Meet the robots taking care of Richmond city's lawn
A pair of robots on their trial period mowing the lawn at Richmond city hall have been scrutinized by staff - will they be allowed to stay?
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National Post
12 hours ago
- National Post
Gatik Unveils Arena™: Next-Generation Simulation Platform to Accelerate Commercialization of Its Autonomous Trucking Solution, Built on NVIDIA Cosmos
Article content Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos. Article content Gatik Arena™ powers the creation of closed-loop, ultra-realistic simulation environments to accelerate safe, high-performing autonomous systems training and validations at scale Article content Article content MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Gatik, the leader in autonomous freight for regional logistics networks, today announced Gatik Arena™, its next-generation simulation platform designed to accelerate the development and validation of autonomous vehicle (AV) systems. Built in-house and fine-tuned to Gatik's operational and technical needs, Arena™ produces photorealistic, structured, and controllable synthetic data that directly addresses the limitations of traditional real-world data collection. Built in-house and fine-tuned to Gatik's operational and technical needs, Arena™ produces photorealistic, structured, and controllable synthetic data that directly addresses the limitations of traditional real-world data collection. Article content As Gatik scales Freight-Only (driverless) operations in 2025, Arena™ will enable safe and efficient training for its autonomous systems on a wide range of driving scenarios – from routine tasks to rare edge cases – reducing reliance on on-road testing and accelerating the safe, cost-effective commercialization of its solution for partners including Kroger (NYSE:KR), Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN), and Loblaw (TSX:L). To develop this next-generation simulation platform, Gatik is collaborating with NVIDIA to integrate NVIDIA Cosmos World Foundation Models (WFMs), enabling the creation of ultra-high-fidelity, physics-informed digital environments for robust AV training and validation. Article content Capturing rare events in the real world is expensive, time-consuming, and often unsafe. Arena™ addresses this with high-fidelity synthetic data generation – combining real-world logs, trajectory editing, agent modeling, and multi-sensor simulation pipelines to deliver full closed-loop simulations. The result: scalable, safe, and repeatable AV testing in highly realistic digital worlds. Article content 'As the AV industry pushes toward scaled deployments, the bottleneck isn't just better algorithms – it's better, smarter data,' said Gautam Narang, Gatik's CEO and co-founder. 'Arena™ allows us to simulate the edge cases, rare events, and high-risk scenarios that matter most, with photorealism and fidelity that match the complexities of the real world.' Article content 'NVIDIA Cosmos has been purpose-built to accelerate world model training and accelerate physical AI development for autonomous vehicles,' said Norm Marks, Vice President of Global Automotive, NVIDIA. 'Our collaboration with Gatik unlocks the development of safe, reliable, ultra-high-fidelity digital environments for robust AV training and validation, and is helping to accelerate the commercialization of Gatik's autonomous trucking solution at scale.' Article content Solving the Data Bottleneck with Simulation-First Development Article content Traditional fleet testing and data logging cannot provide the scale, diversity, or reproducibility required to validate AV systems comprehensively. Arena™ addresses this challenge through an extensible modular simulation engine that leverages strengths of advanced AI techniques (NeRFs, 3D Gaussian splatting, diffusion models) to enable scaling from quick scenario augmentation to high-fidelity, full-stack simulation – ensuring each component of the autonomy pipeline is trained and validated with the most optimal and resource efficient technique. Article content Photorealistic Neural Rendering: Leveraging neural techniques like volumetric reconstruction to create high-fidelity simulations from abstract representations such as segmentation maps, LiDAR, and HD maps. Scenario Editing and Control: Support for modifying real-world logs – adjusting traffic flow, pedestrians, lighting, and road layouts to conduct controlled A/B testing. Sensor-Accurate Outputs: Multi-modal simulation across camera, LiDAR, and radar to reflect real-world sensor behavior under varied environmental conditions. Closed-Loop Simulation: Real-time interaction between ego-vehicle decisions and surrounding agents (NPCs), enabling testing of the full autonomy stack in complex interactive environments. This includes modeling vehicle dynamics, policy interactions, and latent scene evolution. Structured Synthetic Data Generation: Enables scalable, annotation-free data generation for machine learning workflows, regression testing, and safety case validation. Article content Purpose-Built for Autonomous Driving Article content Arena™ is engineered with AV-specific needs in mind, including support for difficult-to-collect or safety-critical scenarios such as: Article content Adverse Weather & Visibility: Rain, fog, snow, low-light, glare, and occlusion impacting perception. Unpredictable Road Users: Jaywalking pedestrians, weaving cyclists, lane-splitting motorcycles, animals, and erratic drivers. Challenging Road Geometry: Unprotected turns, faded markings, roundabouts, and poorly marked intersections. Dynamic Road Changes: Construction, detours, school zones, emergency vehicles, and temporary traffic shifts. Sensor & Perception Failures: Occluded signs, low-contrast objects, LiDAR noise, reflections, and degraded sensor inputs. Dense Urban Interactions: High-traffic, mixed road users, double parking, and limited maneuvering space. Article content By simulating these scenarios with spatiotemporal consistency and sensor-level realism, Arena™ reduces the need for costly, time-intensive on-road testing. Article content A Strategic Investment in Scalable Safety Article content Arena™ plays a central role in Gatik's broader simulation-first development strategy. It is tightly integrated with the company's autonomy stack and live safety case platform, allowing AV teams to validate behavior, assess system robustness, and close safety assurance gaps with unmatched efficiency. Article content 'With Arena™, we're reimagining simulation not just as a testing tool, but as a core enabler of safe, scalable autonomy,' said Gautam Narang. 'It gives us the control, realism, and flexibility we need to rapidly build confidence in our systems – and do so without compromising safety or time-to-market.' Article content Today's announcement builds on Gatik's ongoing collaboration with NVIDIA. Earlier in 2025, the two companies announced that Gatik will use NVIDIA DRIVE AGX accelerated by the DRIVE Thor system-on-a-chip running the NVIDIA DriveOS automotive operating system in the company's next-generation autonomous trucks. Article content About Gatik Article content Gatik AI Inc., the leader in autonomous freight for regional logistics networks, is revolutionizing B2B supply chains by enabling safe, consistent, high-frequency freight movement. Gatik's AI-Driven Autonomy is transforming regional logistics for Fortune 500 retailers, and in 2021 the company launched the world's first driverless commercial transportation service. Gatik's autonomous trucks are commercially deployed in multiple markets including Texas, Arkansas, Arizona, and Ontario. Gatik partners with industry leaders including Isuzu Motors, NVIDIA, Cummins, Ryder, and Goodyear. Founded in 2017 by veterans of the autonomous technology industry, the company has offices in Mountain View, Dallas-Fort Worth, Phoenix, Bentonville and Toronto. Article content Safe Harbor Statement Article content This press release contains forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, statements regarding future business strategies, plans, objectives, and anticipated performance. These forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations and beliefs of Gatik and are subject to various risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Article content Factors that could impact these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, changes in market conditions, economic factors, competitive dynamics, regulatory developments, and unforeseen operational challenges. Gatik undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law. Article content Article content Article content Article content
Globe and Mail
12 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
SkyWater Technology Expands Leadership in U.S. Semiconductor Manufacturing With Infineon IP License Agreement
SkyWater Technology (NASDAQ: SKYT), the trusted technology realization partner, today announced a license agreement with Infineon Technologies, granting access to a robust library of silicon-proven, mixed-signal ASIC design IP. This new IP enables customers to design and build high-reliability mixed-signal SoCs entirely within a secure U.S. supply chain – a strategic milestone for U.S. semiconductor independence that extends SkyWater's leadership in domestic innovation. The licensed IP, originally developed by Cypress Semiconductor and validated in high-volume, automotive-grade applications, will be released through SkyWater's S130 platform. SkyWater is uniquely positioned to support both commercial and defense markets at scale. 'This is about reshaping the future of semiconductor innovation in the U.S.,' said Ross Miller, SVP of SkyWater's Commercial and A&D Business. 'Today, over 90% of global mixed-signal ASIC chip production happens offshore, despite these mature nodes being critical for automotive, industrial, and defense systems. We're changing that. By combining proven, silicon-validated IP with trusted U.S. manufacturing, we're empowering customers to design and manufacture reliable mixed-signal ASICs at scale within a secure domestic supply chain.' The S130 platform builds on decades of success, offering a comprehensive suite of mixed-signal building blocks, including embedded Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) options and SRAM compilers. These capabilities have powered billions of devices across automotive, industrial, medical, and consumer sectors. Now, SkyWater is extending this proven foundation to new ASIC developers, system companies, and government customers seeking long-term support and scalable U.S. manufacturing solutions. 'The S130 platform has earned its reputation for reliability in demanding real-world environments,' said Percy Gilbert, SVP of Engineering at SkyWater. 'By making this IP accessible, we're enabling customers to reduce design risk, accelerate time to market, and lower development costs when building complex analog and mixed-signal ASICs – all while leveraging a mature, silicon-proven platform.' SkyWater plans to integrate this IP portfolio into its Technology as a Service (TaaS℠) model, enabling customers to design sophisticated, high-reliability mixed-signal SoCs with components that have been validated in automotive and mission-critical real-world applications. The portfolio includes key components such as analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), digital-to-analog converters (DACs), power management, timing, and communications modules – validated in mission-critical applications. Phased Release Based on Market Demand SkyWater will prioritize the conversion of these IP blocks for general foundry use based on customer demand across various markets. It will provide full design enablement support including PDKs, documentation, and integration assistance for qualified engagements. With this agreement, SkyWater continues to redefine what it means to be a trusted U.S. foundry partner, delivering advanced technology solutions that drive innovation and strengthen domestic semiconductor independence. To express interest or initiate engagement, visit: or contact sales@ About SkyWater Technology SkyWater (NASDAQ: SKYT) is a U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturer and a DMEA-accredited Category 1A Trusted Supplier. SkyWater's Technology as a Service model streamlines the path to production for customers with development services, high-volume production and heterogeneous integration solutions in its U.S. facilities. This pioneering model enables innovators to co-create the next wave of technology within diverse categories including mixed-signal CMOS, read-out ICs, embedded computing, rad-hard ICs, memory and logic devices, power management ICs, MEMS, superconducting ICs, photonics and advanced packaging. SkyWater serves the growing markets of aerospace & defense, automotive, biomedical, industrial and quantum computing. For more information, visit: SkyWater Technology Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains 'forward-looking' statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements that are based on SkyWater's current expectations or forecasts of future events, rather than past events and outcomes, and such statements are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which may cause SkyWater's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Key factors that could cause SkyWater's actual results to be different than expected or anticipated include, but are not limited to, ability to realize the expected benefits of the Fab 25 acquisition; ability to promptly and effectively integrate Fab 25's operations; negative effects relating to the consummation of the proposed Fab 25 transaction on the market price of SkyWater's common stock; significant transaction costs and/or unknown or inestimable liabilities; general economic and business conditions that may affect the combined company following the consummation of the proposed Fab 25 transaction; and other factors discussed in the 'Risk Factors' section of its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and in other documents that SkyWater files with the SEC, which are available at SkyWater assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.
Globe and Mail
12 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
908 Devices to Participate in the Canaccord Genuity 45th Annual Growth Conference
908 Devices Inc. (Nasdaq: MASS), a core small-cap growth company focused on purpose-built handheld chemical analysis tools for vital health, safety and defense tech applications, announced it will participate in the upcoming Canaccord Genuity 45 th Annual Growth Conference. 908 Devices' management is scheduled to present on Wednesday, August 13 at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Interested parties may access a live and archived webcast of the presentation on the 'Investors' section of the company website at: About 908 Devices 908 Devices is revolutionizing chemical analysis with its simple handheld devices, addressing life-altering applications. The Company's devices are used at the point-of-need to interrogate unknown and invisible materials and provide quick, actionable answers in vital health, safety and defense tech applications, addressing the fentanyl and illicit drug crisis, toxic carcinogen exposure, and global security threats. The Company designs and manufactures innovative products that bring together the power of complementary analytical technologies, software automation, and machine learning. For more information, visit
