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Contoro picks up $12M to scale container unloading robots

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Contoro picks up M to scale container unloading robots

States Logistics in California was an early consumer of Contoro’s truck-unloading robotic.

Unloading trailers and containers is a labor-intensive activity that has been troublesome to automate, however quite a few firms have made progress. Contoro Robotics at present stated it has raised $12 million in Sequence A funding to scale its synthetic intelligence-powered robots.

“Unloading trailers is among the most bodily demanding jobs within the warehouse, but it stays largely handbook,” said Dr. Youngmok “Mok” Yun, founder and CEO of Contoro Robotics. “We’re bringing AI-powered automation that enhances reliability, security, and effectivity—permitting warehouse groups to shift from hazardous, repetitive duties to extra strategic and value-added roles.”

Yun studied human-machine interplay (HMI) on the College of Texas at Austin. After getting his Ph.D., Yun co-founded Harmonic Bionics Inc., which commercialized a system to assist sufferers relearn duties after a stroke.

“Our unique analysis was funded by NASA and the NSF. Contoro is a by-product from Harmonic Bionics,” he instructed The Robotic Report. “At Harmonic Bionics, we used automation to assist individuals be taught. This time, we’re utilizing the human-robot interface in reverse. We’ve additionally offered teleoperation know-how to robotics firms resembling Sanctuary AI.”

Based in 2022, Contoro Robotics makes use of a human-in-the-loop (HITL) mannequin to shut the hole between AI robotics efficiency and industrial wants, Yun defined. The Austin, Texas-based firm stated this method can obtain over 99% success in real-world purposes, growing the business viability of robotic unloading of floor-loaded delivery containers.

Unloading containers has many issues — parcels, pallets, and even furnishings — however we’re primarily targeted on unloading bins from ocean containers,” stated Yun. “The U.S. imports about 26 million every year, they usually’re at present unloaded by hand.”


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Contoro makes use of customized AI and grippers

“For years, automation has struggled to unload multi-SKU, floor-loaded trailers,” famous Contoro Robotics. “It’s an unpredictable course of crammed with different-sized bins, shifting hundreds, and ever-changing packaging.”

The corporate stated it has developed customer-specific AI fashions, progressive greedy methods, and HITL oversight. Contoro initially educated its robots with teleoperation, however its AI can now be taught by itself, with human intervention just for exception dealing with. One individual can oversee greater than 10 robots, Yun stated.

“Our robotic can unload 97% to 98% within the first week, as a result of field designs change, difficult the AI,” he stated. “With a human within the loop, it could then deal with 99.5% after per week. Now we have a number of layers to make human intervention simple as wanted, with AI, distant help, then buyer intervention.”

Yun famous that Contoro’s HITL method is much like that of Plus One Robotics Inc., which can also be in Austin.

Contoro used teleoperation via this exoskeleton to initially train its unloading robots.

Contoro used teleoperation to initially prepare its unloading robots. Supply: Contoro

As well as, Contoro created Duo-Grasp, a proprietary two-point gripping system, to securely deal with a wider vary of field sizes and weights than competing finish effectors.

“Our gripper is articulated and may grasp from two sides with suction cups,” stated Yun. “It will probably carry as much as 80 lb. [36.2 kg] bins for one of many largest furnishings firms within the U.S.”

“Proper now, we’re utilizing a KUKA industrial robotic arm, which is already dependable and inexpensive,” he added. “Different firms use collaborative robots or their very own arms. Now we have eight cameras on the bottom, elbow, finish effector, and the top of the conveyors. We made the cellular base ourselves, due to the particular necessities for climbing ramps, which aren’t degree like warehouse flooring.”

Contoro claimed that its applied sciences allow extremely dependable unloading, even in unpredictable freight logistics environments which can be usually difficult for robots. Its system can decide greater than 300 to 350 circumstances per hour.

“We usually exceed that at buyer websites, and we are able to do multi-picking of smaller and lighter bins,” stated Yun. “Whereas a human can usually decide 500 to 700 objects per hour, we are able to reliably unload heavy bins consistently with out ergonomic pressure due to our human within the loop. Corporations don’t need to drop home equipment or meals.”

Sequence A attracts further traders

Contoro has combined its AI witha custom gripper, a mobile base, and a KUKA arm.

Contoro has mixed its AI with a customized gripper, a cellular base, and a KUKA arm. Supply: Contoro Robotics

Because the warehousing and logistics trade faces ongoing labor shortages and rising prices, traders are searching for scalable, commercially viable approaches to robotics.

New traders Doosan, Coupang, the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, and IMM participated in Contoro Robotics’ Sequence A spherical. They joined current backers SV Funding, KB Funding, Kakao Ventures, and Future Play, bringing Contoro’s complete funding to $22 million.

“Trailer unloading is among the most labor-intensive and handbook processes within the warehouse,” stated Franziska Bossart, head of the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund. “We consider Contoro is making significant progress to deal with this problem with its distinctive finish effector and teleop-augmented AI.”

Different firms engaged on loading and unloading robots embrace Anyware Robotics (which additionally raised $12 million final week), Boston DynamicsDexterityLab0Pickle Robotic, and Slip Robotics. They and Contoro confirmed their completely different approaches at ProMat in Chicago final week.

Robotic unloading to unfold

Contoro Robotics stated that early deployments have already doubled unloading pace, decreased dependency on handbook labor, and saved lots of of labor hours per 30 days for purchasers dealing with rising prices and operational bottlenecks. Its preliminary robots are in Texas and Southern California, with extra coming to New Jersey and different places quickly.

The corporate added that its pay-per-container pricing mannequin, a variation on robotics as a service (RaaS), removes the barrier of upfront capital prices and makes automation a gorgeous different to conventional lumping providers.

“Our enterprise mannequin is exclusive, and we need to make adoption simple,” Yun stated. “For instance, one buyer is a calendar firm that has large seasonality, so we are able to take the robots again exterior of Q3 and This autumn.”

Contoro plans to fabricate extra robots, with remaining meeting in Austin. It additionally plans to broaden into new logistics markets and launch its next-generation AI-driven palletizing system.

The corporate asserted that its robots are already serving to warehouses, distribution facilities, and e-commerce achievement hubs reduce prices and improve throughput “with out the complications of conventional automation deployments.”

“We’re absolutely booked via the third quarter,” stated Yun. “I consider that the way forward for this market is nice, and we’re attacking a small subset of all the drawback.”

ios – (NOBRIDGE) WARN [Layout children]: No route named “inspection/[projectId]/[itemId]” exists in nested youngsters


(NOBRIDGE) WARN [Layout children]: No route named “inspection/[projectId]/[itemId]” exists in nested youngsters: [“+not-found”, “login”, “new-project”, “_sitemap”, “(auth)”, “(tabs)”, “add-item/[projectId]”, “inspection-details/https://stackoverflow.com/q/79534647”, “inspection”, “venture/https://stackoverflow.com/q/79534647”] [Component Stack]

/inspection/[projectId]/[itemId].tsx

export default operate InspectionScreen() {
  const { projectId, itemId } = useLocalSearchParams();
  const router = useRouter();
  
  const [itemName, setItemName] = useState('');
  const [serialNumber, setSerialNumber] = useState(null);
  const [isScannerVisible, setIsScannerVisible] = useState(false);
  const [hasPermission, setHasPermission] = useState(null);
  const [scanned, setScanned] = useState(false);
  const [isLoading, setIsLoading] = useState(true);
  const [questions, setQuestions] = useState([]);
  const [answers, setAnswers] = useState([]);
  const [isSaving, setIsSaving] = useState(false);
  const [refreshing, setRefreshing] = useState(false);

  // Memoize the loadData operate to stop pointless recreations
  const loadData = useCallback(async () => {
    if (!projectId || !itemId) return;

    strive {
      setIsLoading(true);
      
      // Fetch merchandise particulars
      const merchandise = await db.getItem(itemId as string);
      if (merchandise) {
        setItemName(merchandise.identify);
        setSerialNumber(merchandise.serial_number);
      }

That is how I name the merchandise inspection to save lots of

      Alert.alert(
        'Success',
        `Inspection ${standing} efficiently`,
        [{ 
          text: 'OK', 
          onPress: () => {
            router.push({
              pathname: '/project/https://stackoverflow.com/q/79534647',
              params: { id: projectId as string, refresh: 'true' }
            });
          }
        }]
      );

That is my code to entry the merchandise inspection in

venture/https://stackoverflow.com/q/79534647.tsx


           router.push(`/inspection/${id}/${merchandise.id}`)}
          >
            
            Examine
          

I’ve tried creating a brand new _layout.tsx for the folder [projectId] however nonetheless nothing.

It shows the proper merchandise to examine on net, however at any time when I am going to Expo Go, it reveals “This display screen would not exist.”

Please assist!

Any assist could be wonderful!

All the pieces You Must Find out about Error Message Vulnerabilities


Why do you have to care about data publicity?

Ever get a type of annoying error messages in your cellphone that provides method an excessive amount of element? You already know, those that let you know the road of code that failed or the precise database question that crashed the app. As an app consumer, you might dismiss the message and transfer on. However do you know these overly verbose error messages might be exposing your private information?

Enhanced Instruments for Safe & Environment friendly Improvement



Enhanced Instruments for Safe & Environment friendly Improvement

Posted by Suzanne Frey – VP, Product, Belief & Progress for Android & Play

Realizing that you just’re constructing on a protected, safe ecosystem is important for any app developer. We repeatedly spend money on defending Android and Google Play, so thousands and thousands of customers all over the world can belief the apps they obtain and you may construct thriving companies. And we’re devoted to repeatedly enhancing our developer instruments to make world–class safety even simpler to implement.

Collectively, we’ve made Google Play one of many most secure and most safe platforms for builders and customers. Our partnership over the previous few years consists of serving to you:

At this time, we’re excited to share extra about how we’re making it simpler than ever for builders to construct protected apps, whereas additionally persevering with to strengthen our ecosystem’s safety in 2025 and past.

Making it simpler so that you can construct safer apps from the beginning

Google Play’s insurance policies are a essential element of guaranteeing a protected expertise for our shared customers. Play Console pre-review checks are an effective way to resolve sure coverage and compatibility points earlier than you submit your app for overview. We not too long ago added the power to verify privateness coverage hyperlinks and login credential necessities, and we’re launching even extra pre-review checks this 12 months that will help you keep away from widespread coverage pitfalls.

That will help you keep away from coverage problems earlier than you submit apps for overview, we’ve been notifying you earlier about sure insurance policies related to your apps – beginning proper as you code in Android Studio. We at present notify builders by means of Android Studio about a number of key coverage areas, however this 12 months we’ll increase to a a lot wider vary of insurance policies.

Offering extra coverage assist

Performing in your suggestions, we’ve improved our coverage expertise to offer you clearer updates, extra time for substantial adjustments, extra versatile necessities whereas nonetheless sustaining security requirements, and extra useful data with reside Q&A’s. Quickly, we’ll be making an attempt a brand new means of speaking with you in Play Console so that you get data if you want it most. This 12 months, we’re investing in much more methods to get your suggestions, enable you perceive our insurance policies, navigate our Coverage Heart, and assist to repair points earlier than app submission by means of new options in Console and Android Studio.

We’re additionally increasing our common Google Play Developer Assist Neighborhood, which noticed 2.7 million visits final 12 months from builders seeking to discover solutions to coverage questions, share data, and join with fellow builders. This 12 months, we’re planning to increase the group to incorporate extra languages, resembling Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, and Portuguese.

Defending your online business and customers from scams and assaults

The Play Integrity API is a vital software to assist shield your online business from abuse resembling fraud, bots, dishonest, and knowledge theft. Builders are already utilizing the APIs to make over 500M each day checks for probably fraudulent or dangerous habits. The truth is, apps that use Play Integrity options to detect suspicious exercise are seeing an 80% drop in unauthorized utilization on common in comparison with different apps.

Developers are using Play Integrity API's new app access risk detection to make over 500M daily checks for potentially fraudulent or risky behavior, and apps that use the Play Integrity API are seeing 80% lower usage from unverified, untrusted sources on average.

This 12 months, we’ll proceed to improve the Play Integrity API with stronger safety for much more customers. We not too long ago improved the know-how that powers the API on all units operating Android 13 (API degree 33) and above, making it sooner, extra dependable, and extra non-public for customers. We additionally launched enhanced safety alerts that will help you determine how a lot you belief the setting your app is operating in, which we’ll robotically roll out to all builders who use the API in Could. You may decide in now to start out utilizing the improved verdicts in the present day.

We’ll be including new options later this 12 months that will help you take care of rising threats, resembling the power to re-identify abusive and dangerous units in a means that additionally preserves consumer privateness. We’re additionally constructing extra instruments that will help you information customers to repair points, like in the event that they want a safety replace or they’re utilizing a tampered model of your app.

Offering extra validation in your app

For apps in choose classes, we provide badges that present an additional layer of validation and join customers with protected, high-quality, and helpful experiences. Constructing on the work of final 12 months’s “Authorities” badge, which helps customers determine official authorities apps, this 12 months we launched a “Verified” badge to assist customers uncover VPN apps that take further steps to show their dedication to safety. We’ll proceed to increase on this and add badges to extra app classes sooner or later.

Partnering to maintain youngsters protected

Whether or not your app is particularly designed for youths or just attracts their consideration, there may be an added accountability to make sure a protected and trusted expertise. We need to associate with you to maintain youngsters and teenagers protected on-line, and shield their privateness, and empower households. Along with Google Play’s Instructor Accepted program, Households insurance policies, and instruments like Prohibit Declared Minors setting throughout the Google Play Console, we’re constructing instruments like Credential Supervisor API, now in Beta for Digital IDs.

Strengthening the Android ecosystem

Along with serving to builders construct stronger, safer apps on Google Play, we stay dedicated to defending the broader Android ecosystem. Final 12 months, our investments in stronger privateness insurance policies, AI-powered menace detection and different safety measures prevented 2.36 million policy-violating apps from being printed on Google Play. Against this, our most up-to-date evaluation discovered over 50 instances extra Android malware from Web-sideloaded sources (like browsers and messaging apps) than on Google Play. This 12 months we’re engaged on methods to make it even more durable for malicious actors to cover or trick customers into dangerous installs, which is not going to solely shield your online business from fraud but additionally assist customers obtain your apps with confidence.

Our most recent analysis found over 50 times more Android malware from Internet-sideloaded sources than on Google Play

In the meantime, Google Play Shield is all the time evolving to fight new threats and shield customers from dangerous apps that may result in scams and fraud. As this can be a core a part of consumer security, we’re doing extra to maintain customers from being socially-engineered by scammers to show this off. First, Google Play Shield reside menace detection is increasing its safety to focus on malicious functions that attempt to impersonate monetary apps. And our enhanced monetary fraud safety pilot has continued to increase after a profitable launch in choose international locations the place we noticed malware based mostly monetary fraud coming from Web-sideloaded sources. We’re planning to increase the pilot all through this 12 months to extra international locations the place now we have seen larger ranges of malware-based monetary fraud.

We’re even working with different leaders throughout the {industry} to guard all customers, it doesn’t matter what system they use or the place they obtain their apps. As a founding member of the App Protection Alliance, we’re working to ascertain and promote industry-wide safety requirements for cellular and net functions, in addition to cloud configurations. Lately, the ADA launched Utility Safety Assessments (ASA) v1.0, which gives clear steerage to builders on defending delicate knowledge and defending towards cyber assaults to strengthen consumer belief.

What’s subsequent

Please hold the suggestions coming! We recognize understanding what could make our builders’ experiences extra environment friendly whereas guaranteeing we keep the best requirements in app security. Thanks in your continued partnership in making Android and Google Play a protected, thriving platform for everybody.

Teradyne Robotics, NVIDIA present newest AI Accelerator toolkit at GTC

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Teradyne Robotics, NVIDIA present newest AI Accelerator toolkit at GTC

The AI Accelerator options an embedded NVIDIA Jetson Orin field mixed with PolyScope X. | Supply: Common Robots

At NVIDIA GTC 2025 final week, Teradyne Robotics unveiled a collection of synthetic intelligence-driven instruments that it developed with NVIDIA. The occasion featured the primary public demonstration of the AI Accelerator in commercially viable functions.

The AI Accelerator is a toolkit that Teradyne Robotics firm Common Robots (UR) designed in collaboration with NVIDIA to allow the event of AI-powered functions. It brings AI acceleration to UR’s PolyScope X software program platform.

“Bodily AI equips robots with the capability to understand and reply to the true world, offering the flexibility and problem-solving capabilities which are typically required by advanced use instances which have been out of scope till now,” mentioned James Davidson, the chief AI officer at Teradyne Robotics. “As an alternative of merely executing pre-programmed directions, robots empowered by AI achieve the flexibility to study, adapt, and make knowledgeable choices grounded of their sensory enter.”

“Consider a logistics operation the place robots navigate by a warehouse with continuously altering layouts and obstacles. Or a development website the place robots help in meeting duties inside unpredictable and altering environments,” he added. “The AI Accelerator helps our cobots higher perceive their environment, plan optimum paths, and execute duties safely and effectively in beforehand unmanageable areas.”

Teradyne Robotics is a developer of superior collaborative and cellular robotic expertise. Its corporations, Common Robots and Cellular Industrial Robots (MiR), mentioned they can assist companies of all sizes enhance operational effectivity. Teradyne Robotics is a division of Teradyne, a number one provider of automated check gear and industrial automation.

Collaborative robotics chief Common Robots first launched the AI Accelerator in October 2024.


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AI Accelerator contains upgrades

“The AI Accelerator supplies builders with an extensible platform to construct and de-risk functions and scale back time to market,” mentioned Ujjwal Kumar, group president of Teradyne Robotics. “Our new accomplice functions powered by the AI Accelerator clearly exhibit how Common Robots is turning into the popular platform for bodily AI, addressing beforehand unsolvable challenges in collaborative robotics.”

The toolkit is powered by NVIDIA Isaac accelerated libraries and AI fashions, working on the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin system-on-module (SoM). The corporate mentioned the brand new model of AI Accelerator integrates the newest launch of NVIDIA Isaac ROS, particularly NVIDIA Isaac Manipulator parts, enhancing pose-estimation and path-planning efficiency.

The most recent model of the AI Accelerator additionally affords high-speed GMSL connectivity on imaginative and prescient sensors, upgraded from USB3, and it runs on the latest model of PolyScope X (10.8).

“Robotics and bodily AI deployments are on an accelerated trajectory pushed by developments in generative AI and simulation with NVIDIA’s Isaac robotics platform,” mentioned Deepu Talla, vice chairman of robotics and edge AI at NVIDIA. “Our collaboration with Teradyne Robotics brings this newest expertise and advantages to Teradyne’s in depth developer and accomplice community.”

Whereas the AI Accelerator is primarily centered on UR cobots, the underlying AI and accelerated computing expertise additionally profit MiR, one other Teradyne firm featured at GTC.

For instance, the MiR1200 pallet jack makes use of 3D imaginative and prescient and the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin module for pallet detection, permitting the pallet jack to determine, choose up, and ship pallets with precision in advanced environments.