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LAS VEGAS — CES 2024 featured a variety of rising applied sciences, from health units and videogames to autonomous automobiles. However robots all the time have a major presence within the sprawling exhibit halls.

The Robotic Report visited quite a few cubicles within the Eureka Park part of CES, in addition to within the different centered sections of the occasion. Listed here are some highlights from this week’s occasion:

Mobinn climbs stairway towards success

Mobinn is a Korean startup centered on last-mile autonomous supply automobiles. Whereas the idea of last-mile supply isn’t new, Mobinn demonstrated an modern wheeled robotic that may climb stairs.

The robotic is able to going up and down stairs by the implementation of compliant wheels. A self-leveling field on prime of the robotic retains the cargo degree, so your drinks and meals don’t spill out of their containers.

Glidance guides folks with imaginative and prescient impairments

The most recent prototype of the Glidance system is totally practical for public demos and features a digicam within the deal with and radar sensors within the base. | Credit score: The Robotic Report

RoboBusiness PitchFire 2023 winner Glidance additionally received a CES 2024 Innovation Award and confirmed the most recent practical prototype of its Glide system in its sales space. The robotic Glide guides sight-impaired people just like a information canine. 

The startup is designing Glide to be inexpensive and simple to learn to use when it begins transport later this 12 months. I attempted Glide firsthand (whereas closing my eyes). The expertise was unimaginable, and I can solely think about how promising this know-how can be for a person with sight loss.

The crew at Glidance talked about to me that superstar Stevie Marvel got here to the Glidance sales space for a demo of the product throughout CES.

Unitree H1 humanoid steals the present

There have been two full-size humanoid robots at CES 2024.

Kepler Robotics had a stationary mannequin of the brand new Kepler Forerunner K1 in its Eureka Park sales space. The robotic consists of 14 linear-axis motors and 14 rotary-axis motors. Sadly, the corporate was unable to provide stay demos of the Forerunner.

The Unitree H1 humanoid robotic makes use of sensors in its “head” to understand the world across the robotic because it navigates and avoids obstacles. | Credit score: The Robotic Report

The web influencer darling of CES must be the Unitree H1 humanoid, and the corporate was giving almost steady stay demos of the H1 at its sales space.

Kudos to the Unitree advertising and marketing crew for its now-infamous “kick the robotic” movies which have been shared on social media over the previous six months. Within the movies, H1 seems to be a stable humanoid platform with respectable steadiness and agility.

Nonetheless, as a longtime robotics {industry} insider and skilled robotics purposes engineer, I believed the Unitree H1 product demos at CES 2024 have been cringe-worthy, because the Unitree demo crew walked the H1 robotic into crowds of “web tech influencers” with their cameras ablaze.

The 150 lb. (68 kg) robotic danced with the general public inches away. A single tripping incident would have despatched the robotic tumbling into an harmless bystander and made on the spot headlines. It might have been a public relations catastrophe and a setback for the {industry}.

Nonetheless, there’s no denying that the H1 was a crowd favourite at CES 2024, and the corporate and its robotic obtained a variety of information media consideration. 

Hyundai shows future mobility tech at CES 2024

Hyundai PnD Module idea

Hyundai bought my vote as one of many industry-leading mobility and robotics leaders at CES 2024. It’s the father or mother firm of Boston Dynamics, however at CES 2024, the Spot and Stretch robots performed minor roles in Hyundai’s story.

The corporate had a number of large-scale cubicles exhibiting autonomy ideas for the long run, together with autonomous mobility for each people and freight, in addition to a take a look at the way forward for autonomous building automobiles. Sadly, I didn’t get to witness both of the stay mobility demonstrations, however the Hyundai Building Xite idea tractor was a formidable incarnation of autonomous building designs.

Hyundai introduced an idea for the way forward for autonomous building tools with the show of the Building Xite tractor (Editors observe: for scale, the bucket arm is over 10 ft tall). | Credit score: The Robotic Report

AV24 rolls into the showroom

The Indy Autonomous Problem (IAC) had a formidable sales space within the automotive corridor of CES 2024, surrounded by well-known model names. On show was a totally practical model of the latest AV24 autonomous racecar, exhibiting off the combination of a completely new autonomy stack within the automobile.

The IAC has partnered with most of the main automotive know-how firms to embed the most recent lidar, radar, imaginative and prescient, and GPS sensors throughout the automobile. 

dSpace introduced an prolonged partnership with IAC that can ship digital twins of every college crew’s automobile together with digital twins of every of the race tracks. In flip, these will allow the groups to coach the AI drivers fully in simulation after which port the AI fashions and drive code straight the bodily race automobiles.

As well as, some sanctioned sim races are potential later this 12 months, stated the IAC organizers.

Embodied AI shows up to date Moxie

The most recent era of Moxie by Embodied AI was on show in Amazon’s sales space at CES. Embodied not too long ago introduced new tutoring performance with the most recent software program launch for Moxie, and it demonstrated the software program on the expo.

Amazon had a separate expo suite that featured the entire bodily Amazon shopper and sensible house merchandise (Amazon Astro was noticeably absent from the show). Moxie entertained the gathered crowds because it demonstrated its interactivity.

Fingervision measures gripper power

My “Unknown Discovery” award of CES 2024 goes to a younger Japanese startup referred to as Fingervision. This was a serendipitous discovery of an innovation that makes use of tiny cameras constructed into the gripper fingers of an industrial robotic,

They supply suggestions on the grip power and “slippage” of an merchandise held with the gripper. That is completed by imaging the world the place the fingers contact an object by an opaque floor. Thus the origin of the corporate identify.

The corporate has deployed its first grippers into an utility the place robots are selecting up fried rooster nuggets and packaging them.

Honorable mentions from CES 2024

Gatik retains on trucking — autonomously

Gatik confirmed the third era of its on-road autonomous truck. The corporate has made its mark on autonomous logistics by the deployment of driving algorithms that plans paths in order that the automobile solely makes right-hand turns, avoiding extra advanced and harmful left-hand turns. 

Gatik first demonstrated totally driverless, freight-only business deliveries on the center mile with Walmart in 2021. Shortly after, it executed the primary totally driverless deployment for Canada’s largest retailer, Loblaw.

The firm additionally introduced a partnership with Goodyear tires to develop “Good Tires” that may present real-time suggestions to the autonomous driver with knowledge concerning the situation of the tires to assist keep traction and management.

Bobcat Rogue X2 will get prepared to maneuver the earth

At CES 2024, Bobcat confirmed off an autonomous idea prototype, the Bobcat Rogue X2, at CES 2024. The all-electric, autonomous robotic is designed for dealing with materials motion and ground-altering operations at building, mining, and agriculture websites.

The design prototype of the Rogue X2 at CES had wheels relatively than tracks, however manually pushed Bobcats will be outfitted with tracks, so a manufacturing model of the Rogue might have comparable configurations.

Ottonomy IO companions with Harbor Lockers

By a brand new partnership with Harbor Lockers, the most recent era of Ottobot can now be configured with a payload of Harbor Lockers. This consists of the Harbor Locker bodily locker infrastructure, in addition to the Harbor Locker utility interface.

That is the primary time that Ottonomy is partnering with a third-party vendor to increase the autonomous last-mile supply answer. 

Garden-mowing robots arrive in North America

CES is among the world’s greatest shopper electronics exhibits. Whereas The Robotic Report doesn’t usually cowl shopper robotics, it’s notable that lawn-mowing robotics have been ubiquitous at CES this 12 months, with a dozen distributors exhibiting their autonomous techniques.

The European marketplace for shopper lawnmowers is already mature, however the North American market is within the early levels of adoption. With out testing the entire completely different lawnmowing robots, it’s tough to find out the market leaders, however the two most promising options that I noticed on the present included the brand new Yarbo Garden Mower and the most recent era of Navimow from Segway Robotics.

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