The Gentle Duo Mini soft grippers are suitable for food handling. Source: Ubiros Reliable and delicate robotic grasping has long been a challenge, but Ubiros Inc. said it can solve the problem without the bulky pneumatics or complex coding of previous approaches. The company’s electrically driven and modular grippers are easier to deploy and use than other soft grippers, according to Onder Ondemir, president of Ubiros. He is also a professor in the engineering department at Northeastern University. Ubiros offers the Gentle Flex Module and Gentle Flex CC for users that want to build their own ..read more

The new Humanoid Robot Innovation Center is located in Zhejiang, China. | Credit: SUPCON Over the past few years, the race to develop humanoid robots for commercial use has accelerated. SUPCON Technology Co. this month announced the Zhejiang Humanoid Robot Innovation Center and the debut of its first self-developed humanoid, Navigator α. Founded in 1993, SUPCON provides control and safety systems, monitoring and optimization software, and measurement hardware and software. The Hangzhou, China-based company went public on the SIX Swiss Exchange in April 2023, raising $565 million, according t ..read more

The 2024 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards have recognized the Mushiny Intelligent 3D Sorter. Source: Mushiny WTWH Media has named Mushiny Co. a 2024 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award winner this month. It recognized the Suzhou, China-based company for its Intelligent 3D Sorter as an innovative technology. “This recognition highlights China’s global innovation and marks a significant step for Mushiny in smart warehouse logistics,” said the company. The annual RBR50 awards honor the top 50 robotics companies for their leadership in automation hardware and software, business models, and emerging ..read more

Sanctuary’s seventh-generation Phoenix includes both hardware and software improvements. | Source: Sanctuary AI Sanctuary AI today unveiled the seventh generation of its Phoenix humanoid robot. The Vancouver-based company said its upgraded robot is bringing it closer to the creation of the world’s first “human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots.” This announcement comes less than 12 months after the company launched its sixth-generation robot, and less than 16 months after it first commercially deployed its fifth-generation humanoid in January 2023. In this week-long pilot deploymen ..read more

UR cobots are can now use SRCI, a standard interface between PLCs and robots. | Source: Universal Robots Collaborative robots are designed to be easy to use, but they also need to work with other systems. Universal Robots A/S announced that it has integrated the Standard Robot Command Interface, or SRCI, into its software. The Odense, Denmark-based company claimed that it is among the first cobot vendors to offer this functionality. “By having our robots connect seamlessly to a global industry leader like Siemens, we can now offer our partners and customers, both existing and prospective, fa ..read more

HowToRobot is combining its marketplace with Gain & Co.’s expert advice. Credit: Adobe Stock HowToRobot.com ApS, a provider of a global automation market platform, and Gain & Co., a robotics and automation advisor, announced a merger last week. The newly formed company has also received an investment from Sagitta Ventures, which will be taking a seat on its board.  Now operating under the name “HowToRobot,” the combined company said that while the need for robotics is stronger than ever, most businesses still struggle to automate. By combining its automation market and vendor-in ..read more

Outrider has obtained more patents to automate movement of semi-trailers. Source: Outrider Between the automated warehouse and self-driving long-haul vehicles, there is the opportunity to add robotics to yard management. Outrider Technologies Inc. today announced that it has received its latest patent, which covers the task of determining where a trailer is in respect to a self-driving tractor. U.S. Patent No. 11,927,676, for the “Systems and Methods for Determining an Articulated Trailer Angle,” will facilitate safe and accurate autonomous trailer movement in all weather conditions, cl ..read more

InOrbit has joined the Open Source Robotics Alliance to support community software development. | Source: InOrbit InOrbit Inc. this month joined the Open Source Robotics Alliance, or OSRA. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company said it is a milestone in its commitment to fostering collaboration and innovation within the robotics community. “Having members like InOrbit is crucial to us because it’s an indicator of support from long-standing community members for our vision for the future of the ROS ecosystem,” stated Vanessa Yamzon Orsi, CEO of the Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF). She ..read more

UR cobots at the Peugeot assembly plant in France. | Source: Teradyne My LinkedIn inbox has been busier than usual over the last couple of weeks, since I shared an opinion piece in Forbes titled “The Reinvention of the Manufacturing Industry,” exploring how a new generation of advanced robotics is helping to democratize manufacturing, making robots affordable for companies of all sizes. Several of my professional contacts have reached out to ask: Are collaborative robots really just for small and medium-sized companies then? We know this is not true, and so I need to offer some further expla ..read more

Magna International will manufacture more delivery robots. Source: Serve Robotics Serve Robotics Inc. today said it has expanded its existing partnership with Magna International Inc. to increase production of Serve’s sidewalk delivery robots. Under the terms of the new production and purchase agreement, Magna is the exclusive contract manufacturer of Serve’s autonomous systems, supporting its plan to deploy up to 2,000 robots on the Uber Eats platform across multiple U.S. markets. “Magna is excited to continue collaborating with Serve, leveraging our manufacturing and technical expertise to ..read more