Pittsburgh Headlines

Pittsburgh has been ranked as the third best city in the Midwest for start-ups! The study ranked 59 cities and used startup activity, access to resources, and business climate as criteria.

Pittsburgh has been named one of the best cities for remote workers! The group looked at six main factors for the ranking, including cost of living, Wi-Fi speed, delivery options, parks per capita, proximity to a major airport and affordable three-plus-bedroom homes on the market.

Pittsburgh jobs have rebound by 53% according to a new report from the Allegheny Conference. Only four cities regained a higher percentage of jobs.

The new Mill 19 development in Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood is now home to the largest solar array of its kind at 133,000 square-feet. Aptiv, Carnegie Mellon’s Manufacturing Futures Initiative, and the ARM Institute have a presence at Mill 19.

PRN Member Headlines

With support from Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), Near Earth Autonomy and Kaman Aerospace Corporation have partnered to develop an intelligent autonomy system for the K-MAX helicopter, a large-scale transport aircraft capable of lifting a payload of 6,000 pounds.

PRN Member Locomation successfully completed its first on-road pilot transporting commercial freight. In partnership with risk management consultancy Aon and Wilson Logistics, Locomation deployed two trucks hauling trailers in a driverless convoy on a 420-mile-long route stretching from Portland to Nampa, Idaho along I-84.

“Our clients are saying, ‘We’ve underbuilt for buy online, pick up in store.’ It’s expanded the range of folks looking for automation. It’s not just Fortune 500 companies.” - Tom Galluzzo of IAM Robotics discusses the increased interest in automation due to COVID-19 with The Wall Street Journal

Carnegie Robotics was featured in a National Geographic article exploring how technology is helping to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Carnegie Robotics is using UVC light to disinfect surfaces in the Pittsburgh International Airport - making it the first U.S. airport to deploy this technology using robots.

The ARM Institute will present a keynote session on trends in robots for manufacturing during the RoboBusiness Direct Conference. Registration for the session is free.

Industry Headlines

Safe Space Technologies, a Pittsburgh-based company, gained media attention for its mobile robots that can disinfect entire rooms using UVC (ultraviolet) light. The company says that in an open space like a gym, one robot can disinfect 4,174 square feet within one hour.

Aptiv merged its self-driving vehicle team in a joint venture with Hyundai Motor Group. The joint venture is valued at $4 billion and has launched its new identity as Motional. Motional currently has 220 employees based in Pittsburgh, with operations at the new Hazelwood Green site.

The Robot Report took a look at July 2020 robotics investments and reported that robotics companies received more than $1.9 billion in funding in July. Autonomous vehicles led the investments, followed by drones, robots for manufacturing, and healthcare systems.