Autonomous mobile robots made great strides in the first month of the year. From new product launches to interesting use cases to exciting innovations, there was no shortage of things to cover.
Here are the Top 10 most popular robotics stories on The Mobile Robot Guide in January 2021. Subscribe to The Mobile Robot Guide Newsletter to stay updated and have the news delivered straight to your inbox.
10. Clearpath helps improve mine safety with autonomous mobile robots
The mining industry plays a crucial role in the modern economy with various high-tech industries relying on precious metals. Coal, after all, is still one of the leading global energy resources. In fact, according to the Global Mining Market Report 2021, the “global mining market is expected to grow from $1641.67 billion in 2020 to $1845.55 billion in 2021”! For such large output naturally comes a massive demand for manual labor. However, many of these jobs are dangerous, difficult, and dirty. Read Story
9. Bastian Solutions to integrate Caja Robotics goods-to-person solutions in the USA
Systems integrator Bastian Solutions has added Israeli-based Caja Robotics goods-to-person warehouse automation solution to its portfolio. Bastian Solutions has more than 70 years of systems integration experience, and installed systems throughout the Americas. Read Story
8. Polimove wins Autonomous Challenge @CES race
Autonomous vehicle history was made in the first week of January 2022. Two major records were set by Team Polimove while competing for the grand prize at the Autonomous Challenge at @CES. Team Polimove set a new land speed record for the fastest autonomous racecar with a solo vehicle speed record of 175.96 mph (283.18 kph). Read Story
7. Nuro unveils third-generation autonomous delivery vehicle
Nuro announced its third generation autonomous delivery vehicle – called Nuro. Previous iterations of the vehicle were called R1 and R2. One of the most eye-catching features of the new vehicle is its external, front airbag. This airbag deploys if the vehicle collides with pedestrians and bikers, and is meant to keep those around the vehicle safe. Read Story
6. Serve Robotics begins autonomous commercial deliveries
Serve Robotics announced that it has deployed its fleet of sidewalk delivery robots for commercial deliveries. This achievement comes just a few months after the company announced its partnership with Uber Eats. At the time, the companies planned to roll out robotic delivery services exclusively to Uber Eats customers in Los Angeles early this year. Read Story
5. Labrador Systems building AMRs for home assistance
I’ve learned to basically ignore the “home robots” hyped each year at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). This year is more of the same, except for two new robots from Calif.-based startup Labrador Systems. Read Story
4. Open-source visualization and debugging for robotics
In this episode of the The Robot Report Podcast, Steve and Mike interview Adrian Macneil, co-founder and CEO of Calif.-based startup Foxglove, discusses open source visualization and debugging tool for robotics. Read Story
3. NVIDIA announces Isaac AMR platform
At CES 2022, NVIDIA announced the Isaac autonomous mobile robot (AMR) platform. The end-to-end platform is designed to accelerate deployment of AMRs and optimize efficiency. NVIDIA’s AMR system is targeted towards large deployments in big facilities, where mapping can be time consuming and fleet management can be tricky. Isaac AMR works with a number of NVIDIA’s platforms, including Omniverse, Isaac Sim, DeepMap, Metropolis and ReOPT. Read Story
2. Robotnik launches new RB-THERON autonomous mobile robot
Spanish AMR company Robotnik released a new autonomous mobile robot (AMR). The Robotnik RB-Theron is capable of carrying up to 200 kg (535.8 lbs). The vehicle is designed only for indoor operations, including workflows such as intralogistics, material handling operations and research platform. Read Story
1. LG launches CLOi ServeBot in the US
LG Business Solutions USA announced that the LG CLOi ServeBot is coming to the U.S. market in early 2022. Model LDLIM21 recently earned the UL 3300 certification for safe operation in complex commercial environments such as restaurants, retail stores and hotels. The mobile robot can easily navigate busy environments while carrying up to 24kg (66 lbs) of food or goods, assisting with employee workloads, enabling better customer service and increasing operational efficiency. Read Story
