Weekend Roundup: December 11, 2020

December 11, 2020 | AUVSI News

This week in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World

In coordination with the Office of Future Mobility and Electrification, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) has announced the latest round of PlanetM testing grants, which are expected to take mobility to “new heights” supporting both drone and connected vehicle technology programs. Great Lakes Drone Company, RAVE Cave and P3 Mobility are the recipients of the grants. (Michigan Economic Development Corporation)

This week, it was revealed that NBA legend Michael Jordan’s golf club, The Grove XXIII in Hobe Sound, Florida, has drones that deliver beer and food to players on the course. The technology is one of many innovative ways that drones can help enforce social distancing during the ongoing global pandemic. (Golfweek)

Stanford University researchers recently published a paper that examined how altering peoples’ moods influenced their trust in a smart speaker. The research serves as a microcosm into how important it is for people to trust autonomous products, as well as the potential pitfalls if too much trust is put into these technologies. (Stanford University)

Milrem Robotics has announced that it is expanding and hiring several senior-level engineers, as well as establishing competence centers in Europe. The company is expanding for two reasons: it is shifting its focus more on software development due to leading more complex system integration projects, and it also recently received two European Union grants. (Army Recognition)

This week, autonomous mobile robot and workflow orchestration company Vecna Robotics unveiled its autonomous counterbalanced fork truck. Described as a “highly versatile, safe, intelligent and integrated pallet-handling solution,” the truck is the first in the company’s Silverback Series of counterbalanced fork trucks. (Business Wire)