The technology uses tactile sensing to identify objects underground and might one day help disarm land mines or inspect cables.
TRI shares design of Soft Bubble Gripper to advance technology
The Soft Bubble Gripper uses visuo-tactile sensing techniques that allow a robot to recognize objects by shape, track their orientation in its grasp and sense forces as it interacts with the world.
Soft Robotics adds JMP Solutions to integrator program
Soft Robotics has added JMP Solutions to its Preferred System Integrator program. This partnership will help expand robotic adoption in the food sector enabled by Soft Robotics food-grade soft gripping, 3D vision, and AI technologies. Soft Robotics Preferred System Integrator Program is an initiative to help integrators win more business with its industry-leading technologies, including…
Root AI acquired by AppHarvest for $60M
Root AI, a Somerville, Mass.-based startup developing the Virgo harvesting robot for indoor farms, was acquired by AppHarvest for $60 million. AppHarvest is investing approximately $10 million in cash and the remaining balance in AppHarvest common shares to acquire Root AI. Founded in 2018, Root AI’s 19 full-time employees are expected to join AppHarvest’s technology…
Piab launches piSAFE program for end of arm tooling
Piab, a leading end-of-arm tooling developer, has introduced its piSAFE program that enables new benefits in applications where safety, flexibility, speed and performance are key. The solutions in the piSAFE program are developed to provide configurable and low-weight products that can be adapted to a customer’s specific needs. While maintaining leading vacuum performance through Piab’s…
Using tactile-based reinforcement learning for insertion tasks
Researchers studied how reinforcement learning enabled a robot arm equipped with a parallel jaw gripper and tactile sensors to insert unknown objects into a hole.
Destaco launches TC1 manual tool changer for cobots
The TC1 has four integrated pass-through air ports plus optional electrical passthrough modules that connect directly to cobots from Universal Robots.
OnRobot MG10 electric magnetic gripper designed for collaborative applications
OnRobot CEO Enrico Krog Iversen alluded to a series of upcoming product announcements during his appearance on last week’s episode of The Robot Report Podcast. The 2020 RBR50 company has released the first of those products, the MG10 electric magnetic gripper. It is designed for material handling, assembly and machine tending applications in manufacturing, automotive…
Juan Aparicio, Enrico Krog Iversen on robotics ease of use
Welcome to Episode 37 of The Robot Report Podcast, which brings conversations with robotics innovators straight to you. Join us each week for discussions with leading roboticists, innovative robotics companies, and other key members of the robotics community. You can subscribe to The Robot Report Podcast on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, SoundCloud, Spotify and more. Please subscribe to the podcast and leave us…
OnRobot VGP20 electric vacuum gripper targets heavy-duty palletizing
After a busy year product-wise in 2020, OnRobot today released its first new end-of-arm tool (EOAT) for 2021. The VGP20 is an electric vacuum gripper that can handle payloads of 20kg (44.09lbs). OnRobot said the VGP20 is “compatible with all leading robot brands” and is designed primarily for heavy-duty palletizing applications, but it can be…
Robot arm opens new doors for Spot
Boston Dynamics today released several updates to its Spot product line. The goal is to enhance the quadruped’s ability to autonomously monitor job sites. To do so, the RBR50 company introduced a new version of the robot, Spot Enterprise, the Scout web-based teleoperation platform and its long-awaited Spot Arm. None of these products is more…
TripleA robotics launches WINGMAN tool changer for cobots
TripleA robotics’ WINGMAN Tool Changer for collaborative robots. | Credit: TripleA robotics Last month, Denmark-based TripleA robotics left the Odense Robotics StartUp Hub and launched its first product, the WINGMAN Tool Changer System for collaborative robots. After 18 months in the robotics incubator at the Danish Technological Institute, TripleA robotics exits the hub with a…
ATI releases end-effector kits for FANUC CRX cobots
ATI Industrial Automation has released a slew of end-of-arm tooling kits that are compatible with FANUC’s CRX Series collaborative robot arms. N.C.-based ATI Industrial Automation said the kits include options for automatic tool changing, force sensing, and material removal. They enable tasks such as machine tending, part inspection, surface preparation and more. ATI said the…
Laser-steering microrobot aims to refine minimally invasive surgery
A new device that is 6 millimeters in diameter and 16 millimeters in length is capable of focusing and steering a fiber-delivered laser beam at high speeds.
How AMP Robotics is changing recycling; Festo wins gripper challenge
Welcome to Episode 29 of The Robot Report Podcast, which brings conversations with robotics innovators straight to you. Join us each week for discussions with leading roboticists, innovative robotics companies, and other key members of the robotics community. You can subscribe to The Robot Report Podcast on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, SoundCloud, Spotify and more. Please subscribe to the podcast and leave us a…
How pole beans inspired this soft robotic gripper
Scientists often look to nature for cues when designing robots – some robots mimic human hands while others simulate the actions of octopus arms or inchworms. Now, researchers in the University of Georgia College of Engineering have designed a new soft robotic gripper that draws inspiration from an unusual source: pole beans. While pole beans…
Piab piSoftgrip 50-2 vacuum gripper targets food automation
Piab has extended its piSoftgrip family with a new pinch gripper developed for the automation of the food/chocolate industry. The vacuum-based soft gripper can grip sensitive and lightweight oblong objects with odd geometries and/or objects with an unusual surface. piSoftgrip has two gripping fingers and a sealed vacuum cavity, all made in one piece, resulting…
Bobacino launches crowdfunding campaign for automated bubble tea machine
As robotics and automation expand to new markets, startup Bobacino brings a customizable and futuristic splash to a time-honored tradition of bubble tea.
OnRobot 2FG7 parallel gripper designed for low-volume, high-mix production
The 2FG7 parallel gripper offers a maximum payload of 11 kg (24.3 lb), an external grip range of up to 74 mm (2.91 in) and a gripping force of between 20-140 N.
Soft robotic gripper modeled after an elephant’s trunk
Nature has inspired engineers at UNSW Sydney to develop a soft fabric robotic gripper that behaves like an elephant’s trunk to grasp, pick up and release objects without breaking them. The researchers say the versatile technology could be widely applied in sectors where fragile objects are handled, such as agriculture, food and the scientific and…
How precision drives can improve the performance of robotic grippers, mobile robots
As robots become more flexible and enter new industries, they need to be as precise as possible. FAULHABER MICROMO said its configurable precision drives are necessary in numerous applications.
