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Uber and Avride have announced a strategic partnership aimed at integrating autonomous technology into both delivery and mobility services. This multiyear collaboration will leverage Avride’s delivery robots and autonomous vehicles within the Uber platform, initially focusing on Uber Eats deliveries in select U.S. cities.

Laser Photonics, developer of industrial laser systems, has released a visual concept showcasing the integration of its laser cleaning technology with Brokk’s 110 robot. Brokk, maker of remote-controlled machines used in sectors such as construction, mining, and metal processing, collaborated with LPC to introduce this new system.

Through 2027, generative AI (GenAI) will spawn new roles in software engineering and operations, requiring 80% of the engineering workforce to upskill, according to Gartner. “Bold claims on the ability of AI have led to speculation that AI could reduce demand for human engineers or even supplant them entirely,” said Philip Walsh, Sr Principal Analyst at Gartner. “While AI will transform the future role of software engineers, human expertise and creativity will always be essential to delivering complex, innovative software.”

Accenture and NVIDIA have expanded their partnership to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) across enterprises globally. This collaboration includes the launch of a new Accenture NVIDIA Business Group, which will provide businesses with tools to scale AI initiatives. The initiative involves the training of 30,000 professionals globally to support clients in implementing AI agents and AI-driven processes.

As Fizyr prepares for the 2024 Automation & Robotics Conference, the Rocking Robots team visited Delft to get a glimpse of the ongoing preparations. In this video, CEO Ken Fleming explains the wide range of live demonstrations and the innovative solutions being showcased. Robots are now capable of detecting transparent and light-absorbing objects, which will be processed in a best-of-breed solution by participating partners such as Yaskawa, FANUC, Zivid, and Cognibotics.

Serve Robotics and Wing Aviation have announced a partnership aimed at expanding autonomous delivery capabilities by integrating Serve’s sidewalk robots with Wing’s drone technology. The collaboration is designed to streamline food delivery, combining the strengths of both companies’ technologies. Serve’s AI-powered, low-emission robots will collect orders from restaurants in dense urban areas and deliver them to Wing drones, which will then complete the delivery to customers up to six miles away.

Researchers at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) have introduced a soft robotic gripper, ROtation-based Squeezing grippEr (ROSE), designed to enhance efficiency in crop harvesting. The development, led by Associate Professor Van Anh Ho and his team, addresses the limitations of conventional robotic grippers, which struggle with the diverse shapes and delicate nature of crops.

In this video from ICRA 40 in Rotterdam, the Rocking Robots team talks to Jean-François de Sallier from Haption, who highlights the role of haptic feedback in advancing artificial intelligence and robotics. Haptic feedback, which simulates the sense of touch, is essential for enabling robots to interact with their environment in a more intuitive and human-like way. Haption is working on replicating both muscular feedback, which responds to pressure, and vibrational feedback, similar to what is experienced on a smartphone, allowing robots to “feel” their surroundings.

Caleb Rucker, an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Tennessee, along with a team from the university, is participating in a major project aimed at developing a fully autonomous surgical robot. The initiative, which has secured up to $12 million in funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), is part of a multi-institutional collaboration led by Vanderbilt University.

Toyoda Gosei, a large Japanese automotive parts manufacturer, has invested in TriOrb Inc., a startup focused on developing mobile robots with omnidirectional movement capabilities. This investment, made through Toyoda Gosei’s Corporate Venture Capital Department in September 2024, aligns with the company’s strategy to enhance automation and productivity within its manufacturing processes.