Robotic Tire-Changing Systems Now Working in Real World Garages

based robotics and automation start-up, designing and producing robotic tire changing system, just made another important breakthrough into bricks-and-mortar operations, by forming a partnership with Creamery Tire, a local tire service center operator in Pennsylvania.

RoboTire’s fourth-generation robotic tire-changing system at Creamery Tire begun serving customers in December 2022. Creamery has signed on to install additional RoboTire’s systems at two other locations in Pennsylvania. RoboTire Co-Founder and CEO Victor Darlfi mentioned that they see growing demand for safer and more efficient tire changing practices, which would be mutually beneficial to business owners and customers.

Creamery Tire CEO Joseph Franklin also saw that RoboTire’s systems are truly revolutionizing the way they have been doing. Just a few months ago, in August, 2022, RoboTire just completed the instalment of its first robotic tire-changer at Discount Tire, a nationwide tire and wheel retailer in US. Given issues of labor shortage in US, the development and deployment of robotic tire-changer seems accelerating.

Besides the merit of controlling the headcount, RoboTire’s systems can also help reduce the current hour-long tire changing experience to less than 25 minutes, providing a much better user experience to the driver, while at the same time, allowing the shop to serve more cars in a safe and efficient environment

Zurich Insurance says that Cyber-Attacks Will Become ‘Uninsurable’

In an interview with the Financial Times, Zurich’s CEO, Mario Greco, has warned that cyber-attacks will become “uninsurable” as the disruption from hacks continues to grow. We regard this as incrementally positive for AI Cyber Security names as it will force more companies to adopt sophisticated counter measures against hackers.

Recently cyber losses have prompted underwriters to limit their exposure, with some insurers raising prices and tweaking policies. In 2022, insurer Zurich reached a settlement with Mondelez International to close a $100 million lawsuit against the insurer for refusing to pay out on cyber claims related to the 2017 NotPetya attack. Zurich had denied claims from Mondelez on the grounds that the NotPetya attack, had been a state-sponsored attack by Russia and therefore fell under its act of war exemptions.

In a similar vein, Lloyds introduced an amendment to its policies in 2022 which sought to reduce systematic risk from cyber-attacks. They did so by introducing an exemption clause is the attacks were deemed to be state-sponsored.

However, the difficulty of identifying those behind attacks and their affiliations makes such exemptions legally arduous. Cyber experts have also warned that rising prices and bigger exceptions could put off people buying any protection.

Greco states that there is a limit to how much the private sector can absorb, in terms of underwriting all the losses coming from cyber-attacks. He called on governments to set up private-public schemes to handle systemic cyber risks that can’t be quantified, like those that exist in some jurisdictions for earthquakes or terror attacks.

Amazon Prime Air Starts Drone Deliveries in California and Texas

Amazon has announced that it has begun making drone deliveries is California and Texas. After receiving approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and local officials, it has launched its delivery service in Lockeford, California and will build it based on customer feedback. Lockeford is a rural town about 100 miles east of San Francisco, with an estimated population of about 3,500. Amazon also has some facilities in the city's San Joaquin County.

Lockeford residents will soon be able to sign up for drone deliveries for free. Amazon has been working with a goal of a five-pound (2.25kg) payload, which may sound small but represents 85% of Amazon deliveries. For comparison, Walmart's drone delivery service claims up to three pounds (1.35 kg), and Alphabet's Wing can carry 2.5 lbs (1.14 kg).

After placing an order for a delivery drone, the customers will get an estimated time arrival and status tracker and the aim is for deliveries in under 60 minutes. The drone will fly to the designated delivery location, descend to the customer's backyard, and hover at a safe height, before releasing the package and rising back up to altitude. Prime Air is different from the competing drone delivery services that use parachutes and long tethers. Amazon's drone will hover at a close distance (six feet) before lowering its package.

The drone, leverages a hexagonal shape that provides six-degrees of freedom, giving it more stability. It also has propellers designed to minimize high-frequency sound waves. In terms of safety, Amazon claims that the issue is covered with a "sense-and-avoid system."