In episode 155 Robot Report Podcast editors Steve Crowe and Mike Oitzman discuss the news of the week.
In this episode, we meet with Dexory co-founder Oana Jinga to learn more about the company's warehouse inventory management system.
This episode also features a conversation between Editor-in-Chief Eugene Demetre and Garrett Place, who manages business development in the field of robotics perception at ifm.
Show timeline
- 6:24 – News
- 21:29 – Interview with Oana Jinga, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial and Product Officer at Dexory
- 53:06 – Interview with Garrett Place and Gene Demaitre, ifm’s Robotics Business Development Manager
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News of the week
- Agility Robotics' Digit humanoid has its first official job.
- The company has signed a multi-year agreement with GXO Logistics Inc., the world's largest pure-play contract logistics provider, to deploy Digit humanoids in a variety of logistics tasks.
- GXO said it is commercially deploying a “small fleet” of Digit robots at its Spanx facility in Connecticut. Logistics providers are paying Agility Robotics under a Robotics as a Service (RaaS) model.
- The companies did not disclose how many humanoids Spanx is using or the specifics of the RaaS agreement. They claimed that this was the industry's first formal commercial deployment of a humanoid and the first RaaS deployment of such a robot.
- Waymo Ends Waitlist, Launches Robotaxi Service Across San Francisco
- Starting today, anyone in San Francisco can use the Waymo LLC app to call a robotaxi. The company has been operating in the city for years and is slowly expanding its operations. Nearly 300,000 people, including people who live, work, and visit San Francisco, have signed up for a ride since the company first opened its waitlist.
- Earlier this month, it expanded its service in Phoenix, its largest service area. The company added 90 square miles (233 square kilometers), expanding what was already its largest service area in the greater Phoenix area.
- Waymo said riders can now use its Waymo One service across 315 square miles (815.8 square kilometers) of the valley. The expanded service area includes more resorts in Scottsdale and extends to downtown Mesa, Arizona.
- Investment in robotics exceeds $2.1 billion in May
- In May 2024, robotics investment surpassed $2.1 billion with funding for 38 companies.
- The $2.1 billion would be the highest monthly funding amount in 2024, surpassing the $1.2 billion average over the past 12 months.
- By May 2024, robotics financing will total approximately $5.7 billion.
- Largest: Sensor maker Wayve announced a $1.05 billion Series C investment round led by SoftBank Group with contributions from new investor NVIDIA and existing investor Microsoft to accelerate its mission to reimagine autonomous mobility with embodied intelligence.
- Honorable Mentions:
link to the show
Startups: Register for the Pitchfire competition at RoboBusiness 2024. The deadline is August 9th.
Watch this YouTube video of Adam Savage swallowing Endiatx's camera robot. This video features the main closing keynote from the 2024 RoboBusiness event.