In Episode 228 of The Robot Report Podcast, hosts Steve Crowe and Mike Oitzman recap the major robotics news of the week.
Thomas Pilz, managing partner of Pilz GmbH & Co. KG
Our guest on this show is Thomas Pilz, managing partner of Pilz GmbH & Co. KG — a dynamic leader and innovator in robotics safety. He oversees IT, purchasing, research and development, quality management, and production.
Pilz previously served as CEO of Pilz Automation Safety L.P. in Michigan, leading the company’s North American operations. He also contributes to several technical and scientific boards, including the VDMA and various research associations in the fields of automation and microelectronics.
During the interview, we touch on current concerns with the rapidly evolving robotic landscape. We gather Thomas’ insights into new cutting-edge technologies like those being developed by 3Laws.
Show timeline
- 0:45 – John Deere Excavator demo recap
- 10:21 – News of the week
- 33:25 – Thomas Pilz, Managing Partner of Pilz GmbH & Co. KG
Editor and cohost Mike Oitzman gets his first opportunity to operate a John Deere excavator. | Credit: The Robot Report
News of the week
iRobot emerges from Chapter 11 as restructured Picea U.S. subsidiary
iRobot Corp. is back from bankruptcy with the completion of Shenzhen Picea Robotics Co.’s acquisition of the consumer robotics pioneer. iRobot said it has emerged from a pre-packaged Chapter 11 process “with an improved financial foundation and additional capacity to invest in the next generation of smart home robotics.”
Last month, iRobot announced that it had entered into a restructuring support agreement with its creditor Santrum Hong Kong Co. and contract manufacturer Picea. The company had faced falling revenue, diversification challenges, and antitrust concerns that doomed its proposed acquisition by Amazon.
However, it said it remains committed to continuing to produce and support its fleet of millions of robotic vacuum cleaners.
Serve Robotics to acquire hospital logistics provider Diligent Robotics
Serve Robotics Inc., a developer of sidewalk delivery robots, is acquiring Diligent Robotics Inc. for $29 million. The companies said the acquisition will open up new opportunities.
With the Diligent acquisition, Serve Robotics is making its first foray into indoor environments, mobile manipulation, and the healthcare industry. Diligent currently operates its Moxi robots in more than 25 hospitals, where robots have completed over 1.25 million deliveries of medical supplies.
Serve Robotics said it has spent the past year rapidly expanding the number of robots it has operating in the world, doing real work. With this experience, CEO Ali Kashani said he hopes to use Serve’s scaling and manufacturing capabilities to help Diligent Robotics to do the same.
Microsoft Research reveals Rho-alpha vision-language-action model for robots
Microsoft announced Rho-alpha, or ρα, the first robotics model derived from its Phi series of vision-language models (VLAs). The new models built on Phi are intended to make robots more adaptable and trustworthy, the company said.
“Rho-alpha translates natural language commands into control signals for robotic systems performing bimanual manipulation tasks,” wrote Ashley Llorens, corporate vice president and managing director of the Microsoft Research Accelerator. “It can be described as a VLA+ model in that it expands the set of perceptual and learning modalities beyond those typically used by VLAs.”
For perception, Rho-alpha adds tactile sensing, and Microsoft said it is working to include modalities such as force. For learning, the company claimed that Rho-alpha can continually improve with feedback provided by people.
Microsoft said it is looking to work with robotics manufacturers, integrators, and end users to see how Rho-alpha and associated tooling can help them train, deploy, and adapt cloud-hosted physical AI with their own data.
Hyundai Motor’s Korean union warns of humanoid robot plan, sees threat to jobs
While South Korea is a leading adopter of industrial and service robots, fears of job displacement exist there as well as in other regions. Hyundai Motor Group‘s labor union warned the automaker not to deploy humanoid robots without its approval because of concerns about “employment shocks,” reported Reuters.
Hyundai is the owner of Boston Dynamics and has said it plans to buy “tens of thousands” of robots in the coming years. Boston Dynamics is also testing its Atlas humanoid with Hyundai.
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