Robotics

Robot vehicles may give the insurance companies and car companies something to do when one robot taxi replaces 20 cars owned by private individuals as we move inexorably to 80% of people living in cities in 2050.

Each robot is essentially given an invisible bubble that other robots must stay away from. As long as nothing touches the bubble, the robots move around without any issues. But that's where the problems begin.

This premium article is about agricultural robots and drones, addressing next stage of technological development in the world of agriculture.

The first easy-to-fly, fixed-wing drone designed for a fully immersive flight experience.

Robots and drones have already started to quietly transform many aspects of agriculture. Indeed, the IDTechEx Research report on Agricultural Robots and Drones 2016-2026: Technologies, Markets, and Players finds that this is already a $3bn market in 2016, growing to $10bn by as early as 2022.

Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a dielectric elastomer with a broad range of motion that requires relatively low voltage and no rigid components.

A team of researchers with expertise in 3D printing, mechanical engineering, and microfluidics has demonstrated the first chemically powered, autonomous, untethered, entirely soft robot.

IDTechEx analyst Rachel Gordon spoke with Matthew Borgatti, Lead Scientist at Super-Releaser, about the challenges of bringing successful, durable, inexpensive soft robots to market.

A robot that features greatly reduced risk of electrical spark or heat creation that can cause explosions or fire when inflammable gas is present

Precision Hawk was established in 2010 in Toronto, Canada. The original focus of the company was to do precise remote sensing of data followed by data processing/analysis to provide actionable recommendations to farmers

Universal Robots was founded in 2005, with the aim to make robot technology accessible to small and medium size enterprises by developing smaller, more agile, and less expensive robots. They were acquired by Teradyne for $285m in 2015.

miRobot started in 2011 to design and develop distributed milking robot systems. Its idea is that each stall will have an inexpensive and good enough robot to do the milking. It has raised nearly $700k to date and has so far only demonstrated pre-commercial (lab scale) prototypes. Its first commercial prototype is planned for Oct 2016.

Naio Technologies is a French start-up focused on agriculture robots. They expect a turn-over of 1m Euros this year, putting ahead of many others in terms of current commercial success.

We recently caught up with Mr Andrew Bate, CEO and co-founder of SwarmFarm Robotics, an Australian agricultural robotics company that launched only just a few months ago but also has some commercial operations.

Stream Technologies is 2011 Canadian start-up seeking to provide bespoke spectral lenses together bespoke software customized for detecting and identifying specific plant status

We recently caught up with the CEO of Carl Vause, a Boston-based start-up commercialising a novel robotic gripper that is based on the principles of soft robotics.

Fresh Fruit Robotics (FFR) was recently established by Mr Avi Kahani. IDTechEx interviewed him about the robotic fruit picker that they are commercialising.

Deepfield Robotics is a Bosch start-up focused on providing tools and services for precision agriculture. Deepfield is well positioned thanks to Bosch's strengths on IT services and sensory products.

Blue River Technology is one of the best funded agricultural robotic start-ups in the world. We recently interviewed Mr Ben Chostner, VP of Business Development at Blue River Technology.

F Poulsen is a lifestyle Danish company established in 1986. It has been commercially selling robotic weed killers for the past five years.