Daniel Theobald on funding early startups and the longer term for ag robotics

By Mike Oitzman | October 5, 2023

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On this episode

On this episode, we sit down with Vecna Robotics Founder and Chairman Daniel Theobald and speak in regards to the perils of funding early-stage robotics startups and the expertise that Daniel will convey to the Robotics Startup Workshop on October 18 at RoboBusiness 2023.
Daniel additionally takes us behind the scenes at his newest enterprise at Twisted Fields on the California coast, his private farm and ag-robotics take a look at floor. It’s an incredible dialog with one of many cell robotics business’s luminaries.

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Information of the week

• IFR studies 2022 industrial robotic installations
  • In response to the Worldwide Federation of Robotics (IFR) World Robotics report, 553,052 industrial robots had been put in in factories around the globe – a progress charge of 5% in 2022, year-on-year. By area, 73% of all newly deployed robots had been put in in Asia, 15% in Europe, and 10% within the Americas.
    • China is by far the world’s largest market. In 2022, annual installations of 290,258 items changed the earlier report of 2021 by progress of 5%.
    • Robotic installations in Japan had been up by 9% to 50,413 items, exceeding the pre-pandemic degree of 49,908 items in 2019. The height degree remained at 55,240 items in 2018. The nation ranks second to China within the measurement of the marketplace for industrial robots.
    • The market within the Republic of Korea rose by 1% – installations reached 31,716 items in 2022. This was the second yr of marginal progress, following 4 years of declining set up figures. The Republic of Korea stays the fourth largest robotic market on this planet, following the USA, Japan, and China.
    • The European Union stays the world’s second-largest market (70,781 items; +5%) in 2022. Germany is likely one of the high 5 adopters worldwide with a market share of 36% inside the EU.
    • Lastly, Within the Americas, installations had been up 8% to 56,053 items in 2022, surpassing the 2018 peak degree (55,212 items). The USA, the biggest regional market, accounted for 71% of the installations within the Americas in 2022. Robotic installations had been up by 10% to 39,576 items. This was simply shy of the height degree of 40,373 items achieved in 2018.
• 2024 Farm Robotics Problem
  • The 2024 Farm Robotics Problem competitors kicked off final week at FIRA USA 2024
  • It’s a college engineering problem for AG robotics, in the same vein to the Indy Autonomous Problem
  • The Farm Robotics problem is supported by Farm-ng, which is supplying Amiga robotic parts to the contributors
  • The groups will suggest a particular AG automation-related undertaking after which execute the creation of the answer all through the college yr
  • Judging occurs in September 2024
    • There are 4 classes of awards:
      • Grand Prize: Awarded to the workforce that excels in all elements of the problem, from innovation to implementation.
      • Magnificence in Design: Celebrates the workforce that excels in making a well-designed, user-friendly resolution.
      • Complexity: Honors the workforce that tackles essentially the most complicated challenges with a sophisticated and complex resolution.
      • Small Farm: Acknowledges the workforce that creates an answer particularly tailor-made to the wants of small farms.
• Dexterity debuts trailer loading system
  • Dexterity AI introduced a collaboration with FedEx Corp to leverage AI-powered robotic expertise to load bins into vehicles and trailers. Dexterity’s propriety cell robotic design, known as DexR, navigates autonomously to the again of trailers and makes use of its two robotic arms to load bins from a powered conveyor system into the truck.
  • At FedEx, robotic programs want to have the ability to deal with packages that adjust in measurement, form, weight, and packaging materials.
  • In August, Dexterity unveiled the three.0 launch of its Palletizing and Depalletizing software program (PDP), which is geared toward unlocking pallet operations within the warehouse.