Danube Dynamics: Flexible and inexpensive bin picking
I met Edwin Schweiger (photo above) at last week's Motek trade fair. Together with Nico Teringl and Philipp Knaack, he founded the Linz-based startup Danube Dynamics in 2020. The AI company already has interesting solutions in its portfolio or under development.
Mixed financing
One thing first: Danube Dynamics has no connection to the inventor of the robot skin "AIRSKIN", Blue Danube Robotics (also located in Vienna). Danube Dynamics is financed until the planned market launch in mid to late Q. 1 2023 through development contracts, a six-figure investment from business angels from the university environment and funding from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency. After all, the company already employs a double-digit number of people, so the aforementioned capital requirement until market launch of 1.5 million euros is easy to understand. As emphasized in the video below, the know-how includes not only AI, but also hardware development. Winning the Startup Award in Linz speaks for itself, as the region there is very much characterized by innovative companies (e.g. Keba - cooperation partner of Danube Dynamics, Agrilox, Fronius).
auros - flexible bin picking
This Wednesday (12.10.22), the company invites to the product launch of its first product in Linz(link). "auros for robotics". A "release event" is planned for the end of February 2023. The software is already in use at two test customers.
"auros for robotics" is seen as a highly flexible solution for the automation of manual workstations in the field of bin picking. The end user himself can teach in the items. "auros" is intuitive and flexible to use. The software recognizes the articles (i.e. object recognition) and searches for the ideal gripping or suction point. It helps here that it can handle variances. The software works with all standard cobot and other robotic arms and does not require a cloud (i.e. Edge). The fast ROI is achieved by two factors: its price and it can be quickly retooled by the user. I.e. new items can be taught within a short time. This makes "auros" particularly suitable for flexible manufacturing/logistics tasks, even with small quantities.
Regarding the scope of delivery and price: An auros system includes hardware (efficient IPC + 3D camera + EoA adapter, but no gripper), and software (industrial-grade operating system + skills for distinguishing and gripping objects + connection to UR via URCaps) for €15k list price.
In addition, a dev kit (not for productive use) will be offered for €7k list.
Safety tool for mobile robots is in the pipeline
Another solution is intended especially for AMR. It is designed to detect inattentive employees while the mobile robot is in motion and thus warn them. Because no attention is to be expected from the person for the reason mentioned. The photo suggests that the employee shown has something else on his mind. Accordingly, he is marked in red and the AMR is warned.
Are we networking? LinkedIn
-> To the Cobot group on LinkedIn (Link)
In my own account/advertisement
The author of this blog is significantly involved in the AI/robotics project Opdra. He advises SMEs on robotics - up to 50% funding is possible. Permanently looking for interesting solutions, he has seen hundreds of applications. For this reason, his customers also include large companies that have know-how but do not know the entire market. You can find more about him here.
