robotics Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

Endiatx’s pill-sized robot sees and swims inside the stomach

Endiatx co-founder and CEO Torrey Smith with PillBot [Photo by Hardy Wilson for MDO]

An unconventional CEO and his team take aim at endoscopies with faster, cheaper stomach imaging — and that’s just the start. Welcome to the era of tiny robots inside the body.

As he prepared to swallow his robot for the first time, Torrey Smith’s doctors warned that the battery was his greatest threat.

If the capsule came apart and the battery burned the tissue lining his stomach, it would only be the beginning of a very bad experience.

“I was just hoping that we would get any kind of a positive signal that we were on the right track,” Smith, co-founder and CEO of Endiatx, said of the June 2020 test. “At that time, our radio bandwidth was so limited. We were pushing 48 pixels square of grayscale, not even color, at just a few frames per second. The worst video quality you could imagine —…

Quest Industrial launches new pallet-packing Box Bot

The maker of a system that robotically packs pallets for tractor-trailer shipping has released a simpler version to appeal to a wider range of manufacturers.

Quest Industrial says its standardized Box Bot QB300 has the same features and benefits as the original Box Bot, but is built for manufacturers that don’t need much additional customization. Box Bot users can design and automate precise pallet patterns for boxes, bags or other products to optimize shipping space in semi-trailers. The system’s footprint starts as small as 8 feet by 10 feet.

“There are many customer applications that are relatively straightforward and ultimately don’t need something that’s extremely complex,” Quest Director of Sales Ryan Womble said in a news release. “We’ve standardized and pre-defined key configurations of the Box Bot, while not sacrificing capability or functionality. Our standardized version enables us to offer a more cost-effective palletizing solution to customer…

Stäubli Robotics appoints new pharma and medical device head

The Pfäffikon, Switzerland–based mechatronics and robotics company has named Olivier Cremoux to be the deputy head of pharma and medical device for Stäubli Robotics North America. Cremoux has worked in various Stäubli divisions since 2015 and has served as an international business development manager. In 2018, he began a stint as a North American business development manager for robotics.

Oliver Cremoux

In a statement, Cremoux stated that Stäubli Robotics’ pharma and medical device segments are “strategic and growing markets” for the company and have been for more than 20 years. “High throughput screening, aseptic fill/finish, orthopedic surgery, bio-printing and cell culturing are examples of processes where Stäubli Robotics started as a pioneer and became a reference,” Cremoux said. “With COVID-19 pandemic, robotics became even more essential to our customers, from drug production to COVID test manufactur…