Clearpath/Otto Motors acquisition north of $600m, startup deadlines and Ghost Sharks
Research says that AI is changing work, at least for consultants and who are the largest players in autonomous delivery by patents, diversity and geographic range.
Remember how drones were going to reshape agriculture and forestry? Yep, 2014 was peak drone hype. It made a lot of sense right?
However, there were a couple of startups that said small planes with computer vision systems were the right solution. Not drones, not satellites, small planes with robotic technology. Today, Ceres Imaging from Oakland CA is the leader in agricultural analytics and it’s a ‘nobrainer’ for farmers. Sadly, I invested in the wrong one.
The pathway from innovation to commercialization isn’t linear. Which makes it interesting to see what will happen to the current six drone based teams who are the
XPRIZE Rainforest finalists. It’s been almost 10 years since peak drone startups fell back to earth. And from the evidence of other challenges, winning isn’t all that useful. (I’m going to do a deeper dive with some of the participants in the SubT challenge)
Six teams advance in $10,000,000 competition to measure biodiversity and produce meaningful insights to benefit rainforest ecosystems and local communities
Join us for Silicon Valley Robotics event The New Wave of Robotics: Engineering a Sustainable Future featuring a keynote “The World after the Supply Chain Crisis” by Keegan Kirkpatrick, CEO of RedWorks and Partner at Space Advisors, followed by a panel on investing in robotics sustainability solutions with Aidan Madigan-Curtis, Partner at Eclipse Ventures, Andrew Gillies, CTO & Co-founder at Urban Machine, Kira Noodleman, Partner at Bee Partners and Ann Torres, Senior VP of Engineering at Synapse. We end with roundtables for indepth discussions around sustainability in robotics and of course a happy hour reception.
Big thank you to everyone who has become a paid subscriber - it makes you an angel investor in the work I do at Silicon Valley Robotics and as a startup advisor, and accelerator. And maybe we can do more to share your experience and expertize with the robotics startup community. Mentor Office Hours, maybe startup profiles. We’ll keep exploring.
Quick Reads:
Meet the Dutch robotics kitchen that makes 5000 meals a day - The Spoon
Waterloo’s Clearpath Robotics sold to Rockwell Automaton for US $600 million plus - The Globe and Mail
NASA hopes humanoid robots can help us explore the moon and Mars - Space
Midweek on ISS sees the crew work robotics, lab upkeep and microbes - NASA
Machina Labs to unveil the Machina deployable system at FABTECH - SME
Ukrainian innovators want to bring life-saving robots to the battleground - Kyiv Independent
Amazon Robotics Fulfillment Center opens in Tallahassee - WCTV
Beep, Oxa partner to deploy autonomous vehicles in the United States - GPS World
Comma shows us how it designed it's latest autonomous vehicle testing hardware - CleanTechnica
Cruise unveils a wheelchair-accessible self-driving car - CNET
California Bill tries to stymie proliferation of autonomous trucks without backup drivers - MotorTrend
California’s autonomous truck bill passes Senate, goes to Governor - TruckingInfo
Wayve pioneers new AI model for autonomous driving - Virgin
Japan aims for nationwide autonomous driving lanes - NikkeiAsia
Autonomous drivers need autonomous road systems - Automotive World
In South Korea, Robots Are Taking Robots’ Jobs - Reason
the rapid influx of cheaper Chinese robots is putting Korean robots out of a job
Robots are trained to revive coral reefs - BBC News
AI robot fans seen at Chargers-Dolphins game - NewsNation
Sony launches ‘foster care’ program for its aging robot dogs - The Verge
LAPD deploys new ‘robot dog’ in Koreatown barricade situation involving armed suspect - ABC7
In the US-China AI contest, the race is on to deploy killer robots - Reuters Special Report
check out the Ghost Sharks that Anduril is building/testing in Australia for US
America will field “multiple thousands” of autonomous, unmanned systems within the next two years in a bid to offset China's advantage in numbers of weapons and people, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, Kathleen Hicks, said in an August 28 speech. “We’ll counter the PLA’s mass with mass of our own, but ours will be harder to plan for, harder to hit, harder to beat,” she said.
BAE Systems partners with Cellula Robotics to showcase new autonomous underwater XLAUV in 2024 - BAESystems
Swiss startup puts a new spin on the security robot market - Interesting Engineering
Acceleration Robotics releases RobotPerf Benchmarks to compare robotics computing performance - The Robot Report
See full paper .pdf RobotPerf: An OPen-Source, Vendor-Agnostic, Benchmarking Suite for Evaluation of Robotics Computing System Performance
Skydio sets September launch date for new autonomous drone technology - AUVSI
Papa Johns, Little Caesars take to the skies with Flytrex autonomous delivery - RestaurantDive
Robotics: who are the leaders in autonomous delivery management for the consumer industry? - JustFood
Battery-free robots use origami to change shape in mid-air - techXplore
This Robot Will Blow You Away! - Hackster.io
powered by explosive actuators, this insect-scale quadrupedal robot can carry 22 times its own weight and jump high up into the air.
Robotics Events:
September 22 - The New Wave of Robotics: Engineering a Sustainable Future with Synapse and Silicon Valley Robotics
Throughout Sept & Oct - Distinguished Lectures on The Status and Future of AI - from CITRIS Research Exchange, UC Berkeley CDSS and UC Berkeley BAIR.
September 19-21 - FIRA USA Salinas: Robotics and Autonomous Farming Solutions - FIRA
September 28 - The Autonomous Systems Showcase - Deep Tech Showcase
September 28 - InOrbit Connect Live - Where Robots and Users Meet - InOrbit
October 1-5 - IROS in Detroit - IEEE RAS
October 18-22 - ROSCon + PX4 Autopilot Developer Summit in New Orleans and virtual - Open Robotics (save $100 by registering for both events)
October 25 - The Food AI Summit - Alameda CA - from The Spoon
Startup Deadlines
Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge Deadline Sept 22
Have a deep tech startup or project that uses advanced technology to answer a societal, environmental or industrial challenge? Apply today
Innovation & Tech Showcase, GovShop GovMarket Entrepreneur
Come join Public Spend Forum and expand opportunities for your business in government! Place yourself in front of market movers and government buyers to make worthwhile connections and build relationships. Apply today at no cost!
Don’t miss a chance to win a Stretch from Hello Robot
There’s still time to get involved in the HomeRobot Open Vocabulary Mobile Manipulation challenge. Challenge entries for Phase 1 must be submitted by October 10, 2023. Learn more here
DARPA Seeks Tech Solutions to Create Autonomous Capabilities for Commercial Drones
DARPA’s Rapid Experimental Missionized Autonomy (REMA) program aims to enable a drone to autonomously continue its predefined mission when connection to the operator is lost. To achieve this goal, REMA tasks performers with building a subsystem that allows autonomous operation of a variety of commercially available small drones without being tied to a specific drone design. The program also seeks to create mission-specific autonomy software through rapid, monthly spirals of development. Visit the REMA program solicitation at SAM.gov
$97 Billion funding for DOE Clean Energy Infrastructure Program and Funding Announcements
Learn more about DOE funding priorities for clean energy infrastructure.
BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW: FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES YOU CAN APPLY FOR TODAY
This document highlights funding opportunities that communities can apply for today, along with a calendar for funding opportunities across 2023.
Interesting Robots:
Biosignals, Robotics, and Rehabilitation: Bridging the gap between human neurophysiology and intelligent machines- IEEE Spectrum Robotics by MICHAEL W. RICHARDSON
To address today’s health challenges, especially in our aging society, we must become more intelligent in our approaches. Clinicians now have access to a range of advanced technologies designed to assist early diagnosis, evaluate prognosis, and enhance patient health outcomes, including telemedicine, medical robots, powered prosthetics, exoskeletons, and AI-powered smart wearables. However, many of these technologies are still in their infancy.
Deeper Reads:
Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough
Jones (2016) and Jones (2023) both consider the question of the desirability of technological progress in a world where progress can sometimes get you killed. In each paper, Jones sets up a simple model where people enjoy two different things; having stuff and being alive.
Mushrooming Robotic and automation technology.. How it is going to offer jobs for millions who graduate every year on one side and how without threatening the livelihood of equal numbers who do simple jobs for a square meal for their self or family? A question I ask myself several times without a credible answer.