Ivan Hernandez Dalas - Mechatronics

Fully autonomous multi-point turning capability enables units to execute complex maneuvers in field applications. | Credit: Agtonomy Off-road physical AI company Agtonomy has expanded its commercial platform with fully autonomous multi-point turning and enhanced passive data collection. The company said this enables farm equipment to execute complex maneuvers in tight headland spaces without human intervention. Agtonomy develops full-autonomy packages that retrofit vehicles from its OEM partners, Kubota and Bobcat. These platforms are key to growers and farmers with smaller operations, said the South San Francisco-based company . For physical AI devices, data is key to the evolution of the system. Each Agtonomy vehicle in operation processes more than 2 terabytes of data per vehicle, per hour, generating a continuous stream of field intelligence for the commercial autonomy platform. This data is captured across diverse operating environments, equipment platforms, and tasks. Agtono...

Unitree offers its G1 humanoid robot for $13.5K. | Source: Unitree This week, Unitree Robotics made its debut on Shanghai’s STAR Market, closing its first day 460% higher. The company raised 6.1 billion yuan, around $905 million U.S., with its initial public offering. Unitree said it is the first major legged robotics company to go pubic. Since it was founded in 2016, Unitree has made headlines for its low-cost quadruped and humanoid robots. The Hangzhou, China-based company , formally Yushu Technology Co., is best known for its humanoids, which are used in research labs around the world. You’ve likely seen videos of Unitree’s G1 robot dancing, doing kung fu, or backflipping, among other things. In addition, the company offers robotic hands , arms, and lidar . Unitree this week also unveiled its latest robot, which it called “Superman” and said it developed in just three months. The humanoid can perform a standing jump of over 6 ft. (2 m) and reach a ...

The PUDU MP2000 is designed to simplify autonomous floor-to-floor material transport across warehouses and factories. | Credit: Pudu Robotics With pallet pickup cycles as fast as 20 seconds, Pudu Robotics yesterday unveiled the MP2000, an AI-powered autonomous pallet handler built to tackle high-frequency, heavy-payload transport in crowded manufacturing and logistics hubs. The MP2000 extends the company ‘s portfolio of autonomous mobile robots ( AMRs ), enabling autonomous pallet acquisition and drop-off functions in a warehouse or factory setting . Equipped with 3D lidar and depth cameras , the MP2000 can identify target pallet locations and adjust approach paths in real time. The product promises fork-in cycles as low as 20 seconds. Extended perception and obstacle avoidance With onboard perception, the MP2000 safely navigates through a facility from pickup to dropoff, avoiding obstacles along the way. The sensors can also validate pallet size/configuration, adjusting f...

Robots have been a prolific theme in Japanese pop culture and media since the 1950s, which includes global icons like the Transformers, Astro Boy , and Doraemon ( 1 ). Perhaps not coincidentally, Japanese citizens have a positive outlook on robotic technologies and their use in the labor sector compared to many other nations ( 2 ); much to their advantage, as robotics continues to be a vital pillar for ensuring Japan’s economic resilience and future growth. Here, we discuss priorities and long-term agendas as presented in Japan’s national robotics strategies. Natural disasters, aging, and economic competition The combination of its geographic location, geologically active landmass, and topography renders Japan prone to frequent natural disasters. Although weather control is among Japan’s lofty research goals for the next 25 years ( 3 ), geological disturbances remain inevitable. As such, disaster mitigation and response are high priorities that serve as motivation for robotics deve...

Industrial facilities requiring high voltage infrastructure can include manufacturing plants, automotive production lines, logistics hubs, and high-throughput packaging facilities. | Source: Kollmorgen In industrial facilities where 400–480V three-phase power is standard, machine builders don’t have to ask themselves if they need to use high voltage; that’s a given. Instead, they need to figure out how to design motion systems to work effectively within that environment without introducing unnecessary complexity. Oftentimes, people assume that operating in high-voltage environments requires stepping up to a more complex, higher-spec motion system . It’s true that larger machines and higher throughput do place greater demands on certain parts of the system. However, according to Kollmorgen, this doesn’t mean every axis within a machine needs to be designed to the same high specification. So, this means the challenge isn’t in adopting high voltage, but in ...

FORT Robotics said it is building the trust layer for physical AI. Source: FORT Robotics As robots become more autonomous and enter more spaces with people, the need for a trustworthy safety technology stack has grown. FORT Robotics Inc. today said it is merging with Newbury Street II Acquisition Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. “FORT’s mission is to ‘ensure robots cause no harm,’ and we are dedicated to pioneering and building a shared framework for trust that robot manufacturers, integrators, end users, regulators, insurers, governments, and any other interested party can rely on,” stated Samuel Reeves, founder and CEO of FORT Robotics. “How we trust physical AI will be one of the defining questions of our time, and answering it will be a key enabler that will move these next-generation machines from isolated pilot programs to real, scalable adoption,” he asserted. Trust Layer provides for interoperability and safety “Safety is often ...