Trendwatch AI & Robotics: June 17, 2020

New York Times: The Drones Were Ready for This Moment 

While humans hunker below, aerial robots are taking over as cops, street cleaners, medical assistants, delivery workers and soon –– friends.

Supply Chain Dive: Drones and Delivery Trucks Could Work Together, but Regulatory Hurdles Remain

Deploying drones on traditional delivery vehicles would allow parcels to be distributed simultaneously. The drone would serve locations that would take far longer to reach given traffic, or in cases where a number of "highly constrained customers" complicate a truck's otherwise normal route.

MIT Technology Review: How Lockdown Is Changing Shopping for Good 

Big online stores are based around vast automated warehouses. Smaller and cheaper versions of this tech will be key if smaller stores are to survive through a series of lockdowns.

TechCrunch: Dishcraft Robotics Is Using Robots to Save Reopening Restaurants from Creating More Waste

Use its cleaning service that will drop off all the clean, reusable dishware and cutlery a restaurant or corporate kitchen could possibly need in the morning and pick up all the dirty dishes, cups and silverware that the foodservice location uses throughout the day.

Venturebeat: Kebotix Raises $11.5 Million to Automate Lab Experiments with AI and Robotics      

Kebotix offers robotic arms and AI models to expedite the discovery of chemicals