Bots & Business

Hitachi announced that it had acquired approximately 96% of all issued shares of Kyoto Robotics Corporation, a start-up developing intelligent robotic systems. The need for automation is rapidly increasing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Against this backdrop, Hitachi acquires Kyoto Robotics and its unique, advanced technologies, including three-dimensional vision and a control system of robots using AI.

The speed with which Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is developing is astonishing. When I look back on projects I did just a few year ago it seems like a different world. But part of the lessons we learnt in implementing RPA then, still hold true today. What remains unchanged as well is the enthusiasm of people when they realize how these software robots can help them in their day-to-day tasks.

Xenex Disinfection Services, provider of UV technology-based disinfection solutions, announced that it has been named an approved supplier in the Countess of Chester Commercial Procurement Services (CPS) National Framework Agreement for Decontamination Solutions.

RE2 Robotics, provider of intelligent mobile manipulation systems, announced its new robotic arm brand, RE2 Sapien.  With RE2 Sapien Re2 develops a human-like robotic arm solution that is intended to improve operational efficiencies, worker safety, and overall productivity. RE2 Sapien systems feature intelligent robotic arms with intuitive human-robot control interfaces and outdoor (including underwater) computer vision and autonomy capabilities.

L’association Voice Lab et la plateforme de financement Datafunding ont lancé une campagne de collecte de données vocales pour alimenter l’écosystème numérique de la voix et de l’innovation en France, en Europe et dans le monde francophone.

Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $4.1 trillion in 2021, an increase of 8.4% from 2020, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc. The source of funds for new digital business initiatives will more frequently come from business departments outside IT and charged as a cost of revenue or cost of goods sold (COGS).

Robotics company AutoStore announced that SoftBank has acquired 40% of its company.  AutoStore currently has a global customer base with more than 600 installations and 20,000 robots across 35 countries. It delivers automated storage and retrieval systems, coupled with its proprietary software, to serve the increasing demands of today’s supply chains.

Since July 2020, the 200 skips that collect Toulouse inhabitants’ waste from the 13 waste disposal centers managed by SUEZ have been equipped with embedded artificial intelligence. Under test since 2019, the ffly4u solution has been deployed with the objectives of reducing fuel consumption, optimizing skip flows and reducing costs by optimizing collection resources.

Christian Viguié, Président-directeur général de Delta Drone, confie ses perspectives d’expansion autour des drones et robots de surveillance et d’inventaires retenus par les professionnels dans leurs environnements portuaires, entrepôts et sites sensibles – tribunaux ou centres de recherches.