The mobile robotic industry kicked off 2023 with an exciting month. From CES taking place in Las Vegas, to exciting mobile robotic deployments, there was no shortage of things to cover this month.
Here are the 10 most popular robotics stories on The Mobile Robot Guide in January 2023. Subscribe to The Mobile Robot Guide Newsletter to stay updated and have the news delivered straight to your inbox.
10. The Indy Autonomous Challenge @CES thrills the crowd
The second annual Autonomous Challenge @ CES was won by the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) team PoliMOVE from Politecnico di Milano (Italy) and the University of Alabama (Alabama). The competition took place during week of January 1, 2023 with the final competition occurring on Saturday, January 7, 2023 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Attendees of CES 2023 were able to attend and watch the event live, in person. Thousands of fans who weren’t able to attend the event in person watched a live simulcast via the IAC Twitch account. Read More
9. Podcast: best robots of CES 2023; Boston Dynamics Atlas video review
Welcome to Episode 103 of The Robot Report Podcast, which brings conversations with robotics innovators straight to you. Join us each week for discussions with leading roboticists, innovative robotics companies and other key members of the robotics community. In this episode, we discuss Mike’s recent adventure at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023. Steve and Mike recap the event, the types of robots that were at this years event, and the difficulties covering so many interesting products. Read More
8. Brain Corp introduces BrainOS Inventory Insights together with Google Cloud
Brain Corp announced the launch of ‘BrainOS Inventory Insights’ a new and proprietary solution able to deliver next-generation in-store inventory analytics to retailers. The solution is in partnership with Google Cloud. Brain Corp, which already powers the largest global fleet of autonomous robots in public spaces and the world’s largest fleet of robotic inventory scanners, will now offer retail customers a true end-to-end solution for analyzing the inventory data collected by its BrainOS-powered inventory scanning robots. Read More
7. Making an autonomous Zamboni for the Pittsburgh Penguins
If you’ve ever been to a hockey game, you’re familiar with the large Zambonis that roll onto the rink between periods to clean up the ice. Motorized ice surface cleaners first began making their debut on ice rinks in the 1950s, and now, researchers are looking to make those machines run autonomously. A team of students at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), in collaboration with Duquesne Light Company, the Pittsburgh Penguins, Zamboni and Locomation, a Pittsburgh-based automation company that creates autonomous systems for semi trucks, has developed an autonomous Zamboni for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Read More
6. AutoStore launches modular cube storage system Pio
AutoStore has launched Pio, its Product In/Out warehouse automation system, in North America for the first time. The plug-and-play version of AutoStore’s automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) is tailored for small and medium-sized businesses. Pio is a modular and scalable ASRS product that runs on standard plug-and-play software that can connect to the most common online retail and shipping platforms. The system is based on a pay-per-pick model. Similar to a robotics-as-a-service model, users will only purchase product bins and the frames that robots run on, while AutoStore owns and manages the robots, ports and software. Read More
5. LG deploys 4 ServeBots at Arirang K
At Arirang K, a Korean barbeque restaurant in Johns Creek, Georgia, servers have even more difficult tasks than at other kinds of restaurants. Typically, Korean barbeque involves many small plates that can be very hot when servers bring them out. The restaurant was looking for a robotic solution that could help ease this burden on servers. Arirang K currently has four LG ClOi ServeBots working alongside its servers. Management at the restaurant has found that the robots have boosted both server efficiency and customer relations. Read More
4. United Robotics Group acquires mobile robot developer Robotnik
United Robotics Group (URG) has acquired a majority stake in Robotnik Automation, a Valencia, Spain-based provider of technologies in mobile service robotics. Financial details of the acquisition weren’t disclosed. Robotnik has a 20-year track record in developing mobile robots and mobile manipulators. The company has a presence in markets such as Korea, Japan, China, Singapore, the USA, France, Germany and Italy. URG said the acquisition advances its strategy of asserting its position in the European robotics market through organic growth and acquisitions. Read More
3. Inside Pudu Robotics’ 2023 business strategy
Pudu Robotics ended 2022 with robots deployed in over 600 cities around the world in over 60 countries and regions. Pudu secured shipments of over 53,000 devices in 2022. The company hopes that in 2023 it can continue to expand its use case and services. In July 2022, Pudu introduced the PuduBot 2, an upgrade to the flagship product it released in 2017. While the new autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are designed for the same operations as the previous version, its new features make it more adaptable for different use cases. Read More
2. Editor’s Picks: best robots of CES 2023
The consumer electronics show (CES) is the largest event for consumer product launches in the world. I had the opportunity to attend CES for the first time this year, and it was an overwhelming experience. With over 3,200 vendors, there is so much to see that it would be impossible for one person to see and experience everything. That’s where pre-event research is critical to distill the vendor list down to a manageable size. I wanted to see over 60 robot-related products at CES 2023, and I only had two days to do so. Read More
1. Søren Nielsen steps down as MiR president
Søren E. Nielsen stepped down as president of Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR), a subsidiary of Teradyne, and is leaving the company. Nielsen stepped into the role in August 2020, taking over the role from Thomas Visti Jensen. Nielsen was previously MiR’s chief technology officer since January 2018. Read More
