Trifo has raised Series B funding and added the Lucy smart robot vacuum to its product line.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated on December 27, 2019 at 11 AM EST. The Robot Report spoke to Digital Dream Labs Founder H. Jacob Hanchar and added new information about relaunching Anki products and a potential subscription model and open-source Vector 2.0.  Anki’s robots might be making a comeback, after all. Digital Dream Labs,…

Merging or creating new worlds with virtual worlds is not just a 21st-century technology.

PropTech, or the application of robots, drones, and related technologies to property management, is gaining traction with real estate managers and investors.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on Colin Angle’s LinkedIn page and was republished with permission. To stay updated with his blogs, follow Angle on LinkedIn and Twitter. For an eternity, experts have equated robot intelligence with autonomy. They were wrong. For the world to move past the precipice and into the golden age of…

Autonomous vehicles, sensors, food preparation, and surgical robots received funding in November 2019.

iRobot has long said its robot vacuums can clean up pet hair. Unfortunately, that’s only part of the mess our furry friends are capable of making. Now the Bedford, Mass.-based developer of the Roomba is working on cleaning up after pets in other areas. iRobot was granted on Nov. 5 a patent for “cleaning of…

Robotic furniture startup Bumblebee Spaces has joined Toyota AI Ventures portfolio of service robots along with its Series A funding.

Thanks to a new web-based API, developers can now teach Sony’s Aibo robot dog new tricks. Sony just released software update 2.50 for the ERS1000 Aibo that introduces a developer program for experienced developers and a visual programming tool for beginners that features drag-and-drop block coding. Both allow Aibo owners to program new actions. However,…

Chowbotics is offering Sally 2.0, a fresh food-dispensing robot with a revamped user interface, redesigned containers for ease of swapping and cleaning, and a wider menu of ingredients.

Update on December 26, 2019: Anki’s assets have been acquired by edtech startup Digital Dream Labs. Read Story.  StretchTech won its patent infringement lawsuit against Anki, the once-popular consumer robotics company that closed in April 2019. The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled (PDF) Anki directly and indirectly infringed…

Miko.ai, which has been selling social robots in Asia for four years, said its Miko 2, which includes telepresence features, will be available in North America in December.

MassRobotics hosted its third annual Robot Block Party in Boston, showcasing local robotics companies and giving people of all ages a chance to see robots up close.

Update on December 26, 2019: Anki’s assets have been acquired by edtech startup Digital Dream Labs. Read Story.  The patent portfolio for Anki, the once-popular consumer robotics company that closed in April 2019, is now up for sale. The sale includes patents and trademarks for the Overdrive, Cozmo, and Vector product lines. Hilco Streambank, which is…

Piaggio Fast Forward has announced the release of its revised gita rolling robot, which is intended to carry items and follow people as they walk on sidewalks.

Catalia Health is working with partners to deploy its Mabu robot to help gather patient information and respond to their needs for care.

Toyota Research Institute shared its latest research on how to train a mobile manipulator for complex household tasks.

Modular Robotics, makers of Cubelets robot blocks, has acquired Dexter Industries, creators of GoPiGo and GiggleBot. The two companies said they “have united with plans to continue creating robotic teaching tools that inspire students to explore STEM, computational thinking, and other big ideas.” Collectively, Cubelets, GoPiGo, and GiggleBot are used in more than 15,000 educational…

Update on December 26, 2019: Anki’s assets have been acquired by edtech startup Digital Dream Labs. Read Story.  Consumer robotics company Anki shut down in April, taking many by surprise. But a recent teardown video shed light on some of the complex, costly, and manual manufacturing processes involved with building the Anki Vector robot. Swetha…

Sales value of service robots for professional use increased by 32% to $9.2 billion, according to the International Federation of Robotics’ (IFR) World Robotics Report – Service Robots. Logistic systems such as autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs) represent the largest fraction in the professional service robot market (41% of all units sold). The second largest category…

Ori, the MassRobotics resident The Robot Report profiled just yesterday, raised $20 million in Series B funding for its robotic furniture. Ori said the funding will allow it to partner with “architects and builders on designing urban housing and spaces that are flexible, intelligent, sustainable and affordable.” The investors who participated in the Series B…

Update on December 26, 2019: Anki’s assets have been acquired by edtech startup Digital Dream Labs. Read Story.  Hanns Tappeiner, who founded Anki with Mark Palatucci and Boris Sofman in 2010, has been named Director of Product Development at Apple’s Special Projects Group. Tappeiner within the last few days updated his LinkedIn profile, which indicates he…