Robotics Education Journal
11/08/2016 HP Fellow, VP, and innovative inventor Will Allen holds 70 U.S. patents. He is experienced in the founding of new technologies and in their commercialization. In this lively talk at RoboBusiness 2016, he brings a fresh perspective to predicting the robots in our future and the timing of their deployment.
11/07/2016 RoboBusiness 2016 was brimming with technological advances and entrepreneurial spirit, and the Pitchfire program was one more exciting element in the mix. In this competition, judges vote for the most promising entrepreneurial launch based on 2-minute presentations delivered in a fast-paced competition open to the public. At the end of the first day, The Kobi Company won the competition based on its autonomous robot that can maintain your lawn, clean up leaves and remove snow from your grounds.
11/07/2016 Jim Lawton, Chief Product and Marketing Officer, Rethink Robotics, Boston, explains that their new generation of collaborative robots are safe, inexpensive, and designed to work side-by-side with humans. In a vast improvement over past practice with respect to safety and productivity, the robot “Sawyer” can pick-and-place products working alongside people.
11/07/2016 CEO John S. Ostrem, Ph.D, notes that AvatarMIND robots have been used in China for some years, particularly as companion robots in one-child families, and in healthcare. Next year, the company will be moving from Nanjing, China to the U.S. where these remarkable humanoids will be used in healthcare, to develop therapies for autistic children, and other markets.
11/06/2016 As explained by CEO Tracy McSheery, PhaseSpace, founded in 1994, specializes in motion capture and motion control. Based in San Leandro, CA, PhaseSpace develops new products and technologies for emerging motion tracking markets, and offers solutions for research, industrial arts and graphics arts communities. Anything “motion” so consider this a must view for both real world and animated robots of any type that crawl, burrow, slither, walk, swim or fly!
11/06/2016 Carolin Funk, Venture Director of Technology, Siemens, works out of the Siemens’ Berkley, CA, office. On the leading edge in the Next 47 project, Carolin helps companies like Modbot (please see our earlier news release) get established. Don't miss our interview with Carolin!
11/06/2016 Modbot was founded by Daniel Pizzata and is one of the start-ups offered business support by Siemens. Modbots are modular robots and robotic components that can be used to augment mechanical processes on a production line and in other automation contexts. Modbot was founded to make these modular systems widely available to industry.
11/05/2016 At RoboBusiness 2016, Moshe Schwimmer, Innovation Catalyst at Siemens, describes software Siemens has created for the Hololens (a Microsoft product that enables visualization of virtual robots and robot parts). Using a pair of Hololens goggles, one can see virtual parts superimposed on your office table, or suspended in the air, in what is described as “augmented reality.”
11/04/2016 SIEMENS is a global organization that focuses on power management, automation, digitalization, medical technologies, robotics, and far more. Several of SIEMENS robotics divisions exhibited at RoboBusiness. These included a new initiative, “Next 47,” that fosters the development of entrepreneurial start-ups, worldwide. Dr. Rudolf Freytag, CEO of Innovative Ventures at Siemens, described Next 47’s global reach and how it assists robotics business start-ups in meeting regulatory, financial and marketing challenges.
11/02/2016 The 12th Annual RoboBusiness conference and trade show – a highly anticipated exhibition of state-of-the-art robotics – was held in Silicon Valley at the San Jose Convention Center on September 28 – 29, 2016. One of the largest robotics conferences in the nation, this prestigious gathering featured the latest in bleeding edge automation. A goldmine for technologists, business people and journalists, alike, it has become a key annual venue for finding business partners and insights into the rapidly evolving robotics industry.
The National Robotics Education Foundation (NREF) conducted interviews with leading robotics companies on the show floor to provide you with a taste of latest robotics technology and an update on where we are in this era of unprecedented robotics growth. Executive Director Tom Atwood interviewed company founders, entrepreneurs and product managers while partner Gene Beley video recorded the interviews. To provide the broadest coverage in the most accessible format, we focused on specific technology highlights. We hope you enjoy this unique collection of interviews and presentations. We begin with a must-see 17-minute presentation by Robotics Business Review Editor-in-Chief, Tom Green, on the robotics-based "4th industrial revolution." Click here for more on RoboBusiness 2016!
10/30/2016 Challenge.gov is a listing of challenge and prize competitions, all of which are run by more than 80 agencies across federal government. These include technical, scientific, ideation, and creative competitions where the U.S. government seeks innovative solutions from the public, bringing the best ideas and talent together to solve mission-centric problems. More than $220 million in prize money has been offered since 2010, along with valuable and unique incentive prizes.
10/16/2016 Intel has aggressively entered the commercial drone market in recent months with a few products that suggest growing momentum. The latest is the Falcon 8+, a company-branded product to be introduced in North America. Previously Intel had announced its consumer drone, the Yuneec Typhoon H with Intel RealSense technology for intelligent obstacle navigation, as well as the Intel Aero Platform for developers. The Falcon 8+ adds to its offerings and represents its commitment to innovative technologies in the commercial space. Intel states that the Falcon 8 offers the best weight to payload ratio and best in class stability in harsh conditions, including “magnetic disturbances.” The Falcon 8+ includes a high precision GPS and is supported by a large reseller and support network.
10/11/2016 Aaron Mehta of Defensenews.com reported that the Obama administration has coordinated an agreement by 40+ countries that will help manage the import and export of armed unmanned systems in a bid to facilitate creating global norms for trade in unmanned, robotic weapons systems. Absent from the list are China, Russia, India and Israel. Photo: John Moore/Getty Images
10/10/2016 Techcrunch.com reported that Clearpath Robotics has raised $30million in funding to further build its business carrying payloads and lifting and placing palettes in warehouses and factories. With clients like John Deere and GE, and an exceptional safety record, Clearpath Robotics has seen growing equity funding now approaching about $41.5 million. Warehouse and factory floor markets are ideal for robotic automation and represent a quickly expanding industry.
10/05/2016 C41SRNET reported that Norway’s Maritime Robotics is partnering with Liquid Robotics, the American manufacturer of the Wave Glider underwater drone, to sell products and integration services to Nordic countries. Relevant markets include maritime security, meteorology and oceanography, flight tracking, wind farming and more. Photo courtesy of Liquid Robotics. Thanks to CDR David Place (USN/Ret), via David’s Unmanned PLACE, and Robin E. Alexander, President ATC, for their assistance with this report.
10/04/2016 Aviation Week reports that Japan’s defense planners foresee automated, robotic wingmen in the 2030s that will not only carry sensors as forward scouts, but which will eventually be robotic weapons systems that will fire on command when ordered to do so by human pilots. This was reported in a technology roadmap published by the Japan’s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA). The AvWeek summary did not suggest any autonomous decision making by wingmen scout robots.
10/03/2016 NREF was at the recent RoboBusiness conference in San Jose, CA, in full force, and will present a series of interviews with attending robot vendors, here, at www.the-nref.org, within several days, stay tuned! Shown is a high resolution collaborative robot arm from Rethink Robotics.
10/03/2016 The “world’s first printable open-source humanoid robot” is being presented, tonight, as we go to press, at Pivotal Labs, in NYC. Check out this company dedicated to Japanese – U.S. start-up initiatives.
09/20/2016 DARPA's new Dragnet program is designed to monitor all drones in the skies over any city. Initially conceived for military purposes, it’s ultimate use was never doubted as government agencies plot a path forward in the management of low altitude aircraft flying above municipalities. How to identify and then manage unwanted surveillance drones is being addressed by DARPA at a Proposers Day Aerial Dragnet conference on September 26 in Arlington, Virginia. Registration nominally closed September 19.
09/19/2016 A new Russian military vehicle can search, detect, track, and eliminate targets entirely on its own, and therefore is a practical example of an autonomous warfighting robot. In a conversation with Jane’s, a world authority on weapons systems, Russia’s Military Industrial Company (VPK), noted that the “Tigr-M” has a remote control weapons system armed with a 30 mm Shipunov 2A72 cannon and a 7.62 mm Kalashnikov PKTM coaxial machinegun. “The new vehicle is fully unmanned, as it can search, detect, track, and eliminate targets in automatic mode.”
09/12/2016 Alan Levin reports in Bloomberg Technology that the Virginia Tech campus will soon see a harbinger of drone deliveries to come, as an experimental project ensues for a few weeks. Google’s “Alphabet Inc. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.” will launch under the name Project Wing. In summary, Virginia Tech and Google are undertaking the most extensive test, yet, of the drone-delivery business paradigm of the future.
09/10/2016 Matt Waite and Ben Kreimer of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Drone Journalism Lab have offered a brief but comprehensive guide to safe drone operations involving professional journalism. The guide is generously funded by the Knight Foundation, and is available to any under a Creative Commons license. Three roles are defined: Pilot in Command (PIC), Observer, and Journalist. It is noted that just one or two individuals can fulfill all three roles, but that the PIC, who holds the FAA-issued Part 107 certificate, is the final authority on whether it is safe and feasible to fly. The Observer, the sole person who can speak to the PIC during operations, is responsible to alert the PIC if aircraft, vehicles or peope come into the area during operations. The journalist is responsible for defining the goals of the flight and verifying the outcome after the drone lands.
09/06/2016 Commentators are suddenly buzzing about artificial intelligence, aka “AI”, which is emerging all around us at a meteoric pace. Some push deeper into the related but spooky domain of “strong artificial intelligence,” a term that means when machine intelligence will rival that of human beings. Will there come a point in time when the risk of runaway machine sentience might actually emerge, perhaps embodied in a sci-fi personage like the “Terminator”?
09/04/2016 Abha Bhattarai reports at WashingtonPost.com on the hotel of the future.
-1. Voice Activated Rooms
-2. Greeting Robots that Bring Champagne
-3. Virtual Reality Headsets for Touring
-4. A Rainforest on the Roof, with Water Sports
-5. Marriot Request for Comments & Desired Features
08/29/2016 Part 107 of the Small UAS Rule goes into effect today. This is a milestone in the development of the commercial UAS industry in the United States. Part 107 is part of Chapter 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and allows commercial drone use without a Section 333 Exemption. With Part 107 now in full force and effect, it is widely foreseen that new drone markets and UAS applications designed to exploit them will proliferate. The FAA sees its role as a facilitator as U.S.-based industry embraces the challenges of a rapidly growing worldwide drone market.