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NEURA has developed cognitive robots in quite a lot of kind elements. Source: NEURA Robotics
Talk about combining robotics and synthetic intelligence is all the fad, however some convergence is already maturing. NEURA Robotics GmbH and Omron Robotics and Safety Technologies Inc. right this moment introduced a strategic partnership to introduce “cognitive robotics” into manufacturing.
“By pooling our sensor and AI technologies and expertise into an ultimate platform approach, we will significantly shape the future of the manufacturing industry and set new standards,” acknowledged David Reger, founder and CEO of NEURA Robotics.
Reger based the firm in 2019 with the intention of mixing sensors and AI with robotics parts for a platform for app improvement just like that of smartphones. The “NEURAverse” provides flexibility and value effectivity in automation, in keeping with the corporate.
“Unlike traditional industrial robots, cognitive robots have the ability to learn from their environment, make decisions autonomously, and adapt to dynamic production scenarios,” mentioned Metzingen, Germany-based NEURA. “This opens new application possibilities including intricate assembly tasks, detailed quality inspections, and adaptive material handling processes.”
Omron has sensor, channel experience
“We see NEURA’s cognitive technologies as a compelling growth opportunity for industrial robotics,” added Olivier Welker, president and CEO of Omron Robotics and Safety Technologies. “By combining NEURA’s innovative solutions with Omron’s global reach and automation portfolio, we will provide customers new ways to increase safety, productivity, and flexibility in their operations.”
Pleasanton, Calif.-based Omron Robotics is a subsidiary of OMRON Corp. specializing in automation and security sensing. It designs and manufactures industrial, collaborative, and cell robots for numerous industries.
“We’ve known Omron for quite some time, and even before I started NEURA, we had talked about collaborating,” Reger informed The Robot Report. “They’ve tested our products, and we’ve worked together on how to benefit both sides.”
“We have the cognitive platform, and they’re one of the biggest sensor, controllers, and safety systems providers,” he added. “This collaboration will integrate our cognitive abilities and NEURAverse with their sensors for a plug-and-play solution, which everyone is working toward.”
Omron Robotics’ Olivier Welker and NEURA’s David Reger have a good time their partnership. Source: NEURA
Collaboration has ‘no limits’
When requested whether or not NEURA and Omron Robotics’ partnership is principally centered on market entry, Reger replied, “It’s not just the sales channel … there are no really big limits. From both sides, there will be add-ons.”
Rather than see one another as opponents, NEURA and Omron Robotics are working to make robots simpler to make use of, he defined.
“As a billion-dollar company, it could have told our startup what it wanted, but Omron is different,” mentioned Reger. “I felt we got a lot of respect from Olivier and everyone in that organization. It won’t be a one-sided thing; it will be just ‘Let’s help each other do something great.’ That’s what we’re feeling every day since we’ve been working together. Now we can start talking about it.”
NEURA has additionally been cell manipulation and humanoid robots, however including capabilities to industrial automation is the “low-hanging fruit, where small changes can have a huge effect,” mentioned Reger. “A lot of things for humanoids have not yet been solved.”
“I would love to just work on household robots, but the best way to get there is to use the synergy between industrial robotics and the household market,” he famous. “Our MAiRA, for example, is a cognitive robot able to scan an environment and from an idle state pick any known or unknown objects.”
MAiRA cognitive robotic on MAV cell base. Source: NEURA Robotics
Ease of use drives NEURA technique
NEURA and Omron Robotics promise to make robots simpler to make use of, serving to total adoption, Reger mentioned.
“A big warehouse company out of the U.S. is claiming that it’s already using more than 1 million robots, but at the same time, I’m sure they’d love to use many more robots,” he mentioned. “It’s also in the transformation from a niche market into a mass market. We see that’s currently only possible if you somehow control the environment.”
“It’s not just putting all the sensors inside the robot, which we were first to do, and saying, ‘OK, now we’re able to interact with a human and also pick objects,’” mentioned Reger. “Imagine there are external sensors, but how do you calibrate them? To make everything plug and play, you need new interfaces, which means collaboration with big players like Omron that provide a lot of sensors for the automation market.”
NEURA has developed its personal sensors and explored the stability of placing processing within the cloud versus the sting. To make its platform as in style with builders as that of Apple, nonetheless, the corporate wants the assist of companions like Omron, he mentioned.
Reger mentioned NEURA’s partnership with Kawasaki, introduced final yr, is a part of the general platform method however totally different from its alliance with Omron Robotics. Kawasaki supplied the LARA CL collection cobot with its portfolio however will not be engaged in joint improvement.
NEURA to be at Robotics Summit & Expo
Reger shall be presenting a session on “Developing Cognitive Robotics Systems” at 2:45 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 1, Day 1 of the Robotics Summit & Expo. The occasion shall be on the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, and registration is now open.
“I’ll be talking about making robots cognitive to enable AI to be useful to humanity instead of competing with us,” he mentioned. “AI is making great steps, but if you look at what it’s doing, like drawing pictures or writing stories — these are things that I’d love to do but don’t have the time for. But if I ask, let’s say, AI to take out the garbage or show it a picture of garbage, it can tell me how to do it, but it’s simply not able to do something about it yet.”
NEURA is watching humanoid improvement however is specializing in integrating cognitive robotics with sensing and wearables because it expands within the U.S., mentioned Reger. The firm is planning for services in Detroit, Boston, and elsewhere, and it’s in search of management staff members in addition to utility builders and engineers.
“We don’t just want a sales office, but also production in the U.S.,” he mentioned. “We have 220 people in Germany — I just welcomed 15 new people who joined NEURA — and are starting to build our U.S. team. In the past several months, we’ve gone with only European and American investors, and we’re looking at the Japanese market. The U.S. is now open to innovation, and it’s an exciting time for us to come.”
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