could be performed with high speed and high accuracy.

The post February 2021 Issue: Robot arm opens new doors for Spot appeared first on The Robot Report.

Editors note: 2020 a year of robotics growth but many challenges

“May you live in interesting times,” goes the old saying. Change has been a constant for robotics developers, but never more so than this past year. From growth in existing sectors to macroeconomic challenges, not to mention a global pandemic and a contentious U.S. election, engineers and businesspeople have been forced to pay attention to the world outside their laboratories and boardrooms in 2020.

All of these challenges have also provided opportunities for robotics. In this year’s-end issue of The Robot Report, we’ll look back at robotics trends, triumphs, and failures. What do you care about? We’ll review some of our most popular articles of the past year.

We’ve been honored to serve at The Robot Report, which is part of WTWH Media’s robotics network. This includes sibling sites Robotics Business Review and Collaborative Robotics Trends, as well as numerous events, webinars, and a weekly podcast to keep you informed. We hope to be able to return to in-person conferences in 2021!

This past year, manufacturing slowed, but disinfection robots, legged systems, and supply chain automation of all kinds boomed. Factories around the world used a total of 2.7 million robots, an increase of 12%, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). By comparison, service robot sales — including supply chain and healthcare robots — are catching up, increasing 32% worldwide, said the IFR.

What do shifts in consumer and work habits mean for automation? China was the first country in the world to suffer from the novel coronavirus and one of the first to begin recovering — how does that affect manufacturing demand and robotics development?

Waymo, Cruise, Tesla, and others have raised billions of dollars in the past year or so — how come so much money is flowing into autonomous vehicles, when fully self-driving passenger cars are likely still years away? We’ll examine these and other 2020 megatrends.

We’ll also peer into our crystal ball and make a few predictions about 2021. We think robotics innovators, investors, suppliers, integrators, and end users will still need to watch out for new regulations, emerging applications, and business pitfalls. Fortunately, there is help in the global community.

ROS 2, BVLOS drone deliveries, workforce retraining, and ongoing efforts to refine and apply machine vision and motion control are just some of the areas to follow in 2021. We look forward to sharing what we learn with you, and don’t hesitate to reach out to us with your own robotics news and insights!

Eugene Demaitre and Steve Crowe | Editors, The Robot Report

The post December 2020 Issue: The robotics year in review appeared first on The Robot Report.

Robots are performing critical duties across the world, including dangerous and repetitive manufacturing tasks, toting heavy materials in logistics centers, and performing complex surgeries. Ongoing advances in these robotics systems, and enabling technologies, are making it possible to apply robotics solutions across an ever-increasing range of consumer, commercial and industrial applications.

We hope you enjoy the 2020 Design World Robotics Handbook, which was produced by The Robot Report. The Robotics Handbook covers the advancement of robotics systems and enabling technologies. To read all of The Robot Report‘s digital issues, check out our digital issues section here.

Here is a breakdown of the topics covered inside the Robotics Handbook:

Design & Development
– Toyota Research Institute demonstrates household robot prototypes
– Testing a PR2 robot in a simulated hospital world

Mobile Robots
– 3 AMRs help ICM handle demand for personal protective equipment
– Mini antenna enables robots to team up in complex environments
– How to get started with designing a cost-effective UGV for security

Software
– Future connectivity requirements for unmanned aerial vehicles
– The future of hybrid robotics
– How to develop software for medical robotics safety

Cobots
– eKAMI and READY Robotics train former coal miners to program multiple robots
– MT Solar automates small-batch welding with UR10e, Vectis cobot tool

Motion Control
– Interdisciplinary approaches are essential to drive systems, robotics success
– How Realtime Robotics is helping robots avoid collisions

Vision
– How Siemens automated maritime battery production
– Eliminating bias from visual datasets used to train AI models

Manipulation
– Hello Robot’s Stretch aims to democratize mobile manipulation
– Visual transfer learning helps robots manipulate objects

If you are interested in contributing content to upcoming special issues and/or the 2021 Robotics Handbook, please reach out to me at scrowe@wtwhmedia.com. If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities of upcoming special print issues and/or the 2021 Robotics Handbook, please reach out to Courtney Nagle at cseel@wtwhmedia.com.

The post Special Issue: 2020 Robotics Handbook appeared first on The Robot Report.

We hope you find the latest edition of The Robot Report informative. This month’s issue is devoted to robots in agriculture.

The insert appeared in the October 2020 print issue of Design World, sibling publication to The Robot Report, Collaborative Robotics Trends, and Robotics Business Review. The October 2020 issue includes the following articles:

How PyTorch enables Blue River’s robots

Farmers today face a huge challenge — feeding a growing global population with less available land. The world’s population is expected to grow to nearly 10 billion by 2050, increasing the global food demand by 50%. As this demand for food grows, land, water, and other resources will come under even more pressure.

CropHopper robot takes novel approach to field monitoring

Robots can perform many functions in agriculture, from monitoring crops and livestock, to applying fertilizer and pesticide, to harvesting fruits and vegetables. While most farm automation involves wheeled robots or aerial drones, HayBeeSee has taken a different approach with its CropHopper robot.

Augean Robotics mechanizes food production, from farm to table

I hosted Charles Andersen, CEO of Augean Robotics, at RobotLab to dig into the agritech market. He grew up with the industry in a family with generations of farmers. After business school, Andersen worked at John Deere’s largest competitor, Case New Holland (CHN). After analyzing Blue River and the wider unmanned marketplace for CHN, Andersen concluded that “autonomy is a force for new market disruption within agriculture, meaning that it is a force best commercialized by startups, so I decided to start a robotics company focused on agriculture.”

Building service network for 10,000 autonomous combines

For agricultural robotics to be more widely adopted, farmers will need services to help maintain and repair intelligent systems. EkoNiva Holding Co. and Cognitive Pilot have signed a three-year agreement to outfi t farm machinery with the C-Pilot autonomous driving system and create a service network across Russia.

The post October 2020 Issue: CropHopper robot takes novel approach to field monitoring appeared first on The Robot Report.