The Robot Report invites you to submit a session abstract to be considered for presentation at the Robotics Summit & Expo, which will be held April 30-May 1, 2025 in Boston at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. The Robotics Summit is the leading event focused on the technical issues involved with developing commercial robots.

We are seeking sessions that should be technical and educational to help attendees overcome hurdles related to commercial robotics development. Topics can be submitted based on the following tracks:

• Technologies, Tools and Platforms: Advances in the core technologies common to all classes of commercial robots
• Design, Development & Manufacturability: Technologies, tools and methodologies to simulate, prototype and build commercial robots
• Artificial Intelligence: How machine learning, generative AI, foundation models and other AI technologies impact commercial robotics development
• Healthcare Robotics: Advances in medical robotics, from surgical systems to patient care solutions, key enabling technologies, and emerging applications
• Automated Warehouse: Advances in warehouse robotics, key enabling technologies, and emerging applications

The event is also looking for technical workshops, robot demos, and off-site technical tours of local robotics organizations or universities.

Submission Form
The entry deadline for submitting speaker proposals is December 4, 2024. To apply to deliver a session at the Robotics Summit & Expo click HERE.

All speakers receive:

• Complimentary full conference registration with admission to all keynotes, sessions, panels, networking receptions and special events
• Complimentary guest registrations for up to two attendees

Co-Located Events
The Robotics Summit & Expo will be co-located with DeviceTalks Boston, the premier industry event for medical technology professionals. Both events attract engineering and business professionals from a broad range of healthcare and medical technology backgrounds.

Sponsorship Opportunities
For information about sponsorship and exhibition opportunities, download the prospectus. Questions regarding sponsorship opportunities should be directed to Colleen Sepich at csepich[AT]wtwhmedia.com.

Conference Programming
For questions regarding Robotics Summit conference programming, contact Steve Crowe at scrowe[AT]wtwhmedia.com.

Jonathan Hurst, co-founder and chief robot officer at Agility Robotics, delivered the opening keynote at Robotics Summit 2024. | Credit: Jeff Pinette

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Dietmar Ley, CEO of Basler AG, was named the new chairman of VDMA Robotics + Automation.

Dr. Dietmar Ley, CEO of Basler AG in Ahrensburg, Germany, has been elected as the new chairman of the VDMA Robotics + Automation Association. He succeeds Frank Konrad, CEO of Hahn Automation Group GmbH, whose three-year term of office as chairman recently came to an end.

Ley has been the CEO of Basler AG since February 2000. He is responsible for research and development, innovation and the product business. Ley joined Basler in 1993 after earning his doctorate in computer vision and was appointed to Basler’s executive management team in 1996. Prior to this, he worked for Philips GmbH, Siemens AG and Alcatel AG.

Ley also addresses vision technology topics outside of the company. From 2003 to 2018 he was a member of the Management Board of the VDMA’s Machine Vision department – the largest German federation of vision technology companies. Since 2018, he has been a member of the Management Board of the Robotics & Automation department of the VDMA.

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“Robotics and automation are key technologies for securing Europe’s competitiveness in a world characterized by geopolitical uncertainty,” said Ley. “In these dynamic times, it is crucial that Europe has a strong voice in innovation and technological excellence. We will therefore work hard over the next three years to defend and expand the position of the European mechanical engineering industry as a global technology and innovation leader in this field.”

Konrad was honored for his commitment to the industry at this year’s Members‘ Assembly of VDMA Robotics + Automation and elected as its Deputy Chairman.

The new board members of the VDMA Robotics + Automation Association

The VDMA also revealed its new board members:

• Dr. Dietmar Ley (Chairman) – CEO, BASLER AG, Ahrensburg
• Frank Konrad (Deputy Chairman) – CEO, Hahn Automation Group GmbH, Rheinböllen
• Wilfried Eberhardt – Vice President Governmental Affairs, KUKA AG, Augsburg
• Dr. Lars Friedrich – President & CEO of the Division Application Technology, Dürr Systems AG, Bietigheim-Bissingen
• Dr. Horst Heinol-Heikkinen – Managing Partner, ASENTICS GmbH & Co. KG, Siegen
• Jörg Kipper – General Manager, Festo Vertrieb GmbH & Co. KG, Esslingen
• Martin Kullmann – Head of Business Line Customer Service, ABB AG, Friedberg
• Ralph Lehleuter – Managing Partner, MAFU Automation GmbH, Rosenfeld
• Markus Maurer – Head of Business Unit Automation, VITRONIC Machine Vision GmbH, Wiesbaden
• Dr. Olaf Munkelt – General Manager, MVTec Software GmbH, München
• Cornelia Püschel – Managing Partner, PÜSCHEL Automation GmbH & Co. KG, Lüdenscheid
• Enno Scharphuis – General Manager, Bosch Rexroth AG, Stuttgart
• Volker Spanier – Head of Manufacturing Solutions, EPSON DEUTSCHLAND GmbH, Meerbusch
• Ralf Winkelmann – General Manager, FANUC Deutschland GmbH

With 3,600 members, the VDMA is the largest network organization and an important voice for the machinery and equipment manufacturing industry in Germany and Europe. The association represents the common economic, technical and scientific interests of this unique and diverse industry.

The VDMA Robotics + Automation Association (VDMA R+A) is a trade association within the umbrella of the VDMA with more than 400 member companies: Suppliers of components and systems from the fields of robotics, integrated assembly solutions and machine vision. The aim of this industry-driven platform is to support robotics and automation through a wide range of activities and services.

According to International Federation of Robotics (IFR), Germany had the fourth-highest robot density worldwide in 2023 at 429 robots per 10,000 employees. Germany’s robot density has grown by 5% CAGR since 2018. Robot density is a number to track the degree of automation adoption in the manufacturing industry around the world.

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The Digit humanoid transports totes at a Spanx facility run by GXO Logistics in Georgia. | Credit: Agility Robotics

Details are scarce at the moment, but Agility Robotics has a new strategic partnership. Schaeffler AG, a global leader in motion technology, is making a minority investment into Agility and buying Digit humanoid robots for use across its global plant network.

The companies did not disclose the size of the investment, the number of humanoids being purchased, or what they will be used for. The Robot Report reached out to Agility Robotics and Schaeffler for more details, but both companies declined to comment.

“In disruptive times, implementing innovative manufacturing solutions is crucial to be successful,” said Andreas Schick, chief operating officer of Schaeffler. “Here, humanoids play an important role. We, at Schaeffler, will integrate this technology into our operations and see the potential to deploy a significant number of humanoids in our global network of 100 plants by 2030. We look forward to the collaboration with Agility Robotics which will accelerate our activities in this field.”

Agility Robotics won the inaugural RBR50 Robot of the Year Award from The Robot Report earlier in 2024. It was recognized for showcasing Digit’s ability to perform real-world work in pilots with Amazon and GXO Logistics.

While the pilot with Amazon has been relatively quiet, GXO officially deployed a “small fleet” of Digit humanoids at a Spanx facility in Georgia. The Digit humanoids pick up totes from 6 River Systems‘ Chuck autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and place the totes onto conveyors.

Agility claimed that it was the first company to commercially deploy humanoids. It also asserted that the GXO deal was the first robots-as-a-service (RaaS) implementation of such robots.

Humanoid development marches on

Many other companies are also developing humanoids for commercial use, including Apptronik, Boston Dynamics, Figure, and Sanctuary AI, to name a few. None of them, however, appear to have deployed their humanoids with customers beyond small trials.

“We are excited to welcome Schaeffler as a customer and investor, and look forward to delivering value in their operations with Digit,” said Peggy Johnson, who took over as Agility Robotics’ CEO in March 2024. “While our technology is helping companies like Schaeffler transform their manufacturing, logistics, and warehousing businesses, scaling the use of humanoid robots will require them to work cooperatively with humans and outside of the safety cages they are in today.”

“I am confident that in the next 24 months, Agility will be the first company to deliver a safe humanoid robot that will be able to work alongside people,” she stated.

There currently are no safety standards for humanoids. However, various efforts are under way to explore a path forward for relevant standards. The IEEE Humanoids Study Group just released a survey to better understand how human-robot interaction might affect the development of standards for humanoids.

Late last month, Boston Dynamics released an impressive video of its new electric Atlas humanoid. The video shows the robot handling large automotive parts autonomously. The company said Atlas uses machine learning to execute its tasks and 3D vision to perceive the world around it.

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One of the robotics industry’s household brands continues to struggle. iRobot, maker of the popular Roomba robot vacuum, is laying off another 105 employees as part of its restructuring plans. The number of employees being let go represents 16% of iRobot’s global workforce as of September 28, 2024. Since the start of 2024, iRobot has reduced its global workforce by nearly 50%.

There are several reasons iRobot, which has sold more than 50 million robots worldwide, is struggling. One of the main reasons is the failed acquisition from Amazon, which was called off earlier in 2024. Amazon wanted to acquire iRobot for $1.7 billion, but the deal was ultimately called off because regulators said the deal would restrict competition. Amazon paid iRobot $94 million to terminate the deal.

Competition is another major reason for iRobot’s current situation. In the last decade-plus, a host of strong competitors have popped up around the world with robot vacuums that are often cheaper than the Roomba and offer similar performance.

Another reason is the failure to find the next robotics innovation beyond the robot vacuum. iRobot launched the Roomba in 2002, but has since shelved robots for lawn mowing, pool cleaning, gutter cleaning, and more. iRobot released a handheld vacuum in 2021 but already discontinued it. The air purifiers iRobot acquired in the $72 million purchase of Aeris Cleantec AG in 2021 have also been discontinued. iRobot sold off its military division in 2016 for $45 million.

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iRobot Q3 2024 earnings

Gary Cohen, named CEO of iRobot in May 2024, talked about the layoffs during iRobot’s third quarter earnings call today. He said iRobot has reduced operating expenses by $95.2 million in the first 9 months of 2024.

“These moves, while challenging, have fundamentally changed the way we work with our partners to efficiently develop and build our robots,” Cohen said. “Our new operating model is able to deliver a significant increase in new product introductions with less than half the internal resources and approximately one-third the cost.”

He pointed to iRobot’s Q3 Non-GAAP operating expenses of $47.7 million, which is down from $90.1 million in Q3 2023. “For the first three quarters of the year, we have cut our operating losses in half as compared to the year before,” Cohen said. “However, our overall results did not meet the expectations we set in August as persistent market segment and competitive headwinds impacted our sell through performance.”

iRobot’s revenue mix in Q3 2024. | Credit: iRobot

iRobot made $193.4 million in revenue during Q3 2024, up from $186.2 million in Q3 of 2023. During Q2 2024, iRobot’s revenue increased 23% in the U.S., declined 20% in Japan, and declined 11% in EMEA. iRobot said its performance in Japan reflected “continued weakness in the yen against the dollar.”

iRobot said it expects revenue between $175 million to $200 million in Q4 2024 and gross margin in the range of 24% to 27%, up from 18.9% in Q4 2023. Operating loss is expected to be in the range of $31 million to $22 million.

The company now expects total 2024 revenue to be in the range of $685 million to $710 million and gross margin in the range of 25% to 26%. It is targeting full-year operating expenses in the range of $274 million to $276 million or approximately 39% to 40% of revenue. You can view iRobot’s third quarter financial presentation here.

iRobot made a record $1.56 billion in 2021.

Julie Zeiler, iRobot’s chief financial officer, said the company is cautious about the macroeconomic environment. She added that iRobot expects “to return to year-over-year top-line growth for the full-year of 2025 and we believe the second half of 2025 will be stronger than the first half as our product lineup ramps up.”

“As we begin this new chapter in iRobot’s history, one thing is abundantly clear,” Cohen said during the earnings call. “We have a powerful brand that will serve as the foundation for the turnaround of this company. Which should come as no surprise that in my conversations with stakeholders, it is the power of our iconic brand that comes up again and again. That brand power is at the heart of our turnaround strategy, iRobot Elevate.

“In executing iRobot Elevate, we are focused on providing our iconic brand with an improved platform to return to profitable growth. We are making operational and organizational changes and bringing new innovative products to market. While this work is ongoing, we are already realizing benefits and our improved financial performance.”

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The Robot Report is seeking nominations for its 2025 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards. The RBR50 has recognized the most innovative and influential organizations in robotics for the past dozen years. Here are the winners from 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2021.

Each year, a team of experts selects the most interesting and important robotics innovations from around the world. The deadline for submissions is Friday, December 20, 2024. Submit your nomination(s) below.

The RBR50 winners will be celebrated at an awards gala during the Robotics Summit & Expo, which will be held on April 30-May 1, 2025 in Boston. Some of the winners will also be demoing their robots on the Robotics Summit expo floor in the RBR50 Pavilion.

Awards categories

To be eligible, all nominations must be for innovations that were initiated, released, or executed between Jan. 1, 2024 and Dec. 31, 2024. The RBR50 is looking for submissions in the following categories:

Startup of the Year: The nominee must be less than five years, and it must be already testing its innovation with customers. In 2024, Electric won the inaugural RBR50 Startup of the Year Award. 

Application of the Year: The winner will be a use case that has previously been difficult to automate and where robotics and automation have demonstrated a clear benefit over previous processes. In 2024, Brightpick won the inaugural RBR50 Application of the Year Award. 

Robot of the Year: The RBR50 awards are seeking a complete system that is a game-changer in terms of technology innovation, use case, and industry influence. In 2024, Agility Robotics’ Digit humanoid won the inaugural Robot of the Year Award.

Technologies, products, and services: This category includes primary or applied research focusing on robotics and supporting technologies such as motion control, vision, or machine learning. It also includes new products and business, engineering, or technology services. Examples range from design, manufacturing, and legal services to new Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) offerings.

Business and management: This category covers initiatives positioning a company as a market leader or an organization as an important thought leader in the robotics ecosystem. Significant mergers and acquisitions are relevant, as are supplier, partner, and integrator relationships.

Applications and markets: The RBR50 will also recognize innovations that improve productivity, quality, and cost-effectiveness, as well as those that automate new tasks.

New Robots for Good Award

This year, the RBR50 has added the Robots for Good Award. This celebrates a robot that make a positive impact on society by addressing social challenges, improving quality of life or work, or promoting sustainability. 

Benefits for RBR50 winners

Past RBR50 winners have proudly displayed their status in their RoboBusiness and Robotics Summit booths, as well as at their headquarters, on their websites, and in marketing campaigns. The 2025 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award winners will receive the following:

• A press release listing the winners will be distributed to major newswires, as well as through WTWH Media’s extensive social media channels.
• The winners will be celebrated at the annual gala dinner at the Robotics Summit and some will be on display on the showfloor in the RBR50 Pavilion
• WTWH’s Robotics Group will list and profile each of the winners, and its sites will cover any of their announcements throughout the year.

For any questions related to the 2025 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards, please contact Steve Crowe. For sponsorship information, contact Courtney Nagle.

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Researchers at Duke University have developed a system called SonicSense that gives robots a sense of touch by “listening” to vibrations. The researchers said this allows the robots to identify materials, understand shapes and recognize objects.

SonicSense is a four-fingered robotic hand that has a contact microphone embedded in each fingertip. These sensors detect and record vibrations generated when the robot taps, grasps or shakes an object. And because the microphones are in contact with the object, it allows the robot to tune out ambient noises.

“Robots today mostly rely on vision to interpret the world,” explained Jiaxun Liu, lead author of the paper and a first-year Ph.D. student in the laboratory of Boyuan Chen, professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Duke. “We wanted to create a solution that could work with complex and diverse objects found on a daily basis, giving robots a much richer ability to ‘feel’ and understand the world.”

Based on the interactions and detected signals, SonicSense extracts frequency features and uses its previous knowledge, paired with recent advancements in AI, to figure out what material the object is made out of and its 3D shape. The researchers said if it’s an object the system has never seen before, it might take 20 different interactions for the system to come to a conclusion. But if it’s an object already in its database, it can correctly identify it in as little as four.

“SonicSense gives robots a new way to hear and feel, much like humans, which can transform how current robots perceive and interact with objects,” said Chen, who also has appointments and students from electrical and computer engineering and computer science. “While vision is essential, sound adds layers of information that can reveal things the eye might miss.”

Chen and his laboratory showcase a number of capabilities enabled by SonicSense. By turning or shaking a box filled with dice, it can count the number held within as well as their shape. By doing the same with a bottle of water, it can tell how much liquid is contained inside. And by tapping around the outside of an object, much like how humans explore objects in the dark, it can build a 3D reconstruction of the object’s shape and determine what material it’s made from.

“While most datasets are collected in controlled lab settings or with human intervention, we needed our robot to interact with objects independently in an open lab environment,” said Liu. “It’s difficult to replicate that level of complexity in simulations. This gap between controlled and real-world data is critical, and SonicSense bridges that by enabling robots to interact directly with the diverse, messy realities of the physical world.”

The team said these abilities make SonicSense a robust foundation for training robots to perceive objects in dynamic, unstructured environments. So does its cost; using the same contact microphones that musicians use to record sound from guitars, 3D printing and other commercially available components keeps the construction costs to just over $200, according to Duke University.

The researchers are working to enhance the system’s ability to interact with multiple objects. By integrating object-tracking algorithms, robots will be able to handle dynamic, cluttered environments — bringing them closer to human-like adaptability in real-world tasks.

Another key development lies in the design of the robot hand itself. “This is only the beginning. In the future, we envision SonicSense being used in more advanced robotic hands with dexterous manipulation skills, allowing robots to perform tasks that require a nuanced sense of touch,” Chen said. “We’re excited to explore how this technology can be further developed to integrate multiple sensory modalities, such as pressure and temperature, for even more complex interactions.”

The SonicSense robot hand includes four fingers where each fingertip is equipped with one contact microphone. | Credit: Duke University

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The UR20 collaborative robot arm with its increased payload (25 kg) demoed at the China International Industry Fair. | Credit: Universal Robots

Universal Robots is increasing the payload capacities of its UR20 and UR30 collaborative robot arms by 5 kg each. This raises the payload capacity, including the end-effector, to 25 kg and 35 kg, respectively, when using the cobot in top lift position. Universal Robots said the added strength will come in especially handy for palletizing applications.

The payload increase is already available to existing UR20 and UR30 cobots in the field via a free software update. UR said the increased payload capacities for both models will become the standard option in the future starting on October 15, 2024 with the launch of PolyScope 5.19. There is no additional cost to customers for the increased lifting capacity, the company said.

“At Universal Robots, we continuously test and develop our products, and when we unlock new features, we want to give partners and customers immediate access,” said UR chief product officer Tero Tolonen. “This update enables customers to increase productivity without increasing costs, and it’s just one example of how our passion for innovation drives benefit to our customers’ bottom line.”

Introduced in late 2023, the UR30 cobot arm features a 1,300 mm (51.2 in.) reach, weight of 63.5 kg (139.9 lb.), and is designed to tend larger machines, palletize heavy products and support high-torque screwdriving. The UR20 was introduced in mid-2022 and was the company’s strongest cobot arm at the time. It was the first in a series of next-generation cobots from UR that were designed from the ground up. It features a 1750 mm reach (68.9 in.) and weight of 64 kg (141.1 lb.).

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UR won RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards for both the UR30 and UR20. UR is owned by Massachusetts-based Teradyne, which is a global leader in automatic test equipment. Teradyne also owns Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR), a leading provider of autonomous mobile robots. In its second quarter financial report, Teradyne’s robotics group made $90 million in revenue. UR made $75 million and MiR $16 million in the quarter.

There are other cobots with 35 kg payload capacities, including models from FANUC and Techman.

A UR20 palletizing application with increased payload was showcased for the first time just this week at the China International Industry Fair in Shanghai.

UR has long been the leading provider of cobot arms. During its Q2 financial results conference call, Teradyne said it about 80,000 cobots deployed in the field. In Q2 2024, Teradyne said the UR20 and UR30 heavy-duty cobots accounted for more than 20% of UR’s sales.

Greg Smith, president of Teradyne, said on the call that the highest priority for Teradyne’s robotics go-to-market strategy transformation is the development of an OEM solutions channel for UR. “We have seen that customers purchasing cobot-based solutions from these partners get into production more quickly and have fewer problems than customers that build their own solutions or rely upon an integration partner,” he said.

Anders Billesø Beck, UR’s VP of technology, answered the following questions about the new payload capacities.

How often is it that software updates enable a physical change in capability?
Robotics is always this fusion between software and hardware. It’s advanced mechanics but it’s all controlled and managed by an amazing amount of software – even all the physics inside a robot. So a lot of the advanced capabilities of robots are often software-defined, particularly Universal Robots, where everything is so tightly integrated. Every number you see on a Universal Robots data sheet is just as much driven by our software and controls as by the actual mechanical performance.

How is it that a software update can increase weight capabilities without harming the existing components in the machine?
The exact role of control software in modern robotic systems is to carefully channel power and torque to deliver first-class work, while ensuring longevity of the hardware. The software update has been targeted to maximize performance in the specific use case where the item hangs under the robot’s tool flange. Here, we have found mechanical surplus and optimized the software to leverage this capacity, providing a good user experience around it.

Were there any particular customers you were responding to for this particular need?
We have many of our partners in the packaging, palletizing, and handling industry seeking to move closer to the limits and lift heavier loads, and a lot of our partners are already working on adopting this. I think we will see products on the market with this enhancement in the next week. There’s a lot of excitement in the market for our partners to be able to offer this value increase to their customers.

How does the increased payload affect speed and position of movements, if at all?
That’s the challenge. As soon as the parts become bigger and heavier, it has more momentum, but we really spent time optimizing for this. We will be delivering at least the same performance that we were under the previous payload condition, and for our customers, this software magic will be fully invisible. Because we are handling a smaller solution space, its mostly payloads hanging down from the robot, so we’ve optimized against this situation.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated on September 30, 2024 with answers from Universal Robots about how it technically increased the payload capacities of its UR20 and UR30 cobots.

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The new Intel RealSense D421 Depth Module. | Credit: Intel

Despite all the turmoil around Intel Corp., the company surprisingly expanded its line of Intel RealSense depth modules for robotics applications. Today, it introduced the entry-level Intel RealSense Depth Module D421.

The company said it’s designed to bring advanced depth sensing to a wider audience at an affordable price. The all-in-one stereo depth module is currently available for pre-orders for $800 per 10-pack. Pre-orders will ship in November, according to Intel.

Intel added that the new D421 is the first all-in-one module integrating the D4 vision processor with the optical module on the same board. The D4 vision processor does all depth calculations onboard, making this a low-power, platform-agnostic device, it claimed.

The D421 depth module offers a 75° × 50° field of view, a recommended range of 0.2 to 3 m (0.6 to 9.8 ft.), and 1 megapixel global shutter depth sensors.

Intel also said the D421 depth module features plug-and-play functionality and compatibility with popular development frameworks. It is supported by the Intel RealSense SDK 2.0 and works with a range of platforms and operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and Android.

The D421 is 95 × 32 × 10.18 mm (3.7 x 1.2 x 0.4 in.) in size (LxHxD) and uses a USB-c connection type. Intel said the D4 vision processor is an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that can process up to 36.6 million pixels per second in a small footprint in real time. 

The company asserted that the D421 is suitable for a variety of robots, including autonomous mobile robots (AMR), humanoids, robotic arms for picking applications, and more.

Intel said its line of camera modules offer customers closer integration and a more flexible form factor, as well as lower cost, in comparison with its depth cameras. The table below offers a quick comparison of Intel’s depth modules and processors:

Open the image in a new tab to enlarge. Credit: Intel

Intel’s struggles

Intel has made several missteps over the past several years that sent its stock plunging. It has fallen significantly behind in the artificial intelligence race, trailing competitors such as NVIDIA and AMD, which have capitalized on the current hype around generative AI.

After a disappointing Q2 financial earnings report, Intel said it will be laying off 15,000 employees and halting non-essential work. However, the company has received some positive news the past few days.

It landed a deal to make AI chips for Amazon and announced a plan to spin off its foundry business. There are reports that Qualcomm wants to buy Intel, and that separately Apollo Global Management wants to invest up to $ billion in Intel.

Intel and Apollo have a pre-existing relationship. In June, the chipmaker sold Apollo an $11 billion stake in its Ireland manufacturing facility.

These financial woes are partially why it’s surprising to see Intel introduce a new depth module for robotics, which is a small part of Intel’s overall business. It’s also surprising because in August 2021, Intel had announced it was shutting down its RealSense division, catching many folks inside and outside of Intel by surprise.

However, it ultimately changed course and only stopped producing certain RealSense products.

The robotics industry has long been riding a roller coaster when searching for low-cost, high-quality depth sensing. It’s good to see Intel still focusing on robotics and not becoming another Microsoft Kinect or Project Tango.

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T-Series actuators from HEBI Robotics.

HEBI Robotics was awarded a $150,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant by NASA to develop smart robotic actuation hardware and building blocks that can be used in space. The new products will be compatible with HEBI’s current platform for robot development.

HEBI said the SBIR grant will support its efforts to further expand its platform with “Space-Rated Modular Robotic Building Blocks.” The technology developed will make it possible to design and create robots terrestrially with HEBI building blocks, and then transfer that work to space-rated HEBI hardware that can be deployed in missions in space, representing a major leap forward in robotics.

“For ten years, HEBI has been working to streamline the process of developing robots. Customers around the world use our system to create robust robots that would have been infeasible without the HEBI Platform,” said Bob Raida, who was named CEO of HEBI Robotics in 2023. “Many of those users are designing systems that will ultimately be deployed in space. This project will make it possible for those users to design and build robots in their lab with the HEBI Platform, knowing that work will carry through to the final production design and system.”

Founded in 2014, HEBI’s long-term goal is to make it easy to create robust, professional-grade robots, without requiring years of technical training. The HEBI Platform is used by developers in a variety of industries, and those robots often need to perform in challenging environments. Over the years, HEBI has expanded its hardware to be capable of performing in a wider range of environments including wet and dirty environments, and underwater.

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The Phase I SBIR program is designed to encourage small businesses to engage in federal research and development with the potential for commercialization. By funding innovative projects, NASA aims to foster new technologies that can support space missions and improve our understanding of space and technology.

All proposals submitted to the NASA SBIR/STTR program undergo a rigorous merit-based review process. Once a small business is awarded a Phase I grant, it becomes eligible to apply for Phase II funding and additional supplements totaling up to $1 million.

HEBI Robotics is based in Pittsburgh and spun out from Carnegie Mellon University’s Biorobotics Lab. Earlier in 2024, HEBI Robotics introduced its H-Series actuators that it said provide higher versatility, precision, and torque, and can be used to create custom robots for challenging environments. The H-Series actuators feature zero backlash, up to 140 Nm of continuous torque, an onboard IMU, current sensing, and over-temperature protection. These features allow it to be used in anything from wheeled robots to collaborative robot arms.

The company also intrdouced this year new T-Series, R-Series actuators, and Track actuators.

HEBI Robotics won an RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award in 2023 for applying its modularity expertise to mobile robots. It introduced mobile robots for industrial inspection and maintenance. The robots were built around HEBI’s R-Series actuators that are designed for wet and dirty outdoor environments.

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The autonomous mobile robot (AMR) market grew by 27% in 2023 to reach $4.5 billion globally, according to Interact Analysis. There’s more competition than ever for AMR developers, so it’s essential to get things right from the start.

Join us for an insightful webinar focused on accelerating ROS 2 AMR development. This webinar will uncover common pitfalls in AMR projects and how to effectively resolve them.

Experts will guide you through the entire development process, from system planning and platform evaluation to ROS 2 module fine-tuning, and testing for production readiness. This session is crucial for those looking to shorten development time and achieve a production-ready design, offering you the tools and knowledge to streamline your AMR projects and bring them to market faster.

In this free webinar, you will learn:

• How to choose the right hardware platform with the right computing power
• Common pitfalls and ways to accelerate software development
• All about testing for production

The webinar airs live at 12:00 PM Eastern on Thursday, September 19, 2024. Attendees can have their questions answered live, and the recording will be available on demand after the initial broadcast. Register now.

Meet the Speakers

Cynric Chiu, Product Manager – AMR Systems, Axiomtek
Cynric Chiu is the AMR Product Manager at Axiomtek, focusing on Autonomous Mobile Robot solutions. With a Master’s degree in Computer Science and over 10 years of software development experience, Cynric combines technical proficiency with a strong business perspective. His approach to product management helps position Axiomtek as a leader in the AMR market, bridging the gap between technology and business needs.

Ryan Chen, Director of Engineering, Axiomtek
Ryan Chen is the Director of Engineering at Axiomtek USA. With a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and over 18 years of experience in hardware design and ODM project management, Ryan specializes in the development of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) architectures and customized solutions for industrial automation applications. His technical expertise and strategic vision drive innovation and efficiency in Axiomtek’s engineering projects.

Steve Crowe, Executive Editor, Robotics, WTWH Media
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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Six robotics startups will compete this year for a $5,000 first-place prize. Each startup gets five minutes to describe their company’s solution, business model, value proposition and more. After all the contestants have pitched, Pitchfire judges will compare notes, reach a consensus, and announce a winner based on who they believe to be best primed for commercial success.

Companies that have previously competed in Pitchfire include Glidance, Tatum Robotics, Southie Autonomy, Sadako Technologies, Autonomous Marine Systems, inVia Robotics, Catalina Health, Cubit, Rokid, RightHand Robotics, Soft Robotics and Knightscope. Last year’s winner, Glidance, recently raised a $1.5 million seed round.

New to this year’s Pitchfire event, each of the startups will be exhibiting in the Startup Showcase on the RoboBusiness expo floor. Judges for the competition are Lisa Chai, general partner, Interwoven Ventures; Rugved Hattekar, senior lidar software developer, Luminar; Ellen Chisa, partner, boldstart ventures; Eric Truebenbach, managing director, Teradyne Robotics Ventures; Ted Larson, CEO, OLogic.

RoboBusiness is the leading event for the commercial robotics ecosystem. There will be 70-plus speakers, 70-plus exhibitors and demos on the expo floor, networking receptions and much more.

Here is a look at this year’s participants:

Copper Robotics

Date Founded: May 1, 2024
Location: Austin, Texas
No. of employees: 2
Funding to date: $0
Website: https://www.copper-robotics.com/
RoboBusiness Booth: 725

Copper Robotics is developing a robotics framework for creating fast and reliable robots. The company’s founder, Guillaume Binet, said Copper offers a high-level configuration system and a Rust-first API. It uses Rust’s zero-cost abstractions and a data-oriented approach to achieve sub-microsecond latency on commodity hardware, avoiding heap allocation during execution. Guillaume said Copper leverages Rust’s strengths, such as memory safety, concurrency, and zero-cost abstractions, to build an ecosystem around Rust and robotics.

The GoFa cobots are now available on Vention’s Manufacturing Automation Platform. Source: ABB

Small and midsize manufacturers, or SMMs, have historically struggled to adopt robotics. Some barriers to adoption include not knowing where to start, complicated purchasing and installation processes, and uncertainty about return on investment. Do-it-yourself (DIY) robotics marketplaces have popped up in recent years in an attempt to help SMMs overcome these challenges.

Today, Vention added another global robotics leader to its lineup. ABB’s GoFa collaborative robot arms are now officially part of Vention’s Manufacturing Automation Platform (MAP). The MAP is a one-stop shop for customers to design, program, order and deploy robots.

The new partnership means Vention customers that purchase ABB’s GoFa cobots via the MAP will benefit from integration between both the company’s technology, from the design stage of robotic cells, up to their operations on a factory floor.

The company defined DIY automation as the process of “self-designing and implementing industrial automation solutions without the need for multiple third parties or extensive expertise in automation.” This is a market in which ABB is hoping to gain more traction.

“Both ABB and Vention have been independently working on lowering that adoption barrier for robotics. We did it on the robot front, while Vention did it on the application and deployment side,” said Nicolas Durand, vice president and general manager at ABB Robotics Canada. “This partnership is especially valuable for those new adopters who are stepping into robotics for the first time and looking to lower their initial investment.”

ABB offers three GoFa cobots with 5, 10, and 12 kg (11, 22, and 26.4 lb.) payloads. The robots offer 0.02 mm repeatability and a reach up to 1.62 m (5.3 ft.).

The company said it designed the cobots for applications such as assembly, material handling, inspection, welding, and more. The GoFa cobots have integrated torque sensors in each of their six joints for superior power and force-limiting performance, it added.

The GoFa cobots are now compatible with the entire Vention platform, including MachineBuilder for design, MachineLogic for robot programming, MachineAnalytics for operations monitoring and data, and Remote Support on demand.

The cobots will be available later in 2025 for Vention’s Rapid Series application line. ABB and Vention have previously collaborated on robotics deployments.

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ABB also offers a SWIFTI line of cobots that, together with the GoFa portfolio, built on the company‘s original YuMi cobot. ABB is well known for its lineup of high-speed, heavy-duty industrial robots. It also spent $190 million in 2021 to acquire ASTI Mobile Robotics and now offers a line of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs).

However, the partnership will initially only be for the GoFa cobots. The robots available on Vention’s MAP are mainly cobot arms, including models from ABB competitors Doosan Robotics, FANUC, Kinova, and Universal Robots. The platform does have industrial robots from FANUC, and SCARA robots from Epson and FANUC. Vention doesn’t sell AMRs on its MAP.

“We had clients specifically demanding the ABB brand, and we were not able to serve them,” said Etienne Lacroix, founder and CEO of Vention. “We choose the partners we do business with very carefully, simply because our mission is to provide simplicity. We are in the business of democratizing industrial automation. Do we want to work with all the robot manufacturers out there? Quite the contrary. We want the select few that move the market.”

ABB continues innovating

ABB moves the market on many fronts. It won a 2024 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award for its new modular industrial robot arms. The four new models offer 22 variants all based on the same modular design.

All of the components are standardized across all model platforms, including the base, lower arm, upper arm, and wrist. All of the building blocks share the same linkages or interfaces, allowing ABB to offer a greater range of robot models more efficiently.

ABB also recently launched its next-generation OmniCore platform that can now control most of its automation line.

Vention partnered with NVIDIA in June 2024 to increase its AI capabilities. At the time, Vention said the collaboration will help create digital twins more efficiently and could bring generative designs for robot cells, co-pilot programming, physics-based simulation, and autonomous robots.

John Bubnikovich, president of ABB Robotics US, is participating on a keynote panel about robotics innovation at RoboBusiness, which takes place Oct. 16 and 17 in Santa Clara, Calif. The panel will talk about the challenges and opportunities the industry faces, and the potential impact new technologies such generative AI and humanoid robots could have on multiple industries.

RoboBusiness will have nearly 100 exhibitors, more than 70 experts on stage, a robotics startup competition, over 10 hours of dedicated networking, and thousands of robotics stakeholders from around the world.

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The new Reacher collaborative robot arms from Rethink Robotics. | Credit: Rethink Robotics

Rethink Robotics is making a bold return to Boston with a new roster of collaborative robot arms, autonomous mobile robots, and a mobile manipulator. The company started developing cobots in Boston back in 2008, but it had to revamp its product line and find new owners.

Rethink Robotics had raised $150 million and developed the well-known Baxter and Sawyer collaborative robots before shutting its doors in 2018. The company’s choice of series elastic actuators caused problems with the cobots’ precision. Rethink had licensed the actuation technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Less than a month after the company shut down, German automation and robotics specialist HAHN Group acquired the IP and trademarks for the Sawyer cobot and Intera software. HAHN re-tooled Sawyer, but it still struggled to gain traction in industrial applications.

Boston, you’re my home

Rethink Robotics is now under the United Robotics Group umbrella of HAHN Group. The company is hoping a fresh start in Boston, one of the world’s leading robotics clusters, will help it regain its footing. Rethink currently only has an office at MassRobotics, but it hopes to change that soon.

The U.S.-based company told The Robot Report that it’s looking for an office space. It hopes to have a team up and running in the next 3-6 months.

“When launching Rethink Robotics, we considered Atlanta, Chicago, and Detroit,” said Julia Astrid Riemenschneider, vice president of business development, industrial robots international, at United Robotics Group. “But everyone knows Rethink Robotics as being in Boston.”

Cobots have come a long way since the original Rethink Robotics closed its doors in 2018. Universal Robots (UR), which also has an office in Boston and is owned by Massachusetts-based Teradyne, continues to be the market leader.

However, large robotics players such as ABB, FANUC, and KUKA have stepped up their respective cobot games, too. Force and power-limited robots have gotten stronger, with larger reaches and more intuitive user interfaces, among other improvements.

Competing with these players will be no easy task for Rethink Robotics or any other cobot newcomer. Riemenschneider said competing with UR was not part of the decision to base the company in Boston.

“For industrial applications, Sawyer had issues with repeatability and accuracy and made that strange noise,” she acknowledged. “For most industrial applications, it just wasn’t hardened enough. But our new motto is ‘Better, faster, stronger.’ Rethink Robotics is industry-ready now.”

Rethink reveals new cobot lineup

You won’t see any nods to Baxter and Sawyer in Rethink Robotics’ new Reacher cobot arm line. The new portfolio includes seven models — RE 07, 09, 13, 16, 21, 30, and 30L — that can handle payloads of 7 to 30 kg (15 to 66 lb.).

Each cobot features an IP65 rating for use in wet and dusty environments, and precision with ± 0.03 mm pose repeatability. Depending on the model, Rethink Robotics said its maximum speed ranges from 120 to 200 degrees per second.

The Reacher cobots feature collision detection and compatibility with a variety of accessories such as grippers, vision systems, rails, and other end-of-arm and peripheral tools.

Rethink said its new cobots are designed for a variety of applications, including assembly, machine tending, material handling, palletizing, welding, quality inspection, and more. See the table below for a quick overview of Rethink Robotics’ new Reacher line:

Source: Rethink Robotics

Mobile robots part of new offerings

Rethink Robotics introduced its first-ever autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). The new Rethink Ryder line the light-duty MRE 550 AMR, which can handle payloads up to 550 kg (1,212 lb.), and the heavy-duty MRE 1400 AMR to handle payloads up to 1,400 kg (3,086 lb.).

The company said both AMRs come with an integrated lift function.

Rethink added that both AMRs use multiple sensing modalities for a 360-degree view of the environment in real time. The AMRs use simultaneous location and mapping (SLAM) for environmental visualization, dynamic obstacle bypassing, and trajectory planning.

In addition, low-level controllers and sensor data are accessible through open-architecture software compatible with third-party applications, said Rethink.

The Ryder AMR platform from Rethink Robotics.

Riser mobile manipulator combines products

Rethink Robotics is also introducing its Riser mobile manipulator. The system combines a Ryder AMR with a Reacher cobot and a portable battery box. The company told The Robot Report that its innovation is in enabling the arm to be easily detached and re-attached to the AMR.

Rethink said it would send us a video of this in action when we spoke to the company last week, but we’re still waiting on that video.

The company said the cobot arm and AMR each have their own battery packs that require separate charging. Reacher has a 22-hour uptime, Rethink said, while the Ryder AMR can be charged in two ways: manually or wirelessly through inductive charging. Each Ryder comes equipped with three or four battery units based on its size.

The control box that comes with Reacher is a compact and integrated unit designed to manage and control the robot’s operations. This control box houses the essential electronics, including the robot’s processor, power supply, and communication interfaces. It serves as the central hub for executing commands, processing sensor data, and coordinating the robot’s movements.

Rethink Robotics’ Riser mobile manipulator.

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Source: A3

Significant declines in the automotive component and semiconductors industries led to another drop in North American robot sales, according to the Association for Advancing Automation (A3). In the second quarter of 2024, 7,123 robots were ordered in North America, which A3 said is a decline of 9.7% compared with Q2 2023.

The total units sold were valued at $489 million, which A3 said is a 6.9% increase compared with the same timeframe last year.

The new report from A3 said 15,705 robots valued at $983 million were ordered by North American companies during the first half of 2024. This marked a 7.9% decline in units and a 6.8% drop in revenue year over year.

A3 previously said robot sales in North America were down 6% in the first quarter of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023. Companies purchased 8,582 robots from January through March for $494 million, A3 said.

In 2023, North American robot orders declined by 30% after two years of record sales.

The industry association said the Q2 performance can be attributed to broader economic and manufacturing sector dynamics. The rise in revenue despite a drop in units ordered suggests a trend toward investing in advanced, higher-value robots.

“This shift may be driven by the need for more sophisticated automation to address labor shortages and increase production efficiency amid economic uncertainties,” stated A3.

Source: A3

Manufacturing slowdown hits robot sales

It’s important to note A3 only collects sales data on traditional industrial robots. It doesn’t collect data about autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) or collaborative robotic arms. The totals are based on numbers submitted by participants and include sales by North American robot suppliers to companies in North America only.

A major reason for the continued decline in unit sales is the slowdown in sectors that are historically strong for robotics, including automotive components and semiconductors, which declined 39% and 40%, respectively. Non-automotive industries continued to turn to robotics as food and consumer goods and life sciences and pharmaceutical sectors grew 86% and 48%, respectively.

“After the first quarter, members we spoke with were generally optimistic about the rest of the year,” said Alex Shikany, vice president of membership and market intelligence at A3. “While it appears there were still headwinds the industry was experiencing in the second quarter, we continue to hear from companies [that] are optimistic about the second half of the year relative to the first half.”

A3 entered 2024 optimistic that robot sales would rebound after a tough 2023. The industry had back-to-back record sales years in 2021 and 2022, which was the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. But unit sales haven’t bounced back as expected.

Here is a quick look at how a few other robotics applications performed in Q2 2024, according to A3:

• Handling operations/machine tending: Orders grew by 4%, while shipments declined by 2%.
• Welding and soldering: Orders and shipments declined significantly by 31% and 15%, respectively.
• Processing: Experienced growth of 1,233% (over a small order volume in 2023).
• Assembling and disassembling: Orders and shipments fell by 28% and 13%, respectively.

Learn about the global robotics industry at RoboBusiness

The decline in North American robotics sales is magnified even further when compared with China, the world’s leading robotics market. This week, China laid out a plan for how it’ll use robotics as an engine for major economic growth.

“China’s rapid development in industrial robot automation is extraordinary,” said the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

The state of the global robotics industry will be a major topic of discussion at RoboBusiness, which is produced by The Robot Report. The event, which takes place Oct. 16 to 17 in Santa Clara, Calif., will focus heavily on driving robotics innovation.

RoboBusiness will feature more than 70 experts on stage sharing best practices for commercial robotics development. There will be over 70 exhibitors on the showfloor, a Women in Robotics Luncheon, a robotics startup competition, a startup bootcamp, 10+ hours of dedicated networking, and much more.

Register now

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It’s predicted that by 2030, over 1 million mobile robots will be in the field. However, implementation is still complex and the cost of robot downtime is estimated to range from $1,000 to $10,000 per minute. With AI and SLAM systems struggling with real-world variability, what are the real challenges in understanding the total cost of ownership?

For mobile robots to be feasible and improve operational efficiency, customers need performance in real-world environments at an acceptable cost. By focusing on reducing the bill of materials (BoM), teams are making trade-off decisions on performance, while simultaneously incurring silent costs that are not measured or managed.

At RoboBusiness, which takes place Oct. 16-17 in Santa Clara, Calif., Opteran will discuss why Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) should be the focus to help make the right decisions. Jack Pearson, commercial director of Opteran, said BoM is just one important part in a life cycle of costs required to develop, set up, maintain and update an autonomy solution. Yet often it is the main or only cost factor considered in purchasing decisions.

Pearson is giving a talk on Oct. 16 from 2:45 PM to 3:30 PM called “Beyond BoM: Autonomy Challenges in Mobile Robots.” He said that while understanding and measuring TCO is tough, doing so creates a path to long-term, scalable profits and a more competitive product. His talk will explain why autonomy is at the heart of TCO, what costs are secretly undermining margin and customer experience, and how you can measure and solve these issues.

Opteran is a U.K.-based company founded in 2019. Opteran recently commercialized its vision-based approach to robot autonomy by releasing Opteran Mind. It said its algorithms don’t require training, extensive infrastructure, or connectivity for perception and navigation. Opteran won a 2024 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award for this work.

RoboBusiness will also include more than 60 speakers, over 100 exhibitors and demos on the expo floor, 10+ hours of dedicated networking time, the Pitchfire Robotics Startup Competition, a Women in Robotics Luncheon, and more.

Keynotes at RoboBusiness include:

• State of the Industry Panel with ABB, DHL, NVIDIA, Teradyne Robotics Ventures
• Rodney Brooks, co-founder and chief technology officer at Robust AI, as well as co-founder of iRobot and Rethink Robotics
• Sergey Levine, co-founder of Physical Intelligence and an associate professor at UC Berkeley
• Claire Delaunay, chief technology officer at farm-ng
• Torrey Smith, co-founder and CEO of Endiatx

RoboBusiness will be co-located with DeviceTalks West, which focuses on the design and development of medical devices. Thousands of robotics practitioners from around the world will convene at the Santa Clara Convention Center, so register now to ensure your spot! 

Register now

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