Robotics Trends

Food Robot Turns Heads in Tokyo Fanuc Robotics, Inc. is demonstrating its high-speed food-picking robot arm at the Fooma Tokyo food-automation expo this week. The units, which were the first to pass USDA hygiene requirements and got the company an approving nod from analysts at Robotics Business Review for the innovation, are designed to pick primary and packaged food at speeds as high as 120 cycles per minute. It can’t make the sushi, in other words, but it can assemble and present it at hygiene levels acceptable for food preparation under U.S. regulations. Its greaseless, sealed design resists food and bacterial buildup and allows it to be washed down easily with chemicals allowed in food preparation environments. It uses FANUC’s PickTool software to let owners configure its motions, and a two-dimensional vision… View this post
Filed in: Industrial Automation • Feature • RT News
Tagged: Industrial robots, Service robotics, Food robotics, Industrial automation, Food preparation

World’s Smallest Voice-Activated Robots Researchers at Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University have unveiled what they call the world’s smallest voice-controlled robot. The robots, which stand 15-centimeters high, take voice instructions to perform Tai Chi, kneel, or shake hands. Users can program the ‘bots for other behaviors as well. The robots were designed by a team led by Wang Jhing-fa, professor of electronic engineering at NCKU, and announced to mark the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Symposium on Circuits and Systems in Taipei beginning May 27. The miniature robots are equipped with cameras as well as audio processing equipment so they can be used to inspect hazardous or awkward areas, or to act as security guards, Wang told the Taipei Times. View this post
Filed in: Design and Development • Feature • Latest News
Tagged: Service robotics, Research, Voice command robot, Ieee, Voice activated

Korea Puts $750M in Robotics, Aims to Lead Market by 2018 The government of South Korea has promised to invest 1 trillion Won (about $750 million U.S. dollars) in the country’s robotics industry in an attempt to accelerate its growth. The goal is to help the global robotics market grow to more than $30 billion by 2013 and to help Korean companies take as much as 10 percent of that market, according to Huh Kyung, Director General for Emerging Industry in the government’s Ministry of Knowledge Economy, which is responsible for regulating and overseeing high-tech industries in South Korea. Robotics is one of the fastest-growing of Korea’s highly successful electronics and high-tech manufacturing sectors and will be one of the drivers of the country’s growth during the next five years, Korean officials said during the announcement. The… View this post
Filed in: Service Robotics • Feature • Latest News • Editor's Pick
Tagged: Service robotics, Financing, Korea, Economy, Government support