Video of the Week: Serve, WeRide Proclaim Robotics Milestones: Do They Matter?
As companies continue to grow, innovate and deploy their robotics and autonomous technologies, certain milestones are met. This week, two companies made announcements regarding achieving new goals – sidewalk delivery firm Serve Robotics said it was the first autonomous vehicle company to complete commercial deliveries at Level 4 autonomy; and WeRide announced it reached 10 million kilometers (6.2 million+ miles) of autonomous driving on public roads, with 2.5 million km in fully driverless mode.
Robotics-World News
FANUC America has announced the M-1000iA robot, which can handle heavy products such as automotive components, construction materials and battery packs for electric vehicles. The robot is its largest serial-link robot to date, with a 1,000 kg payload, a 3,253 mm horizontal reach, and 4,297 mm vertical reach. Production units are expected to ship in Q1 2022.
“Customers that process very heavy parts need more versatility in the workspace,” said Eric Potter, general manager of FANUC America’s general industries and automotive segment. “This robot is a great solution for a variety of applications such as drilling and handling large automotive components, processing and handling battery packs for electric vehicles, fabrication and handling of construction materials, and much more.”
Norway-based AutoStore has announced the global availability of its R5+ Robot, which will enable warehouses to manage larger items within the AutoStore system. The R5+ can handle bins up to 425 mm, the tallest bins available from AutoStore. Until now, this size was a premium feature available only to AutoStore B1 Robot installations, the company said.
