Long view required to keep economic policy in step with developments in robotics
Policy is really about long-term thinking — a process we should do but don’t do for various reasons. Though China is a notable exception, very few governments make long-term planning a priority....
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Is open source a good business model for robotics?
Open source vs. proprietary software is an age old question. Since the advent of robotics, we also have the question of open source hardware. In academia, where robotics researchers look to open source...
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Robo-Stox: A dream come true
Throughout my 35-year career in the computer business, I always read and thought about what disruptive technology was ahead. When I had an IBM mainframe, I was looking at the DEC mini-computers and...
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Collaborative robots are broadening their marketplaces
Source: The Robo Report Universal Robots, the Danish manufacturer of a line of collaborative robots (also called “co-bots”), recently published financial statements which provide valuable insights into...
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Harvest Automation stumbles with warehouse robot
A plant-moving robot from Harvest Automation. Source: harvestai/YouTube In a Boston Globe story by Scott Kirsner, it was revealed that Harvest Automation’s CEO has departed, as have 3/4 of the 30...
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3D Robotics undergoing layoffs and other challenges
3D Robotics is closing its San Diego facility, has reduced its staff at its Berkeley headquarters and in Austin, and acknowledged that co-founder and president Jordi Muñoz left the company at the end...
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March fundings, acquisitions, IPOs and failures
Source: cbinsights.com Funding for robotics startup companies rose dramatically in 2015 reaching record highs in deals and dollars. CB Insights, a VC database provider, reported similar findings as...
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47 reports dissect and examine the robot industry
The robotics industry has graduated to be big business -- at least for research firms. 47 different reports on subjects ranging from broad to very drilled-down views of the industry are analyzed and...
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May fundings, acquisitions and IPOs
UPDATE: June 1, 2016: Forbes wrote today that Toyota is in discussions with Google not only for Boston Dynamics but also for Schaft, the Japanese startup that won the DARPA Robotics Challenge — a...
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Logistic companies Swisslog, Dematic, Egemin and Intelligrated all acquired
First, the KION Group acquires Dematic for $2.5 billion. A week later, Honeywell acquires Intelligrated for $1.5 billion. KION acquires Retrotech and earlier still Egemin, while Kuka acquires...
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62 market research reports study robotics industry
The number of research reports studying the robotics industry is growing exponentially. To date in 2016 there have been 109 on subjects ranging from overly broad to very drilled-down views of the...
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Coming very soon: robotic toys, robot-made hamburgers, mobile robot deliveries
Source: Momentum Machines Re-joining the ranks, Sony announced a return to robotics. Momentum is opening a robot hamburger shop. And Starship is beginning to deliver food to three cities in Europe....
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July fundings, acquisitions and failures
Despite all the high-profile billion-dollar acquisitions, eg: ARM by SoftBank, KUKA by Midea and Uber China by Didi Chuxing, M&A are down 19% this year, according to both Forbes and CB Insights....
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What happens when a robot company sells off a division?
Spin-offs are disrupting, but often necessary. Here are two recent examples: iRobot sold off its Defense & Security Business Unit to a private equity firm, and Harvest Automation sold the IP and...
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IDC awards 5 warehouse robotics innovators
International Data Corporation (IDC) has awarded five pioneering players in the warehouse robotics market with the 2016 IDC Innovators Award. Companies selected met the following criteria: revenue of...
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Midea’s masterplan to become China’s robot powerhouse
Hunan Changsha 5S robot store. Source: gog.cn Chinese consumer manufacturer Midea, after having spent over $4 billion to acquire 94% of German robot maker Kuka, is planning to spend an additional $1.5...
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As Ford sets a date, Jibo retracts theirs
Source: Jibo/YouTube Bringing a complex new product to market is an intensive process fraught with problems. Getting hardware ready for manufacturing is often the easy part; it’s the software and...
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News bureaus and networks setting up drone divisions
A Bird’s Eye View of AT&T’s Drone Inspection Program, Source: AT&T/YouTube CNN just inaugurated their new drone division. So have many other news organizations. Network providers are also...
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Two LiDAR makers each get big funding
Source: Ford Velodyne LiDAR/YouTube In anticipation of the need for LiDAR devices in cars with assisted steering and other self-driving technologies, both Velodyne and Quanergy received funding....
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August fundings and acquisitions
August was another big month for funding robotic startups. 18 deals. Almost $430 million (bringing the year-to-date total well over $1 billion)! Plus another $1 billion paid in August for four...
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