Amazon Friday announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Amazon will acquire Whole Foods Market for $42 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $13.7 billion. Amazon has ostensibly been an online retailer for over 20 years — except some niche retail bookstores and their attempt last year at […]
Tag Archives: robotics
The bot invasion is on, powered by $24B in funding
While the manufacturing sector is increasingly using physical robots to improve industrial processes, the market for virtual bots or “chatbots” is also gaining serious traction in the space where humans and computers interact. Bots are essentially software technologies that automate tasks and enable effective human-computer interactions. Bots are increasingly taking over customer service operations in […]
Can ElliQ the robot combat social isolation in the elderly?
When you think of robots designed to help people, you might think of the role of robotics in caring and customer service roles or companion orientated service robots like Pepper, Nao or even Hasbro’s companion pets. Then more recently there’s the emergence of robots as sexual or romantic partners. One start-up from Israel, Intuition Robotics is throwing […]
Cybersecurity experts paint bleak picture of robot security
Robots are still an uncommon sight in the home, but most tech analysts project a huge increase in the amount of droids deployed to do tasks in the next ten years. It might not be that long before helper robots, picture C3P0 from Star Wars or a Mr. Handy from Fallout, are handling everything from […]
Ford spends billions to meet ambitious self-driving goal
Ford has announced it will spend $1 billion to acquire Argo AI, a Pittsburgh robotics startup, in the hopes the expertise will advance its self-driving program. Argo AI was created a few months ago by Bryan Salesky and Peter Rander, two experts in the field of artificial intelligence, robotics, and automation. Salesky previously worked for […]
Toyota gets into its first-pick schools, spends millions on AI
Toyota has announced a new partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University, aimed at accelerating the development of artificial intelligence and robotics. The Japanese car maker will pump $50 million into newly formed research centers at MIT and Stanford. Any developments will be shared with Toyota, and could be adapted to […]
4 ways Industry 4.0 will look different in 2017
It’s been a big year for Industrial IoT — or Industry 4.0 — as both long-term established companies and start-ups have worked to find solutions to problems that have plagued traditional workplaces for many years. Underlying aims have included increased efficiency, improved supply chains, reduced waste and greater safety and speed. Amidst an advancing ecosystem […]
5 ways the new connected agriculture world changed in 2016
The world of agriculture technology, or agtech, is rapidly evolving from an industry entrenched in tradition to one that is fast embracing change. It’s automating laborious tasks and providing farmers and growers with greater knowledge and insight into their crops than ever before. As technology evolves so does the needs of the farmer and the growing environment. […]
How the smart machine era will change the world
The other day, my 13-year old brought home a not-so-great report card. I wanted to motivate him to do better, so I asked, “What do you want to do with your life?” He looked up at me. Then, he looked down at our dog, sleeping contentedly on the floor. He looked back at me, and […]
Is Amazon Go a sign of the downfall of a retail workforce?
Any time a disruptive technology with industrial or productive applications comes into play, the question arises as to whether or not that technology will result in the loss of jobs. This issue has been tackled extensively in the manufacturing sector, but what about retail? Are robots and IoT technologies putting our retail workforce at risk? […]
Good robot design needs to be responsible, not just responsive
Robots have become commonplace in many aspects of life including health care, military and security work. Yet until recently little thought has been given outside of academic circles to the ethics of robots. Silicon Valley Robotics recently launched a Good Robot Design Council — which has launched “5 Laws of Robotics” guidelines for roboticists and academics — on […]
Yamaha races to connect the things to the IoT
Japanese conglomerate Yamaha has launched its own Advanced Robotics Automation platform, a system that connects Internet of Things (IoT) and other devices together. The platform looks to lower the cost of automated production lines and provide more compatibility between IoT products, according to Yamaha. See Also: IIoT could boost GDP by $15 trillion, though data […]
How can robotics bring real innovation to the warehouse experience?
E-commerce is challenging the retail environment in many ways from fitting rooms to customer relations. Then there’s the challenges before products even hit the store, as warehouses full of goods struggle are faced with the challenge of finding staff to find, pack and deliver orders. The top three challenges facing supply chain executives, as identified […]
How close are we to the robotic human heart?
We live in a society where human health is increasingly enhanced by artificial augmentation and implantation including hip replacements and hearing aids. French company Carmat have been working for 15 years on the artificial heart, a device that completely replaces the human heart in people with end stage heart disease and a life expectancy of […]
Finally, a contest to reward the world’s crappiest fighting robots
“If one crappy robot and another crappy robot fought each other — what would happen?” In an era where robots like Nao, Pepper, Sophia and Atlas manage to amaze us with their respective abilities to walk, learn, communicate in different languages, recognize different people and partake in heavy lifting, another suite of robots is hard at […]
Calm, cruel and connected: August’s best and worst of IoT
Crowdfunding is a noisy, cruel and crowded place, particularly in hardware where some ideas soar to great fruition and others bomb abysmally. There there’s those that leverage a decent amount of support but are hampered by long delays. Many of those funded struggle to scale and bring their creations to market in a timely manner, […]
The legacy of Willow Garage…The “PARC” for robotics
The robotic industries have been one of the hottest topics worldwide since there has been progressing from the traditional manufacturing applications to the non-manufacturing applications such as service industry. Like other industries, startups in US Bay Area cover the whole area of the San Francisco-Silicon Valley has led the innovation. You have heard Savioke developing a butler […]
Say hello to the Internet of Robotic Things
The latest Internet of Things (IoT) sub-segment to emerge is the Internet of Robotic Things, where intelligent robots operate with relative autonomy. As reported by ZDNet, ABI Research is championing the emergence of IoT-powered robots. In essence the Internet of Robotic Things (IoRT) describes devices that are able to combine data from various sources, monitor […]
When will robots finally take farmers’ jobs?
Robots could scoop up the remainder of jobs in agriculture over the next two decades, as machines become smarter, cheaper, and more efficient. That’s according to a new report by Lux Research that reveals how robots and autonomous systems could take over and change the agriculture industry. See Also: Crownstone takes home automation beyond Alexa […]
Developers united in their focus on IoT and AI
A recently published survey by the Evans Data Corporation shed light on a growing trend in the world of technology development. It showed the high-profile shift in focus of data-driven corporations towards artificial intelligence, robotics, and the Internet of Things. This survey, which included 1,441 developers, found that of all the industries impacted by big data […]