Season 1 of The Robot Report Podcast

Joel Johnson, the passenger inside the Waymo One robotaxi that was confused by construction cones, takes us inside what went wrong. He also talks about his overall experience with Waymo One, which includes 147 rides to date.

We also catch up with Tom Ryden, executive director of MassRobotics, who takes us inside the develop of the group's new mobile robot interoperability standard.

Passenger of confused Waymo robotaxi discusses what went wrong

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, 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 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

Michael Kohen, founder and CEO of Spark AI, joins the show. Michael discusses situations in which AI and machine learning still come up short for robotics systems and how his company's human-in-the-loop system helps solve edge cases in real-time. He shares specific real-world examples, including details about Spark AI's partnership with John Deere and its autonomous tractors.

The podcast also discusses the top stories of the week, including the US government imposing restrictions on AMD and NVIDIA selling certain AI chipsets to China. We breakdown what this could mean for robotics.

AI: chipset bans and keeping humans in the loop

See The Fire Dancing

We talk to Veo Robotics' Patrick Sobalvarro about how robotics can help solve today's manufacturing challenges. We discuss Amazon scooping up vacant retail spaces, iRobot getting tariff relief, and a Starship delivery robot driving straight into a canal. We also take you inside our teleoperation of Boston Dynamics' Spot robot from nearly 3,000 miles away.

Show Notes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKMeMb9CF8E
https://www.facebook.com/search/posts/?q=Bex%20Morgan&epa=SERP_TAB

Veo on manufacturing challenges; tele-operating Spot; Amazon goes to the mall

We break down why Softbank is reportedly looking to sell Boston Dynamics to Hyundai for upwards of $1B. Hyundai would be the third owner of Boston Dynamics in the last 7 years. What's the reason for the sale: slow commercialization from Boston Dynamics, soured investments from Softbank or both? We discuss.

We're also joined by Aaron Prather, FedEx's senior advisor of technology, research and planning, to discuss FedEx's growing use of robotics, his work on mobile robot interoperability, advice for startups, and his thoughts on Boston Dynamics and more.

Why Softbank is shopping Boston Dynamics; FedEx's Aaron Prather

We talk to Dextrous Robotics CEO and co-founder Evan Drumwright about its approach to automating the unloading of box trucks. This might be the next big problem for robotics companies to solve, and Dextrous is taking a unique approach. 

We also discuss the remake of Short Circuit and share our all-time favorite robotics movies. Other discussions include recent robotics investments, Motional's Level 4 autonomous vehicles coming to Nevada and a new study analyzes the ongoing robots vs. jobs debate.

Dextrous Robotics exits stealth; how robots impact the future of work

Jud Kauffman and Joe Wolfel, co-founders of Austin, Texas-based startup Terradepth, are building autonomous submarines for deep ocean exploration. Its long-term goal is to build the Google Earth of the ocean. They discuss the challenges and opportunities of Terradepth's mission and how their Naval experience is playing a vital role.

We also chat with Nader Elm, CEO and co-founder of Exyn Technologies. Exyn is a spin-off of the GRASP Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania that builds autonomous drones that are operating in GPS-denied environments such as mines.

Autonomous submarines for ocean exploration; drone autonomy with Exyn Technologies

Aurora's acquisition of Uber's self-driving unit takes center stage on episode 27. We break down the acquisition and try to figure out why Aurora would have purchased Uber's troubled self-driving unit.

We also catch up with Joel Reed, the interim executive director of the Pittsburgh Robotics Network. Joel updates us on the status of the cluster, tells us about some interesting companies to watch, his daily sightings of autonomous vehicles, and how the cluster has handled the COVID-19 pandemic.

Why did Aurora buy Uber ATG?; Robotics thriving in Pittsburgh

What robotics company had a better 2020 than Boston Dynamics. Michael Patrick Perry, Boston Dynamics' VP of business development, joins the podcast discuss the company's massive year and, of course, being acquired by Hyundai Motor Group for $880 million.

We also catch up with Dr. Timothy Chung, program manager for the DARPA Subterranean Challenge. Tim takes us inside the recently completed Cave Circuit Virtual Competition and shares some of the lessons that were learned.

Boston Dynamics talks about its big year, Hyundai acquisition

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

Veo on manufacturing challenges; tele-operating Spot; Amazon goes to the mall

The Robot Report Podcast

Related tracks