United Kingdom

At the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity Elon Musk shared his perspectives on artificial intelligence (AI) and humanoid robots in a wide-ranging interview. He predicts there will be a humanoid robot for every person on earth, plus robots working in the industry, which means there will be a market for 20 billion humanoid robots.

The development and improvement of hardware continue unabated, but real innovation in robotics occurs in the field of software. This is evident with Mitsubishi Electric, which showcased its digital innovation at Vision, Robotics & Motion 2024. Part of this portfolio includes AI-enhanced software for robots. In this video report, the Rocking Robots team discusses these advancements with Micha Daman.

Robot sales in North America decreased by 6% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in the previous year, according to a report by the Association for Advancing Automation (A3). Between January and March, companies purchased 8,582 robots valued at $494 million. Despite the overall decline, orders from non-automotive companies increased by 16% over the first quarter of 2023.

A UNESCO report warns that unless decisive action is taken to integrate ethical principles, AI could distort the historical record of the Holocaust and fuel antisemitism. The report cautions that not only can Generative AI enable malicious actors to seed disinformation and hate-fueled narratives, but it can also inadvertently invent false or misleading content about the Holocaust.

The 2024 “Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Robotics & Automation” (IERA) goes to Realtime Robotics. The US company from Boston won the prestigious prize for its fully-automatic motion planning tool for industrial robots. The solution develops an optimized “choreography” for robots closely working together in workcells without collision. This year, for the first time, all four finalists are newcomers in the industry.

Is the traditional industrial robot market missing out? There seem to be two parallel robot worlds emerging, because the fastest developments do not take place in the traditional robot industry, but in a completely new robot industry. Like in the car industry, the threat seems to come from an unexpected corner, says trendwatcher Randall van Poelvoorde in this video from Vision, Robotics & Motion.

Teledyne FLIR Defense has officially launched its new SUGV 325 portable and modular robot at Eurosatory. The SUGV 325 is a single-person-carry unmanned ground platform designed for versatile use in dismounted and mobile operations. Weighing approximately 20 pounds (9.1 kg) in its lightest configuration, the SUGV 325 is easily transportable and capable of traversing rough terrain and climbing stairs. Its advanced manipulator arm, featuring five degrees of freedom, allows users to perform delicate and complex tasks.

The global AI industry has grown tremendously over the past years, and nothing can stop its growth. In 2024, the entire market is set to reach 315 million users and a $184 billion value, 35% more than last year. However, that`s nothing compared to the growth projections in the following years, which recently became even more optimistic.

A jet engine typically has 2,000 unique parts. Inspecting these parts to detect safety issues is an intense and time-consuming activity for the engineers at KLM. At the same time, the engine shop is experiencing an exodus of personnel due to retirement. Therefore, KLM decided to look into the use of robots, computer vision, and AI to automate this critical yet time-consuming process. At Vision, Robotics & Motion, the resulting robotic solution was shown at the Cboost booth. In this video, the Rocking Robots team discusses this robot with Jochem Vliegenthart from KLM and Daniël Telgen from Cboost.

GITAI USA has been selected for NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 program. This project, titled “Assembly and Outfitting of Tall Truss-Based Power Towers,” focuses on using autonomous lunar robots to build tall truss-based towers on the Moon, which can function as communication antennas and solar panels.