Amazon is the new robotics champion
Plus dates, deadlines, events and robots & startups related news
Exponential Robotics:
It took 60 years for all industrial robots to go from zero to 3 million deployments
It took 20 years for iRobot vacuum cleaners to go from zero to 30 million deployments
It took 10 years for Amazon to go from zero to almost 1 million deployments and at the current growth rate Amazon will eclipse iRobot after only 15 years. That is, if this exponential pace continues.
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What else is happening in the robotics neighborhood?
IEEE Spectrum Robots Guide is nominated for a Webby for the best Science website!
The second round of scholarships is now open and includes Graduate Students!
OR contribute funding to help our scholarship reach as many young women interested in robotics as possible!
Apply for the CDL program
Applications for Creative Destruction Lab’s 2024/25 program year are open! CDL is a non-profit, no fee, no equity program with world class mentors and investors.
The application deadline for most streams is Friday, July 26, 2024 at 11:59PM ET.
CDL Incubator Streams
Please note that CDL Quantum and CDL Blockchain/Web3 have earlier deadlines:
CDL Quantum: May 21, 2024
CDL Blockchain/Web3: June 7, 2024
CDL Oceans Stream
Please note that CDL Oceans has an earlier deadline:
CDL Oceans: July 5, 2024
Robotics News:
Cobot or Collaborative Robotics:
Cobot announces $100M Series B and reveals exclusive details about its non-humanoid robots - VentureBeat
Our robot comes to life and gets straight to work - Brad Porter at Cobot
Collaborative Robotics Locks Up $100M, Latest Robot Startup to Raise Big - Crunchbase News
Collaborative Robotics is prioritizing ‘human problem solving’ over humanoid forms - TechCrunch
Apple:
MIT Engineers Aim to Advance Household Robots With AI Integration - PYMNTS
Report: Apple Considering Robots as New Opportunity for Growth - PYMNTS
An Apple Home Robot? Why It Could Be a Tough Sell - CNET
Is robotics about to have its ChatGPT moment? - MIT Technology Review
Apollo the robot joins Mercedes-Benz assembly line production - Fox News
Magna car plant will test a humanoid robot - Autoblog
European car manufacturer will pilot Sanctuary AI’s humanoid robot - TechCrunch
BlackBerry gains on partnership with AMD for robotics systems - Reuters
Del Toro dubs robotics specialists next step in ‘truly hybrid’ fleet - NavyTimes
Robot dogs drill to train for moon rescue missions, navigating craters - Interesting Engineering
Engineers in Oregon train dog robot to walk on Moon - BBC
Using a hopping robot for asteroid exploration - ETH Zurich
Marco Hutter Wants to Solve Robotics’ Hard Problems: The AI Institute’s new Zurich head will focus on reliable, mobile robots - IEEE Spectrum
MIT engineers design flexible “skeletons” for soft, muscle powered robots - MIT News
Meet the founder: Hyphen’s Stephen Klein on ‘humbling’ startup experiences, pandemic pivots, and why you don’t need a robotics sledgehammer to crack a nut - AgFunderNews
Coming soon, to a theater near you: Self-serve cocktails, cotton candy robots - Las Vegas Review-Journal
Boycott the Grubhub robots - Notre Dame Observer
Working out my relationship with robots - TCB Mag
Exploring Emerging Robotics Trends and the Future of Automation - CIO News
Robots aren’t magic, but they could give humans ‘superpowers’ - Daniela Rus
RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards 2024 - The Robot Report
Amazon:
Amazon Grows To Over 750,000 Robots As World’s Second-Largest Private Employer Replaces Over 100,000 Humans - Yahoo Finance
Top Amazon exec says it’s a ‘myth’ robots steal jobs - CNBC
Amazon announces over €700 million investment in robotics and AI powered technologies across Europe - Amazon News
Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund launches Innovation Challenge - Amazon News
An exclusive look inside Amazon’s new European Operations Innovation Lab which is about to open to the public - Amazon News
Walmart
Walmart will deploy robotics forklifts in its distribution centers - TechCrunch
A Fork in the Road: Walmart Bets on Associates, Automation - Walmart News
Walmart turns to warehouse robots, suggests a boost in profit is possible - Digital Commerce
Walmart Micro Fulfillment Center - Walmart News
I might have to send a second newsletter with more news because I have a lot more links bookmarked!
Robotics Events:
18-21 April 2024 - RoboGames - San Jose Convention Center, CA
21 April 2024 - Robots on Ice - Yerba Buena Skating Rink SF
May 1-2 - Robotics Summit & Expo - Boston, MA
May 6-9 - Automate - Chicago, IL
June 13-14 - SVR Robotics Investment Summit - Menlo Park, CA
June 17-20 - Collision - Toronto CA
Some more upcoming academic robotics conferences:
Robosoft 2024 San Diego CA 14 Apr - 17 Apr
ICRA 2024 Yokohama Japan 13 May - 17 May 2024
ARSO 2024 Hong Kong, China 20 May - 22 May 2024
AIM 2024 Boston MA 14 July - 18 July
CASE 2024 Puglia Italy 28 Aug - 1 Sep 2024
ICRA@40 Rotterdam NL 23 Sep - 26 Sep 2024
IROS 2024 AbuDhabi 14 Oct - 18 Oct 2024
Humanoids 2024 Nancy FR 26 Nov - 28 Nov
ICRA 2025 Atlanta Georgia 17 May - 23 May 2025
Adding the industry conferences next week :)