Robotics

Smart contact lenses are a sci-fi trope, but they may also offer hope for sufferers of certain kinds of debilitating eye ailments. That’s the goal of new research into a a tunable, low-powered iris embedded in a smart contact lens.
It’s a good example of the growing role of nanotechnology in human augmentation and therapeutics. The human iris controls pupil size in response to light, a critical function that allows the retina to take in appropriate sensory information. Too much light and the world is washed out, too little and it’s veiled in darkness. A host of eye diseases and deficiencies inhibit the iris from responding appropriately, including aniridia and keratoconus. Light sensitivity, similarly, is a painful debilitation and is often associated with chronic migraine.
Researchers at Imec, an innovation hub based in Belgium, along with partners like CMST, a Ghent University-affiliated research group,  the Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Fundación Jiménez Díaz in Madrid, Spain, and Holst Centre have been developing an low-powered wearable solution. The contact lens’s iris aperture is tunable thanks to an integrated liquid crystal display (LCD) that manipulates concentric rings. 
“By combining our expertise on miniaturized flexible electronics, low-power ASIC design and hybrid integration, we have demonstrated the capacity to develop a solution for people who suffer from iris deficiencies, higher order aberrations and photophobia, a common yet debilitating symptom seen in many neuro-ophthalmic disorders,” says researcher prof. Andrés Vásquez Quintero at Imec. “Our smart contact lens can control the level of incoming light mimicking a human iris and offering a potential solution to vision correction – by expanding depth-of-field with automatic control of pupil size. This way, our approach can surpass current solutions to combat human eye iris deficiencies. Its beneficial optical effects will be further clinically validated and developed into a medical device.”
Utilizing an ultra-low power design, the lens can be used for an entire day without a recharge. The research was presented in the Nature-affiliated publication Scientific Reports and demonstrates the lens’ potential in expanding visual sharpness, decreasing optical aberrations, and reducing the amount of light entering the eye in a dynamic manner. 
“It is imec’s aim to create added value for the society and bring our research to the market,” says Luc Van den hove, president and CEO of Imec. “We are convinced that this artificial iris prototype has all the potential to become a game changer in ophthalmic treatment. Therefore, we have launched an incubation project together with imec.xpand to fully support the team’s ambition to mature and validate the technology and support their efforts to commercialize via a strong business case as a spin-off.”
Research transfer is an area of emphasis for Imec, which plans to develop the prototype into a medical device. The first step is validation with patients and volunteers  More

Can we get more out of collaborative robots? That’s the question that drove a new universal AI operating system two years in the making designed to make existing robots smarter and self-learning.
Collaborative robots have been, in many ways, the poster child of the most recent wave of automation. Where industrial robots have long been hulking Goliaths necessitating cages and kept far from human workers, the new breed of automation is flexible, easy to program, and, crucially, collaborative. Robots are venturing out of cages in a variety of task agnostic platforms, often robotic arms with several degrees of freedom that are small enough to sit on a tabletop.
But as technology, and particularly AI and machine learning, advance, these platforms risk falling by the wayside. That’s where an updated OS might come into play. A company called Qobotix has been working on just such an operating system designed to transform collaborative robots (cobots) into what the company calls “intelligent coworkers.”
“During our many years involved in industrial manufacturing, we experienced robots that were meant to be collaborative and quickly concluded they were not like that at all – they couldn’t see or hear, and they were very inflexible,” says Avi Reichental, one of the founders.
Just as my kids have been ushered into a new era of self-guided learning during the pandemic, Qobotix’s enables robots to learn independently through interactions with humans or other robots. This significantly reduces both the time and the complexity of programming. While gesture-based programming has caught on, programming complexity is still a major hurdle to adoption in automation.
The system relies on proprietary AI, machine vision, and kinematics, essentially the controls and sensing payload you’d expect on a cutting edge robot, to create a hardware agnostic plug and play OS, potentially breathing new life into aging tech. 
“Our aim is to take robotics out of the late 1990s with the Qobotix operating system,” explains Qobotix Co-founder and CEO Egor Korneev. “In the early 2000s, hardware companies dominated the mobile phone and device markets and the mobile applications ecosystem was weak with no common OS options. The advent of iOS and Android led to an explosion in mobile software applications based on open OS platforms. We are now in a similar place with cobots with Qobotix offering a universal operating system for industrial robots driven by AI as a platform for automation applications.”
The timing for such a platform seems ideal. While the automation industry seems to have suffered during the pandemic, at least according to early numbers out of North America, the longterm outlook for automation is excellent as end users rethink their reliance on overseas supply chains and reevaluate their operations in a world where a pandemic can stop production cold. Automation is looked upon as a valuable bulwark against the risks laid bare in 2020, and the ability to squeeze more out of existing technology should help Qobotix heading into a post-pandemic world. More

New data released by the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) and ITR Economics suggest that even robots, which in many ways have been the darling technology of the pandemic, are not immune from stagnating sales. The data indicates a substantial year-to-date decline in robotics, machine vision, and motion control orders compared to last year.

Released as part of the Global Economic and Automation Outlook, the numbers put the decline in robot orders in North America, which totaled 13,524 units, at a whopping 18% compared to the first half of 2019. Order revenues fell in equal measure to $716 million in the North American market.
The scale of the contraction may seem surprising given the rosy outlook for automation amid pandemic-related shutdowns. However, the top-line numbers also mask strong performance in certain automation categories.
“It’s clear that our industry is feeling the effects of COVID-19, its strain on supply chains, and the overall economic uncertainty due to our current circumstances,” said Alex Shikany, A3 Vice President, Membership & Business Intelligence. “Despite the numbers reflecting these recent challenges, our latest market surveys tell us that there is optimism for what the next six months will bring.”
But Shikany points out that not all the news was bleak.
“Despite the overall contractions, there were two notable industry bright spots in life sciences (+97%) and plastics & rubber (+49%),” Shikany said.
And few expect the contraction to last long. A3 recently surveyed industry optimism. According to the organization, over the next six months, 36% believe sales will increase moderately (between 1% and 10%), while 22% believe they will increase significantly (more than 10%). Only 19% of respondents believe there will be further decreases, while 23% believe their sales will remain flat. 
Machine and motion control markets, which are closely wed to the general automation market, also suffered, albeit not as badly. The North American machine vision market contracted 8% while motion controls fell 6%.
Alan Beaulieu, President of ITR Economics and leading economic forecaster, reported strong seasonal performance this June-July in total US retail sales, noting the increase is the second-best on record. 
That spike augurs well for a return to growth in the automation industry moving forward, particularly in areas related to logistics and fulfillment. More

There are few pursuits more taxing for team and driver than keeping an open-wheel race car on the track while competing at speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour. But take the human driver out of the equation and the enormity of challenge balloons.
That is exactly the point of the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC), a competition that will pit more than 500 university students globally against one another to design autonomous controls systems for full-size Dallara IL-15 race cars, which will be tested in head-to-head competition. The competition is billed as the first-ever high-speed autonomous race of its kind. Fittingly, it will take place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in October 2021.
Competing teams will use the same open software framework provided by a company called Real-Time Innovations (RTI), which is the largest software framework provider for smart machines and real-world systems. With car speeds expected to top 200 mph, students will use RTI’s Connext DDS to design, simulate, and run the race cars.  
“One of the IAC’s primary goals is to solve ‘edge-case’ scenarios – situations that only occur at extreme operating parameters, such as avoiding unanticipated obstacles at high speeds while maintaining vehicular control,” said Matt Peak, managing director of Energy Systems Network, a primary organizer of the IAC. “Such a task would be impossible without real-time data transfer. RTI’s partnership gives our teams a strong foundation for racing.”
The events sponsors include other autonomous vehicle technology providers Ansys, Aptiv, and Microsoft. The IAC is supported by the RTI University Program, design to facilitate hand-on education in research fields like robotics, autonomous vehicles, space exploration, and connected healthcare.
“This race is a formidable challenge, with a required lap speed that is faster than some winning professional racers over the last decade. It will require ingenuity and making the most of every microsecond in the control system,” said Neil Puthuff, Senior Software Integration Engineer and Project Leader at RTI. “The students need a proven, maximum performance framework for their cars that can handle the extremes and integrate whatever software they create or select for victory – from initial prototypes and simulation through field trials and on to race day.  Great competition spawns great innovation, and we’re proud to be part of a challenge that will look to inspire the next-generation of mobility leaders and move the industry forward.”
The competition involves $1.5 million in prize money and is organized by the Energy Systems Network and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. More

As the hotel and hospitality sectors are suffering under pandemic-related travel and recreation restrictions, an outlier may point the way to a new paradigm for hotel guests. It’s efficient, sanitary, and oh so impersonal.
The company, Jurny, Inc., creates SaaS-based management solutions for short-term rentals. Its triple-digit growth during the pandemic is an early clue of what kind of reality awaits travelers when restrictions finally ease.
One of the most fascinating exercises during the pandemic is to compare various companies’ sales pitches prior to the outbreak with their current marketing language. Robotics, which I cover, is a prime example. While most automation firms prior to the pandemic went out of their way to avoid suggesting their technology would replace humans, the latest wave of pitches boasts that various products can reduce health-related down time and increase sanitation. 
Likewise, Jurny, based in Los Angeles, made its splash leaning its value add for boutique hotels and multi-family building owners, whom the company’s platform could help convert rooms and units into furnished, automated, suites quickly and efficiently. That’s still the core ambition, but the company is now rightly hyping its contactless services, which guests are more likely to trust under threat from infectious disease.
The company’s timing was exquisite. It officially launched its technology earlier this year and has reported 200% growth with occupancy rates double the industry standard during peak hotel closures due to the pandemic. 
“Profit margins in the hospitality industry have always been vulnerable to market fluctuations, including seasonal downturns, staff turnover and price competition, making the impact of the global pandemic catastrophic across the industry,” said David Phillips, co-founder and president of Jurny. “Our platform and services streamline operations, reduce redundancies by an average of 70% and automate services to offer a contactless solution, which is crucial for many hotel operators.” 
Jurny recently entered agreements to integrate its reservation and unit management systems to operate three new Miami locations, a city that’s been heavily hit during the pandemic. In Nashville, the company finalized an agreement to operate the high-end boutique 121 Hotel.  
When a property owner contracts with Jurny, the company analyzes the property and upgrades it with smart home technology that can be operated entirely remotely or autonomously. Naturally, guests can book units and manage their entire stay through the Jurny app, with access to single-touch check-in and check-out, 24/7 virtual customer support, keyless entry, temperature control, WiFi connection and on-demand cleaning services that follow a 150-point CDC-compliant checklist. 
That automated, contact-free experience is a huge selling point, and while larger hotel chains are coming around, startups like Jurny are pointing the way to the new face of hospitality. And make no mistake, that face will be digital.
“Larger hotel brands have more resources and easier access to technologies and infrastructure to help them overcome this pandemic, leaving boutique hotels at risk for closure without an affordable option to upgrade,” said Tim Burrow, owner of the 121 Hotel. “We selected Jurny based on its ability to drive bookings and its advanced, unique technology that seemed ahead of its time. In the first two weeks of opening, it outperformed my most optimistic expectations in net operating income, guest satisfaction and taking care of every detail of the business and building management. My worry of the effect of COVID-19 on the hotel vanished virtually overnight.” More

If you zoom out, the drone landscape is positively dominated by DJI, the Chinese drone giant that claims more than 70% market share. But if you move a little closer, you’ll find fissures in the market where smaller players have made a big impact.
High end security is one such niche, and the new name of the game in that race is autonomous all-in-one systems that can fly missions by themselves and stow down to the size of a suitcase. One of the leaders in the space, Easy Aerial, is a prime example of a company that’s flourished outside of DJI’s domination. 
The company has been in stealth mode since 2015 and has developed a line of autonomous free-flight and tethered drone-in-a-box systems for applications such as perimeter security, border patrol, overwatch, agriculture, and industrial applications. With its $6M Series A just wrapped up, the company is small compared to DJI but has a host of contracts with big players like the USAF, CBP, and Miami PD, which used Easy Aerial’s drone-in-a-box solution for deployment during Super Bowl 2020.
That kind of market penetration points to opportunities in the drone space, which is often seen as a monolith but is becoming increasingly diversified thanks to specialty providers for niche applications and, increasingly, the spread of open source architecture. I’ve written about the drone equivalent of Red Hat, which is helping spur a new generation of drone innovation.
Easy Aerial’s systems are rugged and take off, fly, and land autonomously, even from a moving vehicle. The new investment round will allow the company to scale to meet growing commercial, government, and military demand in both the United States and internationally.
“New product innovation is a key area of focus for Easy Aerial, and this investment means we have the resources to develop game-changing, robust, and versatile systems that define the reputation and execution excellence that is inherent in our mission,” explains Ido Gur, Co-Founder, and CEO of Easy Aerial. 
As has become standard in the aerial surveillance market, the company’s line of monitoring drones includes free-flight and tethered autonomous systems that take off and land from a portable, rechargeable enclosure without the need for on-site human intervention.   More

There’s are two reasons I’ve written glowingly about a Utah-based robotics company called Sarcos, which just locked in an additional $40M in Series C funding. The first is the company’s pragmatic approach to becoming a key automation supplier in the near-term.
While some vendors are making automation solutions aimed squarely at solving current pain points (collaborative robots, which can be slotted into a light manufacturing line, are a good example), and while others are looking toward a radical future when robots walk among us (take your pick from the spectrum of impressive but impractical personal assistant robots), Sarcos is looking to a near-future in which robots don’t replace humans outright but instead augment the strength and endurance of increasingly smaller numbers of workers.
It’s a promising strategy, leveraging the best of what humans have to offer — namely that wonderful piece of hardware called the brain — while addressing the rising costs of labor and, at least before the pandemic, labor shortfalls in many sectors by squeezing more productivity out of fewer workers.
The second reason I like Sarcos is they make robotic exoskeletons that give mere mortals superhuman strength. That’s just cool.
The company’s Series C funding will help move the industrial version of that exoskeleton (there’s also a defense version) into commercial production. The Guardian XO is billed as the world’s first full-body, battery-powered wearable industrial robot designed to increase strength and endurance, and the company has scheduled commercial release in 2021. Wearing the suit, the user will be able to lift up to 200 pounds for extended work sessions, including hoisting tools and materials in industries like aviation, manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, oil & gas, construction, and others. 
“ABI projects the total market value of the global powered exoskeleton market to exceed $11.5 billion by 2030 with full-body, powered industrial exoskeletons comprising almost 50% of that amount,” explains Rian Whitton, Research Analyst, ABI Research, of the growing market.
That may be an optimistic figure, but that date (2030) is right on target. Exoskeletons, which have struggled to catch on in sectors like rehabilitation, where a company called Ekso Bionics is one of the leading players, could become an absolutely disruptive industrial technology over the next decade, and that’s where Sarcos is fixing its sights.  
“The Sarcos team achieved a significant engineering feat last year by completing the R&D phase of the world’s first battery-powered, full-body industrial exoskeleton—the Guardian XO,” says Ben Wolff, chairman and CEO of Sarcos Robotics. “This new funding will allow us to achieve our next goal of scaling production and shipping commercial units of the Guardian XO exoskeleton. In addition, we will also advance the development of our ‘smart’ version of the Guardian XO exoskeleton with our Cybernetic Training for Autonomous Robots artificial intelligence platform, which will enable the robot to augment the operator’s precision and skill to complete specific tasks.”
Sarcos has begun accepting orders for the Guardian XO exoskeleton and plans to deliver production units in 2021. Expect the ramp-up to be relatively slow at first, but pandemic-enforced social distancing will only help hasten the adoption of human augmentation devices like this one, which allows fewer humans to do more than ever before. More

A company that developed a monitoring technology to make sure fast food employees were doing a good job putting toppings on pizzas has found a new use for its AI-based computer vision quality management system during the pandemic. As worries about cleanliness upend the traditional restaurant ecosystem, smart cameras can be used to ensure cleanliness and sanitation in food prep.
The company, Dragontail Systems, already has contracts with brands like Dominos and Pizza Hut. The expansion from operations management to hygiene will enable those brands to better position themselves amid fast-shifting customer expectations.
“Dragontail Systems’ technology will empower fast-food services and restaurants of any size to address the growing concern of health and safety during the coronavirus pandemic,” explains Ido Levanon, CEO and Director of Dragontail Systems. “Our unique AI camera already helps hundreds of stores recognize even the smallest of errors often undetected by the human eye, for example pizza toppings above and below the cheese, or even the food’s temperature. Now we are upgrading our technology to monitor processes that may lead to virus spread or contamination. In doing so, we expect to develop more impactful insights that foster transparency and ensure quality standards set by the businesses and the end-customer.” 
The existence of camera-based management systems like this points to the growing reliance on data and efficiency across a variety of sectors that traditionally rely on low-skilled workers. In grocery, package, and big box stores, shelf-scanning robots are increasingly bringing big data analytics to legacy retail, enabling managers to identify trends, track merchandise, and better compete with online vendors. Fast food, similarly, has been scaling up technologically, with restaurant chains embracing automation in food prep and delivery and optimizing operations via systems like Dragontail’s.
The move toward automation and related technologies has only hastened during the pandemic, which has reorganized customer expectations away from personal service to emphasize sanitation and, where possible, fewer human interactions.
Dragontail’s system was originally designed to monitor food preparation and packing, including the quality and accuracy of ingredients and temperature of the food. New enhancements have now been specifically introduced to combat the spread of coronavirus, including detection of gloves and masks on employees and how often equipment and workspaces are sanitized and replaced. That information is fed to managers and can even be shared with customers to help overcome fears.
“Our system is designed to take on the role of the super manager, processing every relevant data point inside and outside the restaurant and taking into consideration multiple variables such as number of orders and locations of customers and drivers, in order to optimize decisions at every point in the supply chain,” says Levanon. “This enables us to work directly with our customers to find more ways to streamline operations while bringing in more business, guaranteeing meals arrive hot and fresh, reducing costs and increasing repeat-customers.”  More