Brian Heater
Hardware Editor
The Latest from Brian Heater
Covariant’s robotic picking AI nabs another $75M
I took a deep dive with Covariant co-founder and CEO Peter Chen at ProMat the other week. The timing was either perfect or terrible depending on who you ask. I’m sure the startup’s comms people ar
A decade later, this VR treadmill is finally ready to ship
As free promotion for hardware startups go, one would be hard pressed to point to something better than a $175 million Spielberg film. “It was actually Warner Bros. that had reached out to us to get
Babylon raises $8M for its self-contained vertical farming system
Personal vertical farms — that’s the big promise driving Babylon Micro-Farms. The Richmond, Virginia-based startup produces the Galleri, a large $15,000 wall appliance designed to grow more th
This robot dog can play soccer on grass, mud and sand
Here’s a fun challenge: teaching a quadrupedal robot to successfully dribble a soccer ball. It is, in essence, a core component of RoboCup, the big international competition founded all the way back
Asking the right dumb questions
You’ll have to forgive the truncated newsletter this week. Turns out I brought more back from Chicago than a couple of robot stress balls (the one piece of swag I will gladly accept). I was telling
WWDC returns to Apple Park June 5
There are some things you can set your watch to. The occasional global pandemic excepted, developer season is certainly one. After Google I/O and Microsoft Build, WWDC will return to Apple Park in Cup
Covariant’s CEO on building AI that helps robots learn
Covariant was founded in 2017 with a simple goal: helping robots learn how to better pick up objects. It’s a large need among those looking to automate warehouses, and one that is much more complex
Locus Robotics CEO on the future of warehouse automation
Any doubts that ProMat has become a robotics event were laid to rest the moment you walked on the floor at Chicago’s McCormick Place. Locus Robotics planted its flag in a big, expensive way front an
Turntable LIVE (née tt.fm) raises $7M ahead of public launch
The Turntable wars were one of the more fascinating stories to emerge in 2021 startup land (though I suspect those involved might dispute the matter). After years away, the beloved but bygone collabor
Apple discusses iPadOS 16.4’s new Pencil hover features
In October of last year, Apple announced that hover was being added to the Apple Pencil’s bag of tricks. What might sound like a minor update to non-artists represents an important addition to workf
6 River Systems co-founder on the state of warehouse robots
Robots have conquered ProMat. The supply chain and logistics show is a kind of perfect microcosm of where the industry is heading. Many of the show’s main attractions have moved from center stage to
Conventional wisdom
If you’d told me five years ago that I would be flying to Chicago in March to attend a supply chain and logistics show, you would have been greeted by a momentary blank stare, followed by the image
Boston Dynamics puts its robots to work
At first glance, Boston Dynamics is a strange fit for a show like ProMat. For decades, the firm has presented a flashy image to the world — a company well known for robotic highlight reels, from
Pickle launches its truck unloading robot arm
Somewhere along the way, ProMat turned into a robotics show. It’s no surprise, of course. Logistics and automation go hand in hand these days. In the decade since Amazon absorbed Kiva, same- and nex
Meet the new face of Agility Robotics’ Digit
There’s a broad range of thought on robot faces. It’s a surprisingly difficult aspect to get right for some very good reasons. For one thing, we’re hardwired to recognize and intuit faces, so sm
Goodbye, Google Glass, we knew you well
Update: Google tells TechCrunch that it remains committed to augmented reality, stating, “For years, we’ve been building AR into many Google products and we’ll continue to look at ways t
Mistaking performance for competence
A year or two before launching Actuator, someone on staff floated the idea of my writing a weekly robotics newsletter. I balked at the suggestion. Surely, I suggested, we would be struggling to fill t
Ember is in the baby bottle business now
Ember has been a fascinating company to watch. The Los Angeles-based startup entered the scene with a self-heating mug, only to leverage its temperature tech learnings to enter the cold chain space, w
Nimble makes the leap to fully automated third-party logistics warehouses
There’s a long-standing debate in the world of logistics robotics. On one side stand the greenfield folk, who insist that the best possible experience is one built from the ground up, with these aut
Verity raises $32M as IKEA stores deploy its inventory drones
There’s no shortage of startups attempting to put drones to work. There is, however, a longstanding question around the efficacy of such plans. Drones — especially the smaller variety —