Automate In Your Backyard

This week: Automate 2025 debuts and AI agents (paid), ADAR, 3D printed houses, self-healing glass, LMR battery tech, FIAT 500 hybrid commission, 124-layer PCB, predictive procurement and logistics.

May 18, 2025

∙ Paid

Shop Talk

Capturing this week's zeitgeist

According to the latest data from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), the U.S. automotive industry increased industrial robot installations by 10.7% to 13,700 units in 2024, despite the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) reporting a 15% drop in automotive sales. This automation surge comes as the U.S. faces global competition, ranking only tenth worldwide in manufacturing robot density at 295 robots per 10,000 employees, while China has surged to third place with 470. IFR President Takayuki Ito notes that while U.S. automotive automation ranks fifth globally, the country lags in other manufacturing sectors. Most robots installed in the U.S. come from four countries—Japan, China, Germany, and South Korea—which produce 70% of global installations, raising questions about how recent U.S. tariffs might impact future automation as manufacturers balance nearshoring benefits against potentially higher costs for overseas-produced robots. Yet these market challenges didn't dampen enthusiasm at North America's premier automation event, Automate 2025, which was packed full with many Exponential Industry readers and industrial robots alike.

Automate 2025 showcased an abundance of industrial robots in action, yet surprisingly few AI agents; leaving attendees wondering when true intelligent automation might finally transform the manufacturing floor. — Automate 2025 showcased an abundance of industrial robots in action

Assembly Line

This week's most influential Industry 4.0 media.

What ‘ADAR’ Means for Future Robotics Deployments in Busy Packaging Facilities

Packaging, logistics and warehouse facilities are increasingly adopting autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to increase productivity and throughput, address labor challenges, and reduce waste. Ole Marius Rindal, the co-founder of Sonair, explains how advances in obstacle detection technology can ensure safer interaction between robots, humans and equipment in busy packaging facilities:

With AMRs typically carrying two 2D safety LiDAR, removing these expensive sensors produces an immediate $8000 in savings. Deploying four ADAR-based sensors instead, at an approximate cost of $4,000, provides the AMR with a full 360-degree protection from obstacles and at 50% lower cost compared to 2D LiDAR-based alternatives.

Inside The World’s Largest 3D Printed Neighborhood

Philips Fixables allows consumers to 3D print their own replacement parts /TCT/
MX3D secures €7M to scale robotic metal 3D printing /Silicon Canals/
Roblox open-sources Cube 3D model for AI-driven 3D object generation /3DPI/

AI Makes TOILET PAPER Now?! Advanced Toilet Paper Factory Process Revealed!

Inducing mechanical self-healing in polymer glasses

✍️ Author: José Ruiz-Franco, Andrea Giuntoli

Polymer glasses such as the plastics used in pipes, structural materials, and medical devices are ubiquitous in daily life. The nature of their low molecular mobility is still poorly understood and it leads to brittle mechanical behavior, damage, and fracture over time. It also prevents the design of self-healing mechanisms that expand the material’s lifespan, as more commonly done in recent years for higher mobility amorphous polymers such as gels and rubbers. We demonstrate through numerical simulations that controlled oscillatory deformations enhance the local molecular mobility of glassy polymers without compromising their structural or mechanical stability. We apply this principle to increase the molecular mobility around the surface of a cylindrical crack, counterintuitively inducing fracture repair and recovering the mechanical properties of the pristine material. Our findings are a first step to establish a general physical mechanism of self-healing in glasses that may inspire the design and processing of new glassy materials.

New Product Introduction

Highlighting new and innovative facilities, processes, products, and services

GM and LG Energy Solution to pioneer LMR battery cell technology

General Motors and LG Energy Solution will commercialize lithium manganese-rich (LMR) prismatic battery cells for future GM electric trucks and full-size SUVs, in a new battery technology breakthrough. Battery engineers at GM and LG Energy Solution have developed a new LMR prismatic battery cell that unlocks 33% higher energy density compared to the best-performing lithium iron phosphate (LFP) based cells – at a comparable cost.

Dongguk University Scientists Uncover Novel Battery Design for Industrial Energy Storage /Dongguk on Medium/
EV battery maker CATL to raise at least $4bn /FT/
Tesla supplier Panasonic pressed to step up deliveries of US-made batteries /FT/

FIAT assembles first pre-production units of the New 500 Hybrid at Mirafiori plant in Turin

With the 500 Hybrid, FIAT is expanding its lineup and reaffirming its long-standing connection to Italy — its people and its values. The new model embodies FIAT’s social relevance and its deep-rooted bond with its country and its communities, offering a solution tailored to contribute to the transition towards a more sustainable mobility.

OKI Reaches New Heights With a 124-Layer PCB

Since the latest semiconductors process an enormous number of signals and the number of wafer-mounted chips increases due to process miniaturization, it is necessary to increase density and more layers on the PCBs used in inspection equipment. Nevertheless, PCB thickness has been limited to 7.6 mm due to various constraints, and 108 layers was the maximum limit with conventional technology. This time, by developing ultra-thin materials and tools and handling technologies suitable for ultra-thin materials, together with developing and introducing a proprietary automatic transport system for ultra-thin materials into its production line, OTC has successfully developed 124-layer PCB technology with a board thickness of 7.6 mm.

Read more at OKI and All About Circuits

TradingView chart — Deere Surges to Record on Optimism for Upturn in Farm Economy /Bloomberg/ weathering tariffs /Manufacturing Dive/

Business Transactions

This week's top funding events, acquisitions, and partnerships across industrial value chains.

Arkestro Secures $36M in Strategic Investment to Accelerate Predictive Procurement Innovation

Arkestro, the premier Predictive Procurement Platform accelerating enterprise spend transformation, announced a strategic investment totaling $36M. The investment was led by Altira Group and Aramco Ventures, with participation from existing investors NEA, KDT, and Activant. The investment will accelerate Arkestro's ongoing innovation in AI-powered procurement technology, advancing its mission to help enterprises unlock hidden savings, reduce supply chain risk, and drive operational efficiency—empowering procurement teams to focus on strategic, high-impact initiatives.

Optimal Dynamics Raises $40M Series C to Scale the Decision Layer of Logistics

Optimal Dynamics, the leader in artificial decision intelligence for trucking companies, announced a $40 million Series C financing round led by Koch Disruptive Technologies. This significant investment underscores Optimal Dynamics' bold vision to fundamentally reshape decision-making across the trucking industry by building the first-ever autonomous decision layer of logistics.

This investment comes after KBX Logistics, a Koch company and global transportation leader, and Optimal Dynamics partnered earlier in the year. KBX Logistics' rigorous selection process reinforced Optimal Dynamics' platform as a key differentiator capable of driving significant operational and financial performance gains, further underscoring Optimal Dynamics' unique capability to automate and optimize complex logistics operations at scale.

Read more at Newswire.com and WSJ

Ex-Northvolt CEO Gets New Funds for AI Startup in Manufacturing

✍️ Author: Rafaela Lindeberg

Only months after the electric-vehicle supplier collapsed with debts of $5.8 billion, its former Chief Executive Officer Peter Carlsson has teamed up with Siddharth Khullar, who led Northvolt’s AI efforts, to develop an industrial software platform with a team of up to 20 people.

The venture, Aris Machina AB, has attracted early-stage investment from a group of angel investors as well as Earlybird, Village Global, AENU and Planet A, Khullar said in an interview. He declined to comment on the size of the funding.

CarbonSix Raises $4M Seed Funding

CarbonSix, Inc., a robotics startup specializing in AI-powered manipulation for manufacturing, announced it has raised USD 4 million in seed funding. The round was led by leading Silicon Valley venture capital firms Foothill Ventures and Storm Ventures, with participation from New York-based Zeitgeist Capital and Korean VC Xquared.

CarbonSix focuses on developing robotic intelligence and dexterous manipulators designed to automate the intricate, variable manual tasks that current automation solutions struggle to address. Its technology aims to bring flexibility and precision to modern manufacturing lines, even amidst frequent production model changes and unexpected variables.