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Top 10 robotics stories of May 2020

By Steve Crowe | June 3, 2020

What a month it was for robotics. Whether it was learning about the new Moxie companion robot or the release of Spot 2.0 from Boston Dynamics, there was no shortage of robotics stories to cover in May 2020.

Here are the Top 10 most popular robotics stories on The Robot Report in May 2020. Subscribe to The Robot Report‘s weekly newsletter to stay updated on the robotics stories you need to know about.


robotics stories

10. SVB study: Industry 4.0 advances, but manufacturing jobs at risk

Silicon Valley Bank, which has helped fund more than 30,000 startups, released a report on “The Future of Robotics: An Inside View on Innovation in Robotics.” It described trends in production, business models, and the adoption of robotics reflecting the increasing maturity of Industry 4.0. The report also addressed concerns about automation displacing jobs and public-policy reactions. Read Full Story


robotics stories

9. 10 challenges of using simulators for testing robots

Although simulation can be a more affordable, safer, and reliable alternative to field testing of robots, it is not as widely used as it could be, found researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science. After surveying a variety of robotics developers, the scientists identified 10 challenges and areas for improvement in simulators. Read Full Story


robotics stories

8. Rocos adds remote management to Spot robot

Legged robots have lagged behind wheeled models for commercial applications, but they could soon catch up, thanks to Boston Dynamics’ latest partnership. Rocos Global announced it is working with Boston Dynamics on remote management of the Spot quadruped robot. Mobile service robots have received new attention during the COVID-19 pandemic for use cases including disinfection, drone deliveries, and food preparation. Read Full Story


robotics stories

7. Covariant raises Series B for autonomous manipulation

Covariant announced today that it has raised $40 million in Series B funding, which brings its total funding to date to $67 million. The Berkeley, Calif.-based company said it plans to use the money to introduce “AI Robotics” to new industries, accelerate its partnerships, and grow its staff. Read Full Story


robotics stories

6. Danish startup develops throat swabbing robot for COVID-19 testing

Lifeline Robotics, a spin-out of the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) in Odense, has created an autonomous throat swabbing robot to test for the novel coronavirus. Esben Østergaard, co-founder of Universal Robots and REInvest Robotics, is one of the company’s co-founders. Read Full Story


5. AGVs vs AMRs: differences between mobile robots

Until recently, AGVs were the only option for automating internal transport tasks. Today, a more sophisticated technology is competing with them: AMRs. Although both AGVs and AMRs allow materials to be moved from point A to point B, the comparison ends there. Here is a breakdown of the differences of AGVs vs AMRs. Read Full Story


4. COVID-19 changing consumer comfort with robots

The need to reduce direct human contact for social distancing while still delivering services such as food have led to a better understanding of the roles that robots can play in healthcare and the supply chain. However, robotics designers and vendors should note that significant skepticism persists. Read Full Story


3. SecondHands finishes robot for aiding maintenance workers

ARMAR-6’s head includes five cameras, and the SecondHands consortium claimed it has made breakthroughs in integrating sensorimotor skills, learning, and reasoning abilities. For advanced manipulation, the robot has two arms with eight degrees of freedom (DoF) each, under-actuated hands for small objects, and a combination of visual and haptic sensing. Read Full Story


2. Spot 2.0 features improved autonomy and mobility

Less than eight months after releasing its quadruped to the world, Boston Dynamics pushed out a software update packed with new features. Spot 2.0 now features enhanced autonomy, communications, navigation, payload support, and more. Michael Perry, VP of business development at Boston Dynamics, said Spot 2.0 fulfills the vision of being a developer platform. Read Full Story


1. Moxie companion designed to help children learn

Embodied launched Moxie, a companion robot designed to help children with cognitive development. Moxie uses machine learning and the SocialX platform to perceive and interact. Social and therapeutic robotics companies have struggled in the past few years, but Embodied claims it is taking a different approach. Paolo Pirjanian, Co-founder and CEO of Embodied, is our guest on the June 10 episode of The Robot Report Podcast. We discuss the challenges of developing Moxie, which he has called a “moonshot.” Read Full Story

About The Author

Steve Crowe

Steve Crowe is Executive Editor, Robotics, WTWH Media, and chair of the Robotics Summit & Expo and RoboBusiness. He is also co-host of The Robot Report Podcast, the top-rated podcast for the robotics industry. He joined WTWH Media in January 2018 after spending four-plus years as Managing Editor of Robotics Trends Media. He can be reached at scrowe@wtwhmedia.com

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