Drone Week: Innovation in agriculture and hydrogen fuel
In Episode 165 of The Robot Report Podcast, co-hosts Mike Oitzman and Steve Crowe discuss the latest robotics news from the past week.
It’s drone week on the podcast, and we feature two interviews from the world of aerial robotics. A month ago we featured a story about a drone industry group formed to lobby against the Countering CCP Drone Act in the U.S. Congress. This is a group of ag-spraying service providers who’ve built their business around DJI drones. Today, we talk with Hylio Drones CEO and Co-founder Arthur Erickson. He and his fellow University of Texas, Austin co-founders are focused on the ag-spraying industry and are the largest U.S.-based ag-spraying drone company. The company manufactures its drones entirely in the U.S., and a DJI-drone ban will hand them a monopoly in the U.S.
The second featured interview is with Heven Drones CEO and co-founder Bentzion Levinson. Heven (pronounced “heaven”) Drones are innovating in the drone market by using hydrogen fuel cells instead of lithium-ion batteries to achieve fight times of up to eight hours. Heven is deploying its drone platform into use cases such as infrastructure inspection, security, long-distance package delivery, and military applications.
A Heven Drones H2D200 long-distance drone platform. | Credit: Heven Drones
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Show timeline
- 8:01 – News of the week
- 24:24 – Interview with Arthur Erickson, CEO and Co-founder, Hylio Drones
- 53:10 – Interview with Bentzion Levinson, CEO and Co-founder, Heven Drones
News of the week
Skydio launches the Dock for X10
At its annual Ascend event, DJI unveiled its latest innovation: the Dock for X10. This automatic drone hangar is designed to support remote autonomy and Flight Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations. As DJI continues to focus on autonomous drones for police surveillance, security patrols, and industrial inspections, the Dock offers a crucial solution for recharging and protecting these unmanned aerial vehicles. By enabling drones to respond to emergency calls alongside human first responders, DJI is pushing the boundaries of public safety technology.
IFR World Robotics report says 4M robots are operating in factories globally
The operational stock of industrial robots worldwide. | Source: IFR
According to the International Federation of Robotics’ World Robotics report, the number of industrial robots operating globally reached a new high of 4,281,585 units in 2023, marking a 10% increase from the previous year. For the third consecutive year, annual robot installations surpassed half a million units. Asia continued to dominate the market, accounting for 70% of all newly deployed robots, followed by Europe at 17% and the Americas at 10%.
Boston Dynamics unleashes Spot v4.1
Boston Dynamics has expanded Spot’s capabilities with new sensor integration options. A Spot-mounted Fluke SV600 can now collect acoustic vibration data, enabling automated predictive maintenance and reducing unplanned downtime. Additionally, laser-scanning integration with Orbit, Boston Dynamics’ fleet management software, allows for the creation of digital twins of facilities. Operators can plan reality-capture missions using Spot-mounted Leica BLK ARC laser scanning payloads, and the data can be easily processed in various digital twin software. The Spot Core I/O enhances the robot’s visual semantic context, enabling it to navigate around obstacles more efficiently and perceive a wider area for alternative paths.
Kiva Systems founders to enter Logistics Hall of Fame as mobile robot pioneers
Mick Mountz, Peter Wurman and Raffaello D’Andrea (Left to Right), Co-founders of Kiva Systems, are 2020 inductees in the National Inventors Hall of Fame. | Credit: National Inventors Hall of Fame
In 2003, Mick Mountz, Dr. Peter Wurman, and Prof. Raffaello D’Andrea invented a mobile robot for fulfillment in intralogistics, founded Kiva Systems, and created a category of automation that has grown over the past two decades. A jury has voted to recognize their innovation by inducting them into the Logistics Hall of Fame.
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