As we start a new year, we wanted to take a quick look back at some of our most-read blog posts from 2021.  Check out the most popular stories below and be sure to subscribe in the sidebar for updates on future robotics stories.

Clearpath Robotics Announces TurtleBot 4

In October 2021, we were happy to announce the next chapter for the world’s most popular open-source robotics platform: TurtleBot 4. Our partnership with Open Robotics has allowed us to work directly with and support the open-source community to provide the latest and greatest technology for robotics research, development, and education. The Turtlebot 4 offers more computing power, better sensors, and a world-class user experience at an affordable price point.

Read the full story here.

Husky UGV Drives Smart Precision Agriculture for Steep Slope Vineyards

The world’s population just keeps growing and growing. How are we expected to keep up? With a population estimated to reach 9 billion by 2050, the agriculture industry is looking to robotics to dramatically increase production. A team from INESC TEC – Technology and Science are creating a ROS stack solution using Husky UGV for precision field crop agriculture to combat this issue.

Read the full story here.

ÉTS Fosters Next Generation of Roboticists with Dingo Fleet

Dingo might be the new dog in the pack but has already been causing a stir. We loved learning about how the youngest of our robots is helping to teach robotics and coding fundamentals to engineering undergrad and provide valuable hands-on experience at École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS).

Read the full story here.

Behind the Robot: HITT’s Construction Site Monitoring Husky UGV

This year we also introduced a new series to our blog “Behind the Robot” which features some of the customer engineering and integration projects that we get to work on. For this robot, HITT wanted to address the struggle the construction industry has of attracting talent for site operations roles – one of the most important roles in the entire construction project lifecycle. So, using Husky UGV, they created an autonomous construction site superintendent. 

Read the full story here.

Shanghai Tech University Furthers SLAM Research with High-Resolution Datasets

Have you seen one too many viral videos of “autonomous” robots driving in circles or running into walls? The world is a dynamic and ever-changing environment and robot localization will only become more crucial. To advance SLAM research, a team from Shanghai Tech University is working with Jackal UGV to develop and collect open-source datasets for sensor data.

Read the full story here.

Systems Intelligence Solutions Develops Gazebo SDF File and MATLAB-Simulink Controller for Spot

2021 didn’t just bring us exciting new customer stories but we also had the chance to partner with Systems Intelligence Solutions who used our ROS Package for Spot to enhance Gazebo simulation applications and ultimately test and analyze the robot in real-world applications.

Read the full story here.

Behind the Robot: RFID Inventory Scanning Robot

Our second integration project story took us into the world of inventory management automation; a field that is growing to meet the ever-growing demands of a booming population coupled with the supply chain, ordering, and transportation issues. Using Boxer as a base, our customer created an RFID inventory scanner to assist inventory management to ultimately create better oversight and accountability for their customers.

Read the full story here.

Cranfield University and Network Rail Develop Autonomous Rail Inspection and Repair System

Although railroads see an astounding quantity of freight, inspection and repair tasks on railways are still being performed by human workers. In2Smart 2 is a collaborative project using a Warthog UGV between Cranfield University and Network Rail that wants to take humans out of the dangerous equation by developing an autonomous integrated inspection and repair system for railways.

Read the full story here.