This Fratty Robot Hand Developed Serious Motor Skills and Can Crush Cans

The ideal robotic homie will keep your home clean by washing dishes, doing laundry, and cleaning up after your culinary disasters. But social skills are also important too, and ideally, future versions of automated caretakers will also be able to keep it real. This means robots that can talk more naturally, for one. But it also means robots that are able to, say, offer the occasional high-five, throw up a shaka when you come home from work, or crack you another brewsky.
Luckily, a robot hand named ADEPT, short for Adaptively Driven via Elastomeric Passive Transmissions has already mastered several of these kinds of advanced motor skills. A team of Cornell University roboticists led by associate professor Kevin O’Brien 3D-printed the gauntlet and taught it how to can catch a ball, crush a can, and dap you up. He told Inverse that ADEPT could be used to complement the abilities of less-dexterous counterparts within a few years.

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Comfort Systems USA Announces Acquisition

Business Wire | February 01, 2024

Comfort Systems USA, Inc. today announced that it has closed its previously announced transaction to acquire Summit Industrial Construction, LLC (“Summit”) headquartered in Houston, Texas. As previously disclosed, Summit is a specialty industrial mechanical contractor offering engineering, design-assist and turnkey, direct hire construction services of modular systems serving the advanced technology, power, and industrial sectors. Summit’s capabilities encompass a wide range of modular and site-based construction, including process piping, equipment setting, large pipe rack trestles, and related steel erection and specialty concrete work. Summit is a trusted supplier to some of the world’s largest advanced technology, power and industrial companies and is currently deployed on several major chip fabrication projects. Initially, Summit is expected to contribute annualized revenues of approximately $375 million to $400 million, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of $35 million to $40 million. In light of the amortization expense, Summit is expected to make a neutral to slightly accretive contribution to earnings per share in 2024 and 2025. Brian Lane, Comfort Systems USA’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are delighted to announce the closing of our agreement to acquire Summit, an extremely capable provider of modular and other complex mechanical services. Summit brings a stellar reputation as a modular technology leader in growing end markets, including multiple ongoing and large semiconductor projects. We are happy to welcome Summit’s wonderful leadership team and excellent production and craft workers across many states, and we are confident Summit will continue to innovate and grow as a part of our network of world-class contracting companies. We are grateful that Summit has chosen to become part of Comfort Systems USA.”

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