Distribution Centers: An Emerging Robotics Frontier
This article originated as a profile of one company as they began to robotically augment distribution centers. But, as I gathered information, the story has morphed into a review of why Kiva Systems' innovative methods - the goods-to-man methodology - is far superior to other older styles of fulfillment.
Introductory To The Element Robotics Development Platform
Fast robotics development using the Element Robotics Development Platform and the .NET framework.
Interview with David Sands of ST Robotics
Users who have never programmed anything at all before can set up our robot, type their first command and immediately see a result without requiring an integrator or consultant to install and program the robot. Additionally ST Robotics follows up with unlimited technical support.
IROS 2012 Videos
Robot locomotion with continuum limbs (courtesy of IEEE Spectrum):
RoboBee (courtesy of Harvard University and IEEE Spectrum):
Robot builds ramp by randomly flinging 3,600 toothpicks (courtesy of IEEE Spectrum):
People tracking on RGB-D people dataset (courtesy of IASLABResearch):
IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
This week the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems is taking place Vila Moura, Algarve, Portugal. We'll be posting all the big news as it comes. The full IROS2012 schedule is available here.
Espresso Book Machine
The Espresso Book Machine makes a perfect-bound paperback book virtually identical to the publisher’s original in a matter of minutes. The user chooses a digital file via the EspressNet software system, either at the physical EBM, or remotely via the Internet (users can also bring their own files in person: on CD’s, flash drives, etc.). The EBM uses PDF files for the book block and the cover. A high-speed Xerox 4112 Copier/Printer prints the pages of the book – the book block. The printer uses standard US letter-size (8.5” x 11”) or A4 paper stock. A high-speed Xerox 4112 Copier/Printer prints the pages of the book – the book block. The printer uses standard US letter-size (8.5” x 11”) or A4 paper stock. A rotating wheel applies a thin layer of heat-activated glue over the milled edge. The clamp then moves the book block down to the cover, which waits on the binding table. The EBM uses special pneumatics and clamps to press the cover against the spine and around the book block. This produces a traditional “perfect-bound” book.
Magneto-Inductive Communication: Interview with Steve Parsons, Ultra Electronics
To validate and demonstrate our Through-the-Earth capability, we developed a full-duplex MI Modem (MIM-1000) and installed it on a Pioneer 3-AT R&D robot. Initial field trials were carried out at an abandoned coal mine in Nova Scotia, Canada, where we successfully demonstrated the robot - we call her "Maggie" - being driven and maneuvered remotely by an operator located on the mines surface with Maggie located in an underground mine shaft separated by over 100 feet of geological overburden.
Cars Are The New UGVs
Will todays developers of military UGVs be tomorrows manufacturers of autonomous civilian cars? Probably not. However, it is clear that the technologies developed for one will be adapted for another.
Interview With Martin Buehler, Vice President of Logistics Solutions, Vecna Medical
Hospitals, clinics, providers and other end users should engage with the robot vendor closely and early on as a partner. Among other things, this allows both parties to identify the highest value applications, some of which may not have been apparent at the outset.
TP80 Fast Picker: Interview With David Arceneaux, Staubli
The new TP80 fast Picker robot from Stäubli Robotics introduces innovative, high-speed four-axis kinematics for pick and place applications. This high-speed robot achieves peak rates of well over 200 picks per minute.
Human Support Robot From Toyota
Toyota Motor Corporation has developed a human support robot (HSR) prototype to assist independent home living for persons with limited arm or leg mobility. Aiming to improve quality of life, Toyota has developed the HSR prototype in cooperation with the Japan Service Dog Association to identify the needs and desires of individuals with limited limb mobility, and developed functions focused around picking up dropped objects, retrieving items, and communicating with family members and caregivers. In 2011, TMC conducted in-home trials using the robot with individuals with limb disabilities in cooperation with the Foundation for Yokohama Rehabilitation Service and incorporated user feedback into development.
Stack Exchange Teams Up With US Patent Office To Crowd Source Prior Art
The new America Invents Act came into effect on September 16, it lets ordinary people provide feedback on patent applications. The US Patent Office and the question/answer resource Stack Exchange are teaming up to create AskPatents. AskPatents allows allows anyone to participate in the patent examination process.
Joel Spolsky, co-founder of Stack Exchange:
"Ask Patents is a collaborative effort, neatly tagged by keywords and classification, and searchable by patent application number. It is inspired by a research project called Peer To Patent, run out of New York Law School. That pilot project, created by Professor Beth Noveck, proved very successful at identifying prior art that the USPTO wouldn’t otherwise have known about.
Citizen volunteers and other interested parties will be able to ask about applications that they think are suspicious. Others can answer, identifying possible prior art, and using our upvote/downvote feature to rate any examples of prior art that other people found.
The USPTO, complying with the new law, will also provide an online system for submitting prior art. We’re also integrating with Google Patent Search, so every patent application on Google will include a link to discussion on Stack Exchange. Google has also implemented an algorithmic prior art search utility that will be helpful to site participants.
On Ask Patents, participants can also ask and answer questions about the nuances of patent law or about specific patent applications.
Collectively, we’re building a crowd-sourced worldwide detective agency to track down and obliterate bogus patent applications. Over time, we hope that the Patent Stack Exchange will mitigate the problems caused by rampant patent trolling. It’s not a complete fix, but it’s a good start."
Rethink Robotics releases Baxter, its Manufacturing robot
Baxter, is six feet tall, 300 pounds, and a robot. For a hulking machine, Baxter is remarkably expressive. A pair of eyes on the screen that serves as a face stare down as the robot picks up plastic components, look concerned when it makes a mistake, and direct its glance at its next task when one is finished. It's cute. But the real point of these expressions is that they let workers nearby know instantly if Baxter is performing appropriately, and they provide clues to what it is about to do next. Even more amazing, when Baxter is done with one task, a fellow worker can simply show the robot how to start another. "Almost anyone, literally, can in very short order be shown how to program it," says Chris Budnick, president of Vanguard Plastics. "It's a matter of a couple of minutes."
Baxter is the first of a new generation of smarter, more adaptive industrial robots. Conventional industrial robots are expensive to program, incapable of handling even small deviations in their environment, and so dangerous that they have to be physically separated from human workers by cages. So even as robotics have become commonplace in the automotive and pharmaceutical industries, they remain impractical in many other types of manufacturing. Baxter, however, can be programmed more easily than a Tivo and can deftly respond to a toppled-over part or shifted table. And it is so safe that Baxter's developer, Rethink Robotics, which loaned Baxter to Vanguard Plastics, believes it can work seamlessly alongside its human coworkers.
A nose is a nose, or is it?
An electronic nose has a gas-sensor array sampling system and a signal processor coupled to a recognition system, where the sampling system moves vapor laden air into the sensor array. It could even work similar to a passive smoke detector.
Quality Control and Error Prevention in Food Packaging
Having a wrong label on a can of food, or a wrong lid on a cup of margarine, could have serious consequences to the manufacturer and the retailer, as well as the consumer. An automatic identification solution using 1D and 2D barcodes is a reliable way to improve quality control in the food packaging process, ensure safety and to avoid human errors.
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Featured Product
3D Vision: Ensenso B now also available as a mono version!
This compact 3D camera series combines a very short working distance, a large field of view and a high depth of field - perfect for bin picking applications. With its ability to capture multiple objects over a large area, it can help robots empty containers more efficiently. Now available from IDS Imaging Development Systems. In the color version of the Ensenso B, the stereo system is equipped with two RGB image sensors. This saves additional sensors and reduces installation space and hardware costs. Now, you can also choose your model to be equipped with two 5 MP mono sensors, achieving impressively high spatial precision. With enhanced sharpness and accuracy, you can tackle applications where absolute precision is essential. The great strength of the Ensenso B lies in the very precise detection of objects at close range. It offers a wide field of view and an impressively high depth of field. This means that the area in which an object is in focus is unusually large. At a distance of 30 centimetres between the camera and the object, the Z-accuracy is approx. 0.1 millimetres. The maximum working distance is 2 meters. This 3D camera series complies with protection class IP65/67 and is ideal for use in industrial environments.
Robotics and Automation - Featured Company
PI USA (Physik Instrumente)
PI is a privately held company that designs and manufactures world-class precision motion and automation systems including air bearings, hexapods and piezo drives at locations in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company was founded 5 decades ago and today employs more than 1700 people worldwide. PI's customers are leaders in high-tech industries and research institutes in fields such as photonics, life-sciences, semiconductors and aerospace.
