Ivan Hernandez Dalas - Mechatronics

Mercado Libre, a leading commerce and fintech ecosystem in Latin America, has signed an agreement to integrate Agility Robotics ’ Digit humanoid into its facility in San Antonio, Texas. Mercado Libre uses other types of warehouse robots at other facilities, but this appears to be its first foray into humanoids. Unfortunately, the companies didn’t say much about what Digit will actually be doing. We also don’t know how many robots are being deployed or whether this is a temporary pilot or actual deployment. Agility and Mercado Libre only said that Digit will initially focus on tasks that support commerce fulfillment and that they plan to explore additional use cases for how humanoids can augment logistics operations in Latin America. Digit Skill Library focuses on tote handling Chances are Digit will be moving totes for Mercado Libre. The robot’s Skill Library is focused entirely on tote handling, which is also how it has been used by customers like GXO Logistics and Schaeffler...

Chemical products such as medicines, plastics, soap, and paint are still often based on fossil raw materials. This is not sustainable, so there is an urgent need for ways to make a ‘materials transition’ to products made from bio-based raw materials. To achieve results more quickly and efficiently, researchers at Radboud University in the Big Chemistry programme are using robots and AI. The material transition from fossil-based to bio-based (where raw materials are based on materials of biological origin) is a major challenge. Raw materials for products must be replaced without changing the quality of those products. This requires knowledge of the properties and behaviour of those raw materials at the molecular level. Wilhelm Huck, professor of physical-organic chemistry at Radboud University: “Moreover, you don’t want to optimize the properties of a single molecule, but of a mixture. And we can greatly accelerate that search with our robots and models.” Millions of unpredictable in...

Screenshot of one of the incidents of a Waymo robotaxi illegally passing a stopped school bus. | Credit: Austin ISD Waymo this week plans to file a voluntary software recall for its robotaxis. The recall is in response to the company’s robotaxis illegally passing stopped school buses in a number of incidents across different states.  In September, WXIA-TV in Atlanta aired a video showing a Waymo illegally passing a stopped school bus. A month later, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into Waymo around “traffic safety violations relating to stopping when encountering a school bus, particularly when the bus is boarding or offboarding students.”   In its investigation , the NHTSA said a Waymo autonomous vehicle (AV) failed to remain stopped when approaching a school bus that was stopped with its lights flashing, stop arm deployed, and a crossing control arm deployed. No safety driver was in the vehicle during the incident, and...

Alligator can be deployed in infrastructure-free environments, manned or unmanned. | Source: Skana Robotics Defense technology startup Skana Robotics recently unveiled its latest autonomous vessel, the Alligator. The amphibious vessel  combines infrastructure-free deployment, crewed or uncrewed operation, and the ability to carry and launch other autonomous systems. The Alligator is designed to deliver logistics, sensors, and personnel between water and land.  It features a 1,500 kg (3,306.9 lb.) payload capacity, a 300 nautical mile (555.6 km) range, and a top speed of 40 knots (74 kph). “From the seaside, Alligator approaches the shoreline with its tracks retracted, behaving like a standard surface vessel,” Idan Levy, co-founder and CEO of Skana Robotics, told The Robot Report . “The reverse is similar: From land, Alligator drives down a natural or semi-prepared shoreline, enters the water on its tracks, stabilizes, then retracts the tracks and transitions into full ma...

The Robot Report Podcast · From Combat to Space: Mike LeBlanc on Humanoid Robotics In Episode 224 of The Robot Report Podcast, hosts Mike Oitzman and Eugene Demaitre recap the major robotics news of the week. Our guest this week is Michael LeBlanc, co-founder of Foundation Robotics. The company is developing humanoid robots for deployment into challenging applications. Mike LeBlanc, co-founder of Foundation Robotics Having been a major in the U.S. Marine Corps and a graduate of Harvard Business School, LeBlanc’s work sits at the intersection of national security , robotics, and leadership under pressure. Previously, LeBlanc co-founded security robot provider Cobalt Robotics , where he raised $120 million from top-tier investors, led a 250-person team, and oversaw its acquisition. At Foundation Robotics, LeBlanc is building next-generation, rugged humanoids for the U.S. Department of War and first responders. Mike also discusses the potential for the company ‘s robots to some...

The ReBeLMove Pro acts as a versatile base for multiple add-ons, including order-picking systems, smart shelving units, and collaborative robots equipped with conveyor belts. | Source: igus Businesses of all sizes need automation that they can easily integrate into existing processes without previous robotics experience, according to igus GmbH. Last month, it launched the ReBeLMove Pro, which it said can be customized for a range of applications. The company is using the modular autonomous mobile robot, or AMR, in its own operations. “igus itself is already using the ReBeLMove Pro as a shuttle to transport products away from injection-molding machines in production,” stated Sebastian Thorwarth-Kienbaum, a low-cost automation expert at igus. “These are tedious, routine tasks in material handling that companies find difficult to get people excited about.” igus develops and produces motion plastics. The Cologne, Germany-based company said its self-lubricating, high-performance polym...