From Bedrock to Brooklyn, Optimus Ride changes the driving game
From the Flinstone’s leg-powered vehicles to the Jetson’s flying cars, we’ve seen many fantasies about the future of driving. Some of those fantasies, however, are coming to fruition thanks to self-driving technology. Optimus Ride, an autonomous vehicle company, deployed its self-driving cars in two new locations, including a 300-acre industrial park in Brooklyn, New York, and a retirement community in California. Optimus Ride will pick up and drop off area residents and workers. At the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the cars will provide a loop shuttle service that connects ferry commuters to the Yard’s entrance. [BigFish Communications]
RightHand Robotics’s forges new partnership
RightHand Robotics, a company speeding up the supply chain with robotic piece-picking technology, partnered with Paltac Corporation, Japan’s largest packaged goods wholesaler of cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and other consumer goods. Paltac will use RightHand’s RightPick solution to help pick and place items at super speed. The solution is built to withstand the demands of today’s online shopping mania with AI software and gripping hardware. The partnership is the latest expansion for RightHand Robotics following their recent $23 million Series B funding round. [Global Newswire]
Sea Machines opens new Boston tech center
Enough about self-driving cars for the moment; Let’s turn our attention to self-driving boats. Sea Machines, a developer of autonomous vessels in maritime industries, is opening a new technology center in Boston. The space will be used to accelerate product development and accommodate the company’s growing team. The company’s autonomous vessel software is aimed at boosting safety, efficiency and performance of commercial vessels, ships and workboats. [Sea Machines Robotics]
Mass. wins gold for most innovative state. We aren’t surprised.
The United States ranks No.6 on the world’s innovation list, according to the Global Innovation Index. But how do individual states stack up? WalletHub recently evaluated the 50 states (and the District of Columbia) to determine which state is the most innovative. The answer shouldn’t surprise you: Massachusetts was ranked in the top spot. The innovation categories looked at factors like the number of STEM professionals, the rate of venture capital funding and more. Curious to know where other states ranked? Washington and the District of Columbia ranked in second and third place respectively. Iowa, West Virginia and Mississippi were among the bottom five. [WalletHub]
Boston University plans to build 17-story data center
Data science is the latest tech industry to face a skills gap. Boston University is confronting that gap head on with a new data science center. The hub will be a 17-story tower, the tallest height of any building on campus. The center is also a response to the growing demand for computer science, math and statistics classes. The university’s computer science courses experienced a 266 percent increase in the 2017 academic year compared to 2007. You can take a peek at the building’s plans here. [Boston University]
