In a world where futuristic developments roll out on the regular, ROBO researches the need to know robotics news - so you don't have to. Here are the highlights from the week of May 9-15 in the world of robotics and automation:
MUST SEE VIDEO OF THE WEEK: This week while in NYC for the RoboUniverse Conference, attendees were recommended to stay at the Yotel NYC - and for reasons that were unsurprising once stepping foot in the lobby.
The “capsule” hotel with a minimalist design has automated kiosks for check in and an ABB robotic arm, that they call the Yobot, for luggage storage. While this is a new and rare occurrence in the United States, hotels in Japan have already begun staffing hotels with robots. Maybe the robo bellhop will be next.
BIG BUYOUTS: Universal Robot, a Danish company leading in the world of collaborative robots, was acquired by Teradyne for $350 million. The previously privately-owned company has been purchased by a Massachusetts-based provider of electronic testing devices. Teradyne had little involvement in the robotics to date, but have proved to have a strong interest after making this purchase. This probably won't be the first or last time you hear about manufacturers moving into the robotics realm.
TESLA TAKES THE WHEEL: In the continued development of Tesla’s self-driving vehicle, the company announced that they will soon be introducing an autonomous car-passing feature. This feature would be present on the newer Model S while the company has yet to set a date for release. As a potential solution to the liability issue, the feature will only be activated after the driver uses the turning signal signifying that the autonomous maneuver is safe.
IEEE INVESTIGATES: On a similar note, recent reports by the Associated Press on self-driving car accidents have created some negative energy around the matter. But IEEE held their own investigation into what is truly causing these accident and it turns out that two of the four accidents were not due to the self-driving technology at all; but rather human error.
ROBOTS ON WALL STREET: As noted, the ROBO team attended the first annual RoboUniverse Conference and Expo where CEO Travis Briggs spoke in a panel style discussion about Robots On Wall Street. The conference was created with hopes to appeal to end users of service and collaborative robots. The show was headlined with speakers like Rodney Brooks of Rethink Robotics and Colin Angle of iRobot. Universal Robot was also a gold sponsor and present on the day of the acquisition announcement.