Dyson backs Britain plc with $2.5bn AI and robotics investment
Andrew Orlowski for The Register: Britain's most successful engineer Sir James Dyson is taking on Google and Facebook with a $2.5bn investment to turn the former RAF base at Hullavington near Malmesbury into a research campus for robotics, AI, and other advanced technology, including batteries and vision systems.
The size of the planned facility dwarfs the existing HQ. The investment marks both a change of direction for Dyson, which will now begin to challenge US data giants in the race to find practical implementations of AI, and expresses a vote of confidence in a post-EU British economy. The founder recently hinted that it was examining how to incorporate pattern recognition and decision making into its 360 Eye robot vacuum cleaner. Cont'd...
Automated Parking Solutions
Most of the innovations in automated parking design have come from the architects and developers as they are now more conscious of integrating the garage into the overall design.
International Robot Exhibition 2017
With already 500 companies reserving to 2000 Exhibiting booths, IREX 2017 is again back this year to showcase the latest Robots in Japan.
Introducing Handle from Boston Dynamics
Handle is a research robot that stands 6.5 ft tall, travels at 9 mph and jumps 4"‹ "‹feet vertically. "‹It uses electric power to operate both electric and hydraulic actuators, with a range of about 15 miles on one battery charge. "‹"‹"‹
Handle uses many of the same dynamics, balance and mobile manipulation principles"‹ found in the quadruped and biped robots we build, but with only about 10 actuated joints, it is significantly less complex. Wheels are efficient on flat surfaces while legs can go almost anywhere: by combining wheels and legs Handle can have the best of both worlds.
How drones are helping design the solar power plants of the future
Katie Fehrenbacher for The Guardian: At the edge of a plot of muddy farmland, a few miles down the road from the University of California at Davis, an engineer takes a few quick steps across crop rows and lets go of a three-foot drone. Within seconds, the device – which weighs less than 2lbs and carries a powerful camera – ascends hundreds of feet into the cold, clear, blue sky and begins to snap detailed photos of the ground far below, including a long row of large solar panels mounted on steel poles.
This flight is just a test, demonstrated by Kingsley Chen, the drone fleet coordinator for SunPower at the solar company’s research and development center, which is under construction and about a two-hour drive northeast of the San Francisco Bay Area. The drone will enable SunPower to survey a wide region and help design a solar power farm that can fit more solar panels on a piece of land, more quickly and for lower costs than it previously could. Con'td...
Tech firms keep expanding 'Robotics Row,' Pittsburgh's mini Silicon Valley
Aaron Aupperlee for TribLive: Advancements in robotics, autonomous manufacturing, self-driving cars and more are taking place in the former warehouses, factories and foundries of Pittsburgh's Strip District and Lawrenceville neighborhoods.
Argo AI, an self-driving car startup partnering with Ford, became the latest to join Robotics Row, a string of technology companies setting up shop along the Allegheny River.
The company announced Thursday it would base its headquarters in the Strip District.
"We see the Strip District as a mini Silicon Valley," Argo AI CEO Bryan Salesky told the Tribune-Review. "In my mind, that is the future of the tech hub in Pittsburgh."
At least 20 companies and organizations working on robotics and autonomous technologies call the three-mile stretch of riverfront home. Cont'd...
ST Robotics Offers New Super-Fast Robot Arm
The ST R17HS uses state-of-the-art brushless servomotors and boasts an effective reach of 750mm, a repeatability of 0.2 mm and a maximum speed after acceleration of 480 deg/sec in the robot's waist, elbow, hand and wrist, with a shoulder speed of 300 deg/sec.
"The R17HS is the result of years of development that puts us ahead of the field," said David Sands, President and CEO of ST Robotics. "Customers are finding it useful for high throughput production as well as testing applications requiring fast motion of test devices." Full Press Release:
Brainstorm the Future
Robots will take our jobs and "move the cheese" for those seeking to replace those jobs. Simply referring to the old adages (Cars put blacksmiths out of work ... and they survived) will not suffice in modern times.
Robots Are Going Their Two Separate Ways
Mobility is a powerful enabler to intelligent robots as it increases the utilization of the robot in different form factors (land-based, air-based/space/drones, water-based and wearable/exoskeleton) and various applications.
How a College Kid Made His Honda Civic Self-Driving for $700
Tom Simonite for MIT Technology Review: Brevan Jorgenson’s grandma kept her cool when he took her for a nighttime spin in the Honda Civic he’s modified to drive itself on the highway. A homemade device in place of the rear-view mirror can control the brakes, accelerator, and steering, and it uses a camera to identify road markings and other cars.
“She wasn’t really flabbergasted—I think because she’s seen so much from technology by now,” says Jorgenson, a senior at the University of Nebraska, Omaha. Others are more wary of the system, which he built using plans and software downloaded from the Internet, plus about $700 in parts. Jorgenson says the fact that he closely supervises his homebrew autopilot hasn’t convinced his girlfriend to trust the gadget’s driving. “She’s worried it’s going to crash the car,” he says. Cont'd...
NXT Robotics Unveils Rugged All-Terrain, All-Weather Outdoor Security Robot
SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwired - February 21, 2017) - Mobile robotics are playing an increasingly important role in the security of our borders, military facilities, and even power plants. To meet this growing demand, San Diego-based NXT Robotics has developed Scorpion, a rugged all-terrain and all-weather outdoor security robot designed to provide organizations with round-the- clock physical security monitoring and reporting capabilities.
NXT Robotics, known for its advanced mobile security patrol platform, will debut Scorpion at West 2017 at the San Diego Convention Center, Feb. 21-23 (Booth 1208). Scorpion is an autonomous security patrol that lowers costs while maximizing physical security surveillance capabilities. Scorpion is designed for places such as military facilities, power plants, borders, parking structures, farms and ranches, and seaports.
Scorpion's rugged outdoor design, multi-camera use, video capture and rich sensor payload helps secure assets and ensure public safety while navigating challenging environments. Cont'd...
Robotic Surgery a Key Factor Driving Down Hospital Length of Stay
With robotics protocols, hospital length of stay (LOS) after some thoracic procedures at LVHN has declined significantly.
Rules of the (Driverless) Road: How Federal Guidelines Will Impact Innovation
Although some experts fear that rules and regulations might limit innovation, most see this step by the Federal government as a clear sign of validation for the imminent future of automated automotive transportation.
Rise of Robots: Boon for Companies, Tax Headache for Lawmakers
Linda A. Thompson for Bloomberg News Agency: European lawmakers are grappling for answers to a question that until recently seemed like the stuff of science fiction: If robots take our jobs, who will pay taxes?
In an age of unprecedented technological change occurring at a faster rate than the Industrial Revolution, concerns over the growing robotization and automation of work have prompted fears about mass unemployment and plummeting tax revenue in the near future, pitting companies and robotics manufacturers against lawmakers and worker advocates.
The issue is taking on new urgency ahead of a Feb. 16 vote before the EU Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee on whether to create a robotics agency to deliberate on tax and liability issues. Cont'd...
Six-legged robots faster than nature-inspired gait
Science Daily: When vertebrates run, their legs exhibit minimal contact with the ground. But insects are different. These six-legged creatures run fastest using a three-legged, or "tripod" gait where they have three legs on the ground at all times -- two on one side of their body and one on the other. The tripod gait has long inspired engineers who design six-legged robots, but is it necessarily the fastest and most efficient way for bio-inspired robots to move on the ground?
Researchers at EPFL and UNIL revealed that there is in fact a faster way for robots to locomote on flat ground, provided they don't have the adhesive pads used by insects to climb walls and ceilings. This suggests designers of insect-inspired robots should make a break with the tripod-gait paradigm and instead consider other possibilities including a new locomotor strategy denoted as the "bipod" gait. The researchers' findings are published in Nature Communications. Cont'd...
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