Autonomy

Autonomy

PIT becomes first U.S. airport to deploy autonomous robotic cleaners equipped with ultraviolet lights

Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) has become the first airport in the United States to deploy autonomous robotic cleaners equipped with ultraviolet (UV) lights that augment their traditional cleaning tools. PIT and Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Robotics have partnered to deploy a pair of autonomous floor scrubbers that clean floors in an ultra-efficient manner. According to Katherine Karolick, senior vice president of Information Technology for Pittsburgh International Airport, using UV is part of a strategic airport-wide approach to cleaning as airport officials look to incorporate UV disinfecting technology in other ways such as on handrails of escalators and moving walkways, elevator buttons and other high-touch areas.

Weekend Roundup: April 24, 2020

This Week in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World The University of North Florida College of Computing, Engineering and Construction has been awarded a grant to research the use of autonomous robotics for agriculture in Northeast Florida. The research grant will focus on using a multi-robot system to securely and efficiently collect agricultural information. (University of North Florida)

AeroVironment unveils fully automated reconnaissance UAS

AeroVironment has unveiled Quantix Recon, the company's new lightweight, rapidly deployable, fully-automated reconnaissance UAS that provides ground forces with on-demand actionable intelligence by delivering high resolution, georeferenced terrain, vegetation and infrastructure imagery.

Black Swift Technologies to develop UAS for Air Force, Army and Special Operations Forces ops

Black Swift Technologies (BST) has been awarded a USAF SBIR Phase II contract to develop a UAS that can autonomously conduct atmospheric profiling to support more accurate cargo drops and improved localized weather forecasts in support of Air Force, Army and Special Operations Forces (SOF) operations. Known as the Black Swift SØ (S-zero), the compact, rugged aerial platform is designed to be hand-launched with the ability to quickly climb up to 15,000 feet. It is capable of a deep-stall landing with near vertical descent and 10-foot accuracy thanks to its unique tail design. Its rapid ascent and descent capabilities allow the UAS to quickly and accurately capture 3-dimensional (3D) wind profiles at a variety of levels, which is crucial for precision cargo drops.

Elbit Systems awarded contracts to upgrade capabilities of its Hermes 900 UAS

Elbit Systems Ltd. has been awarded two contracts valued at a total of approximately $20 million to upgrade the capabilities of its Hermes 900 UAS.

EHang launching UAM pilot of passenger-grade AAVs in Lliria, Spain

Following the recent announcement of its cooperation agreement with the city government of Seville, Spain to launch the first Urban Air Mobility (UAM) pilot program in the country, EHang has announced a strategic partnership with Llíria, Spain as its fourth UAM pilot city globally. In collaboration with the Llíria City Council, EHang will develop a 3D air mobility solution for smart cities and launch a pilot operation program of passenger-grade autonomous aerial vehicles (AAVs), which will seek to explore different application scenarios including tourism.

DHL Supply Chain, Locus Robotics to deploy autonomous mobile robots to new locations

Through the expansion of their partnership, supply chain management and third-party logistics company DHL Supply Chain and autonomous mobile robots (AMR) developer Locus Robotics will launch 10 new, nationwide deployments of the Locus AMR platform this year. “The agreement with Locus Robotics further enables us to bring productivity-enhancing technology to our customers quickly, so they are well-positioned to capitalize on new and emerging opportunities,” says Jim Gehr, president, Retail at DHL Supply Chain North America.

Starship Technologies' food delivery robots begin operating at Bowling Green State University

In collaboration with Starship Technologies, Bowling Green State University (BGSU) has become the first university in Ohio to offer a robot food delivery service on its campus. A partnership between Starship Technologies and BGSU’s food-service provider, Chartwells Higher Education Dining Services, will result in Starship’s fleet of 30 autonomous, on-demand robots making deliveries from nine campus eateries including Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and Panda Express.

Boston Dynamics, OTTO Motors showcase the role of robots in warehouse automation

Boston Dynamics has collaborated with industrial autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) developer OTTO Motors to demonstrate the future of warehouse automation. A video released on Tuesday, March 3, shows Handle, which is Boston Dynamics’s logistics robot, picking boxes and building pallets on top of OTTO AMRs in a distribution center testbed. Last year, the Handle robot completed proof of concept trials with customers in their warehouses. Boston Dynamics and OTTO Motors are working together to further automate the logistics space.

Swarming robots avoid crashes, jams using algorithm developed by Northwestern University researchers

Northwestern University researchers have developed what they are calling the “first decentralized algorithm with a collision-free, deadlock-free guarantee.” The algorithm could potentially one day help self-driving vehicles navigate one another safely and flawlessly without crashing or causing unnecessary traffic jams, but for now, it is helping robots avoid crashes and jams. The algorithm was tested in a simulation of 1,024 robots and on a swarm of 100 real robots in the laboratory. In less than a minute, the robots reliably, safely and efficiently converged to form a pre-determined shape, as you can see below:

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