Logistics

The pilot, which will start in April 2021, marks Nuro’s expansion into parcel logistics and allows FedEx to explore various use cases for on-road autonomous vehicle logistics.

The MiR250 Hook can autonomously connect to and tow carts that weigh up to 1100 lbs.

Gideon Brothers announces it has raised $31 million in Series A investment to expand its AMR product line.

DHL Supply Chain is expanding its collaboration with Locus Robotics. By 2022, DHL plans to implement up to 2,000 assisted picking robots globally.

Calif.-based Plus is hopping on the SPAC train. The startup, which is developing self-driving truck technology, is being acquired by Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. V, a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). If the deal is approved, the combined company will be valued at $3.3 billion and trade on the New York Stock Exchange under…

Einride, a developer of electric, autonomous trucks, raised $110 million in Series B funding today. New investors Temasek, Soros Fund Management, Northzone, Maersk Growth and Build Capital led the round. Existing investors EQT Ventures, Plum Alley Investments, Norrsken VC, Ericsson and NordicNinja VC also participated. It should be noted that Moller-Maersk is the world’s largest…

JASCI Software acquires AMR provider NextShift Robotics and forms a new warehouse automation company: JASCI Robotics.

OSARO announces a refined strategy and suite of products that offers complete, dedicated, and integrated solutions packages for e-commerce, cosmetics and grocery fulfillment.

EasyMile, a French developer of autonomous vehicles, raised $66 million (€55 million) in Series B funding. The funds will help it scale deployments of autonomous vehicles in closed-campus environments. The oversubscribed round will also allow EasyMile to invest in its long-term strategy of deploying autonomous shuttles on public transportation networks. The Series B round was…

Plus One Robotics, a developer of vision software for logistics robots, raised $33 million in Series B funding. McRock Capital and TransLink Ventures co-led the round, with participation from BMW i Ventures, Kensington Capital Partners, Perot Jain, and Ironspring Ventures alongside existing investors. Whitney Rockley of McRock Capital and Toshi Otani of TransLink will join…

Goldberg on Ambi Robotics’ Sim2Real technology, how Dex-Net is powering its robots, lessons learned over the years, and the challenges of universal grasping.

There seems to be a renewed focus on automating the grueling task of unloading trailers. Boston Dynamics revealed its Stretch mobile manipulator at the end of March, while Memphis-based robotics startup Dextrous Robotics recently emerged from stealth with its Chopstick system. Dextrous co-founder Evan Drumwright discussed the system in the RoboBusiness Direct session “Advances in…

Nuro, a 2020 RBR50 Innovation Award winner, is launching autonomous pizza delivery in Houston this week with Domino’s. Select customers who place an online order – on certain days and times – from the Domino’s in Woodland Heights can have their food delivered by Nuro’s R2 robot. Customers who are selected for delivery via the…

Over the past few years, you’ve likely heard mobile manipulation is a trend to watch. Perhaps advances being made in a variety of enabling technologies – sensors, controls, power – are finally making mobile manipulation a reality. There have been at least three mobile manipulators introduced within the past month. Boston Dynamics certainly had the…

Hitachi acquired Kyoto Robotics, a Japan-based developer of 3D vision systems, control systems and more recently picking robots for the logistics industry. Hitachi acquired 96% of all issued shares of Kyoto Robotics and made it a subsidiary. Terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed. Hitachi said the acquisition will enable it to provide one-stop shop of…

RightHand Robotics, a developer of autonomous picking solutions for order fulfillment, today introduced its RightPick 3 item-handling robot system. Designed from the ground up, RightPick 3 features a modular, industrialized hardware design, software APIs and international compliance. The company’s robots are being used around the world in applications such as AS/RS, sorter induction, auto-bagger, kitting…

AutoStore, a leading global robotics and software company, today announced that SoftBank has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 40% of AutoStore from funds affiliated with Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. (“THL”) and EQT Private Equity (“EQT”), among other shareholders. THL will continue to be AutoStore’s majority shareholder and THL, SoftBank and EQT will…

Earlier this month, it was announced that – based on preliminary cargo numbers from 2020 – the Memphis International Airport would become the top cargo airport in the world, bypassing Hong Kong. Memphis is the headquarter city for FedEx Express and the main hub in its worldwide network. It has been reported [by Air Cargo…

Plus, a developer of autonomous truck technology, added $220 million in funding. This is an extension to the $200 million round raised in February 2021, bringing the round to a total of $420 million. Plus has now raised about $620 million since it was founded in 2016. The new financing was co-led by FountainVest Partners…

Ambi Robotics, formerly known as Ambidextrous Laboratories, raised $6.1 million in seed funding for its picking robots and operating system that are based on simulation-to-reality artificial intelligence (AI). Co-founded by the great Ken Goldberg, a professor at UC Berkeley, Ambi Robotics said it is exiting stealth mode, although its work on improving robotic grasping hasn’t…

Using robots to unload freight on receiving docks isn’t a novel idea. A quick YouTube search will return a slew of results. But many of these previous approaches have been stifled by high costs and the inability to handle a growing variety of packages. Of course, robotics companies are still working on the problem, which…

ForwardX Robotics will use the funding to accelerate development of new and existing products and expand its market share worldwide.