Category: Robots

Impact Lab > Robots
Analysis, Automation, Business, Robots

The countries with the highest density of industrial robots

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Across the world, the pace of industrial automation is steadily accelerating. According to the International Federation of Robotics, there were 66 installed industrial robots per 10,000 employees globally in 2015 and that increased to 74 in 2016. Broken down by region, average robot density in Europe is 99 units per 10,000 workers, while’s it’s 84 in the Americas and 63 in Asia. Even though China has recorded the most dynamic development of robot density in recent years, South Korea has the highest level of density of any country on the planet.

Continue reading… “The countries with the highest density of industrial robots”

Amazon.com, Automation, Robots

Amazon has a top-secret plan to build home robots

Prototypes can navigate from room to room like driverless cars.

Company hopes to start testing bots in homes later this year.

Ten years ago, Amazon introduced the Kindle and established the appeal of reading on a digital device. Four years ago, Jeff Bezos and company rolled out the Echo, prompting millions of people to start talking to a computer.

Now Amazon.com Inc. is working on another big bet: robots for the home.

Continue reading… “Amazon has a top-secret plan to build home robots”

Agriculture, drones, Environment, Robots

Robo-bees and drone-seeded forests: can technology mend our broken relationship with the natural world?

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A drone offers a unique bird’s eye view as part of a forest fire surveillance system in the Landes region, France.

I’ve tried many ways to free my brain from my iPhone. I’ve invented rules, bought books, deleted apps, installed other apps. But the only thing that reliably works is to leave the phone at home and to walk along a path through the nearby woods. With trees overhead, and mud below, you quickly forget the last social media notification. You escape the internet of things by surrounding yourself with things that can never be plugged in.

Continue reading… “Robo-bees and drone-seeded forests: can technology mend our broken relationship with the natural world?”

Agriculture, Farming, Farms, Robots

Cross a John Deere with a Roomba, and you get this crop-monitoring robot

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Farms are a hotbed for automation. Robots, drones, and artificial intelligence have been assisting in agriculture for years and 2017 showed they could farm an acre and a half of barley, from planting to tending and harvesting, without a human stepping foot on the field.

Now there is a small but robust robot that could take care of the more tedious agricultural tasks. It’s called TerraSentia and the four-wheeled robot developed by engineers at the University of Illinois boasts a variety of sensors that can monitor and transmit crop data in real time. It won’t take full autonomy over a farm but is designed to serve as a little cog in a bigger machine.

Continue reading… “Cross a John Deere with a Roomba, and you get this crop-monitoring robot”

Artificial Intelligence, Entertainment, Machine Learning, Robotics, Robots

Disney has begun populating its parks with autonomous, personality-driven robots

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The process of making a Disney park feel alive is most easily encapsulated in animatronic figures. These hydraulic, pneumatic and now electric figures have been a fixture at Disneyland since the 60s. Since then, massive advancements have been made in control systems, movement architecture and programming. The most advanced animatronic figures like the Na’Vi Shaman in Disney World’s Na’vi River Journey are plain and simply robots. And very sophisticated ones at that.

Continue reading… “Disney has begun populating its parks with autonomous, personality-driven robots”

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