Pieter Werner

FedEx and Nuro have announced a multi-year, multi-phase agreement to test Nuro’s next-generation autonomous delivery vehicle within FedEx operations. The collaboration between FedEx and Nuro launched with a pilot program across the Houston area. This pilot marks Nuro’s expansion into parcel logistics and allows FedEx the opportunity to explore various use cases for on-road autonomous vehicle logistics, including multi-stop and appointment-based deliveries.

Blue Ocean Robotics, the manufacturer of UVD Robots for autonomous UV-C disinfection, announced that it was selected by ISS World Services to provide autonomous robots for disinfection as part of ISS’ global offering.

Industrial robot manufacturer FANUC has received a major order in the field of e-mobility. Scheduled for delivery in 2022, the company will supply the Cologne plant of Ford with around 500 robots to assist in the construction of electric car bodies.

Teleperformance announced the winners of the Teleperformance Botathon, part of the company’s All Ideas Matter initiative to spark innovation, collaboration and digital transformation. The tournament, which launched in March in partnership with Automation Anywhere and UiPath, challenged Teleperformance employees to submit their best “automation framework” ideas to improve business workplace and culture, and help advance the digital workforce.

In a proof-of-concept study, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces developed self-propelled microrobots that can swim, attach to plastics and break them down.

NVIDIA announced it will acquire DeepMap, a startup building high-definition maps for autonomous vehicles. Maps that are accurate to within a few meters are good enough when providing turn-by-turn directions for humans. AVs, however, require much greater precision. They must operate with centimeter-level precision for accurate localization, the ability of an AV to locate itself in the world.  

Despite the challenges facing the wider manufacturing industry during the coronavirus pandemic, collaborative robots continue to attract attention and investment, due to their ease of use, redeployability, and convenience to end-users who struggle to afford more traditional forms of automation.

Ever since the world’s first ever microscope was invented in 1590 by Hans and Zacharias Janssen –a Dutch father and son– our curiosity for what goes on at the tiniest scales has led to development of increasingly powerful devices. Fast forward to 2021, we not only have optical microscopy methods that allow us to see tiny particles in higher resolution than ever before, we also have non-optical techniques, such as scanning force microscopes, with which researchers can construct detailed maps of a range of physical and chemical properties.

The 2021 “Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Robotics & Automation” (IERA) goes to PixelPaint technology of ABB. Two high-precision robots make car painting faster, more sustainable and flexible – helping manufacturers to efficiently respond to individual demands. Two-tone and customized designs are applied in one pass. The technology eliminates overspray benefitting the environment.

UiPath today announced financial results for its first quarter fiscal 2022 ended April 30, 2021. With a revenue of $186.2 million this figure increased 65 percent year-over-year.