ARM Institute opens Florida office

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The ARM Institute is a Robotics and AI Manufacturing Innovation Institute. | Source: ARM Institute

The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute announced that it opened an office in St. Petersburg, Florida. The new office will be located near the Tampa Bay Innovation Center. 

“Florida was the logical choice for the ARM Institute’s second location”, Suzy Teele, ARM Institute Chief Strategy Officer, said. “There are over 13,000 manufacturing organizations in critical industry sectors such as aerospace, electronics, defense, apparel, and food production that can greatly benefit from advanced automation. Florida is also widely recognized as a fast-growing state for technology and innovation. These facts, along with our active Florida-based projects with member organizations such as Johnson and Johnson, Lockheed Martin, and AmSkills, among others, convinced us that we could further our regional support and execute our mission on a significant level by opening an office in this region.”

The office’s key focus will be to leverage the investments made over the past five years in robotics, workforce development and artificial intelligence.

“We have the technology and wisdom needed to strengthen manufacturing by leveraging what robots and humans do best,” Teele said. “Our goal is to expand the work we are currently doing with regional manufacturers, universities, entrepreneurs, and economic development organizations, as well as new partners, to pioneer a better and more equally just advanced manufacturing model for the nation.”

The ARM Institute is a Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) funded by the Department of Defense, with a mission to catalyze robotic technologies and workforce skilling solutions to strengthen and grow US manufacturing. It works with a national consortium of over 360 member organizations. 

In August, it announced it was looking for manufacturers and technology providers to complete a major, national survey. The survey aims to identify tools, strategies and guidance that should be prioritized to help manufacturers implement artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions for advanced manufacturing robotic systems.