During the past few weeks, AeroVironment has received $36.7 million in new orders under a U.S. Army contract for its Switchblade tactical missile systems, the company reported today. The orders were issued on Aug. 20, Sept. 4 and Sept. 5 under a sole source contract established last year. AeroVironment and its strategic teammate for advanced
Earlier today at the IFA consumer electronics trade show in Berlin, robots were seized from Chinese companies Shenzhen Silver Star Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd. and Shenzhen Silver Star Intelligent Electronic Ltd. based on preliminary injunctions obtained by iRobot. iRobot said the requests were granted by the District Court of Düsseldorf based on the German parts
Adept Technology this week opened an application and demonstration center within the company’s Amherst, N.H., facility. The center is designed to give end users firsthand experience with the company’s industrial and mobile robots. Adept says the center will allow its customers and integrators to prove out advanced robotic packaging, handling, dispensing or assembling applications in real
Last month, as expected, robot astronaut Kirobo uttered the first words spoken by a robot in outer space. Yesterday, via the PR agency that helped sponsor his journey, we found out what he said (translated from Japanese): “On August 21, 2013, a robot took one small step toward a brighter future for all.” See the
Yesterday Mazor Robotics announced the world’s first (and second, and third) successful robot-aided deep brain stimulation (DBS) procedures. Using Mazor’s Renaissance robotic guidance system, neurosurgeon Nizam Razack performed the procedure at Celebration Health Hospital in Orlando, Fla. DBS, a recognized treatment for Parkinson’s Disease, involves surgically implanting a small battery-operated neurostimulator to deliver electrical stimulation
When you picture a solar power plant, the most prominent feature in your mind’s eye is probably a massive array of solar panels glinting in the sun. As a result, you might assume that those glossy panels make up the largest share of the plant’s cost. You’d be wrong. Wasiq Bokhari, founder and CEO of
After suffering through what Motley Fool has termed a “dismal performance” over the previous five years involving a negative 44 percent return for those maintaining an investment over that period, industrial robotics manufacturer Adept Technology is beginning to show significant signs of a turnaround. Following its financial report this week, Adept saw a jump in
The new Lego Mindstorms EV3 robotics kit won’t be released until this weekend, but in preparation Lego today launched a robotics-focused social community and three free Mindstorms apps. The social community, which can be accessed at lego.com/mindstorms, lets users post robot creations and like and follow other builders. There’s also a game to introduce new users
Yesterday we reported that ABI Research predicts driverless vehicles will start to appear in North America by the beginning of the next decade. That position is supported by a recent announcement from Nissan Motor Company, which says it will be ready with multiple, commercially-viable “Autonomous Drive” vehicles by 2020. That’s the same year being targeted by Audi,
DARPA reported today that it has selected this year’s class for its Young Faculty Award program, several of whom will concentrate of robotics-related research. From a group of 226 applicants, 25 tenure-track researchers were chosen to receive up to $1 million each over three years. Recipients receive two years of funding at $250,000 each year,
