Robotics & Automation News February 9, 2025 by Locus Robotics a provider of autonomous mobile robots and AI-driven warehouse automation one of Germany’s fastest-growing e-commerce companies have agreed a partnership to deploy the LocusOne mobile robotics platform at TQG’s new 40,000 sq m fulfillment center in Elsdorf Full deployment is set to begin in just a few weeks with plans to scale significantly over the coming months to enable TQG to meet the growing demand for its high-quality The Quality Group is a standout success in the European eCommerce landscape rapidly expanding its market presence with innovative brands like ESN and More Nutrition Known for its expertise in sports nutrition TQG has built a reputation for operational efficiency and high-volume fulfillment capabilities that deliver exceptional service to a global customer base chief operating officer at The Quality Group says: “Our focus has always been on providing the highest quality products to our customers with speed and reliability “Partnering with Locus Robotics and deploying the LocusOne platform is a pivotal step in enhancing our operational capabilities This collaboration ensures we stay ahead of the curve maintaining unmatched flexibility and unlimited throughput to meet the dynamic needs of our business.” The collaboration between Locus Robotics and TQG represents a strategic alignment of advanced automation technology with innovative eCommerce operations the companies aim to set new benchmarks in fulfillment excellence chief commercial officer International at Locus Robotics says: “We are honored to partner with The Quality Group a trailblazer in Europe’s eCommerce landscape TQG is well-positioned to scale its operations with unmatched flexibility and unlimited throughput We’re excited to see how this partnership drives operational success and continues to set standards in the industry.” The Elsdorf facility is designed to support TQG’s rapid growth starting with the ability to process 45,000 eCommerce orders daily and pick 300,000 units per day the site will seamlessly expand its capacity to handle up to 60,000 orders daily and go even beyond in peak-season Copyright © 2025 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in Sönje Storm’s thoughtful film about her great-grandfather Jürgen Mahrt focuses on his photographs of nature and ignores the horror unfolding around him who sold off some of the family farm that he inherited to pursue his great passion for the natural world Mahrt’s work was interrupted by war service from 1914 to 1918 amassing a gigantic archive of beautiful photographs which he colourised himself with fine brushes; it gives a colossal account of what we would now call the biodiversity of the Elsdorf forest and the surrounding lakes especially the numberless lost species of butterfly Mahrt would sometimes eccentrically position stuffed dead birds in a natural setting for his photographs although towards the end of his life he took candid but Storm does not consider that link either Perhaps at the time Mahrt felt that natural beauty was the only important strutting Nazis were irritating fakes and phoneys who were profoundly uninteresting It could also be argued that in considering the whole question of species survival and habitat loss a consideration which made him well ahead of his time Mahrt had a vision that went above political history Dead Birds Flying High is on True Story from 20 December April 17, 2022JPEG An astronaut onboard the International Space Station (ISS) took this photograph of Hambach Surface Mine in North Rhine-Westphalia The open-pit coal mining area spans nearly 44 square kilometers (17 square miles) and drops to depths almost 300 meters (1,000 feet) below sea level The villages of Elsdorf and Niederzier sit next to the mine and numerous agricultural fields appear as angular shapes on the surrounding landscape As the largest open-pit coal mine in Germany, Hambach produces 40 million tons of lignite annually. Also known as brown coal, lignite is a soft sedimentary rock produced from peat an organic material formed from decayed plants brown coal is considered the lowest grade of coal because of its high moisture content and low heating value The tan-hued lines etching towards the center of the Hambach mine are large steps a safety measure typical of open-pit operations Composed of a slanted wall and a horizontal floor portion called the “bench,” the steps help prevent rocks and boulders from falling into the pit Mine spoils—material removed to access the lignite—are deposited on the mine’s excavated sides as an effort to eventually rehabilitate some of the landscape was built from mine spoils and has become a popular recreational area plans call for the remaining Hambach hollow to be recultivated as a lake with groundwater and water from the River Rhine pipeline being used to fill the pit View this area in EO Explorer produces 40 million tons of lignite annually The United States’ highest rate of coal production is in Wyoming with almost 4 million short tons extracted in 2004 The majority of this coal is burned to generate electrical power within the United States but a small percentage is also goes to Spain and Canada The Powder River Basin in the northeastern portion of the state is the most productive of Wyoming’s coal fields The extensive coal deposits—ranging in thickness from 21 to 53 meters (70 to 175 feet)—formed over 38-66 million years ago The source of organic material for the coal originated in swamps and deltas associated with the regression (retreat) of a large inland seaway that occupied central North America during the Cretaceous Period which spanned the years between about 144 to 65 million years ago Central Germany is slowly transforming its pits to pools This pair of images shows the growth of a mountaintop removal in the headwaters of Mud River in Boone County I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for all my life." - Nick Hein Scotland Yard’s Operation Grange still considers the Madeleine case a missing person inquiry An appeal by police has generated almost 400 tips in the days since authorities said they were investigating a new suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann The 43-year-old convicted German child sex offender has been named in reports as Christian Brueckner A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “The Op Grange team have had just short of 400 pieces of information through Operation Grange refers to the force’s active investigation which the spokesman said police still consider a missing person inquiry because there is no “definitive evidence whether Madeleine is alive or dead” German prosecutors are reportedly examining any links to the disappearance of two other children They believe Madeleine is dead after she vanished from an apartment in Praia da Luz and are investigating the suspect over her murder German news websites have now reported that authorities have contacted the family of Rene Hasee According to reports the then six-year-old went missing from a beach while on holiday with his family in the Portuguese Algarve It comes as an investigation has been opened into whether the suspect was involved in the disappearance of Inga Gehricke She was five years old when she vanished from a forest in the Saxony-Anhalt region on May 2 2015 Prosecutors in the northern German town of Stendal confirmed to the PA news agency they are probing possible connections between the cases of Madeleine and Inga who has been partially identified as Christian B by local media due to the country’s strict rules on the naming of criminals He reportedly had a property in the town of Neuwegersleben around 60 miles south-west of Stendal when she went missing The Sun newspaper reported that a witness had identified the suspect as a man she saw acting suspiciously outside the McCanns’ apartment the British woman – referred to as a “credible witness” – said “that’s the man I saw” when shown a picture of the suspect The woman reported the sighting within hours of Madeleine’s disappearance that the suspect confessed to his part in Madeleine’s disappearance to a friend as they watched a TV news report on the case in a German bar on the 10th anniversary of her disappearance Scotland Yard said his name was already known to its investigation but he did not become a suspect until after information was received as a “direct consequence” of a 2017 appeal The suspect is reportedly serving a seven-year prison sentence in the German port city of Kiel for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal in 2005 after his conviction at Braunschweig District Court in December last year Der Spiegel reported his criminal record contains a total of 17 entries including a conviction for the sexual abuse of a child in 1994 when he was aged 17 and a 2016 conviction for abusing another child and possession of child pornography It comes as Madeleine’s doctor parents Kate and Gerry McCann from Rothley welcomed the latest appeal in a statement saying: “We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive.” said on Friday: “They certainly will be encouraged to know the appeal is yielding results already and hopefully within that there will be crucial bits of information the police can act upon.” He added: “They are trying to maintain as normal a life as possible under the circumstances continuing their medical work where necessary and bringing the twins up as best they can while shielding them from all the attention “They wait to hear any developments from police.” Eleven years before the disappearance of British child Madeleine McCann gained worldwide attention another little blonde boy went missing from a nearby Portuguese village was holidaying in Portugal with his mum and her new partner they were staying in a small seaside town in the Algarve region where Europeans flock in the summer to lay on white beaches and party at the many resorts and bars just 40km from the Praia da Luz Ocean Club where Maddie’s parents were dining the night she disappeared that René ran ahead of his family and towards the ocean during a walk along the beach WATCH: A news snippet reporting on the new suspect in the Madeleine McCann case Now, almost 25 years after the boy’s disappearance, René’s family have been contacted by German authorities about a possible connection between his case and that of Madeleine McCann, following investigations into a new suspect in her disappearance named by German prosecutors only as Christian B is believed to have been living and working along the Algarve coast that same year It’s believed Christian B then returned to Portugal where he lived in a house between Lagos and Praia da Luz “more or less permanently” between 1997 and 2007 He would have been 19 at the time René disappeared According to The Sun said his recent conversation with an investigator from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) about his son's case was the first he's had in 20 years despite having accepted his son had simply drowned that day "He was actually also a very careful child he would not have easily climbed into the Atlantic alone I don't imagine that René is still alive." On May 2, 2015, Inga Gehricke was on a family trip to a forest near the town of Stendalin in Saxony-Anhalt The Gehricke family was enjoying the spring day having drinks and a barbecue with a group of friends who had several small children between them The children wanted to go look for firewood for their campsite Inga's parents had no idea that would be the last time they saw their blonde-haired five-year-old who has been dubbed by local authorities as the 'German Maddie [McCann]' Despite a thorough search and investigation police were unable to determine what happened to her authorities believe Christian B may have also been in the area at the time of her disappearance The suspect owned an abandoned property in Neuwegersleben, around 100km from where Inga went missing, The Volksstimme newspaper reports. The home was reportedly searched as part of a child abuse investigation in 2016 with officers finding a USB stick containing indecent images German prosecutors are investigating a possible link between the disappearances of Madeleine McCann and Inga Gehricke but say they lack decisive evidence to charge a murder suspect at this time "It is not yet enough for an arrest warrant or an indictment," said Hans Christian Wolters of the Braunschweig public prosecutor Last month marked the 13th anniversary of the disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine McCann on May 3 Since the night Kate McCann discovered her daughter missing from their Praia da Luz holiday apartment despite it being the most publicised missing-person case in modern history more than a decade after Maddie’s disappearance the news of this new suspect might be the breakthrough needed to solve the cases of not one but three missing children Christian B is behind bars for a sex crime and drug trafficking He was also sentenced to another seven years in prison in 2019 for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Praia da Luz in 2005 he was convicted of sexually abusing a child in Germany in 2017 and was sentenced to 15 months in prison News.com.au reports these fresh details have led to more than 270 calls in 24 hours to UK police and claims that a blond man had been seen in the area at least four times around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance We now know a half-hour phone call was made to Christin B’s Portuguese mobile phone around an hour before Madeleine is believed to have gone missing He has also been linked to a white and yellow VW T3 Westfalia campervan that was pictured driving around the tourist region in 2007 was driving the vehicle in the Praia da Luz area in the days before Madeleine’s disappearance They also confirmed Christian B was one of 600 names initially considered in relation to the crime Christian B is reported to have come to police attention after allegedly confessing to Madeleine’s abduction while talking to a friend in a bar on the 10th anniversary of her disappearance this new information about their daughter's case is hopefully another step closer to finding out what really happened on that terrible day uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice," they said Authorities investigating the new suspect in the Madeleine McCann case are examining any links to the disappearance of two other children German prosecutors believe Madeleine is dead after she vanished from an apartment in Praia da Luz the Sun newspaper reported that a witness had identified the suspect as a man she saw acting suspiciously outside the McCanns’ apartment The force’s Operation Grange still considers the case a missing person inquiry because there is no “definitive evidence whether Madeleine is alive or dead” The suspect is reportedly serving a seven-year prison sentence in the German port city of Kiel for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal in 2005 after he was convicted of rape at Braunschweig District Court in December last year German and Portuguese authorities revealed a new suspect had been identified in Madeleine’s disappearance as a fresh appeal was launched on Wednesday night who is leading the Metropolitan Police probe said he was “pleased” with information coming in after receiving more than 270 calls and emails by 4pm on Thursday Madeleine’s doctor parents Kate and Gerry McCann from Rothley The suspect is known to have been living in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007 where he funded his lifestyle by committing crimes including breaking into hotel complexes and holiday apartments His Portuguese mobile phone was in Praia da Luz when it received a half-hour phone call around an hour before Madeleine Detectives said he was believed to have been living in a distinctive early 1980s VW T3 Westfalia campervan at the time and re-registered a 1993 Jaguar XJR6 in someone else’s name the day after her disappearance from Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has said that German police have not ruled out a sexual motive for the alleged crime against Madeleine He said that the suspect may have broken into an apartment in the Ocean Club complex where Madeleine was on holiday with her parents and her twin siblings Sean and Amelie The revelations raise questions over whether mistakes in the Portuguese probe may have allowed the suspect to slip through the net Portuguese police would not answer questions about whether Brueckner was ever spoken to as part of their initial investigation Another event is making its way to World of Tanks this summer Wargaming is introducing the Battle of Cologne by focusing on the real-life duel between two astounding vehicles which took place during the engagement The company chose to reveal the history behind this memorable battle through an interesting short story they posted on their official World of Tanks website The tank duel during the Battle of Cologne took place at the Cologne Cathedral on March 6 It is the most famous tank duel in history and probably the only one ever fought between two tanks The two types of machinery that took on the task were a Panther tank and a Pershing tank Wargaming chose to introduce the history behind it through an astounding short story The story was written by Robert Rath and illustrated by Karl Brezdin The story points out the magic of the fight was in part due to the fact that it was caught on film The Pershing tank that was involved in this combat was also responsible for destroying four German tanks in Elsdorf a week before the duel One of the four vehicles it managed to take down was a Tiger I If you want to read the full story Wargaming prepared in memory of the tank duel of the Battle of Cologne, you can view it here There is also a video that explains the history behind this fantastic collision It features photographs and describes the location of the vehicles and how the battle took place You can see for yourselves these powerful vehicles battling below