Business Wire

Reply Shapes the Future of Autonomous Mobile Robots with the Power of Microsoft Azure

6.7.2021 10:30:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release

Share

Reply announced today that it has developed an end-to-end solution architecture for autonomous mobile robots (AMR) on Microsoft Azure that enables new business applications across industries, reduces upfront costs and allows for the rapid implementation of customer-specific robotics use cases.

The solution combines Microsoft Azure services, the agility of Boston Dynamics' SPOT and Reply’s knowledge of intelligent cloud computing services, edge computing and artificial intelligence. To demonstrate the capabilities of a scalable and versatile robotics platform, Reply implemented an automated vehicle-damage-detection solution for rental or leasing companies that leverages this architecture. In fact, rental or leasing companies must inspect vehicles for any damage after they are returned in order to ensure the safety and quality of their fleet for their customers. This is usually done in the time- and cost-consuming manual process of walking around the car, visually inspecting it, assessing the severity of the damage and conducting a damage report.

Reply integrates Azure Cognitive Services, Machine Learning and DevOps as well as Power Apps and Power BI. Thanks to Azure's intelligent service foundation, agile workflows and machine learning, this process can be fully automated. Using computer vision, SPOT moves freely through the parking area and scans the license plates to find the right vehicle. Once detected, it walks around the vehicle to record its condition by continuously collecting visual data with its camera and sensors. This information is processed “on the edge” or transmitted to the cloud, where advanced image recognition and machine leaning algorithms perform the damage detection. All detected damages are saved in the return protocol, and they can be presented to the customer and the fleet manager for approval.

“This platform sets the power of Microsoft Azure on the move by bringing it from the Cloud to the Edge and into highly advanced mobile robotic devices, giving them the autonomy to unlock novel business use cases. Thanks to the agile reference architecture, we are able to implement customer-specific use cases in various industries that include all types of mobile robots or drones”, comments Filippo Rizzante, CTO Reply.

“Reply is a long-term, trusted partner in delivering Azure IoT solutions, and we’re delighted to continue our collaboration on this new scalable robotics offering. By leveraging Microsoft Azure, we can help accelerate this transformation by making it easier for businesses to bring AI and analytics capabilities to these autonomous systems in a consistent and secure way,” adds Lakecia Gunter, Vice President and GM, Global IOT Channel at Microsoft.

With their agility, autonomous mobile robots (AMR) are able to move independently from a central infrastructure on terrain that is not traditionally designed for robots. They can be used in hazardous environments and environments, that are harmful to people. According to ResearchAndMarkets.com, the global market for automated guided vehicle (AGV) and AMR is expected to reach $13.2 Billion by 2026 with a growth rate of around 35%. Both AGVs and AMRs collectively are going to cross the installed base of 1.5 Million in the next 5 years to make mobile robots a new normal in our day-to-day operational activities.

Reply

Reply [MTA, STAR: REY, ISIN: IT0005282865] specialises in the design and implementation of solutions based on new communication channels and digital media. As a network of highly specialised companies, Reply defines and develops business models enabled by the new models of AI, big data, cloud computing, digital media and the internet of things. Reply delivers consulting, system integration and digital services to organisations across the telecom and media; industry and services; banking and insurance; and public sectors. www.reply.com

Source Global Mobile Robots (AGV & AMR) Market:

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210115005190/en/Global-Mobile-Robots-AGV-AMR-Market-Expected-to-Reach-14B-by-2026---The-New-Normal-in-Our-Day-to-Day-Operational-Activities---ResearchAndMarkets.com

To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.

Contact information

Media

Reply
Fabio Zappelli
f.zappelli@reply.com
Tel. +390117711594

Sandra Dennhardt
s.dennhardt@reply.com
+49 170 454 62 29

About Business Wire

For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

Ohmium Appoints Hydrogen Veteran as Chief Commercial Officer27.7.2026 11:05:00 EEST | Press release

Ohmium International Inc., a leading manufacturer of cutting-edge, high-efficiency, modular Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzers, today announced the appointment of Mark Griffin as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). Griffin will serve as the executive lead of the Ohmium Sales and Marketing organization, driving revenue growth, customer acquisition, and the expansion of a global ecosystem of developers, industrial collaborators, and strategic partners. His appointment brings fresh momentum to Ohmium’s commercial stance as green hydrogen transitions from early adoption into mainstream industrial deployment. Griffin brings over two decades of experience in energy, including work in hydrogen and renewables. At ScottishPower, he spent five years leading hydrogen market development and business energy sales, spearheading two multi-megawatt green hydrogen projects totaling more than £220 million. Both projects were government-subsidized and structured around 15-year decarbonization offta

Uptime Institute Partners with the Governorate of Nineveh to Advance Iraq’s Digital Infrastructure at the U.S.-Iraq Business Summit27.7.2026 10:02:00 EEST | Press release

Uptime Institute today announced a landmark strategic partnership with the Governorate of Nineveh, signed at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce U.S.-Iraq Business Summit to accelerate the region’s digital transformation and advance Iraq’s national digital agenda. The agreement was signed on July 17, 2026, during the official U.S. visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi. Uptime Institute participated as part of the official delegation at a historic summit that yielded more than 50 agreements valued at over USD $60 billion, signaling a powerful new era of economic cooperation, investment, and technological innovation between the United States and Iraq. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260727139625/en/ Signing of landmark strategic partnership with Ali Al-Zaidi, Prime Minister of Iraq (right) and Uptime Institute's Mustapha Louni, Chief Business Officer (left). Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Uptime Inst

Objectway Expands Into Capital Markets With Its Project to Acquire French Specialist SLIB, Pushing Forward Its Pan-European Growth Strategy27.7.2026 09:45:00 EEST | Press release

Objectway, the pan-European wealthtech solution partner for banking, wealth and asset management firms, today announced that it has entered into exclusive negotiations with BNP Paribas and Natixis, granting them the right to transfer their entire stake in SLIB (Services Logiciels d'Intégration Boursière), a trusted partner specialised in the development of dedicated software solutions for the capital markets sector, to Objectway. The completion of the transaction remains subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions, including regulatory approvals and the finalisation of applicable information and consultation processes with the relevant employee representative bodies, and is expected to close by December 31, 2026. About SLIB SLIB (Services Logiciels d'Intégration Boursière) is a trusted technology partner to the capital markets industry. Founded in 1988 from the IT department of the Lyon Stock Exchange, SLIB has grown over more than 30 years into a specialised software provider

Ant Group Unveils Ling-3.0-Flash Delivering Top-Tier Performance at a Fraction of the Parameter Scale27.7.2026 09:00:00 EEST | Press release

Ant Group today announced the release of Ling-3.0-Flash, a next-generation native hybrid-reasoning foundational model engineered specifically for production-grade AI agent workflows. Designed to deliver rapid response capabilities, it serves as a high-speed execution node that offers a superior balance of intelligence density and cost-efficiency. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260726584441/en/ Ling-3.0-Flash delivers strong performance across multiple core benchmarks. Featuring 124B total parameters with only 5.1B active parameters per token, Ling-3.0-Flash achieves remarkable performance despite its streamlined footprint. It matches or surpasses industry-leading models with two to three times its parameter scale across core benchmarks, including foundational reasoning, instruction following, and long-context processing. Architectural Innovation for Efficiency Ling-3.0-Flash moves away from the traditional ap

SES Statement On FCC Upper C-band Auction Decision27.7.2026 08:30:00 EEST | Press release

SES, a leading space solutions company, issued the following statement following the U.S. Federal Communications Commission approval of the Upper C-band Report & Order that makes 160 megahertz of the Upper C-band available in the contiguous United States for flexible-use, next-generation terrestrial wireless services via a system of competitive bidding. The required auction of the Upper C-band will be completed no later than July 2027, with spectrum clearing deadlines in 2030 and 2031. Gross incentive payments of approximately $5.6 billion to SES are contingent on spectrum clearing within the transition deadlines. The Order also confirms reimbursement of reasonable and necessary Upper C-band transition costs as approved by the clearinghouse. SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh Commented: “We commend Chairman Carr and the FCC staff for their diligence, speed, and hard work. We remain fully committed to working cooperatively with the FCC and all stakeholders as the process progresses. We are pleased t

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye