![Meet Verdie – An electric, AI-powered robot that can do all your landscaping [Video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/02/Landscaping-robot-Verdie.jpg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Meet Verdie – An electric, AI-powered robot that can do all your landscaping [Video]
Electric Sheep – an artificial intelligence and robotics company specializing in large-scale landscaping operations, has announced a new autonomous robot to its fleet – Verdie. This electric robot can work alongside Electric Sheep’s other products and landscapers to perform edging, trimming, and even blowing. Verdie also looks quite cute doing it. Check it out.
Before you see Verdie in action, you should get to know the minds behind the new landscaping robot. Electric Sheep Robotics (ESR) is a San Francisco-based AI and robotics company funded by Tiger Global and Foundation Capital.
Focusing on a unique segment using tech to support outdoor maintenance providers, Electric Sheep has developed and implemented a growing lineup of robots that can autonomously mow alongside humans as they perform other duties in the yard.
The company’s technology is centered around ES1 – its proprietary AI software agent that utilizes real-world models to enable reasoning and planning while working in yards. This GenAI has already successfully been implemented in Electric Sheep’s electric mowing robot – RAM.
Today, Electric Sheep has announced a new member of the landscaping robot family that can work seamlessly along the RAMs – meet Verdie.
Verdie the electric landscaping robot is here to work
Imagine a future where your lawn is in dire need of maintenance on a sweltering August afternoon, but your pool or shaded patio is calling your name instead, so you leave the work to your landscaping robots. Thanks to innovations from Electric Sheep Robotics, that future is a reality.
The AI specialist launched Verdie today – an all-electric autonomous robot that utilizes ESR’s ES1 AI to put all the finishing touches on a freshly cut lawn; whether a robot or your teenager does that work is up to you.
ESR’s AI enables the RAM mower and Verdie to work together simultaneously “out of the box” with zero teaching necessary. It is designed to navigate and learn the environment around them using only artificial intelligence. Per the release:
To accomplish these tasks ES-1 needs to understand the semantics of the world, create a map that can be used for coverage planning, and highlight the edges of the workable area, in this case, trimming, edging or mowing grass. ES1 achieves this through dense prediction of a world state with a single model, this is akin to ChatGPT for language but for spatial AI.
Electric Sheep states that its full-stack data channel and existing volume of data enables landscaping crews, campuses, HOAs, or residential customers to deploy the robots without any need for an engineer present. Furthermore, the software allows the robots to continuously learn and train for various tasks around a given yard.
ESR says it is currently operating a fleet of 40 RAM mowers around the US and will deploy the Verdie landscaping robots to commercial and residential customers in Q2 2024. As promised, here’s a video of Verdie in action:
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Tesla’s retro-futuristic diner with Superchargers and giant movie screens is ready to open, and I have to admit, it looks pretty sick.
This project has been in the works for a long time.
In 2018, Elon Musk said that Tesla planned to open an “old school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant at one of the new Tesla Supercharger locations in Los Angeles.” It was yet another “Is he joking?” kind of Elon Musk idea, but he wasn’t kidding.
A few months later, Tesla applied for building permits for “a restaurant and Supercharger station” at a location in Santa Monica. However, the project stalled for a long time, apparently due to local regulations.
Nevertheless, Tesla still moved forward with a Supercharger at the location, but it had to move the diner project to Hollywood. In 2022, Tesla filed the construction plans with the city, giving us the first look at what the automaker intends to build.
In 2023, the automaker broke ground on the site of the diner.
7 years after being originally announced, the project appears now ready to open:
Musk said that he ate at the diner last night and claimed that it is “one of the coolest spots in LA.” He didn’t say when it will open, but Tesla vehicles have been spotted at Supercharger and people appear to be testing the dinning experience inside.
A Tesla Optimus Robot can be seen inside the diner on a test rack. It looks like Tesla might use one for some tasks inside the diner.
Earlier this year, Tesla integrated the diner into its mobile app – hinting at some interaction through the app – possibly ordering from it.
Electrek’s Take
I think it looks pretty cool. I am a fan of the design and concept.
However, considering the state of the Tesla community, I don’t think I’d like the vibes. That said, it looks like Tesla isn’t prominently pushing its branding on the diner.
You can come and charge there, but it looks like Tesla is also aiming to get a wider clientele just for dining.
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Hyundai’s electric minivan is finally out in the open. The Staria EV was caught without camo near Hyundai’s R&D center in Korea, giving us a closer look at the electric minivan undisguised.
Hyundai’s electric minivan drops camo ahead of debut
The Staria arrived in 2021 as the successor to the Starex, Hyundai’s multi-purpose vehicle (MPV). Although the Staria has received several updates throughout the years, 2026 will be its biggest by far.
Hyundai will launch the Staria EV, its first electric minivan. Like the current model, the 2026 Staria will be available in several different configurations, including cargo, passenger, and even a camper version.
We’ve seen the Staria EV out in public a few times already. Last month, we got a glimpse of it while driving on public roads in Korea.
Despite the camouflage, new EV-like design elements were visible, including updated LED headlights and a full-length light bar. Although it’s still unclear, the electric version appears to be roughly the same size as the current Staria from the side, but slightly wider from the front.
New images posted on the South Korean forum Clien reveal a test car, expected to be Hyundai’s Staria electric minivan, without camo.
Like most Hyundai test cars, the prototype has a black front and a grey body. It still features a similar look to other prototypes we’ve seen, but you can clearly see the new facelift.
Earlier this year, a Staria EV was spotted in a parking lot in Korea, featuring a similar look. The electric version is nearly identical to the Staria Lounge, but with an added charge port and closed-off grille.
The Hyundai Staria EV is expected to make its global debut later this year. Technical details have yet to be revealed, but it’s expected to feature either a 76 kWh or 84 kWh battery, providing a range of around 350 km (217 miles) to 400 km (249 miles).
Hyundai’s electric SUV arrives after Kia introduced its first electric van, the PV5, which launched in Europe and Korea earlier this year.
In Europe, the Kia Passenger PV5 model is available with two battery pack options: 51.5 kWh and 71.2 kWh, providing WLTP ranges of 179 miles and 249 miles, respectively. The Cargo version has a WLTP range of 181 miles or 247 miles.
Source: TheKoreanCarBlog, Clien
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