The Robot Report Podcast

This week we connected with Bren Pierce, CEO and founder of a young startup that recently decloaked to bring a new wheeled humanoid robot platform to market. Pierce was a co-founder and chief robotics officer at Bear Robotics, and his latest venture is looking at the applications of a wheeled humanoid solution.

Pierce is considering deploying this new robot into warehousing and service robotics applications. Imagine a robot that can serve food and bus the tables in a restaurant. Pierce fully understands how to build robotics for this market, and believes that a wheeled robot with two arms is the right solution.

Learn more at:https://www.kinisi.tech/

In this episode cohosts Mike Oitzman and Gene Demaitre also review the top robotics news stories of the week.

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In this episode, we learn all about Yarbo robotics from cofounder Kenneth Kohlmann. Yarbo made its mark with the launch of its first robotic snow blower in 2018, and has now extended the product line with additional attachments including a mower deck and leaf blower. The company has plans to extend the utility of the robotic base with more attachments in the future.

Learn more at: https://www.yarbo.com/us

Cohosts Steve Crowe and Mike Oitzman discuss the latest robotics news from the last week, including a review of the July funding report, which topped $1.3B. 1X also unveiled the NEO Beta humanoid model and prepares for pilot deployments into test home environments.

The recent news of the Covariant AI acquisition or acqui-hire by Amazon is an interesting strategic move by the retailing giant. Both companies declined to comment on the details of the acquisition, so we asked ex-Amazon robotics leader and current CEO and founder of Collaborative Robotics, Brad Porter, to join us on the show to share his insights into the state of AI development and why this is an exciting move by Amazon.

To learn more about Collaborative Robotics, goto: https://www.co.bot/

On the show today, we sit down with Michael Zampano, product engineer from mk North America, and learn all about flexible conveyance, a critical part of many robotic workcells.

You'll learn about the Versaflex AP10, a flexible pallet conveyor solution. The Versaflex can be configured to fit the part-feeding requirements of any industrial robotic work cell. The solution is highly durable and can be reconfigured as the production evolves.

To learn more about the Versaflex solution go to:

https://www.mknorthamerica.com/Products/versaflex-pallet-conveyors/

About Ask an Expert - this series features in-depth discussions with product experts about how those solutions are changing the landscape of automation and robotics.

If you'd like to feature an expert from your company on a future episode of "Ask an Expert" - contact our executive producer: Courtney Nagle - [email protected]

Catch up on the latest robotics news of the week, including Boston Dynamics Atlas doing pushups; Fanuc launches new R50i robot controller; Waymo starts airport pickup in Phoenix.

The featured interview this week is with Paul Heitlinger, General Manager of Nokia AIMS (autonomous inventory management system). We learn about the new Nokia AIMS inventory counting solution, the technology behind it, and why Nokia is in the warehouse management space now.

Links from the show:

https://www.nokia.com/industries/manufacturing-and-logistics/aims/

This episode dives into the heart of the robotics industry with a special treat: the keynote fireside chat from the 2024 Robotics Summit. Join us as we listen in on Steve Crowe's insightful conversation with Ujjwal Kumar, Group President of Teradyne Robotics. They delve into the landscape of robotics, discussing Teredyne's collaborative robotics divisions UR and MiR, and sharing Ujjwal's unique perspective on the industry's future.

Catch up on the latest news in the robotics industry this week, including an update on Serve Robotics newest merchant: Shake Shack, and a conversation with Serve Robotics President and COO, Touraj Parang about the expansion of service earlier in the week,

On the show today, we have a conversation with Chris Walti, CEO and co-founder of Mytra AI.

Mytra decloaked and unveiled its pallet-based ASRS-like storage array for warehousing last month. The solution is unique for the payload size (3000 lbs) that the Mytrabots move through the storage array.

The company is beginning to deploy pilot projects with early access customers and Chris discusses the ideal applications for the system.

To learn more, check out the story on therobotreport.com or at mytra.ai

On the show today, we hear a replay of the State of Warehouse Automation Panel from the 2024 Robotics Summit, this was an esteemed panel moderated by Eugene Demaitre and featuring the voices of Tim Tetzlaff Vice President, Global Head of Accelerated Digitalization | DHL Supply Chain, John Santagate VP of Robotics | Körber Supply Chain, and Adrian Stoch Chief Automation Officer | GXO.

The second feature on the show today is the last in our series of interviews recorded during the recent robotics summit, this one with Carlos Bielicki VP of Sales from Performance Motion Devices in an interview with Chris Lueke, host of the Manufacturing Happy Hour.

This week we connect with Mike Pivac, CEO of FBR. The Australian robotics company recently brought the latest generation of its HadrianX autonomous bricklaying robot to the U.S. for early market trials during the next 6 months.

We talked with Pivac about the market needs that fueled the creation and evolution of HadrianX over the last decade. This innovative robot can lay up the brick walls for a residential home autonomously in a single workday.

This episode also features an interview with Chris Luecke (The Manufacturing Happy Hour) and Joe Martino (Maxon Group) about the features and use cases for Maxon motion solutions.

In this episode, we learn how Jacobi Robotics is improving the programming and deployment of industrial robots from CEO and co-founder Max Cao. You'll learn how Jacobi is using AI to simplify the robot programming process. The company has released its first application specifically for palletizing.

Later on in the show, Jake Hall, the Manufacturing Millenial, sits down with Jan Hennecke, product manager for Igus at the recent Robotics Summit to learn all about Igus' low-cost and easy-to-program robotics product line.