Robots are rapidly evolving to operate autonomously. Their abilities to traverse changing and unstructured environments allow them to address a wide array of challenging automation duties.
A webinar conducted by Pamela Gauci, Senior Marketing Manager at Velodyne Lidar, and Ryan Gariepy, CTO and Co-Founder of Clearpath Robotics, discussed how autonomous mobile robots continue to evolve and take on a greater complexity of tasks and work environments, helping to tackle the dirtiest and deadliest jobs.
The episode was part of the digital learning series on “Automation and Safety During COVID-19,” organized by Velodyne.
Clearpath Robotics is a global leader in unmanned vehicle robotics for research and development. They provide hardware, software and services to enable autonomous mobile robot development, deployment and operation. Clearpath’s robotic solutions use Velodyne’s lidar sensors, allowing the robots to detect and avoid obstacles for safe autonomous navigation.
Here are three takeaways from the webinar:
Ryan walked through application use cases of Clearpath robots “in the wild.” They are handling dull jobs like plant pollination and hauling water in villages in India. The robots are tackling dirty jobs such as monitoring feed in feedlot bunks and hauling trash. Clearpath solutions are addressing dangerous tasks, including scanning decommissioned tunnels and nuclear waste retrieval.
Ryan discussed how Clearpath Robotics is continuing to do what they do best, which is to make it easier for researchers to develop new applications for robotics. He said the crisis has hammered home the need to respond quickly with new robotic applications. For instance, the Clearpath Robotics automotive team is working to use robots to automate material flow and remove low-value tasks from workflows, so people can work on more fulfilling tasks.
Ryan positioned lidar as a great shortcut to have “when you are looking to change the world.” He added that is it a lot easier to build in safety with lidar and mobile robots need to be perfectly safe. Ryan looks for lidar to be reliable, robust and field proven to earn the trust needed for a robotics platform.
Watch the full webinar below!
Velodyne Lidar (Nasdaq: VLDR, VLDRW) ushered in a new era of autonomous technology with the invention of real-time surround view lidar sensors. Velodyne, a global leader in lidar, is known for its broad portfolio of breakthrough lidar technologies. Velodyne’s revolutionary sensor and software solutions provide flexibility, quality and performance to meet the needs of a wide range of industries, including robotics, industrial, intelligent infrastructure, autonomous vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Through continuous innovation, Velodyne strives to transform lives and communities by advancing safer mobility for all.
