Pictured from left to right: IFR President Milton Guerry, IEEE RAS Vice President Andrea Keay, and Prasad Akella, Drishti Technologies. © Frommel fotodesign Source: The International Federation of Robotics.
The 2022 Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Robotics & Automation (IERA) was presented to Drishti, a video analytics company based in Mountain View, California. Drishti technology supports workers on assembly lines to avoid errors and be more productive, the company says. To achieve this, it developed its action recognition technology.
Drishti streams video at every station of the production line, then uses its artificial intelligence (AI) networks to translate the video streams into data. The action recognition technology delivers feedback to operators to avoid errors. The information can also be used retrospectively to help manufacturers improve productivity, quality, training and safety.
"Drishti has developed a pathway towards successful robotics and automation suitable for any size of company," jury chair Andra Keay said. "This opens up significant benefits, both for manufacturers and their employees. We are pleased to honor this achievement with the IERA Award 2022."
Gary Jackson, CEO, Drishti, added: “Action recognition technology provides unparalleled business insights to all parties in the factory, from the line associate to the CEO. The IERA Award is a phantastic recognition of how Drishti helps to optimize production.”
At the IERA award ceremony in Munich, Germany, IFR President Milton Guerry said: “The pioneering technology invented by Drishti uncovers new improvement opportunities on assembly lines while at the same time empowering humans on the factory floor. This is an outstanding example of humans and machines working together. I congratulate Drishti on winning the IERA award 2022. All four finalists have presented their story of a successful innovative product in robotics and automation.”
The following are the other three finalists for the award.
- Bosch Rexroth presented its Smart Flex Effector – a module which allows large industrial robots to “feel” their environment and produce smarter.
- Berlin-based Micropsi Industries took part with its MIRAI software – an AI-driven control system that enables industrial robots to deal with variance in production.
- Neura Robotics presented MAiRA – a cognitive robot that is able to see, hear, speak and safely interact with human workers, as well as learn from experience.
