Pushing the limits of warehouse inventory management

In Episode 155 of The Robot Report Podcast, editors Steve Crowe and Mike Oitzman discuss the news of the week.

In this episode, we catch up with Oana Jinga, co-founder of Dexory, to learn all about the company‘s warehouse inventory management system.

Also on this episode, we feature a conversation between Editorial Director Eugene Demaitre and Garrett Place, who manages business development for robotic perception at ifm.

Show timeline

• 6:24 – News
• 21:29 – Interview with Oana Jinga, co-founder and chief commercial and product officer at Dexory
• 53:06 – Interview by Gene Demaitre with Garrett Place, business development for robotic perception at ifm

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In the news this week

1. Agility Robotics’ Digit humanoid lands first official job
   • The company signed a multi-year deal with GXO Logistics Inc., the world’s largest pure-play contract logistics provider, to deploy its Digit humanoids in various logistics operations.
   • GXO said it is commercially deploying a “small fleet” of Digit robots at a Spanx facility in Connecticut. The logistics provider is paying Agility Robotics under a robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) model.
   • The companies didn’t reveal how many humanoids Spanx is using or specifics of their RaaS agreement. They claimed that this is both the industry’s first formal commercial deployment of humanoids and the first RaaS deployment of such robots.
2. Waymo ends waitlist, opens robotaxi service to all in San Francisco
   • Starting today, anyone in San Francisco can hail a robotaxi using Waymo LLC’s app. The company has been operating in the city for years now, slowing scaling its operations. In total, nearly 300,000 people, including those who live, work, and visit San Francisco, have signed up to ride since the company first opened its waitlist.
   • Earlier this month, it expanded its service in Phoenix, its largest service area. The company added 90 sq. mi. (233 sq. km) to what was already its largest service area in metropolitan Phoenix.
   • Waymo said its riders can now hail Waymo One service across 315 sq. mi. (815.8 sq. km) of the Valley. The expanded service area covers more of Scottsdale’s resorts and expands to downtown Mesa, Ariz. 
3. Robotics investments drive past $2.1B in May
   • Robotics investments for May 2024 topped $2.1 billion, the result of funding for 38 companies.
   • The $2.1 billion is the highest monthly funding amount for the year 2024 and exceeds the trailing 12-month average of $1.2 billion.
   • Robotics funding through May 2024 totals approximately $5.7 billion.
   • Largest haul: Sensor manufacturer Wayve announced a $1.05 billion Series C investment round led by SoftBank Group, with contributions from new investor NVIDIA and existing investor Microsoft, to accelerate its mission to reimagine autonomous mobility through embodied intelligence.
   • Honorable mentions:
     • Farmwise with a $10 million Series B
     • Pickle Robots with $15 million Series B

Links from the show

Startups: Sign up for the Pitchfire competition at RoboBusiness 2024. The deadline is Aug. 9.

Watch the YouTube video where Adam Savage swallows a camera robot from Endiatx, which will give the featured closing keynote at the 2024 RoboBusiness event.