Mining 24 Hours a Day with Robots
Tom Simonite for MIT Technology Review: Each of these trucks is the size of a small two-story house. None has a driver or anyone else on board.
Mining company Rio Tinto has 73 of these titans hauling iron ore 24 hours a day at four mines in Australia’s Mars-red northwest corner. At this one, known as West Angelas, the vehicles work alongside robotic rock drilling rigs. The company is also upgrading the locomotives that haul ore hundreds of miles to port—the upgrades will allow the trains to drive themselves, and be loaded and unloaded automatically.
Rio Tinto intends its automated operations in Australia to preview a more efficient future for all of its mines—one that will also reduce the need for human miners. The rising capabilities and falling costs of robotics technology are allowing mining and oil companies to reimagine the dirty, dangerous business of getting resources out of the ground. Cont'd...
Amazon patents system to defend drones against hackers, jammers … and arrows
Alan Boyle for GeekWire: If there are any Robin Hoods out there who are thinking about shooting down drones while they’re making deliveries, Amazon has a patented plan to stop you.
The patent, filed in 2014 but published just last week, lays out countermeasures for potential threats ranging from computer hacking to lightning flashes to bows and arrows.
If nothing else, the 33-page application illustrates how many things could possibly go wrong with an autonomous navigation system for unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs.
The “compromise system” that Amazon’s engineers propose relies on an array of sensors to orient the drone based on the sun’s position in the sky, if need be. That’s in case the drone gets confused by, say, lightning or a muzzle flash. Cont'd.. .
Upcoming Tradeshow, Conference & Exhibition Summary - February - April 2017
Here is a summary of what Tradeshows, Conferences & Exhibitions to look forward to in the coming months.
Five Elements Robotics Announces the Launch of Dash, the Robotic Shopping Cart
The Future of Shopping is Here Today!
The Aggressively Flying Quadrotor
Steve Arar for All About Circuits: Recently, Vijay Kumar’s lab at the University of Pennsylvania in cooperation with researchers from Qualcomm has unveiled a quadrotor which can fly aggressively through a window. You may think that you have seen similar robots before; however, there is a big difference between previously designed robots and this new technology.
Generally, to exhibit challenging maneuvers, a quadrotor depends on an array of cameras mounted on the walls and some external processors. The image captured by the cameras is processed and the outcome is delivered to the robot. The computer can issue precise commands and the only thing that the robot needs to do is to follow the orders. However, the new robot performs both the image capturing and processing onboard.
The quadrotor carries an IMU, a Qualcomm Snapdragon, and Hexagon DSP. With the onboard sensors and processors, the robot is able to perform localization, state estimation, and path planning autonomously. Cont'd...
Robotics Veteran Raises Venture Capital to Build Exoskeleton
Alistair Blair for Bloomberg Technology: The word "robot" conjures images of bulky, metal humanoid objects moving awkwardly. Robotics veteran Rich Mahoney is trying to change that perception by creating a robotic exoskeleton people can wear.
After more than seven years running a robotics group at Silicon Valley research institution SRI International, Mahoney left about a year ago to form a startup called Superflex. On Tuesday, the company said it raised $9.6 million from investors including Japanese venture capital group Global Brain and Horizons Ventures, the VC fund of Asian billionaire Li Ka-shing.
Superflex is developing a lightweight suit with electric "muscles" that help the elderly and other less-mobile people move around. The system, which will look a bit like a unitard, is designed to provide the wearer with extra strength to get up from a chair or stand for longer. The device has thin actuators built in that use battery power to contract at the same time as people's real muscles. Cont'd...
Endeavor Robotics Submits Proposal Response as Prime System Integrator (PSI) for the Advanced Explosive Ordnance Disposal Robotic System (AEODRS) Increments 2 & 3
Endeavor Robotics (FKA iRobot Defense & Security), the United States-based leader in ground robotics for defense, first responders, and the nuclear industry, submitted a formal proposal response for the AEODRS Increment 2 Tactical Operations System (TOS) & Increment 3 Base/Infrastructure Operations (BIOS) Variants.
Bodkin Design Unveils Unique Snapshot Hyperspectral Products Through Exclusive Partnership With Cubert
Bodkin Design and Engineering, LLC will team with Cubert Gmbh at Photonics West 2017 for a presentation and product demo to showcase their patented snapshot spectral imaging for precision agriculture, medical and biotech, machine vision, and more.
Gobot Makes Internet of Things Development Both Easy And Powerful
Open Source Robotics and IoT Framework Releases Version 1.0
Result of the 2016 TraceParts annual competition
TraceParts challenged its engineering community to take part in a mystery word competition
LiDAR 101: A Q&A with a Pictometry Expert
Because LiDAR uses light, the target must be visible, so it is not an all-weather solution. It wont work well in fog or other weather conditions that affect visibility, but if conditions are clear, it can operate during both day and night.
An Open Source Driving Agent from comma.ai
From comma.ai: Last week, we open sourced an advanced driver assistance system in order to help accelerate the future of self driving cars and provide a platform anyone can build on top of. We released both openpilot, driving agent research software, and NEO, a robotics platform capable of running openpilot, under the MIT license.
openpilot is an open source adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assist system, both safety features available on modern cars. We would like to build the best ones on the market, and help you retrofit them to existing cars.
NEO is an open source robotics research platform. It is centered around an Android phone, similar to Android Based Robots. The modern smartphone is an incredible platform packed with sensors and processing power. NEO also includes a cooling solution and a CAN interface board. CAN is a networking protocol used in cars, trucks, power wheelchairs, golf carts, and many other robotics applications.
With a forthcoming openpilot release, it will become easier for researchers to add support for their own vehicle. On older cars, some actuators may be harder to control than others, but it should be very possible to control the gas electronically to have a gas only adaptive cruise control. It's also possible for researchers to add mechanical actuators for the controls that cannot be electronically actuated.
Have fun, be safe, and let's usher in the future of self driving cars together... (Github repo) (Interview)
Final Dates Set for Major International Robotics Challenge in the United Arab Emirates
The contest will inevitably take up a large area of the circuit since it will consist of three challenges and a triathlon type Grand Challenge. Challenge 1 will require teams to use an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to locate, track and land on a moving vehicle. This means that the UAV must be capable of locating the moving vehicle, navigating the path and speed of the vehicle and land on the target location while the vehicle is in motion.
Optelos Launches Turnkey Solution for Drone Workflow, Solving Key Challenges Holding Back Drone Rrograms
Optelos turnkey approach is setting the standard for securely managing drone work activities and data content.
AutonomouStuff and NEXCOM Pave the "Road to Autonomy"
CES 2017 in Las Vegas Brings AutonmouStuff and NEXCOM Together to Innovate Automated Driving Solutions
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