Robot to transform safety in the petrochemical industry

Researchers have introduced the first ever Friction Stir Welding Robotic Crawler for the internal repair of pipelines, increasing the safety of those in the petrochemical industry.

The development of the first ever FSWBot, Friction Stir Welding Robotic Crawler for internal repair and restoration of pipelines, is designed to revolutionise the way industries deal with pipeline issues.

After being showcased in Aberdeen in November, the FSWBot project has been attracting attention from around the globe.

Peter Routledge, Forth Engineering Project Manager, said: “We are getting a lot of interest and inquiries about the FSWBot from across the globe. Interest is really building, including from Saudi Arabia, America, Canada, France and Spain.”

The technology will feature in a presentation at a Transformative Robotics for Industries day at the 4th Annual Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) UK and Ireland Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) Chapter Conference held at the University of Manchester on January 22.

An FSWBot presentation will also take place at an Offshore Pipeline Technology Conference in Amsterdam in February 2020.

And it will also be displayed at Friction Stir Welding International Symposium in Kyoto, Japan in May.

What are the main types of robots used in healthcare?

What are the main types of robots used in healthcare?

Types of robots used in healthcare Surgical Robots

Major manufacturers are increasing their R&D efforts within robotic surgical systems. The overall market is currently dominated by Intuitive Surgical, but the landscape is rapidly changing. The entrance of major manufacturers such as Johnson & Johnson and Medtronicare is bolstering the medtech surgical robotics market.

There are specific product lines from each company focusing on individual therapeutic areas for minimally invasive robotic surgery. For example, the da Vinci System is a general surgical robot focusing on a myriad of surgical procedures in urological, bariatric, and gynaecological surgical procedures. Additionally, the MAKO System from Stryker specialises in orthopaedic surgery, specifically partial and complete knee replacements.

Why 5G is Essential for AI, IoT, and Robotics

Hearing claims that 5G will change the world should not come as a shock, and appears to be more than just marketing hype. Why? Because the capability and capacity of the 5G technology can transform existing technologies in unimaginable ways.

With research suggesting that 5G is expecting to provide $12.3 trillion of global economic output, and support 22 million jobs around the world by 2035, the potential is huge. Not only will the technology support devices, but it can also transform lives.

In addition to mobile device technologies, we’re also seeing that artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and robotics sectors will be impacted by 5G. In this post, we will explore the potential of 5G in these sectors.

Autonomous cars

Smart cities

IoT technology

Robotics

AI

There’s a robot cat you can back on Kickstarter

There’s a robot cat you can back on Kickstarter

You may have heard of Aibo, Sony’s robot dog, but if a robot cat is what you’ve always wanted, you’re now able to back one on Kickstarter. In fact, it actually looks kind of cute.

MarsCat, made by Elephant Robotics, looks a lot like a cat, but it’s not realistic enough that you’ll be fooled into thinking it’s a replacement for a furry feline that might already wander around your house. But it seems as if Elephant Robotics is trying to give MarsCat a lot of cat-like mannerisms, and it can apparently do things like bat at toys, stretch its front two feet out, and even accept chin rubs! Aw

MarsCat comes in white, gray, ginger, and black, and it’s outfitted with six capacitive touch sensors, a 5MP camera in its nose to help it “see,” and is powered by a Raspberry Pi 3. Elephant Robotics tells The Verge that you’ll get between two to three hours of battery life with “constant interactions” and up to five hours for low usage, such as when MarsCat is lying down or sitting while still powered on.

Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in solar energy

Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in solar energy

A one of a kind opportunity exists to apply AI to a particular part of the clean energy value chain: materials. Materials fill in as the structure blocks of clean energy, for example, the solar cells that make up the photovoltaic panels found on rooftops. Enhancing the materials used to manufacture parts of clean energy is significant on the grounds that current materials are frequently lethal, non-earth rich, and require carbon-concentrated processing.

Without getting excessively technical, basically, the entire reason of AI is a machine emulating the human brain. The machine can learn and adjust to various situations, and as time passes, the machine gets smarter and responds diversely to accomplish better outcomes.

Utilizing AI along these lines can give producers an edge. Manufacturers will in general put resources into upgrading downstream production capacities, which has prompted a few AI applications in sensor innovations and process optimisation. Utilizing AI for upstream design purposes, nonetheless, is an undiscovered business opportunity that could decrease the time it takes to find new materials, opening up capital for deployment and commercialisation strategies.

Robotics Can Solve the Construction Skills Shortage If Handled Properly

Robotics Can Solve the Construction Skills Shortage If Handled Properly

The construction industry is in desperate need of an automated shake-up. With a serious skills shortage, limited resources, and outdated data collection practices, automation and robotics could save the industry from stagnation.

But digitization is coming for construction. Already robots are entering development sites, offering new capabilities that are humanly impossible, or simply providing the accuracy and continuity that are so crucial in the industry. Part one of this article will focus on robotics companies that are upgrading on-site capabilities to address the skills shortage that threatens to suffocate the construction industry.

Beyond digitization

Similar to the mining and oil and gas industries, construction has been sluggish when it comes to automation, although advanced technologies such as laser scanners and smart sensors are widely utilized on-site, and digitization is spreading through the industry.

Building robotic safety inspectors nabs Gecko Robotics $40 million

Building robotic safety inspectors nabs Gecko Robotics $40 million

Gecko Robotics has landed $40 million in financing as it looks to build an additional 40 robots over the next year to meet what the company sees as growing demand for its safety and infrastructure monitoring services.

“We are growing fast solving critical infrastructure problems that affect our lives, and can even save lives,” says Jake Loosararian, Gecko Robotics’ 28-year-old co-founder and chief executive officer, in a statement. “At our core, we are a robot-enabled software company that helps stop life-threatening catastrophes. We’ve developed a revolutionary way to use robots as an enabler to capture data for predictability of infrastructure; reducing failure, explosions, emissions and billions of dollars of loss each year.”

In the three years since its launch in 2016, Gecko Robotics has managed to grow from a small team of Pittsburgh robotics experts hailing from Carnegie Mellon. Indeed, the company has added more than 100 new employees. The hiring push has been largely around creating a team of qualified experts in particular market segments who can operate the robots that Gecko deploys to industrial work sites.