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Velodyne Lidar today announced the company has acquired Bluecity, a Montreal-based artificial intelligence (AI) software company whose lidar-based solutions solve safety, traffic and infrastructure issues. With the all-stock acquisition Velodyne wants to deliver AI-powered autonomous vision solutions.

Elbit Systems UK recently conducted successful demonstrations of its Seagull Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV) to showcase its autonomous mine hunting technology for the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD). The Wilton Industry Show and Experiment (WISEX) showed the robots mine hunting capabilities under operational conditions.

Eighty-five per cent of infrastructure and operations (I&O) leaders that do not currently have any full automation expect to become more automated in the next two to three years, according to a new survey by Gartner. Gartner predicts that by 2025, 70% of organisations will implement structured automation to deliver flexibility and efficiency, an increase from 20% of organisations in 2021.

Daniel Dines used this week’s Forward 5 to share some now-familiar memories of UiPath evolution—but also showcases an intriguing new type of personal automation

People accept human nurses overruling patient autonomy and deciding on forced medication, but this trust does not extend to nursing robots.

If there’s one quote that UiPath probably wants you to take away from this week’s Forward 5, it’s got to be this from the RPA giant’s new Co-CEO, Rob Enslin: “If you go big with automation, if you embrace it as the way you operate and the way you innovate–automation will go big with you.”

FulcrumAir announce that it can now install Bird Flight Diverters on energized distribution lines. This is done utilizing its E2500HP drone slinging the Mini LineFly. This is the culmination of extensive testing with one of their  customers, ATCO, in testing yards and on energized lines within their extensive network with input from ATCO’s wildlife specialists, engineers and work methods subject matter experts.

UiPath at its FORWARD 5 global user conference unveiled its latest platform updates. It also presented use cases by companies such as Orange Spain, Puma North America, State Auto, and Vodacom.

Skyline Robotics, developer of a high-rise window-cleaning robot Ozmo, announced a key investment from commercial and residential real estate giant, Durst Ventures, an affiliate of The Durst Organization, that owns some of New York’s most notable skyscrapers including One Bryant Park, One World Trade Center and 151 West 42nd Street. The Durst investment will further Skyline’s development and deployment of Ozmo, while The Durst Organization plans to utilize Ozmo to enhance the quality of service provided to its tenants and residents.

Velodyne Lidar announced a multi-year agreement to provide its lidar sensors to Stanley Robotics for an automated valet parking solution. The service uses autonomous handling robots to help car parks to improve the customer experience and increase the number of vehicles that can be stored.