December closes a big year for autonomous mobile robots. This month, we saw product announcements, funding announcements and autonomous mobile robot companies going public.
Here are the Top 10 most popular robotics stories on The Mobile Robot Guide in December 2021. Subscribe to The Mobile Robot Guide Newsletter to stay updated and have the news delivered straight to your inbox.
10. ForwardX Robotics named Top 10 Startup by Logistics Tech Outlook
ForwardX Robotics, a Beijing-based developer of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for warehousing and manufacturing environments, was named by Logistics Tech Outlook as one of the Top 10 Logistics Tech Startups for 2021. Announced at the end of November, the award recognizes the 10 most innovative organizations with a focus on addressing issues within logistics through transformative technology. Read Story
9. GUSS Automation introduces mini autonomous sprayer
Mini GUSS is 6-feet wide, 5-foot 4-inches tall and 20-feet long. It has a 400-gallon tank and a 3.8-liter Cummins diesel engine to tackle the most strenuous terrain. GUSS Automation offers two tower options for mini GUSS: a vineyard tower for two row applications and an apple tower for high-density trellised orchards. Read Story
8. ForwardX Robotics raises $31M for AMRs
ForwardX Robotics completed its initial Series C1 funding round, raising $31 million. This round was led by Taikang Life Insurance, with Qualcomm Ventures and Starlight Capital also contributing to the round. The new funding comes only seven months after the close of its $63 million Series B round, and it brings ForwardX to approximately $100 million in total investment since its founding in 2016. Read Story
7. My Goat is a Robotic Service Provider offering autonomous lawn care
My Goat is a two-year-old startup developing automation for the commercial landscaping market. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, the company is primarily a software company and OEMs autonomous lawn mowing equipment. My Goat has deployed autonomous mowers into commercial environments such as city parks, sports complexes, school properties, as well as cemetery lawn care. The solution leverages a cellular connection to each mower to remotely track, manage and report on the mowing operation. Read Story
6. Kärcher launches autonomous vacuum cleaner controlled by Brain Corp
Brain Corp announced the launch of the first professional autonomous vacuum cleaner, KIRA CV 60/1, with Kärcher, a global provider of cleaning technology. Built to help businesses clean smarter than ever before. Powered by Brain Corp’s proprietary operating system, BrainOS®, KIRA CV 60/1 specializes in safely vacuuming large scale buildings — hotels, schools, airports, offices, convention centers and more — expertly navigating and cleaning. Read Story
5. Knightscope going public, offers $40 million in stock
Knightscope announced it will be going public on the NASDAQ global market under the ticker symbol KSCP. Knightscope will be offering $40 million of Class A common stock at $10 per share. Knightscope plans to use the proceeds to continue to scale its fleet of autonomous security robots and to invest in new technologies. The company has a line of four different security robots, ranging from a stationary robot to an all terrain one. Read Story
4. Seegrid and Applied Intuition partner to improve AMR simulations
AMR provider Seegrid and simulation software provider Applied Intuition partnered to advance the use of software simulation tools in order to accelerate AMR projects and improve the software development cycle. There are three primary uses cases for simulation in the AMR ecosystem. Read Story
3. Top 10 mobile robotic stories of November 2021
November 2021 marked the start of the holiday shopping season, so product announcements from AMR companies focused on logistics slowed down. The Mobile Robot Guide launched the first ever Mobile Robotics Week, an online educational experience. You can still review all of the Mobile Robot Week content for free, online, at your leisure. Read Story
2. MiR is building autonomous pallet jacks
Mobile Industrial Robotics (MiR) and Logitrans A/S teamed up to build autonomous pallet jacks. The companies plan to combine MiR’s autonomous navigation and software capabilities with Logitran’s electric pallet jacks. The plan is to make both a fully autonomous pallet jack and a semi autonomous pallet jack. Read Story
