Toyota seeks bridge technologies

LOS ALTOS, Calif. — A mock grocery store inside a Toyota Research Institute laboratory here presents challenges for a humanoid robot plying the aisles.

The robot must know where items on its shopping list are located and how to navigate within reach. It must understand how much each product weighs and how it's packaged.

Should the robot use pincers affixed to its right arm to grab an object — such as a milk jug — or the vacuum-based suction tube on its left hand to pluck a product from the shelf and place it in the cart?

There's a fervor around the burgeoning robotics industry, which Boston Consulting Group projects will rise to $160 billion to $260 billion in annual market sales by 2030 from about $40 billion now. But such bullish outlooks remind Max Bajracharya, senior vice president of robotics at the institute, of another much-ballyhooed technology.

"It is robotaxis a decade ago," he said. "What they didn't account for then was we didn't have the technology to achieve that, and we're seeing that again."

What's missing, in his view, is an underlying set of technologies that make robots both useful and reliable in the real world.

Read the full story here.

— Pete Bigelow

What you need to know

Stack's arrival signals renewed confidence in automated vehicle tech: Argo AI's demise symbolized the self-driving industry's struggles. The return of its founders in a new venture, Stack, may signal the industry's recovery.

Poor charging experience hinders EV industry, Battery Show panel says: At an event bursting with technology to accelerate electrification, experts say the charging experience of today remains a major hurdle.

Safety shortcoming: The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety slapped each of the four minivans in the U.S. market with less-than-acceptable ratings because automakers have overlooked second-row safety, per the organization.

Roundup

Bollinger's marketing team is about to hit the road to book orders for its new Class 4 chassis cab ahead of the planned start of production in 2024.

The French government's plan to subsidize electric vehicles leaves Renault, Peugeot and Citroen brands with literally no choice but to exit China.

A congressman wants Tesla to detail its relationship with Chinese battery manufacturer CATL amid concerns electric-vehicle subsidies are flowing to foreign entities.

Volvo will end production of any remaining diesel models by early 2024 as it heads toward becoming an all-electric automaker.

Letter to the editor: Improve the SAE Levels of Automation, don't replace them.

On the move

Nikola Corp. has hired a new chief operating officer to lead the company's engineering, product and manufacturing teams, among others, the company said Monday.

Mary Chan will start Oct. 9. She's a former president of the global connected consumer group at General Motors and a former senior vice president at Dell.

The company further appointed Joseph Cappello as its president of energy. He'll oversee all aspects of the company's energy business, including its HYLA brand operations. His arrival coincides with the upcoming commercial launch of Class 8 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, the company said.

Brain food

Albemarle, a top global lithium producer, expects demand to more than double worldwide between 2025 and 2030. Almost all lithium sales will be for batteries, up from just 20 percent a decade ago, said Eric Norris, president of the company's lithium business unit.

Last mile

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm learned firsthand about the challenges that come with taking an electric vehicle on a road trip when another driver called police because her team was blocking a charger.

The incident happened during a stop at a fast-charging site in Grovetown, Ga., when her advance team discovered one of the four chargers was broken and two were in use. So a staffer tried to hold the open charger for Granholm by parking a gasoline vehicle in that spot.

When a family arrived needing that charger, they called the sheriff's office.