Sunday, May 19, 2013
The Robot Report’s database now has over 2,300 robotics links in the following directories:
... Industrial robot manufacturers
... Service robots for gov & corp use
... Service robots for personal use
... Ancillary businesses
... Start-up companies
... Educational & research facilities
A global map of robot makers including start-ups is here.
$5 Billion UAV/Drones industry in the news and setting new records
... UPDATE 12/30/10: The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale has confirmed that QinetiQ’s solar-powered Zephyr UAV, which charges during the day and operates from batteries, has been ratified as staying in the air longer and achieving the highest altitude of any surveillance craft in its class, and setting the absolute duration record of 14 days and 21 minutes.
... In the UK, a new UAS evaluation center has opened for UAS trials and testing involving air traffic management and airspace changes.
... Boeing demonstrates new Phantom Eye UAS which begins flight tests later this year. It will stay aloft at 65,000 feet for up to four days.
... Insitu signs agreement to provide integration research to FAA as part of enabling UAS in America’s airspace.
... Read Dwight Eisenhower’s warning about military-industrial complex - 49 years ago - still applicable today.
... ASDReports, a paid-for market research forecast for the UAV market, predicts $71 billion will be spent on UAVs in the next 10 years.
Funding for Robotic Businesses
... Heartland Robotics gets $20 million additional funding ($32 million total thus far). Brooks said the company’s new manufacturing robots “will be intuitive to use, intelligent and highly flexible. They’ll be easy to buy, train and deploy and will be unbelievably inexpensive.”
... UPDATE 12-9: New reports from the Boston Globe indicate the Heartland robot will sell for $5,000, be on a rolling base rather than legs, be lightweight and human-like, be trainable without programming, and have sensors which enable it to work safely with humans. Most interesting is an Apple-like app store where users can share the robot’s routines and functions.
... Aethon, Inc. raises $2 million. Aethon is the maker of TUG, the robotic transport device for hospital deliveries.
... NASA and WV University dedicate new $3.2 million Robotics Center. The center will partner with NASA and evaluate sensors and algorithms for space robotics of all types.
Army’s Robotics Rodeo Tests Newest Gear
... The machines, viewed at a recent ‘Robotics Rodeo’ at an Army training school, protect soldiers, don’t panic under fire, are never distracted, and use an unblinking digital eye that automatically detects even the smallest motion. Great NY Times graphics and story.
... A 2004 Congressional directive requiring the military to replace a third of its fleet of logistics vehicles with robots by the middle of the next decade is stimulating the prizes and buzz for autonomous convoy vehicles and soldier-following AGVs. CMU received $2 million as this year’s 1st prize winner to navigate a 60-mile course in a simulated city in under six hours. Read NY Times story.
Three Major Robotic Events End—All Were In Asia
... The World Expo 2010 held in Shanghai May 1 to October 31 and seen by 60 million visitors, showcased robots in many forms: guides to factory assistants, rescue bots to underwater research. Themed to focus on the cities of the future, the biggest draws were the Oil Industry Pavilion and their 4D “Oil Dream” movie; Saudi Arabia’s slow-moving walkway as amazing cinematography flew all around in a surreal visual experience; and the US and China Pavilions for their technological prowess and richness of spirit. youTube videos of the four are here: [1] [2] [3] [4].
... Certainly the most focused was RobotWorld 2010 held in Seoul October 28-31 where South Korea aims to become one of the world’s top three robot powerhouses by 2013. Standouts were sophisticated kiosks, coffee-making robots, vacuums, kindergarten teaching assistants, and Curexo’s Robodoc.
... TIROS 2010, Taipei October 19-22 aimed to increase market awareness of the fast growing robotic industry in Taiwan with IROS workshops focused on intelligent robotics and a big expo displaying senior support robots, Roomba look-alikes, rescue robots and teacher/therapy bots.
... A humorous insight into one aspect of the Shanghai expo is this entry on The Art of Queue Jumping.
... A serious insight is a plan, formalized in 2006, to implement an indigenous innovation political and economic campaign for the Chinese nation to surpass the West in science and technology. The plan is “steeped in suspicion of outsiders.” It explicitly states that a key tool will be through tweaking foreign technology and defines “indigenous innovation” as “enhancing original innovation through co-innovation and re-innovation based on the assimilation of imported technologies.”
Robonaut 2 Off To Space February 3rd But GM’s Robonaut 2 Is Moving To The Factory Floor
... Best video thus far about GM’s intended uses for Robonaut 2 as NASA’s Robonaut 2 flies off to join the Space Station as a lab assistant.
A Giant Cobra Made of Robot Men Slithers Around Eating Cars
... New Indian movie “Endhiran (The Robot)” has a giant cobra made of robot men plus many dance scenes. Enjoy the trailer.
... Last year’s fashion robot HRP-4C did a song and dance routine at the Digital Content Expo 2010. Watch the video.
Berkeley Bionics Uses Military Technology to Let Wheelchair Users Walk
... Slimming down their military HULC exoskeleton (which they have licensed to Lockheed Martin), Berkeley Bionics has introduced eLEGS, a gesture-based human-machine interface which senses and determines intentions and then acts to orchestrate every aspect of a single stride.
... Clinical trials will commence early next year at select rehabilitation clinics in the United States.
Optimism: a conversation with Rodney Brooks
... Rodney Brooks is the founder and chairman of Heartland Robotics and a founder and board member and former CTO of iRobot Corp. He was also the former director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab and then CSAIL.
... We discussed the need for a robotic solution to help small and medium-sized factories compete.
... We also talked about movement in the agricultural business towards automation and robotics.
... And about new funding opportunities for U.S. robotics research such as those recently announced by the Whitehouse Office of Science and Technology
... Details here.
Founder of Microsoft Robotics Studio Retires and Launches New Start-up
... Tandy Trower retired earlier this year as Microsoft VP and founder of MS Robotics Studio. Recently he launched Hoaloha Robotics.
... Today Hoaloha Robotics and Robosoft (the French provider of high-end mobile and service robots) announced a collaboration to develop and bring to market an assistive care robot to empower disabled and elderly individuals to live more independently with the use of their new robot.
... Martin Hägele, Chairman of the IFR Service Robot Group, commenting on robots as home companions or assisting the disabled or elderly: “Even though these robot companions or assistants have the prospect of appealing to a mass market, it is felt that the required technological progress, attractive product designs and low-cost manufacturing pose significant challenges and may make this idea more of a long-term project that will not reach full maturity before the year 2020.”
Review of AUVSI Unmanned Systems 2010 Denver Conference & Exhibition
... 450 exhibitors; 392,000 sq ft; 5,500 attendees; mostly defense and security people attended because that’s what the show was all about.
... Speakers from USAF, Navy, DoD, DARPA - generals, admirals and Henrik Christensen, GA Tech professor and lead proponent of an American roadmap for robotics (including unmanned systems of all types; not just military/security).
Sense, think and act: news about artificial intelligence
... NY Times interviews Bina48:
Q: What’s it like to be a robot?
A: Well, I have never been anything else.
... “Many countries face pressure on their healthcare systems. To alleviate this pressure, ‘self care’ is often prescribed with the use of new, assistive technologies. Social robotics is a research area where psychology, robot technology and artificial intelligence are combined, aiming for robots that are able to function in cooperation with humans in social settings.” The EU has funded the ALIZ-E project to coordinate efforts between research institutes, companies and end users toward this end. Korea and Japan also have similar programs.
... Italian researchers develop robot programming by demonstration, learning by imitation and human-robot interaction.
... A full-page op-ed piece in the NY Times described the state of the art in AI and robotics got a lot of attention.
... Another op-ed piece, in PCWorld, also reports on the state of AI: The hardest thing about artificial intelligence (AI) is keeping your imagination in check.
China and Iran Make News With Humanoid Robots
... Iran displays, but gives no further information about, new humanoid robot Surena 2 developed at Tehran University.
... China concludes First International Humanoid Robotics Olympics at Harbin University of Technology. Robots performed gymnastics, track and field and also domestic chores and medical care. Teams from China, America, South Korea, Germany and Japan participated.
Robots in healthcare proliferating
... Each week there are stories about the application of robotics in healthcare or of a hospital bringing onboard robotic processes. Here are the most recent stories:
... Robots will be used to transport clinical waste and dirty linen, deliver food and dispense drugs at the new Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Ireland.
... Robots will improve safety and efficiency by dispensing pills and dosages into plastic bags and affixing them with barcodes at the Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok.
... New robotic tugs move locked medicine trays around Sinai Hospital in Baltimore.
1 million years of independent living this decade is goal of iRobot’s new eldercare unit
... In a just-released TEDMED video, iRobot CEO Colin Angle describes “informal caregiving” and their new eldercare business unit.
... Goal is to add 1 million years of independent living in next decade by providing robots that assist with medical compliance, provide monitoring and enable physical interactions.
Adept Technology Acquires MobileRobots
... Adept Technology, with $50 million in sales of SCARA, parallel and other fixed-position robots, adds a complete line of AGV and autonomous mobile bases with the acquisition of MobileRobots.
... “Our companies are very compatible,” Jeanne Dietsch, CEO of $5 million in sales MobileRobots, said. “This is definitely a ‘more than a sum of its parts’ sort of merger.”
It Had To Happen: Tokyo Couple Married by Robot
... Japanese couple decided to use the robot as they are both connected with the robot business.
... Kokoro’s i-Fairy receptionist robot was used.
Robotics Highlight of Hannover Messe Trade Fair
... Smart boxes, meters and grids, laser technologies, digital factories, energy efficiencies and future application areas for industrial automation were the focus of the trade show.
... In spite of flight delays from volcanic ash, over 150,000 bussed and trained to attend.
... Highlight of show: Festo’s elephant trunk robotic arm designed to be an agile and delicate bionic handling assistant.
20,000 attend 19th Annual F.I.R.S.T. Competition in Atlanta
... Big crowds, intense competitors at F.I.R.S.T. Robotics Championship in Atlanta. Click for photo enlargement.
... High School teams from Redondo Beach, CA, Milford, MI and South Windsor, CT formed the winning alliance from over 340 teams competing.
Colbert Shows DEKA Prosthetic; Ferguson Adds Robotic Sidekick
... Late-Late Night Show host Craig Ferguson’s new robotic sidekick has a limited set of preprogrammed responses. Funny but ridiculous.
... Dean Kamen showed DEKA’s wonderful but not-yet-ready arm and hand prosthetic and plugged F.I.R.S.T. on The Colbert Report.
... Wounded Americans are still receiving hook-type prosthetics (CBS News) even though TouchBionics, a UK company, has working and available very hi-tech prosthetics.
Telepresence robots are gaining favor
... UPDATE: Click to read latest info and Willow Garage’s plans for their newly built 25 Texas telepresence robots.
... Willow Garage, a privately-funded research enterprise known for their PR2 and COS hardware and software open-source platforms, is venturing into telepresence robots. After having tested a single device at a remote location, they’ve built 25 for further testing.
... InTouch Health recently announced that it had surpassed 100,000 clinical sessions performed through its remote telepresence robots.
... MIT is showing their advanced new MeBot which adds head movement and gesticulating arms to allow the teleoperator to be more engaged.
New Medical Classifications Suggested for Service Robotic Companies
... Recent FDA Workshop on Medical Care Robots attempts to standardize and classify emerging robotic medical care devices and products.
... Emerging technologies included micro surgery, surgery assistance, personal care and therapy robots, telepresence robots, smart devices such as an artificial pancreas, NOTES and single port surgery (which uses natural orifices and internal incisions to navigate to spots needing attention), and image and robot guided placement of instruments.
... Details on Everything-Robotic blog.
IMRIS acquires U of Calgary’s NeuroArm
... IMRIS, the Canadian provider of image guided therapy solutions has acquired a spin-off from the U of Calgary, NeuroArm. NeuroArm is a neurosurgical robot that is MRI compatible. IMRIS plans to commercialize the product working with MacDonald Dettwiler, a Canadian information solutions provider.
Once Again Porn Industry Leads the Way - This Time in Robotics
... UPDATE: 4,000 pre-orders and 20,000 queries as of February 1st, says CNN.
... Watch an interview with Douglas Hines describing Roxxxy, TrueCompanion’s new full-size, full function, $7-9,000 sex robot. She has five personalities and the system enables you to design your own personality profiles and share them online. One would think she could look prettier for that kind of money.
Over 40 countries have military robotics programs today
... Wall Street Journal does in-depth story on Israeli defense robots but it covers other countries efforts as well.
... Story confirms 2010 Robot Predictions from Everything-Robotic blog.
... But all is not rosy. The US Army just announced cancellation of an autonomous ground vehicle (Lockheed Martin’s MULE) and a pilotless helicopter (Northrop Grumman’s FireScout) - both are being replaced by upgrading existing equipment to provide the new functionalities.
Droid Works Changes Name and gets $2.4M NIST Award
... Helen Greiner’s Droid Works start-up has switched it’s name to CyPhy Works.
... Stealth as they try to be, CyPhy Works has received it’s second NIST award - this time for $2.4M - to develop technologies for small, hovering, UAVs to be used for the inspection and monitoring of large-scale civil infrastructure elements such as bridges and dams.
... The previous award was for $100k to enable UAVs to navigate inside houses and buildings.
... Teledyne Technologies acquires Canadian vision systems provider DALSA for $335 million.
... First four commercially sold Willow Garage PR2 robots were delivered (after previously giving away 11). Will sales of Texai telepresence robots be next?
... February 14-16 are the dates to watch IBM’s ‘Watson’ battle Jeopardy.
... Anybots has chosen an American manufacturing partner (E-Systems Technology) instead of an off-shore company to build their new telepresence robots (the one with the tiny round head).
... China’s Dalu Robot Restaurant is replacing waiters and waitresses with robots on bikes and two robot receptionists. With tables in a circular arrangement, robots bring dishes and drinks by using a track to move around the restaurant.
ReWalk exoskeleton in FDA Trials and on ‘Glee’
... Artie (a wheel-chair bound character on Glee, the TV musical) walked using Argo Medical Technologies’ ReWalk exoskeleton on the Christmas episode of Glee.
... FDA trials are underway for the ReWalk which received EU CE Mark certification earlier this year.
March, 2011: Two Intl. Robot Shows on Same Days
... Hard choice: Expo and conference on vision, motion and automation with an expected crowd of 35,000 or Lyon, France (!), half the size expo and conference, but a focus on service and future robotics for domestic, educational, leisure, safety and personal assistance. Tough call
... Automate 2011 (formerly the Intl Robots, Vision & Motion Control Show, with 42nd ISR conference, will be held in Chicago, March 21-24.
... INNO-ROBO Service Robotics Innovation Sumit and Expo, with three conference partners, RoboLift, EMM and Robot Market Focus, will be held in Lyon, France, March 23-25.
Time Magazine’s 50 Best Inventions of 2010
... Seven are robotic: Google’s driverless car, eLegs’ Exoskeleton for paraplegics, Georgia Tech’s Deceitful Robot, Korea’s English-teaching robot, EMILY, the life-saving robot, Raytheon’s Iron-man Suit, and Israel’s AI Sarcasm Detection algorithm.
... Gizmag would add to that list Festo’s Bionic Handling Assistant and the spider-like nanobot created by a team of US scientists.
Pres. Obama Experiences Japanese Robots
... On his recent Asian trip, at APEC in Yokohama, President Obama petted a Paro robot, met HRP-4C, the fashion/space/talking fembot, and tried out Japan’s new 30 km/hr personal mobility device. Click to enlarge photos.
Google’ Self-Driving Cars Have Racked Up 140,000 Driverless Miles on California Roads
... The only accident was when one Google car was rear-ended while stopped at a traffic light.
... The cars used LIDAR, a video camera, four standard automotive radar sensors and a position estimating sensor along with Google AI software.
... The Google project was the brainchild of Sebastian Thrun, director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, a Google engineer, and the co-inventor of the Street View mapping service who said that deployment of the technology is more than eight years away.
... Detailed stories by the NY Times.
UPDATE 10/31/10:
... U of Parma VisionLab’s driverless electric van completes 8,000 mile trip from Italy to the World Expo in Shanghai. The van detects lanes, pedestrians, and other vehicles; estimates slope terrain; as well as plans trajectory, actuation, and control.
Do robots take away jobs or just change the mix of workers?
... Interesting article and comments on subject. Join the conversation.
EmTech@MIT - 35 Young Innovators Give Their Elevator Pitch
... David Kobia, of start-up Ushahidi, won Humanitarian of the Year for his work creating web programs that collect and visualize information for communities around the world faced with natural disasters or social upheaval.
... David was one of 35 under-35 innovators giving their “elevator pitch” to attendees of EmTech@MIT 2010 and displaying a wide range of innovative ideas and processes.
... In addition to the EmTech 35, the 3-day conference focused on game-changing and emerging innovations in the communications, energy, biotech, IT and materials sectors.
... Free webcasts of the whole conference are available here.
Two New Market Analyses: The UAV and UGV Market 2010-2020
... Visiongain now selling “The Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV) Market 2010-2020: Military Robots for EOD & Counter-IED”, a $2,130 analysis of the worldwide UGV market.
... Visiongain also selling “The Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Market 2010-2010: Technologies for ISR and Counter-Insurgency, also $2,130.
... Coincidentally, all of the providers mentioned in the UGV report are included in The Robot Report’s free and extensive database of robotic businesses and providers.
High-voltage transmission line maintenance robots emerge
... Three different efforts and products emerge to solve the problem of safely observing and maintaining high voltage transmission lines using robotics. Present methods range from humans crawling the lines, to helicopters flying close-by and scanning, to cars and jeeps with people and binoculars.
1. LineScout, a tele-operated obstacle crossing system developed by the Hydro-Quebec Research Institute (IREQ), is being tested on hard to maintain lines such as those that cross the St. Lawrence River.
2. Expliner, by HiBot of Japan, is being used by the Kansai Electric Power Company. HiBot says they can, with minor modifications, roll out Expliner bots to other countries.
3. America’s Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is developing a more autonomous version customized to work on the PATH (Ohio’s Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline lines) but won’t be ready to do trial runs until 2014.
... If this subject is of interest to you, you may want to attend CARPI 2010, Conference on Applied Robotics for the Power Industry, October 5-7, Montreal, Canada.
... SIDEBAR: National Geographic did an in-depth piece on the US and EU power grid which is a worthwhile read and the graphics are wonderful.
NASA’s Global Hawk UAV Used to Track Hurricane Earl
... AF hand-me-down Global Hawks refurbished by NASA (previously reported on The Robot Report in April) being put to use flying above storms. It sits above the hurricane and peers into it using new NASA instruments measuring wind vectors and ocean surface winds, and creating a 3-D distribution of temperature, water vapor, and cloud liquid water. [At the top of the hurricane, wind flow is reversed, so instead of spiraling in from the center, the winds spiral out. A balance of wind flow between the top and bottom of a storm is what enables it to intensify from a cyclone—a closed area of rapid wind circulation—to a hurricane.]
... In other UAV news, Homeland Security announced a fourth Predator patroling US/Mexico border thereby enabling complete 24/7 coverage of border.
Notes from robotics research labs:
... U of Leeds ROV finds a deep channel that runs along floor of Black Sea.
... U of Leeds also going Pyramid exploring with remote cameras and robotic drills.
... Formula 1 simulator uses robotic arm to provide physical affect to the visual experience.
... Robonaut2 getting packaged for its trip to the Space Lab. Follow it on Twitter.
... Boston Dynamics, famous for its Bigdog, gets its two-legged Petman version up to 4.4 mph.
... Cornell’s 4-legged legs-only Ranger walks 14.3 miles on a single charge.
... Also from Cornell, put an infant in a baby seat strapped to a Wii board affixed to a mobile robot and what do you get? Baby mobility. They lean toward what they want. Particularly hopeful for disabled infants.
Finnish Cimcorp Oy Acquires Canadian RMT Robotics
... Both companies are leading providers of robotics for logistics automation.
Japanese-owned Yaskawa Motoman to build new facility in Ohio
... Japanese-owned Yaskawa America, the Motoman robot manufacturer, working with the State of Ohio, is building a new 300,000 sq ft office and production facility which will hire 250-300 new people. Wasn’t America the first robot manufacturer? Oh, that company moved to Japan. Now we have off-shore-owned sales, assembly and integration facilities.
... Read a review of the events and activities at AUTOMATICA 2010.
... Slide and video show of AUTOMATICA 2010.
... Alexander Verl, an inventor, entrepreneur, and researcher at Fraunhofer IPA, won this year’s IEEE/IFR Invention and Entrepreneurship Award (IERA) for outstanding achievement. His invention transformed the QC, measurement and inspection process from a room full of cameras to flexible inline scanning measurement robots.
... Heinz-Dieter Schunk, CEO, Schunk GmbH, and Scott Deming, Director of the Advanced Machine Systems Group with Corning Inc., received this year’s Robotic Industries Association Engleberger Robotics Awards for their 25+ years of leadership and application respectively.
... Both awards were presented Tuesday evening at the ISR-Robotik banquet in Munich.
Telepresence robots entering market
... Anybot finalizes their telepresence robot and announces shipping date and price: this fall at $15,000.
... Willow Garage builds 25 for experimentation prior to commercialization.
... InTouch Health already in 300 hospitals making rounds.
Update on Gulf Oil Spill: Progress Report
... 24/7, 10 work heros of Gulf Oil Spill are, amongst others, Oceaneering‘s impressive ROVs.
... Philadelphia Inquirer has in-depth story on high-tech underwater activity.
... Interesting Gulf Oil Spill FAQ by Andrea Thompson at LiveScience.
... FUTURE: Energid and Seabed Rig have a prototype for exploration-seeking drilling areas, which was what BP was doing when the disaster occurred. The rig is operated by sophisticated, intelligent robots that are controlled using software provided by Cambridge, MA Energid. “The software was originally developed for NASA and the NSF for controlling complex robotic systems,” says Neil Tardella, COO of Energid, “We are leveraging this software to build the most intelligent rig of its kind.” They will be demonstrating at ONS 2010 in Stavanger, Norway, August 24-27.
Hand-me-down Global Hawks put to use
... Air Force hand-me-down Global Hawks spruced up by NASA to perform scientific tasks not available from satellites and manned aircraft.
... Can fly 30 hours at 65,000 feet economically and completely autonomously.
... As Americans pull out of Iraq, more and more UAVs will be converted to scientific and commercial use.
... Click photo to see details.
... UPDATE: Big money still in Global Hawks: Northrop Grumman/Ratheon SAS awarded $50 million for sensor suite repair capability.
Kiplinger’s 8 robots that will change your life
... Kiplinger Report suggests the following eight areas of robotics that will become commonplace in the very near future:
(1) Search and rescue; (2) food processing and handling; (3) guides and receptionists; (4) quality control; (5) exoskeletons; (6) couriers; (7) laundry processing; (8) mobile telepresence workstations.
... See article about Willow Garage and their telepresence robots.
... Also very likely to happen near-term are agricultural robots for monitoring, pruning, thinning and even picking produce. CMU and the USDA are at the forefront of American activity, as is immigration policy, but it is a worldwide happening with breakthroughs in France, Australia, NZ and Israel frequently in the news.
Plethora of Military UAV Roadmaps but none for civilians
... All these roadmaps refer to civilian uses for UAVs—but they’re really talking about homeland security rather than commercial uses.
... The real civilian UAV roadmap is part of the robotics roadmap floundering in Congress and at the FAA.
... Here are links to some of the roadmaps: Air Force, Navy, Army, DoD, and Robotics Roadmap.
... And here’s a link to a colorful worldwide roundup of UAV proliferation.
... Barron Associates has small R&D project to develop collision avoidance methodologies.
Stanford Medical Innovation Conference Focuses on Robotics
... Changing roles for the surgeon; black boxes, automated scrub nurses - these and other ideas were presented at the Stanford Medical Innovation Conference on Medical Robotics Saturday, at Stanford University.
... Presenters from business, research labs and venture capital firms.
... Other medical information making the news:
... Steadily improving medical software developed by IBM to help Mayo Clinic improve detection of aneurysms, Fortune Magazine.
... Cellular carriers are jumping into the remote-healthcare marketplace where body parts make phone calls, BusinessWeek Magazine.
FYI: DARPA’s Minds Eye and EU FP7’s HUMAVIPS projects
... Persistent Stare Surveillance Platforms. That’s DARPA-speak for a fixed-position surveillance system (either land-based or unmanned in the air). What DARPA is actually seeking in their Mind’s Eye Announcement, is research to provide human-like visual intelligence (e.g.: a deep learning smart camera which condenses raw data into meaningful data) from surveillance systems.
... HUMAVIPS is a 3-year EU FP7 project to develop social skills in robots, particularly to mimic the cocktail party effect - to focus on just one person in the midst of other people, voices and background noises.
Unmanned 29’ Mini Space Shuttle?
... US Air Force is quietly launching Boeing’s X-40A (merged with X-37) unmanned spaceplane April 19th. It will autonomously reenter the atmosphere and land at Vandenberg AFB sometime later.
Further indications of a boom in service robotics
... Ex-NASA astronaut Dan Barry, lecturing at Singularity University, offers a vision of robotic progress in 3-5 years and also 5-10 years. Read a review and watch an interview.
... NSF grants three-year funding to expand CMU’s Quality of Life Technology Foundry technology transfer to the commercial sector.
... CyPhy Works receives $1.75M first round of venture capital from same VC firm that invested $20M in iWalk, the robotic ankle and foot prosthetic company.
... Last month’s International Expert Days conference confirmed growth expectations but added an international perspective about the emerging service robotics sector. See Everything-Robotic for details of the two-day workshop.
... Fifteen personal robots on the horizon are detailed in Everything-Robotic - important because they are all well-funded and intend to be commercialized and adapted into worldwide service before 2020.
Robots documentary shown at Sundance
... 6-minute video addresses preconceptions and fears and shows Honda’s efforts to make their Asimo robot appealing rather than creepy.
... Psychological phenomena: if a robot behaves and moves in ways that enhance trust and engagement, you think it’s alive. Premise detailed in Erik Sofke’s Popular Mechanics article “Can Robots be Trusted?”
... In same article, Sofke also discusses “uncanny valley” theory in relation to social robotics.
... Developers of social robots need ethical guidelines now say robotic ethicists Noel Sharkey and Ronald Arkin.
Funding Robotic Research: The Strawberry Example
... Read about Carnegie Mellon’s Strawberry Project at Everything-Robotic which also provides an in-depth review of funding methods for robotic projects in different countries.
... Public-private consortiums have successful track records in the EU, Japan and Korea thereby stimulating more similarly-funded projects.
... Except for NASA and DARPA, American funding is less strategic and more entrepreneurial.
CES 2010 focused mainly on mobile market and 3D
EMAIL: info@therobotreport.com
Workerbots Begin Production in Europe
... The workerbot is a flexible inspection and assembly robot system from pi4_robotics, a German optical inspection and image processing industrial robot manufacturer.
... Funded by the EU and developed jointly with the Fraunhofer Institute of Production Systems, workerbot, a direct competitor to America’s as-yet unreleased Heartland Robotics worker robots, sports two arms, three cameras (a 3D and two others for detailed inspection tasks), intuitive setup of new tasks (no programmer necessary), plug and play, low investment cost via leasing plan, and can safely work side by side with sitting or standing humans.
... Read “Manufacturing with Robots: prospects and Problems Ahead”.
Festo’s Robotic Elephant Arm Wins German Future Prize
... It is described as a bionic handing assistant which allows humans and machines to work together safely and efficiently as a team. Possible areas of use include industry, agriculture, care facilities and even at home.
... The 250,000 Euro prize is shared with the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA).
2010 Robotic Gifts for the Whole Family
... For all ages: Parrot’s AR.Drone iPhone-controlled quadcopter.
... For Mom: a robotic vacuum from Neato or iRobot.
... For Dad: the adaptive cruise control option for his new car.
... For Grandparents and their grandkids: Pleo, the baby dinosaur.
... For little kids: Zhu Zhu pets.
... For pre-teen boys: RoboRaptor.
... For pre-teen girls: Bossa Nova’s Penbo robot and her baby Bebe.
... For robotically-interested 10 yo and older: LEGO Mindstorm robot kit.
Autism, Robotics and Apple’s iPad
... An unintended consequence of the versatility, ease of use, size and colorfulness of Apple’s new iPad is its emerging use of with autistic children to help them communicate. One software app in particular is providing very innovative assistance: Proloque2go.
... The San Francisco SFWeekly did an very informative story on the subject.
... Kaspar, a portable, small robot developed in the UK to help low-end-of-spectrum autistic children become socialized, complements the mix of tools, software and therapies to help our disabled children.
DARPA to Develop Multi-purpose Hand
UPDATE: Read IEEE interview with DARPA’s Dr. Robert Mandelbaum where, when asked whether there would be a trickle down effect into civilian applications, he said: “It won’t just trickle down—it will be a flood! The commercial applications will be all over the place.”
... DARPA has chosen lead vendors for a research project to develop a multiple-purpose hand, actually two hands working together. Project completion is mid-2014. Imagine a robot opening the zipper of a duffle and riffling through to find a specific object. Or picking up oddly shaped objects with both arms for search and rescue.
- Barrett Technology will develop and provide the hardware portion of the project.
- RE Squared will provide integration services for the Barrett hardware with additional sensors and a mobile platform.
Images from Taipei Int’l Robot Show
... Images courtesy of our friends at PlasticPals.
... The International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) was held at the same time.
... On a recent Colbert Report, he shows a snake robot, Wall.e, an archer and the new skin from UC Berkeley: “Scientists teach robots how to lie, kill and feel shame about their naked bodies.”
... During a brief visual review of various other robots, he called a dancing ASIMO: “Awkward white-man dancing.”
... Very funny.
Five government agencies combine to fund a long list of robotic research
... The Whitehouse Office of Science and Technology believes that “robotics is at a tipping point in terms of its usefulness and versatility” and is backing their belief with a fund to spur small business research.
... Companies can apply for up to $100,000 to aid research on a long list of areas of interest which include:
(1) Home care, personalized care for special-needs populations, and robotic wellness/health promotion
(2) Robot-assisted recovery, rehabilitation and behavioral therapy
(3) Surgical and interventional robots
(4) High-throughput robotics technologies
(5) Dexterous manipulators with tactile feedback
... Click to see the detailed funding announcement.
Just Released: 2010 Industrial and Service Robotics Market Analyses
... Selected quotes from the International Federation of Robotics’ just-released 2010 statistical reports on the robotics industry:
... Industrial Robots: There are many reasons for a bright future in robotics: Huge consumer markets are opening up in China, India, Brazil and Russia. The competitive nature of the automotive companies results in new investments in production facilities in these markets. Other industries are following as well. The degree of automation in North America is comparatively low with a need to catch up through investments in robotics. After the substantial rise of robot sales in 2010, a further increase will resume in the period between 2011 and 2013 by about 9% per year on average in the Americas, about 12% in Asia/Australia and by 8% in Europe.
... Service Robots for Professional Use: Projections for 2010-2013 indicate that the number of professional service robots will double. Application areas with strong growth are defense (30+%), rescue and security applications, field robots, logistic systems, inspection robots, medical robots and mobile robot platforms for multiple use.
... Service Robots for Personal Use: Projected sales of all types of domestic robots (vacuum cleaning, lawn-mowing, window cleaning and other types) in the period 2010-2013 could reach some 6.7 million units. The market for entertainment and leisure robots, which includes toy robots, is forecast at about 4.6 million units. The two markets combined will yield more than $5 billion.
Two new books on the entrepreneurial side of robotics
... There’s a chapter in Trade-Off by Kevin Maney where he describes how iRobot’s Roombas came to be and why they became such a success. It offers the thesis that there is a “trade-off between the fidelity of an experience and its convenience—and it’s more like the invention of a feature that gives an edge to an age-old product.”
... Change, circumstance and ego all worked to build and then unwind America’s first robot manufacturer is described in a soon to be published book: Pity the Pioneer: The Rise and Fall of Unimation. An excerpt is in Sept/Oct issue of Robot Magazine.
... Is America now sitting out the race for the future of robotics? Read BusinessWeek’s remarks about the clean energy sector and see the similarities.
Slow going for tele-robotic companies
... In spite of many positive stories - the two most recent from IEEE Spectrum and John Markoff of the NY Times - security, bureaucracy, undefined need, undocumented benefit(s) and alternative non-robotic methodologies (eg: telecom companies, Skype) seem to be the culprits holding back progress.
... Many start-ups but few success stories. InTouch Health, is one of the latter, with a noble effort to be the eyes, ears and voices of doctors who cannot be there in person but can almost be by using InTouch’s line of RP robots and a laptop control station.
... Fred Nikgohar of RoboDynamics gives his spin on why progress is slow-going - and he’s on his 3rd year of selling experiences. Very informative interview with Singularity Hub’s Aaron Saenz.
Adept and RMT Robotics on a golden road to the East
... Adept recently acquired MobileRobots which provides mobile robotic platforms to RMT Robotics and their ADAM line of mobile robots.
... Finnish Cimcorp’s recently acquired RMT Robotics announced that it now provides the ADAM line to a Korean integrator, Hanwha TechM who, in turn, is reselling them to a US battery manufacturer.
... Adept ships big order of parallel robots to Chinese integrator Austong Intelligent Robot Technology who is outfitting a Chinese dairy provider with the robots.
CBS News Sunday Morning Feature on Robots
... Daniel Siebert reported on how robotic technology is becoming more than just science fiction and is changing our lives on a daily basis.
... “Enthusiasm for robots on the battlefield, it seems, is only outpaced by the speed with which the military is acquiring them,” says the author of “Wired for War,” P.W. Singer.
... Read Dwight Eisenhower’s warning about military-industrial complex - 49 years ago - still applicable today.
Robotic Surgeries and Teleoperated Surgical Devices
... The FDA approved Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci surgical system not as a robotic system… but as a tele-manipulated medical device. Nevertheless, the device has been called a surgical robot by the press and also by Catherine Mohr, an Intuitive Surgical director (and professor at Stanford).
... Mohr recently wrote a Freakonomics NY Times piece explaining why minimally invasive robotic surgeries are cheaper than open or laparoscopic surgeries.
... An increasing array of procedures are performed by the da Vinci system, the most recent being hand surgery.
... Duke University is testing fully autonomous medical procedures such as prostate and breast biopsies and autopsies.
... China’s University Hospital of Tianjin is using a tele-manipulated surgical assistant (named “Little Hand”) similar to the da Vinci system.
... Israel’s Mazor Surgical Technologies has FDA approval for their SpineAssist robotic system which enables simulation and precise targeting and placement for intricate spinal implant operations. The robot enables the surgeon to improve accuracy from an estimated 3 millimeters to one-half millimeter.
... American start-up Hydronalix introduces E.M.I.L.Y., a robot lifeguard, to Malibu beaches. It uses sonar to shoot out to struggling victims (at up to 28 mph) and then utilizes telepresence to coach the victim onto the raft which then zooms back to shore and a waiting lifeguard.
... 27 teams from 12 countries took part in the RoboCup 2010 Rescue Robot competition last week in Singapore. Three Thailand teams won 1st and tied for 2nd place; Australia won 4th and Japan 5th in the annual contest to increase awareness of the challenges involved in search and rescue applications and sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
... NIST also sponsored (along with FEMA and Texas A&M) Disaster City’s annual Response Robot Evaluation Exercises earlier this year. These exercises enable search and rescue robotic providers to be able to test their equipment in simulated disaster situations and environments.
IBM Ready for Jeopardy! TV Challenge
... Watson-level AI deftly handles semantics and is ready for Jeopardy! NY Times story includes videos and provides in-depth explanations. Must read!
... A.I. Question Answering (QA) technologies are critical in human-robot interaction and are, at present, a serious cog in robot development. Is this a generic A.I. breakthrough or…?
... Mark Twain once said about market panics (such as the one we had this month): A lie can run around the world six times while the truth is still putting on its pants.
... New financial regulations passed Senate and Goldman Sachs’ alleged greedy transactions having effect on American stocks.
... Spain’s bond rating lowered and complexities of Greek budgeting and cutbacks pushing down European stocks.
... Nevertheless, service robotics stocks still outperforming NASDAQ. Read 10 reasons why this is so.
10 Drivers Propelling Service Robotics
... Fascinating review of economic drivers in play in the service robotics sector of the robotics industry.
New Study Shows Future Growth of UASs
... Study commissioned by AUVSI shows UASs driving future growth of aerospace industry.
... Critical path point: integration of unmanned aircraft into the national air space requiring government, political and FAA changes as well as industry support for collision avoidance and communications system.
... Many new civilian applications suggested: pipe/power line surveillance, agricultural apps, movie and news production, mail/freight transport, flood mapping, real estate mapping, wildlife monitoring, damage surveying, infrastructure monitoring, weather and sea research, damage assessment and surveying, traffic monitoring, suspect tracking and border surveillance to name a few.
Willow Garage’s Noble Open Source Effort
... 11 open source Personal Robots (PR2s) and their open source ROS (robotic operating system) were given away to encourage sharing systems, equipment and tools.
... Willow Garage is up against many entrenched obstacles in their quest for commonality and open source robotic equipment and software. One cartoon shows that typical robotics grad students spend 70% of their time re-inventing the wheel. If true, standardization appears to be needed.
National Robotics Week Results
... Stanford Block Party displays many new inventions and products including SRI’s stickybot and drone. All in one place for crowds of people to see: WillowGarage’s PR2 and Texai telepresence robots; Neato vacuum; Meka’s arm; SRI’s new telesurgical robot to name a few.
... East Coast block parties and events equally successful and well-attended.
Do robots take away jobs from humans?
... From an interview of Adept CEO John Dulchinos by GetRobo’s Noriko Kageki: Did you know that there are a billion cell phones per year being made globally of which 200-300 million are sold in the U.S. but not a single one is built in the U.S.? Ten years ago that was not the case. If the industry can’t remain competitive, then there are no jobs. And robots are automating tasks no longer done by hand. But in almost all cases those people are redeployed into other applications in the plant and allow the plant to grow and get much more efficient.
... BusinessWeek magazine reported this week that 15 of the top 50 Most Innovative Companies in 2010 are Asian, up from 5 in 2006. And, the majority in the top 25 are based outside the U.S.
Korea’s Strategic Investment Program Model for U.S.
... BusinessWeek focuses on Koreas success in strategic investment to enable Korea to successfully compete worldwide.
... Last year they launched a plan to expand Korea’s economic base by promoting robotics and 16 other next-generation ventures. Seoul has invested $500 million in R&D and pilot projects to test education, entertainment and disaster-fighting robots. This includes the new R-Learning system scheduled for 500 preschools in 2011 ramping up to 8,000 by 2013.
... Robot exports jumped 10.5% in 2009 to $809 million. Korea aims to become one of top three robot manufacturers (currently #5).
... America’s roadmap for robotics development still floundering in the halls of Congress.
Pres. Obama Spells Out New NASA Direction
... Obama pledges manned flights in the future - but not to the moon. There is to be a quickening pace between human and robotic exploration.
... NASA to rely on private industry to build new rockets and capsules.
... Robonaut 2, the humanoid robot developed by NASA and General Motors, begins work in the lab, working side-by-side with astronauts this September aboard the International Space Station.
First USDA approved hygienic food processing robot shipped
... Adept shipped it’s new meat and poultry processing parallel robot bound for multiple primary food handling applications requiring high-speed USDA-approved processing.
... Two articles describing present and immediate future of robotics in food processing, packaging and handling.
... What’s cooking with food robotics? and
... Food for Thought: Robotics in the Food Industry, both by Bennett Brumson, RIA.
RoSS - latest Virtual Reality Training Simulator for da Vinci Robotic Surgical System
... Supplementing training provided by Intuitive Surgical for their da Vinci Robotic Surgical System, Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the U of Buffalo have developed a fully functional virtual reality training simulator named RoSS.
... Rumor has it that many da Vinci systems are “stalled” or underutilized because of insufficient training to maximize efficiencies of both surgeon and machine, hence the need for additional simulation training.
Killer drones are coming back to bite us in the ass
... P.W. Singer, author of last year’s robotic hit “Wired for War,” writing in Newsweek, describes a fearful turn of events if inexpensive drones are turned against us.
... “Two thirds of worldwide investment in unmanned planes in 2010 will be spent by countries OTHER than the United States.”
... Singer’s fears are already happening in Taiwan where thieves use RC copters with cameras to spy on residences prior to burglarizing.
February, 2010 Robo-STOX™ results
... Service robotics companies continued to do well in February even though the markets were flat.
Artemis joins Adam as scientific robot
... Syngenta has launched an agriculture chemical formulation robot. The robot can make almost any liquid agrochemical formulation in small amounts, and perform a basic series of tests to see if those formulations are of interest for further research.
... Named Artemis after the Greek Goddess of the hunt, Artemis is also an acronym for Automated Robot to Evaluate Millions of Interesting Solutions.
... Adam is a robot scientist designed at Aberystwyth U and is the first robotic system to make a scientific discovery with virtually no human intellectual input. Adam was Time Magazines #4 Scientific Discovery of 2009.
Predictions for Robotic Businesses in 2010 and this decade
... Sector by sector review in Everything-Robotic blog.
... Mature non-defense service applications doing well in 2010 and are generating longer term growth. Two examples:
(1) Kiva Systems doubled customers, distribution centers and corporate growth during 2009.
(2) Many companies are finding good response to new launches and existing quality products, e.g.: OC Robotics snake arm line of products for confined space, aerospace, security and nuclear needs.
... Governmental and military purchases for R&D and robotic products are steady even though defense spending has to come down sometime in the near future, e.g.: DARPA awarded Boston Dynamics a contract to develop LS3 - a “mule” that will carry 400 lbs and go 20 miles without refueling.
... Xconomy says the first large technological wave of the 21st century will be robotics. “Robots are migrating from structured environments (assembly lines) to unstructured (homes, offices, battlefields). The potentials are limitless.”
Robo-Stox™ Results Through 12/31/2009
... Most countries robotics stocks didn’t fare as well as the NASDAQ Index with the exceptions of Canada, India, Israel and Taiwan (and a very few individual stocks). Although 2009 was a significant up year, robotic stocks have yet to recover their highs of 2007.
... Service robotic stocks didn’t do much better than industrial stocks except in Europe.
... As a sign of recovery, robotics-related job offers are up (inferred from LinkedIn and the Robotics-Worldwide mailing list).
... The seriousness of the stock drop (and corresponding loss of equity, orders and jobs) is clearly seen in these two Robo-Stox™ charts.
... Read an in-depth review by the Everything-Robotic blog.
