Automation – Page 4

Amazon and FedEx push to put delivery robots on your sidewalk

September 21, 2020

Amazon hopes its Scout robots will carry packages autonomously the “last mile,” from delivery hubs to homes. – ROGER KISBY/GETTY IMAGES

The companies are backing bills in more than a dozen states that would legalize the devices. Some bills would block cities from regulating them at all.

IN FEBRUARY, A lobbyist friend urged Erik Sartorius, the executive director of the Kansas League of Municipalities, to look at a newly introduced bill that would affect cities. The legislation involved “personal delivery devices”—robots that, as if in a sci-fi movie, might deliver a bag of groceries, a toolbox, or a prescription to your doorstep. It would have limited their weight to 150 pounds, not including the cargo inside. And it would have allowed them to operate on any sidewalk or crosswalk in Kansas at speeds up to 6 miles per hour, the pace of a quick human jog.

Lawmakers and lobbyists say the bill was drafted with help from Amazon. In later testimony to a state senate committee, Amazon lobbyist Jennie Massey said the bill would allow devices like Scout, the company’s bright blue, six-wheeled robot, “to bring new technology and innovation to Kansas.” She noted that Amazon had invested $2.2 billion in Kansas since 2010, and that the company employed 3,000 full-time workers in the state.

Continue reading… “Amazon and FedEx push to put delivery robots on your sidewalk”

Automation, drones, Science & Technology News, Shopping

Walmart launches on-demand drone delivery pilot. But it might take time before drones deliver your next order

September 16, 2020

Your future Walmart order might be delivered via drone.

UPDATED: Days after Walmart announced its first drone pilot Sept. 9, the retail giant announced Monday it was teaming up with Zipline “to launch a first-of-its-kind drone delivery operation in the U.S.” and will test on-demand deliveries of select health and wellness products near Walmart’s headquarters in Arkansas.

The retailer announced the launch of an on-demand drone delivery pilot program with Flytrex, an end-to-end drone delivery company, on Wednesday in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

In a blog post, Tom Ward, Walmart’s senior vice president of customer products, said the pilot focuses on delivering select grocery and household essential items from Walmart stores using Flytrex’s automated drones.

“The drones, which are controlled over the cloud using a smart and easy control dashboard, will help us gain valuable insight into the customer and associate experience – from picking and packing to takeoff and delivery,” Ward said.

Continue reading… “Walmart launches on-demand drone delivery pilot. But it might take time before drones deliver your next order”

Automation, Business, Science & Technology News, Shopping

Storelift launches autonomous convenience stores using AI and computer vision

September 10, 2020

As physical retail struggles amid the global pandemic, storeowners are rapidly trying to adapt to new realities that also include growing competition from Amazon. But a French startup called Storelift believes it can create a new convenience store concept that leans on many of the same AI and computer vision tools used in Amazon Go stores to reinvent the shopping and checkout experience,

This week, Storelift announced that it has launched its first two stores under the name “Boxy.” The Boxy stores are repurposed shipping containers that can be plopped down in various urban neighborhoods that lack good shopping options.

The founders believe their approach demonstrates how businesses can exploit new shopping niches with the help of sensors, data, and AI that allows them to optimize their inventory and reduce costs.

“Our vision is really to address all the city areas where there are 10,000 people who have no convenience store,” Storelift CEO and cofounder Tom Hayat said. “We want to be as close to the customers as possible.”

Continue reading… “Storelift launches autonomous convenience stores using AI and computer vision”

AI, Automation, Employment, Robots, Science & Technology News

Are robots eating our jobs? Not according to AI

September 4, 2020

Automation has been gradually transforming the workplace for years (think Excel spreadsheets or chatbots). As artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and deep learning systems that can learn from each other become more prevalent and smarter (think Alexa or IBM Watson), they continue to replace more manual, repetitive job tasks. Consequently, automation and robots are changing more jobs globally at breakneck speed.

A McKinsey Global Institute report suggests that between 400 million to 800 million jobs worldwide will be lost due to automation by 2030. The report claims that the U.S. could lose between 16 to 54 million jobs by 2030. The pace at which robots are entering our workforce is staggering. Oxford Economics expects robots and automation to replace 20 million (8.5%) global manufacturing jobs by 2030.

Keep in mind that these predictions came before anyone predicted the Covid-19 pandemic or its impact on our workforce. The pandemic has made the need for digital transformation and automation more urgent as the critical need to work from home, physical distancing and contactless become the new normal.

Continue reading… “Are robots eating our jobs? Not according to AI”

Automation, Automobiles, Driverless vehicles, Science & Technology News

Sometime soon, your car will park itself in urban garages

September 2, 2020

A Ford Escape automatically stops as a pedestrian crosses in front during a self park demonstration, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020 in Detroit.

Ford, Bosch and real estate company Bedrock are teaming up to test technology that will let vehicles park by themselves in parking decks. The companies are testing the technology using floor-mounted sensors and computers that can control mainly existing features in the Ford Escape.

They say the technology is likely to arrive before widespread use of fully autonomous vehicles because sensors and computers inside parking decks can be used.

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AI, Automation, Coronavirus, Employment, Science & Technology News

How robotics and automation could create new jobs in the new normal

August 25, 2020

Depending on who you ask, AI and automation will either destroy jobs or create new ones. In reality, a greater push toward automation will probably both kill and create jobs — human workers will become redundant in certain spheres, sure, but many new roles will likely crop up. A report last year from PA Consulting, titled “People and machines: From hype to reality,” supports this assertion, predicting that AI and automation will lead to a net gain in job numbers. This is pretty much in line with findings from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a pan-governmental economic body spanning 36 member countries, which noted that “employment in total may continue to rise” even if automation disrupts specific industries.

Automation has gained increased attention amid the great social distancing experiment sparked by COVID-19. But it’s too early to say whether the pandemic will expedite automation across all industries. Recent LinkedIn data suggests AI hiring slowed during the crisis, but there are plenty of cases where automation could help people adhere to social distancing protocols — from robot baristas and cleaners to commercial drones.

Of course, any discussion about automation invariably raises the question of what it means for jobs.

Continue reading… “How robotics and automation could create new jobs in the new normal”

AI, Automation, Driverless vehicles, Machine Learning, Science & Technology News

Helm.ai pioneers breakthrough…. “Deep Teaching” of neural networks

August 12, 2020

Helm.ai today announced a breakthrough in unsupervised learning technology. This new methodology, called Deep Teaching, enables Helm.ai to train neural networks without human annotation or simulation for the purpose of advancing AI systems. Deep Teaching offers far-reaching implications for the future of computer vision and autonomous driving, as well as industries including aviation, robotics, manufacturing and even retail.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is commonly understood as the science of simulating human intelligence processed by machines. Supervised learning refers to the process of training neural networks to perform certain tasks using training examples, typically provided by a human annotator or synthetic simulator to machines to perform certain tasks, while unsupervised learning is the process of enabling AI systems to learn from unlabelled information, infer inputs and produce solutions without the assistance of pre-established input and output patterns.

Continue reading… “Helm.ai pioneers breakthrough…. “Deep Teaching” of neural networks”

Automation, CES 2018, Clothing, Great New Product, Science & Technology News

Samsung’s automatic dry cleaning wardrobe removes 99% bacteria and is finally on sale!

August 11, 2020

What is your most hated chore in quarantine? I think its a tie between doing the dishes and laundry. For me, it is definitely laundry just because it takes longer and is so much more tedious! And while folding my clothes I think about Samsung’s AirDresser – an innovative wardrobe designed to steam, deodorize and sanitize clothes without putting them through a washer-dryer cycle.

Traditional laundry machine cycles can potentially damage clothes (how many of us even know the right settings for our loads?) and ever since the pandemic took over our lives we are doing laundry more often to stay safe – this is bound to wear them out 5x faster than usual. The Samsung AirDresser is here to save the day! Its sleek build is similar to a tall, thin fridge and can seamlessly blend in any room. The AirDresser uses a combination of steaming and heat-pump powered drying, and you won’t even have to plumb it in says Samsung. “That’s because, rather than a water connection like a traditional washer would require, the AirDresser relies on a refillable water tank at the bottom of the cabinet. It means it can be installed pretty much anywhere with a regular 120V outlet,” explains the team.

The wardrobe has space for six hanging garments and includes a set of weighted hangers for helping pull the wrinkles out of pants. The AirDresser is safe to use for suits, woolen clothes, knits, down, fur, leather, and denim making it super versatile and functional. Samsung also mentions that it is good to be used to clean babywear (definitely a lot of cycles there!), toys, and even bedding. I think the bedding bit is so important because traditional washer-dryer ties my bedsheet into such knots and we all know ‘entanglements’ aren’t good (right, Smiths?). It also saves water and makes it easier for the elderly to do their laundry!

Continue reading… “Samsung’s automatic dry cleaning wardrobe removes 99% bacteria and is finally on sale!”

Automation, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News, Shopping

Japanese robot to clock in at a convenience store in test of retail automation

July 27, 2020

TOKYO (Reuters) – In August, a robot vaguely resembling a kangaroo will begin stacking sandwiches, drinks and ready meals on shelves at a Japanese convenience store in a test its maker, Telexistence, hopes will help trigger a wave of retail automation.

Following that trial, store operator FamilyMart says it plans to use robot workers at 20 stores around Tokyo by 2022. At first, people will operate them remotely – until the machines’ artificial intelligence (AI) can learn to mimic human movements. Rival convenience store chain Lawson is deploying its first robot in September, according to Telexistence.

“It advances the scope and scale of human existence,” the robot maker’s chief executive, Jin Tomioka, said as he explained how its technology lets people sense and experience places other than where they are.

The idea, dubbed telexistence, was first proposed by the start up’s co-founder, University of Tokyo professor Susumu Tachi, four decades ago.

Continue reading… “Japanese robot to clock in at a convenience store in test of retail automation”

AI, Automation, Automobiles, Driverless vehicles, Machine Learning, Science & Technology News

The ‘android of self-driving cars’ built a 100,000x cheaper way to train AI for multiple trillion-dollar markets

July 26, 2020

Level 5 self-driving means autonomous cars can drive themselves anywhere, at any time, in any conditions.

How do you beat Tesla, Google, Uber and the entire multi-trillion dollar automotive industry with massive brands like Toyota, General Motors, and Volkswagen to a full self-driving car? Just maybe, by finding a way to train your AI systems that is 100,000 times cheaper.

It’s called Deep Teaching.

Perhaps not surprisingly, it works by taking human effort out of the equation.

And Helm.ai says it’s the key to unlocking autonomous driving. Including cars driving themselves on roads they’ve never seen … using just one camera.

Continue reading… “The ‘android of self-driving cars’ built a 100,000x cheaper way to train AI for multiple trillion-dollar markets”

Amazon.com, Automation, Food, Science & Technology News, Shopping

Amazon is rolling out grocery carts that let shoppers skip checkout lines, bag their groceries and walk out

July 23, 2020

Amazon launching smart grocery carts that track shoppers’ items

Amazon is launching smart shopping carts at its Woodland Hills, California, grocery store in 2020.

Dash Carts are embedded with cameras, sensors and a smart display that automatically track a shopper’s order.

Similar to Amazon’s cashierless Go stores, Dash Carts allow shoppers to avoid checkout lines as they exit the store.

Amazon is launching shopping carts that track items as shoppers add them, then automatically charges them when they remove the grocery bags, allowing them to skip the checkout line.

The Dash Carts will roll out at Amazon’s new Los Angeles-area grocery store, which is slated to open this year, the company announced Tuesday.

Continue reading… “Amazon is rolling out grocery carts that let shoppers skip checkout lines, bag their groceries and walk out”

Automation, Automobiles, Driverless vehicles, Elon Musk, Science & Technology News, Tesla

Tesla (TSLA): Elon Musk says ‘very close’ to level 5 autonomy complete

July 18, 2020

Tesla (TSLA): Basic functionality for level 5 autonomy is complete this year, says CEO Elon Musk.

Today, Musk virtually attended the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai and participated in a Q&A session.

Musk oversees several projects involving AI, but the most prominent one is Tesla’s effort to deliver a full self-driving level 5 system.

At the conference, Musk briefly discussed Tesla’s effort to reach full self-driving and showed great confidence in delivering such a system soon:

I am extremely confident that level or essentially complete autonomy will happen, and I think will happen very quickly. I think at Tesla, I feel like we are very close to level 5 autonomy.

Continue reading… “Tesla (TSLA): Elon Musk says ‘very close’ to level 5 autonomy complete”