Season 2 of The Robot Report Podcast

In this episode we sit down and learn about the Robot Operations Group with co-founders Florian Pestoni and Joe Wieciek.

In the second half of the show we discuss one vendor's experience as part of the working committee for the recent R15.08 Safety Standard when we talk to Mike Bearman from Vecna Robotics.

Find out whats going on in the world of robot operations

This week we break down the winners of the RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards, which honor technology, business, and market innovations for the global robotics industry. We discuss how we picked the 50 winners, what we consider to be innovative, and share our personal favorite winners. 

https://www.roboticsbusinessreview.com/2021-rbr50-robotics-innovation-award-honorees/

https://www.roboticsbusinessreview.com/2021-rbr50-robotics-innovation-awards-digital-edition/

A Review of the RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards

This week, Mike Demko, head of AutoStore’s MFC business line, joins the program to discuss the growth of e-commerce and the role automation is playing. We also hear from Jason dePreaux, a market analyst for Interact Analysis, who discusses the robotics industry services market. 

https://roboweeks.com/

https://www.therobotreport.com/softbank-robotics-europe-cutting-workforce-40-in-shake-up/

https://www.therobotreport.com/hyundai-completes-acquisition-controlling-stake-boston-dynamics/

https://mobilerobotguide.com/2021/06/15/dusty-robotics-raises-16-5m-in-series-a-funding/

https://www.therobotreport.com/weride-raises-310m-funding-autonomous-vehicles/

https://www.interactanalysis.com/the-warehouse-automation-service-market-may-2021/

Softbank distancing itself from Pepper, AutoStore's Mike Demko, robotics industry services

Claus Risager, CEO and co-founder of Blue Ocean Robotics, discusses the evolution of the Danish company and its early entry into disinfection robots. He also tries to sell us on the benefits of telepresence robots.

We also discuss the bigger stories in the robotics industry of late, including the future of Fetch Robotics after the Zebra acquisition, Aurora taking its self-driving tech public via SPAC, the shutdown of Abundant Robotics and the Ingenuity Helicopter completing another historic flight on Mars.


https://mobilerobotguide.com/2020/04/01/robotic-solutions-for-covid-19/

https://mobilerobotguide.com/2021/07/08/a-bright-future-for-fetch-robotics-following-zebra-acquisition/

https://www.therobotreport.com/aurora-taking-autonomous-vehicle-tech-public-via-spac/

Claus Risager on disinfection robots and growing Blue Ocean Robotics

We talk to Sami Atiya, CEO of ABB Robotics and Verónica Pascual, CEO of ASTI to get their insights on the recently announced acquisition of the Spanish mobile robotics company: ASTI Mobile Robots. The two companies have deployed their solutions to multiple, mutual customers in Europe in recent years. 
The combination of companies and products will establish the worldwide ABB mobile robotics development center in Borgas Spain (the current location of ASTI), while extending the reach of ASTI from 20 countries to 50+ countries. ASTI CEO Verónica Pascual will take on the role as leader of the new ABB mobile robotics division.

Inside ABB’s acquisition of ASTI Mobile Robotics

We talk to Jeff Chapman, the founder of The Chapman Group, about the current state of hiring within the North American robotics industry. Jeff is one of the "most connected" individual's within the robotics and automation industry and currently helps companies find talent and he helps individuals find the right opportunity. Tune into to learn what's Jeff's from his unique perspective on the industry.

State of hiring in the robotics market with Jeff Chapman

John Deere recently acquired startup Bear Flag Robotics for $250 million. Founded in 2017, Bear Flag Robotics retrofits its autonomy stack onto existing tractors. 

Dan Leibfried, Director, Autonomy and Automation, John Deere, and Igino Cafiero, Co-founder & CEO, Bear Flag Robotics, join the show to discuss the future of autonomous tractors and agricultural robotics.

Mike also updates us on his trip to ATX West, we dive into our latest investments recap and we celebrate our 50 episode!

http://www.therobotreport.com

http://www.roboticsbusinessreview.com

http://www.mobilerobotguide.com

http://www.cobottrends.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0TB8KlrIx4

https://www.therobotreport.com/july-2021-robotics-investments-and-acquisitions/

https://mobilerobotguide.com/2021/08/05/john-deere-buys-developer-of-autonomous-tractors/

The Future of Autonomous Tractors

Steve and Mike discuss the breaking news this week about the end of life for Intel RealSense cameras.
Tesla unveiled plans to build a humanoid robot.
We talk to Stratom CEO Mark Gordon about the autonomous solutions that help US troops to accomplish their mission in the field.

Latest on Intel RealSense; Tesla Bot; Stratom supports the troops

In episode 52 of The Robot Report podcast, hosts Steve Crowe and Mike Oitzman discuss the recent news about Waymo expansion of driverless taxi service into San Francisco. Also featured in this episode is a conversation between Steve and Yaro Tenzer, CEO of RightHand Robotics. Steve and Yaro discuss the technology and capabilities of the RHR bin-picking and singulation solution for warehouse fulfillment applications.

RightHand’s Yaro Tenzer on robotic piece-picking; Waymo’s SF expansion

In episode 53 of The Robot Report Podcast, Steve and Mike discuss the Carbon Robotics funding; an update on the Intel LiDAR EOL; Attabotics patent case; Agility Robotics, Digit video. 
We also talk to Realtime Robotics founder and CTO George Konidaris about robot perception, safety and control.

George Konidaris on Realtime Robotics future; Intel LiDAR update

In episode 54, Steve and Mike discuss recent funding news for four robotics companies totally $531M; iRobot J7+ poop avoidance algorithms; cost of the recent Ocado ASRS fire.
We also interview Photoneo CTO, Tomas Kovacovsky, about 3D vision, 3D cameras and what it takes to build a robust, industrial camera/vision solution.

Four robot companies pull in $531M in funding; Interview with Photoneo CTO, Tomas Kovacovsky

Steve and Mike talk to Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics and Jason Walker, CEO of Waypoint Robotics to discuss the big news of the day: the acquisition of Waypoint Robotics by Locus Robotics. The acquisition will pay immediate dividends for Locus customers who want a higher payload AMR for moving inventory within their warehouse.
Rick and Jason share their stories about how the acquisition came together and what it means for both Locus Robotics  customers and Waypoint Robotics customers.

Inside Locus Robotics’ acquisition of Waypoint Robotics

Amazon introduced its much-anticipated home robot this week, and it's underwhelmed the robotics industry. Mike and Steve share their thoughts on why Astro's future doesn't look bright. Listeners also call in to share their thoughts on the home robot.

We also sit down with Adam Sachs, CEO and founder of Vicarious Surgical. Adam discusses the company's next-gen surgical robotics system, the challenges and keys to building it, and debuting on the NYSE.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/93ypp8/leaked-documents-amazon-astro-surveillance-robot-tracking

Amazon Astro underwhelms robotics community; Vicarious Surgical CEO Adam Sachs

Our guest this week is Jon Hirschtick from PTC. Jon has started (and sold) two popular product development companies in his career: SolidWorks and Onshape. We also cover the robotics news from the week, PLUS a special discussion about our favorite startups for 2021.

Timestamps

News recap: 0-18:18
Interview with PTC's Jon Hirschtick: 20:57-1:04:40
Voicemails/Favorite Robotics Startups: 1:04:43-1:36:37

Jon Hirschtick from Onshape/PTC; Favorite robotics startups of 2021

This week, Steve and Mike recap the Autonomous Mobile Robots and Logistics Conference that took place in Memphis. 

They also talk to Stephanie Cannon of Pitney Bowes, which is deploying robotics systems from Ambi Robotics throughout the U.S to support its e-commerce network.

We also discuss the news of the week, including Waymo's self-driving cars repeatedly hitting a dead-end in San Francisco, and the outrage sparked by a commercial quadruped that was outfitted with an unmanned rifle.

AMRs & Logistics Conference Recap; Pitney Bowes on Autonomous Sorting

Mike caught up with Melonee Wise, founder of Fetch Robotics and VP of robotics automation at Zebra Technologies, at the AMRs and Logistics Conference. They discussed the new Fetch FlexShelf, FlexShelf Guide, RollerTop Guide autonomous mobile robot solutions that came out this week, as well as the state of logistics automation.

We also discuss the news of the week, including Softbank reportedly negotiating the sale of its French robotics business, Softbank Robotics Europe, to German distributor United Robotics Group. We also discuss the new AMR solutions from Fetch Robotics, the historic IPO of AutoStore on the Oslo Stock Exchange and a couple of food-related automation items.

Show Notes
https://www.therobotreport.com/report-softbank-negotiating-sale-of-french-robotics-business/

https://www.therobotreport.com/fetch-robotics-adds-3-amrs-person-to-goods-workflows/

https://www.therobotreport.com/autostore-stock-surges-debut-oslo-stock-exchange/

https://www.therobotreport.com/spyce-closes-original-robotic-restaurant-in-boston/

Is Softbank Robotics Europe for Sale?; Melonee Wise on Fetch's New AMRs

In today's episode, Steve and Mike interview Alex Wischnewski, team lead for Technical University of Munich [TUM], and the winning race team at the 2021 Indy Autonomous Challenge.
Alex discusses how the team came together for the competition and the stress of race day when they had to make changes to the race parameters to balance speed with safe operations.
The Indy Autonomous Challenge turned out to be more difficult than anyone anticipated, and Alex provides a first hand view of pushing autonomous vehicles to the limit.
Steve and Mike also cover the latest robotics news stories from the last week.

Interview with IAC race winner Team TUM

Samir Menon, founder and CEO of Dexterity Inc. joins the program this week. We discuss Dexterity's rapid growth and its approach to developing full-stack robotic picking for logistics, supply chain, and warehousing applications. 

Mike and Steve also discuss some recent trending stories, including China's role is ending a potential autonomous vehicle SPAC.

https://www.therobotreport.com/spac-merger-plus-autonomous-trucks-called-off/

https://www.therobotreport.com/gatik-autonomous-box-trucks-milestone-walmart/

https://www.therobotreport.com/autonomous-racing-goes-head-to-head-at-the-autonomous-challenge-ces-in-las-vegas/

Dexterity founder Samir Menon; 2 SPACs fall apart due to China tech crackdown

Welcome to Episode 63  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 today's episode, Steve and Mike interview robotics innovator Esben Østergaard, CEO of Reinvest Robotics and cofounder of Universal Robots. We discuss the potential impact of the pending EU AI Act and Machinery Directive. These directives are likely to impact the growth of AI startup in the EU and burden them with rules that will hamper innovation. Esben offers his thoughts about innovation and how successful robotics startups need a competitive playing field to be successful. Could this be the death of robotic and AI innovation in the EU? Listen in to learn more.

Here's a link to Esben's recent blog about the impact of the EU AI Act and Machinery Directive.

“The approach of the current machinery directive is sufficient. The problem is with governance. We recommend focusing on ensuring that products on the market actually comply with the current EU law, not creating new regulations,” said Østergaard.

Steve and Mike also review the latest robotics news stories from the last week, including the following stories reported on The Robot Report:

- Robotics Summit & Expo 2022 call for speakers
- MiR is building autonomous pallet jacks
- Knightscope IPO taking security robots public
- Serve Robotics closes $13 million funding round
- Nuro, Waymo bring autonomous deliveries to California

Esben Østergaard:  EU AI Act will stifle robotics innovation

Today’s episode recaps a major week for autonomous vehicles. Cruise co-founder, CTO and president Kyle Vogt hailed the first driverless robotaxi ride in SF, Waymo started to map New York City and Nuro raised another $600M for its autonomous delivery vehicles. And we don’t even mention Aurora debuting on the Nasdaq, FedEx testing autonomous delivery in China, and Autobrains raising $101 million for its unsupervised AI for autonomous vehicles.

You'll also hear from James DeSmet, president and CEO of CRG Automation. The company built a robotic system to help decommission a stockpile of 70,000 chemical missiles at a base in Kentucky. James walks us through the challenges of the project. 

Our favorite quote from the interview: “We’re just packaging a very dangerous chemical weapon instead of a Twinkie. It’s a little different, but it’s the same.” You can check out videos of the system in action over at CRG Automation’s YouTube channel.

Decommissioning chemical missiles with robots

Join Steve Crowe and Mike Oitzman each week for discussions with leading roboticists, innovative robotics companies, and other key members of the robotics community.