Рубрика: Robotics

Automating data collection in the brick and mortar space continues to be an elusive goal and remains the target to chase to bring in the highest level of efficiencies and automation to the whole supply chain. Understandably this is a solution that will ultimately be hardware and software-based, that ranges from fixed cameras, smart shelves, push carts, and drones to the most conceivable option now; robots.

Although form factor is important, and yes, it is remarkable to have a robot in the store and no matter how quickly it can traverse the aisles, questions remain:

• What kind of problems can it accurately, repeatedly, and autonomously solve at scale?

• Can it identify out of stock products?

• Can it recognize what products are on the shelf?

• Can it validate pricing?

• Are all data points localized on the store map?

Can it generate a realogram (actual product position and facings in a store level schematic) that can be compared to a planogram (planned product position and facings in a schematic) for compliance?

How will we best leverage this technology for improved shopper satisfaction (or experiences) and make positive changes to our business overall?

Some startups decided to tackle the problem head-on, some chose a gradual approach by solving less complicated problems and building a sound platform as a base to launch incremental capabilities.

Companies like RFspot, Bossa Nova Robotics, Simbe, and Zippedi, to name a few, have built their solutions with the hope of quickly capturing majority market share and setting the standard for the industry. Some started with RFID, some with toys, others with fixed cameras… some are still shifting and pivoting to identify their long-term strategy and focus. One thing for sure, the solution will have a technology component like a robot or fixed camera to collect the data and an AI element to process the data to provide real-time insights and analytics. Consolidation will happen (e.g. Softbank investments in Brain Corp, Simbe, etc.) and ultimately the market will settle with 2-3 top players that can deliver data accurately, repeatedly, and autonomously at the needed scale and cost. Observing the latest announcements around funding and partnerships, we can see how these players and major investors could be involved in various discussions for collaboration.

Who Is Playing The Chasing Game?

RFspot, was possibly the first to pilot in a live retail setting, having a robotic solution for RFID and optical data collection before running out of funding. Others followed or continue, trying to fill the gap, chasing this solution. Bossa Nova Robotics seemingly in the lead with a 50 Walmart store implementation, Simbe rolling its solution to 15 Schnucks stores and Zippedi which started rollout in Chile and is now introducing their solution in North America. The essential questions are still there… how accurately, repeatedly, and autonomously can their robot perform? And how fast can they scale?

In 2018, we had yet to witness reliable scaling of robots in retail to a large enough sample (beyond the few stores mentioned above) so retailers and CPG’s could really start reaping the benefits of the data collected and provide meaningful insights. There are newcomers surfacing on a regular basis from stealth mode, claiming success with more cost-effective solutions that are slowly getting noticed. While it is impressive to have a robot move around a store, the major hurdle is not how to navigate in a store, it’s the challenge of whether it can process accurately, repeatedly and autonomously the data it collects at scale – an important factor that many seem to prioritize too late in their development cycle. The company to crack the solution of processing the data to report accurately and repeatedly on the 4P’s (place, product, price, and promotion) will be destined to outlive the robots to whatever other mechanism it is replaced with in the future. Even further, solution providers that can envision how the applied technology could intersect and interface with existing devices, business tools, data sets, communications, vendors, and supply chain will end up being the elite few that provide integrated solutions that will truly transform retail. This is a critical component in ensuring shopper satisfaction when brick and mortar intersect with ecommerce with buy online and pickup in store (BOPIS). Providing visibility to shelf inventory will drive traffic.

So, Who Knew Johnny Come Lately Was Such A Multi-Tasker?

An advent of late, whether by design or force of nature, are two companies that might have just touched on a sustainable approach to incrementally bring an automated data collection solution to bare. This should get everyone’s attention and they deserve a mention.

Brain Corp announced an agreement with Walmart to roll out their autonomous aisle cleaning robots to 360 Walmart stores in January 2019. This is a great dispersion, it shows scale capabilities and revenue model to build the costly stack of optical data collection. A genius approach by introducing autonomous ability to current floor sweeper equipment in stores of a major retailer like Walmart.

Another mastermind approach was introduced at NRF 2019 by Badger Technologies solving one safety need, while building and enhancing the capabilities into the future to solve the larger data collection problem. They are rolling out spill detection robots to 500 Giant Martin’s and Stop and Shop stores, immediately, this is dramatic improvement vs the minimal scaling we saw in 2018. Badger’s platform can also serve as the base for a future optical shelf data collection solution.

Before You Marry Into One Solution, Be Sure To Pop The Big Questions?

Back to those essential questions… Can it accurately, repeatedly, and autonomously, at scale, function in retail stores processing collected data and solve real business problems?

One thing is for sure, more and more automation innovation will continue to arrive. Retailers should stay engaged and partner with these companies to help optimize their operations to carry on their quest of meeting their shopper’s needs.

There is more to discuss on the challenges of processing collected data. Looking to the future and what’s next and who is working on that solution? Certainly, technologies will continue to evolve in retail, it is worthy of our time to monitor the level of efficiencies and impact on improving shopper satisfaction.

About the Author

Georges Mirza has been ahead of trends developing retail/CPG market leading industry changing solutions. He led the charge and established the roadmap for robotic indoor data collection, image recognition and analytics for retail to address out of stock, inventory levels and compliance. Georges currently advises companies on how to strategize and prioritize their roadmaps for growth. Follow him on LinkedIn, Twitter or email.

The post Robots in Retail? The Questions You Need to Ask When Adopting appeared first on Analytics Insight.

Robotics field is growing at a faster pace. With this faster pace, it is also attracting a series of funding and financial investments. Let’s go through some of the important investments in robotics companies in November 2019.

Dusty Robotics

Amount Funded: $5 million

Transaction Name: Seed Funding

Lead Investors: NextGen Venture

Dusty Robotics has raised a Seed Funding of $5 million, lead investor being NextGen Venture Partners along with participation of Root Ventures, Cantos and Baseline Ventures. Dusty Robotics is a designer of robotics format intended for construction automation. The organization’s robotics technology improve construction productivity by automating critical-path tasks on development places of work with the most recent innovation, empowering construction laborers to make better and more fulfilling employment by expanding efficiency.

Picnic

Amount Funded: 250 million euros

Transaction Name:

Lead Investors: ABN AMRO

Online grocery store Picnic has brought 250 million euros up in another financing round. The current investors invest into the organization and ABN AMRO gives another loan. The organization needs to utilize this money to manufacture a robotised distribution center of 42,000 square meters in Utrecht. The center will work with more than a hundred completely mechanized sorting, packing and distribution machines uniquely created by Picnic.

Enway

Amount Funded: €6M

Transaction Name: Seed Financing

Lead Investors: Redalpine

Enway, a Berlin, Germany-based organization that assembles the next generation of cleaning services, brought €6M up in seed financing. The round was driven by Redalpine with support from Berlin Technologie Holding and various Silicon Valley business angels including Moving Capital, an investment club of UBER Alumni, and existing financial specialists Atlantic Labs and b10 | Venture Capital. The organization expects to utilize the funds to keep on growing its advancement endeavors.

Enway is advancing a completely self-driving framework intended to work vehicles without a human driver. The vehicle can control, brake, accelerate, react to events and effectively clean all environments productively. The innovation platform is intended for various sorts of precision navigation vehicles running from three wheelers to large highly maneuverable trucks.

DroneTerminus

Amount Funded: $70K

Transaction Name: pre-seed round

Lead Investors: Artesian VC

DroneTerminus raised a funding of $70K in a pre-seed round by Artesian VC. The DroneTerminus is a package receptacle for autonomous delivery drones. A DroneTerminus will be arranged and associated with a beginning center point just as interconnected to all different DroneTerminus modules shaping a communication web.

Robodub

Amount Funded: $500K

Transaction Name: Grant round

Lead Investors: 43North and Techstars

Robodub has raised funding of $500K from a Grant round. 43North and Techstars are the most recent investors in Robodub. Robodub is rethinking the very meaning of a multi-rotor ramble. They have built forefront Morphing drone innovation which enables the drone to change its shape in mid-trip for increased agility, safety and enhanced dynamic load balancing capability. They are focusing on counter-drone, package delivery and military applications.

Amazon Robotics

Amazon.com Inc. intends to build an Amazon Robotics development hub and make 200 innovation and advanced manufacturing occupations in Westborough, Mass. The organization said it will put more than $40 million in the new site, which will open in 2021, as it develops its engineering, manufacturing, support, and test teams in the state, which is now home to more than 150 robotics organizations.

The new 350,000-sq.- ft. office, created by Framingham, Mass.- based Atlantic Management, will include corporate workplaces, research and development labs, and manufacturing space. This will be notwithstanding Amazon Robotics’ present site in North Reading, Mass.

AMP Robotics

Amount Funded: $16 million

Transaction Name: Series A funding

Lead Investors:

AMP Robotics Corp. has raised Series A funding of $16 million, which it intends to use to scale up operations and create artificial intelligence products to make recycling increasingly conservative. AMP Robotics’ fast Cortex system is intended to automate the identification, sorting, and processing of material streams to extract most extreme value for organizations that reuse municipal solid waste, e-waste, and construction and demolition materials. The organization said its robots reliably pick twice as quick as people and with a lot more prominent precision.

SenseGlove

Amount Funded:

Transaction Name: Seed funding

Lead Investors: Forward.one and Value Creation Capital

SenseGlove has pulled in an undisclosed amount of financing from Forward.one and Value Creation Capital to accelerate product development and international sales of its haptic glove. SenseGlove, situated in the Netherlands, as of late launched the second version of its haptic glove for virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), which gives both tactile- and force-feedback, as well as accurate motion-tracking.

XACT Robotics

Amount Funded: $36 million

Transaction Name:

Lead Investors: Chasing Value Asset Management Inc

XACT Robotics has finished its most recent financing round totaling $36 million. The organization means to utilize the returns to help the commercialization and continued improvement activities on the side of the XACT Robotic System, which likewise has CE Mark.

The current financing round included driving leading investors in the surgical robotics space, such as Chasing Value Asset Management Inc. (CA, USA) who previously held positions in MAKO Surgical Corp., Mazor Robotics, and most recently Corindus Vascular Robotics. They join the current shareholders of the company including Shizim Group and MEDX Ventures Group.

Diagnostic Robotics

Amount Funded: $24million

Transaction Name: Series A venture

Lead Investors: Accelmed group

Diagnostic Robotics raised an early stage Series A venture of $24million by Accelmed group, Mivtach Shamir, Dr. Judith Richter and Dr. Kobi Richter, David and Daniel Arison, Maverick Ventures Israel, Alpha Capital, and Mark Siegel, an executive at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and XPRIZE Foundation. Diagnostics Robotics manages load management at medical clinics and expects to abbreviate waiting times. The organization’s aim is to anticipate the load of time utilizing data assembled constantly from each move making place in the framework, and to set up the hospital ahead of time so as to ease or manage with the load.

The post Top Robotics Investments in November 2019 appeared first on Analytics Insight.

Artificial intelligence is becoming progressively sophisticated at performing tasks that humans do, with more efficiently, quickly and at a lower cost. From finding new links between genetic codes to making robotic-assisted surgery, AI simplifies the lives of patients, doctors, and hospital administrators. It is reinvigorating the modern healthcare system through machines capable of envisaging, comprehending, learning and acting like humans or better than them in some way.

AI and robotics have vast transformative capabilities for healthcare. Just the same in today’s every-day lives, both technologies are increasingly becoming a part of the healthcare system now. Even, many healthcare organizations are leveraging AI-driven computers to make decisions with slight human intervention. But in the future, it is predicted that these programmed systems will make difficult decisions with their own understanding, without any human interventions.

Reducing Error Rates

By leveraging AI and robotics, hospitals can reduce misdiagnosing and medical error rates that cause a large number of deaths every year all over the world. Due to misdiagnosing illness and medical error, 10 percent of all deaths in the United States alone were recorded in the year 2015. So, AI can here be constructive in predicting and diagnosing diseases at a faster rate by analyzing patients’ medical histories.

Beyond this, AI can also assist clinicians to take a more all-inclusive approach for disease management, and better coordinate care plans. It also aids patients to better manage and comply with their long-term treatment programs.

Improving Patients’ Health

As emerging technology applications foster healthier behavior in individuals, AI, on the other hand, puts them in control of health and well-being, enabling healthcare professionals to better comprehend the people’s day-to-day patterns and needs they care for.

Utilizing pattern recognition to identify patients’ developing risk conditions, or seeing deterioration due to lifestyle, environment, genomic, or other factors, AI can also be helpful and take a decisive approach to cure them.

Strengthening Decision Making

Improving patient care requires the alignment of health data with apt and timely decisions, and predictive analytics can support medical practitioners to make clinical decision-making and actions alongside prioritizing administrative tasks.

Recently, tech giant IBM, for instance, demonstrated Watson Health, dedicated to data-driven health technologies, that made progress in providing clinical decision support for cancer care. Watson Health is also helping healthcare organizations to implement cognitive technology to divulge a huge volume of health data and power diagnosis.

Reinvigorating End of Life Care

Robots nowadays have proven themselves a significant part of healthcare. Ranging from simple laboratory robots to highly complex surgical robots that can either support a human surgeon or perform operations by themselves, they have the potential to revolutionize lifecare.

By integrating AI with the advancements in humanoid design can enable robots to go even further and have conversations as well as other social interactions with individuals to keep them healthier with aging minds sharp.

AI in Medicines Development

Due to continuing inventions and innovations in technology, biopharmaceutical companies now are taking quick notice of the efficiency, accuracy, and knowledge that AI provides. In drug development, one of the biggest AI breakthroughs came in 2007 when a team of researchers tasked a robot named Adam with researching functions of yeast. Afterward, the robot scrubbed billions of data points in public databases to hypothesize about the functions of 19 genes within yeast, predicting nine new and accurate hypotheses.

Since then, many biopharmaceutical companies have been using artificial intelligence to identify and develop new medicines. XTALPI, for instance, leveraged AI and by combining it, the company’s ID4 platform predicts the chemical and pharmaceutical properties of small-molecule candidates for drug design and development.

So, by directing the advancements in AI to streamline the drug discovery and drug repurposing processes, it can significantly lessen both the time to market for new drugs and their costs.

The post How AI and Robotics in Healthcare are Excelling Beyond Science Fiction appeared first on Analytics Insight.

The year 2019 witnessed a great robot sale in the US market. It reached a new peak of around 38,000 units. As of now, the robot density in the US manufacturing industry is more than China.

All thanks to the rising trend to automate production in both domestic and global markets. The food and beverage industry with 64 percent and plastic and chemical industry with more than 30 percent experienced the highest growth in robots.

According to Junji Tsuda, President of the International Federation of Robotics, “The North American countries (United States, Canada, and Mexico) represent the second largest operational stock of industrial robots in the world after China.”

In the past few years, several leading industrial robotics market players in the US have been focusing on rolling out advanced robots to break down the existing automation tasks. Also, the acceptance of robots at a huge scale by the automotive industry would pace up the growth potential of the overall industrial robotics market in the US.

Therefore, it is quite evident that these robots are replacing human labor owing to their advancements and efficiency. Its impact since the Great Recession has increased, but in certain areas of the country it is only affecting a particular segment of workers.

A CNBC report citing significant revealing of a recent report from The Century Foundation said that the Midwestern states such as Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin witnessed the sharpest growth in robots being used in the workplace from 2009 to 2017, and these areas now have the highest levels of “robot intensity” in the country. Notably, robot intensity stands for the number of industrial robots per 1,000 human workers.

Let’s explore some of the major highlights from the report:

• The regions that have the highest robot intensity are home to some of the largest manufacturing industries in the US. As robots and other automated machines can do physical and laborious routine work at a fast pace and in high volume, the automation has been proven to highly affect the factory and production jobs.

• Although there are around 0.34 robots per every 1000 workers nationwide, the number varies as per the city. Here is the list of major cities and metro areas that possess the highest concentration of robots compared to human workers in the workplace.

S.No	Areas	Robots Per 1,000 Workers
1	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, California	6.91
2	Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Illinois	6.015
3	Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, Texas	3.375
4	Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona	2.163
5	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Michigan	1.7
6	Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisconsin	1.629
7	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Delaware-Maryland	1.505
8	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California	1.438
9	Indianapolis, Indiana	1.434
10	Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio	1.289

• The authors of the report said, while the usage of robotics to automate work is upsurging, its impact can be either favorable or unfavorable for humans. Its likeliness depends on the types of work they do and how such automated machines can possibly enhance their jobs.

• William Rodgers, co-author of the report and professor at Rutgers University tells CNBC, “Our evidence does not mean an individual will lose their job. Our estimates identify the odds or risk of a robot potentially displacing or having a positive impact on employment and wages. Many factors inside the company will ultimately dictate the outcome.”

• It has been found that robots had the biggest negative impact on workers in manufacturing, where there are about two robots for every 1,000 human workers. The younger manufacturing workers who were between the age of 16 to 24 years and did not attend college experienced the biggest decrease in job opportunities and wages due to increased employment of robots at the workplace.

• However, apart from manufacturing, robots tend to improve the number of job opportunities for others. We can be optimistic about the fact that workers displaced by robots, can find jobs in other industries with higher wages and salaries.

• According to Rodgers, the adoption of robots could have had a stimulating effect. It can increase workers’ productivity owing to the wages that may have increased as well.

• Rodgers notes that, as the employment of robots at the workplace will continue to grow, both workers and employers need to continuously adapt to new lines of work.

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Elon Musk famously said that toying around with artificial intelligence was “like summoning the demon”, but technology developers are continuing to progress with it regardless. A future in which robots are ubiquitous and do everyday jobs used to be confined to the imagination of sci-fi writers, but now it seems as though it is an inevitability. The scary thing is, a lot of the robots being created will be far superior to the human race in many ways. Deepstack, the poker-playing robot which defeated professional poker players, is a prime example of this.

Deepstack has Beaten a Number of Professional Players

Deepstack is a poker-playing robot which has been programmed to bridge the gap between games of perfect information and those of imperfect information. For instance, chess is a game of perfect information because the algorithm could study every single possible outcome of the millions of scenarios and work out the best way to proceed in any given situation through trial and error. Poker is a game that has imperfect information because it is impossible to anticipate how any number of players would act in a particular situation.

Michael Bowling describes the research program behind Deepstack

Bots can be programmed to be able to calculate odds and work out when their best chances of winning are, but they may not be prepared to deal with bluffs and bets which don’t conform to their predetermined understanding of the game. Deepstack, therefore, uses intuition which it has acquired through deep learning and reassessing its strategy with every decision.

In a 2016 study, Deepstack became the first ever AI to beat professional poker players in heads-up no-limit Texas Hold’em poker. In 44,000 hands, the machine managed to defeat eleven professional poker players. It won 49 big blinds out of 100, and only one of the wins was outside the margin of statistical significance. One of the players that Deepstack came up against was the Irish-born American poker expert Phil Laak, who has been a regular on Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker in the past. Laak has a World Poker Tour title and a World Series of Poker bracelet, but he was outplayed by the AI machine.

Deepstack has even shown the ability to bluff in certain situations.

What are the Rules of Poker and why is it Preferred by Bots?

When broken down into simple terms, it is clear how AI robots can learn to build an effective strategy in poker. Despite it being a game of imperfect information, there are a vast number of common occurrences that happen in any given poker game. By learning the basics and then refining the techniques through the experience of playing against other players, AI and humans alike are able to develop their skills and reach a professional level.

No matter whether you are playing Omaha Hi-Lo or the more popular Texas Hold’em poker games, the basic strategy can be broken down into eight simple steps. The most important thing, to begin with, is knowing the hand rankings, with a royal flush being the highest value hand and a pair being the lowest. If nobody has a pair, it would be settled on a high card. The hand is made up out of the best five cards from the five community cards and the player’s hole cards.

Position on the table is highly important as well, and players need to learn how to bet or raise depending on where they find themselves. Being dealer is the strongest post-flop position on the table because it allows the player to see how the other players act before they have to make a decision. After gaining an understanding of these things, players then need to develop their pre and post-flop game plan, along with post turn and post river play. In each round of betting, the situation changes. If players choose to bluff on the flop, they need to decide whether it wise to fire another barrel on the turn. This requires them to assess the risk involved against the potential returns.

After learning these basics, players can improve their game through experience and by using mathematical skills. They also need to try to turn emotions off and stick to their optimum strategy. The reason that AI favors poker is that once the basics are learned, it is easy to follow a similar strategy in each game. Because they don’t have emotions, they can avoid going on tilt and making irrational decisions in the subsequent rounds. By playing a lot of games, they can analyze their choices from past games and work out how they could do things more efficiently in future games.
What are the other Poker Bots and how do they compare with Deepstack?

AI has been around in poker for some time, and there are numerous basic machines that are used to play against humans in offline games. Some people have even tried to create their own machines to beat poker sites and win money. But most of these creations are extremely basic and can easily be spotted by those who know what to look for. These rudimentary bots typically act after the same amount of seconds each time, make similar to identical bets depending on the situation, and use relentless aggression in certain spots.

There are a few created by statistical experts, however, which could be compared to Deepstack. One example is Pluribus, an AI machine designed by Facebook’s AI lab and Carnegie Mellon University. It is the first bot to beat humans in a complex multiplayer competition. For this reason, it differs from Deepstack which only took on players in a heads-up scenario.

Deepstack did what professional poker players do but on a much larger scale. Experts in the game learn the basics and then refine their strategy through experience to get to the top level. But AI machines are able to run through millions of different scenarios to develop an optimum strategy – something which would take humans a number of lifetimes to achieve. If AI can get this efficient at a game like poker, what else will it be able to beat humans at in the future?

The post How did Poker Robot Deepstack Defeat the Pros? appeared first on Analytics Insight.

While the financial industry has embraced automation and algorithmic governance more eagerly than almost every other industry, it seems there is still room for new breakthroughs. One of the most significant developments in the world of FinTech may have just arrived, following the news that a ‘trading robot’ that specializes in foreign exchange (forex for short) transactions, known as the SetBot, is set to transform a $6 billion a day industry.

First founded by Robert Lotter back in 2004, the SetBot has since been upgraded and updated in line with the latest breakthroughs in AI and data analysis to the point where even first-timers who have no knowledge of the forex industry now stand a chance at making a success of it.

Basically, the SetBot works by utilizing the immensely powerful statistical analysis algorithms to allow a user to spot movements in the market in minute detail. As you may already know, foreign exchange is based on the fluctuating values of different pairs of currencies. Within a pair, say the US Dollar and the Euro, the value of each relative to the other may move up and down due to real-world events.

For example, the Euro may decline in value due to a recession warning for Germany, whilst the Dollar’s value will rise. Being able to anticipate these events and determine what their impact will be on currency pairs was once a skill that only seasoned and highly trained financial professionals could harness.

The SetBot takes all of that expertise and analyzes vast amounts of real-world data to allow anyone to identify which direction the market is headed towards, and hedge their bets accordingly. Of course, trading robots that aim to help more people participate in the financial markets have been widely available for some time.

In the so-called High-Frequency Trading sector, news-based trading robots and text-reading algorithms have helped novice traders make sense of the market for several years now. These tools are used primarily to improve efficiency and to factor in huge amounts of data when a trading platform is generating the latest market stats.

One of the key innovations promised by the SetBot is that it is able to take advantage of enhanced processing power and speed to determine which way the market is moving, and by extension how currency values will fluctuate before anyone else does. Traders on Wall Street and expert brokers have access to information that affects the market long before such information is reported on the news. SetBot is able to use its algorithm to process all of that information to give users advanced knowledge that other traders may not notice.

In addition, the creator of the SetBot claims that one of the main intentions of his invention is to help rookie traders dispense with what he calls “dishonest brokers”. These are described as brokers who close trades early before a trader is able to realize the full profit potential of that trade. The SetBot counters this by alerting the trader when this is happening, thus preventing them from being taken advantage of by a broker who would rather hoard the potential profits for themselves.

Put simply, SetBot promises to widen access to the massive global forex market by both simplifying the trading process and increasing transparency. Inexperienced traders can use the SetBot to spot potentially lucrative patterns in financial data, whilst also staying clear of dishonest brokers within the industry.

In this way, the SetBot represents an emerging promise of algorithmically driven finance, the promise that those who may have previously felt ‘locked out’ of the industry by knowledge barriers can rely on impartial technology to see through the noise.

While it is impossible to predict whether the functions of the SetBot will soon become industry standards, its initial popularity certainly looks promising. Make sure to stay tuned in order to keep updated on all of the latest developments within the rapidly evolving world of big data and the financial industry.

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Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer, Toyota Motor Corp. has introduced an upgraded version of its humanoid robot, named T-HR3. Controlled remotely by a person wearing a headset and wiring on his/her hands and arms, the human-shaped robot is capable to move faster and smoother its fingers as the wearable controlling device has made lighter and easier to use.

On its use in the coming days, Tomohisa Moridaira, who leads a Toyota research team developing the robot, said in a statement that “When we consider how robots will be used in the future, we think that there will be high demand for robots that make effective use of many joints to accomplish delicate tasks, the way humans do, and that can operate safely even when they are in contact with the world around them.”

Though, it is anticipated that such a robot could one day be made use of to perform surgery in a distant place where it is not possible for a doctor to travel. It also might enable people to feel like they are participating in events if they can’t attend.

In a recent demonstration of this upgraded version of humanoid in Tokyo, a person wearing a headset and wiring made the robot move in exactly the same way he was moving, waving or making dance-like movements. Looks like the mascots for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, smaller robots were also controlled in the same way.

According to Tomohisa, human-shaped robots can be controlled intuitively because all the person operating it has to do is move naturally. “The challenge still lies in securing reliable and speedy telecommunications connections so that signals are accurately relayed from the human to the robot,” he said. Though, during the demonstration, the robots were connected by local networks.

Recent Developments in Humanoid Robots

In recent times, the influx of humanoid robots is on the rise as several companies showing their interests to ease the workloads of complex tasks and deliver convenient services. However, developing this kind of robots that can perform useful things in the real world, instead of just research labs, is very difficult.

Along with, building and even purchasing these robots are extremely expensive. Despite this, a large number of companies have developed or some are developing human-shaped robots. Quadruped robots such as Boston Dynamics’ SpotMini and ANYbotics’ ANYmal, for instance, which are more stable walkers and expected to hit the job market.

On the other hand, a China-based company UBTech last year unveiled its Walker as a bipedal robot at CES 2018. And just a year later at CES 2019, the robot demonstrated with a torso, two arms, two hands and a head to become a full-scale humanoid robot that stands nearly five feet tall and weighs 170 lb.

The post Toyota Unveils Upgraded Version of Its Humanoid Robot in Tokyo appeared first on Analytics Insight.

Observing the technological advancements across the world, it can be said that the future of medicine and healthcare is upsurging at a positive graph. The new-age technologies have taken over the industry and transforming it for better care delivery to those who need it. According to some statistics, the chances for survival of a person from the life-saving operation carried out by traditional methods involving human professionals is around 90 percent, which is certainly not a bad ratio. However, the ratio is predicted to increase by 5 percent more (i.e. 95 percent) when the human involvement is replaced by a mixture of technical experts and robotics. Imagine if this technological collaboration can further increase the ratio to 99 or 100 percent.

Today, AI devices are a huge part of the healthcare industry and the day is certainly not far when there will be mass adoption of robotics in there. Even today also, some robotics advancements are flourishing across the industry providing comfort and care for elderly people.

Recently, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and the City University of New York, City College (CCNY) have developed a new line of wearable robotics that could keep elderly people on their feet longer. Such mobility machine is termed as exoskeletons.

The prototype is developed by Hao Su, Ph.D., of CCNY, and tested by Gerard Francisco, MD, and Shuo-Hsiu (James) Chang, PT, Ph.D., of McGovern Medical School at UTHealth. The prototype performed well in the pilot study of people with walking difficulties.

Francisco, Chang, and Su, encouraged with the support from US$1.3 million grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), wish to evaluate the prototype on aged people having difficulty with their gait or stride.

As per the US Census Bureau, mobility becomes the most common disability for people 65 years or above in the US. Also, the report by the Journal of Public Health reveals that around 32 percent of adults aged 65 years and older have a hard time walking three city blocks.

According to Gerard Francisco, who is also a chief medical officer at TIRR Memorial Hermann, “conventional exoskeletons are typically heavy, bulky, expensive, and primarily suitable for individuals with little voluntary movement. Our prototype is approximately 60 percent lighter than commercially available exoskeletons. In addition, our model is run by the user, not the robotics-enabled machines. Wearers aren’t forced to walk in a pre-defined path.”

According to him, nearly 4.7 million people in the US who suffer from neurological disorders including stroke, polio, multiple sclerosis, and spinal cord injury – to name a few, would be the beneficiary of the powered lower-limb exoskeletons.

Also Shuo-Hsiu (James) Chang said, “our long-term vision is to make assistive robots accessible to everyone who needs them. They could be worn underneath your clothing at home or at work.”

He further added that “despite the advancement of exoskeletons, state-of-the-art exoskeletons are not suitable to promote independence and community living. There is a pressing need for wearable robots that can improve the quality of life for broader populations in community settings.”

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With the increase in diversification across industries, robotics sector is growing with significant leaps and bounds. In 2020, the sector will witness continued growth, shifting attitudes, and emergence of new roles.

According to a report, the global market for robots is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 26 percent to reach just under US$ 210 billion by 2025. It is predicted that this market will hit the US$ 100 billion mark by next year.

As noted by Robotics Business Review, observing the ever-growing aptitude of robot and robotics, some of the industry experts expressed their views and predicted the prominence of the technology in 2020 and beyond.

Ash Sharma

Role: Research Director

Company: Interact Analysis

Prediction: “The industrial robot market will return to robust growth, with more than 400,000 shipped in 2020 – an 11 percent increase over 2019.” He also predicted that China will consume 1 in 2 robots sold next year; mobile robot (AGV & AMR) revenues will breach the US$3 mark for the first time next year; more than 120,000 order fulfillment robots (excluding those by Amazon) will be installed by the end of 2020; a new market leader will take the #1 spot in the rankings next year – likely one based in Asia; investments in micro-fulfillment grocery stores in the US will more than double, to over US$100 million in 2020; and piece-picking robots will be the fastest-growing warehouse automation technology in the US, with growth of just under 100 percent in 2020.

Richard Schwartz

Role: CEO and President

Company: Pensa Systems

Prediction: “We should see more robotics and automation in retail, but it will be less invasive and less visible. Robots will work quietly behind the scenes, helping store employees to be more efficient and spend more time with customers. Last year’s efforts were pretty brutish – more like a sumo wrestler in size and with bright lights, kind of Rosie the Robot incarnate. Next year’s robots will be working around people, in many cases by being nowhere near people, helping in the background.”

Fergal Glynn

Role: VP of Marketing

Company: 6 River Systems

Prediction: “Robots will become more public-facing. Implementation of robots in behind-the-scenes locations like warehouses and dark stores have exploded over the past several years, but they are just beginning to gain traction in public settings. We predict large retailers and other businesses will continue to introduce more public-facing robots that can assist customers with finding products, connect them to staff, help store associates with buy-online, pick-up-in-store orders, and alert staff of necessary cleanups. These robots will not replace the store staff, but rather will supplement the staff’s work and allow employees to be more efficient.”

Lior Elazary

Role: CEO and Co-founder

Company: inVia Robotics

Prediction: “We have already seen a steady expansion in the scope of tasks for which robots are being relied upon – this year alone, robots that were previously solely picking are now replenishing, cycle counting, and putting back returns and mispicks. In 2020, we’ll continue to see more responsibilities transferred to robots, including quality check and pack out, and other adjacent areas where companies were forced to rely on transient, temporary labor that is becoming increasingly scarce. We predict a shift toward a reliance on robots for all of the tasks normally assigned to temporary labor, which will lead to the creation of more full-time jobs for team members that oversee the automated work.”

Patty Katsaros

Role: Director of Marketing & Growth

Company: Waypoint Robotics

Prediction: “We expect that companies doing pilot programs and testing will see the true strengths and weaknesses of competing mobile robots. We think they will conclude that a mixture of robots for different applications will be needed to meet their needs, and interoperability among mobile robot makers will be critical to success. As companies move towards deployment, they will focus their attention more narrowly on specific applications requiring more top modules and custom accessories. 2020 will see a reckoning for low performers and a sink-or-swim moment for the idea of third-party fleet managers.”

Vince Martinelli

Role: Head of Product and Marketing

Company: RightHand Robotics

Prediction: “2020 will go down in automation history as a pivotal year for robotic piece-picking systems, as the technology passes 100 million picks on its way to the first billion. What once seemed like science fiction will be recognized as the new reality, supported by reports on how it transforms operations. Retailers of all types will begin factoring automated piece-picking into their order fulfillment strategies as they seek the right mix of ‘bricks and clicks’ and build the distribution network that balances micro and macro, local and long haul. Worker productivity will skyrocket as individuals begin to supervise growing fleets of robotic pickers. This automated piece-picking capability will drive down costs for a range of fulfillment models, including those managed by third-party logistics providers, thereby preserving margins as retailers compete to provide consumers a better overall experience, with buying options that are increasingly fast and convenient.”

Chris Harlow

Role: Director of product development

Company: Realtime Robotics

Prediction: “Cobots as we know them have peaked. Demand for power and force-limited robots has peaked due to reduced functionality and capabilities. By 2025, manufacturers will no longer be investing in these systems, and traditional cobots will be replaced by better technology for the human-robot workcell. Industrial robots will become more persuasive, as they will become significantly easier to program. As robotic automation expands into new industrial areas like logistics and electronic assembly, this will be essential to facilitate widespread adoption. The shift from script-based programming to graphical-based programming will be the catalyst behind this.”

Kristian Hulgard

Role: general manager

Company: OnRobot’s Americas division

Prediction: “Going into 2020, end-of-arm tooling will continue to push the limits of human interaction. Modern grippers are so sophisticated that they can even handle the fragile silicon wafers used in manufacturing computer processors. Force/torque sensors help locate and detect an object’s presence for greater accuracy. These sensitive grippers will increasingly be used in manufacturing processes that require the application of a precise force to achieve high-quality results. Businesses that continue using traditional methods, such as fabricating unique tools for specific manufacturing tasks, are at a significant disadvantage going into a new decade because of the high cost and inflexible nature of this approach.”

Massimiliano Versace

Role: CEO and co-founder

Company: Neurala

Prediction: “Customizable approaches to deep learning will make or break AI applications. Traditional approaches to deep learning can be tedious and time consuming, due to the need for massive amounts of data that needs to be retrained over and over again. Moreover, data is often not available online or is confidential to one organization, so it cannot be combined to create massive AI systems. In 2020, we’ll see the emergence of new paradigms and approaches to deep learning to solve these challenges.”

Joe Campbell

Role: Head of Strategic Marketing and Applications Development

Company: Universal Robots North America

Prediction: “With the U.S.’s now record of low unemployment rates, we’re seeing companies consider automation more than ever before, but it’s not because they’re trying to replace humans – they simply can’t find them. Unfortunately, the situation does not appear ready to improve anytime soon, with 10,000 Baby Boomers retiring every day, and millennials not interested in joining the manufacturing industry.”

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We see it almost daily on social media and other outlets; news from robotic companies with a promise to deploy or expand at a retailer. What is truth and what is fiction?

The truth is, several of these companies have been at it for over four years building their shelf insight solution. Then new ones joined the field solving a less complicated retail problem, but all trying to build up to the Holy Grail solution of shelf insights. From what I can see today one company, perhaps two have a path to success. No, it is not the obvious ones that will bring the solution to bear, and I will not be divulging any specific company progress in this article. In the arena are Bossa Nova Robotics, Cosy, Fellow Robotics, Simbe Robotics, and newcomers to the US market like Badger/Jabil, Brain Corp and Zippedi among others.

Essential Functions

If you read my Robots in Retail article, you know the questions that need to be answered. Can it accurately, repeatedly, and autonomously function in retail stores processing collected data and solve real business problems? And at what cost? Those are the real issues to solve in a first deployment at scale. We are not there just yet.

Almost all the players continue to trim the cost of their robots, with a few of the newcomers being more successful and forcing others to jump into the trenches and engage in turf defending at any price. Processing and product recognition continue to be an area of opportunity for everyone to increase accuracy levels, expand, and differentiate capabilities.

All are on the frontline engaging to win the business of the retail giants like Walmart, Kroger, The Home Depot, Tesco, Walgreens etc., and rightfully so. This decision can prove to be the path to dominance or entanglement into a never-ending list of requirements and trials. Some gained penetration focusing on the non-giants, this might be the winning strategy.

Return on Investment

There is another element that we did not discuss yet. It involves the route to take in order to achieve results. What will it take and how healthy is the company to sustain itself long term and provide a return on the money they promised their investors? Unfortunately, there has been a focus on the hardware pizzazz and a lack of key pedigree crucial to complete the solution. Several disruptors joined the game, with a fraction of the investment and notoriety of others, that were able to progress and bypass companies that established themselves as the main players to win market share. These disruptors had the maturity to prioritize scale and insights early on and understood the retail challenges well.

My counsel for retailers that understand the need to bring robotic automation to center store; is to look again before you commit, you will be surprised. These new companies have impressed me and proven my theory that over time you can build it quicker and at reduced cost. Technology is moving at such a rapid pace, faster than retailers are used to, that adapting has not been easy for them and robot capabilities are not maturing fast enough.

A Vision For The Future

The new entries focused on scalability and insight from day one. As a result, they built a system to sustain current challenges with the ability to grow more rapidly because they prioritized these objectives early.

The other variable is not just what you can do today, it’s what are you prepared to do for tomorrow. You must understand the roll out of robotics in retail at the ground level. Do you have that vision, desire, and ability?

Established solution providers, from hardware to insights, like JDA, NCR, Nielsen, Zebra Technologies and others are wise to understand the impact of robots at retail to their business model. They would be well advised to monitor and ensure readiness to participate. Make no mistake, this is a major paradigm shift to all in the retail ecosystem.

Time to weigh the pros and cons of each of the players as they struggle to move beyond the hardware and navigation capabilities. Equipped with in-depth industry knowledge and experience, I am seeking the ‘secret sauce’ if you will and in my opinion, only two companies possess it. This will be the topic of my next article.

The next year will be decisive and the field will start to narrow. The outcome of the Walmart battleground will reveal the hallelujah moment for some and the missing of the boat for others.

What should you do? Your homework, study the pros and cons of each, understand where they are today and their vision for tomorrow and then decide which solution is here to stay and is right for you… for the time being that is.

Author

Georges Mirza has been ahead of trends developing retail/CPG market leading industry changing solutions. He led the charge and established the roadmap for robotic indoor data collection, image recognition and analytics for retail to address out of stock, inventory levels and compliance. Georges currently advises companies on how to strategize and prioritize their roadmaps for growth. Follow him on LinkedIn, Twitter or email.

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