Lots of robots at CES, January 10-13 in Las Vegas

... Many new vendors selling robotic consumer products at this year’s show. Robstep showing off their Segway-like devices; iRobot with their floor and pool cleaner bots and AVA platform; lots of toys; even IEEE and their new iPad app about robots have a booth.
... ECOVACS’ Winbot window cleaning robot (shown above) is getting a lot of pre-press hoopla.
... 3D printer companies 3D Systems, Affinia and MakerBot all have booths.
... Most of the car companies will be showing and telling about their new autonomous technologies, eg, Mercedes will be displaying their new robotic steering assist option for their 2014 S-Class cars.
... Click here to see the complete exhibitor list.

SwRI and ROS-Industrial making progress on 5th anniversary of ROS

... In 2011, Motoman USA partnered with SwRI (Southwest Research Institute) to enable ROS software to be available to Motoman users. “The next step for industrial robotics is to be more sensor aware; to be able to accomodate the many new capabilities showing up in the service sector. It’s clear that ROS is able to handle all of these,” said Erik Nieves, Technology Director for Yaskawa America’s Motoman Robotics Division.
... From that venture came the SwRI-led ROS-Industrial Consortium (2012), dedicated to providing a common interoperable software language for existing industrial hardware. Last month, Fraunhofer IPA became the ROS-I organizer for the EU.
... ROS-I enables workcell visualization and simulation capabilities, and material handling in dynamic environments with on-the-fly object ID and grasp planning. It allows 2D-vision and 3D-point cloud perception systems.
... “It’s an exciting time in industrial robotics,” said SwRI senior research engineer Shaun Edwards. “After the economic downturn, the U.S. is now seeing a new government focus on manufacturing, a surge of venture capital spending in this area, and a trend toward returning manufacturing to homeland countries due to rising labor costs in other countries.”
... This is also the 5th anniversary of ROS. There are many hundreds of robots running ROS. More than 90 types and 28 robots come with supported installation instructions.

Iceland’s Össur wins PopSci Best of What’s New award for Symbionic Leg

... Iceland’s Össur, a company which develops, manufactures and sells non-invasive orthopaedic and bionic prosthetics, received a Popular Science Magazine’s 2012 “Best of What’s New” award for Össur’s new Symbionic Leg.
... The world’s first complete bionic leg, Össur’s Symbionic Leg combines a bionic microprocessor knee and a powered bionic ankle with proactive powered ankle flexion into a single, integrated unit. Its on-board Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems and sophisticated motion sensors enable the leg to quickly learn its user’s walking style and make real-time adjustments according to changes in speed, stride or surface.
... Two other robotic winners from the PopSci “Best of What’s New”: Boston Dynamics’ Sand Flea, an 11# camera-toting robot that drives like an RC car but can jump 26’ in the air, and Lockheed Martin/Kaman’s K-Max autonomous cargo helicopter which has been carrying up to 3-ton loads as far as 250 miles for the last year in Afghanistan.

OmniGuide in the news

... Cambridge, MA-based OmniGuide recently got $35 million non-dilutive financing from OrbiMed Advisors enabling company to grow toward profitability over the next several years.
... OmniGuide’s new BeamPath laser system used in novel robot-assisted minimally invasive laser surgery for fibroids at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital. Operation was broadcast live to an international audience of over 1,000 specialists attending the annual ASRM (American Society for Reproductive Medicine) meeting in San Diego.

New Russian entrant into creepiest robot face contest

... Neurobotics, a Russian brain research organization, has just released videos of their new human-like woman robotic head. Click to see their video.
... Hanson Robotics, whose Einstein head is shown above, Kokoro, a Japanese robot manufacturer, and Japanese professor Hiroshi Ishiguro are all known for their realistic android heads - all of which have given the creeps to many and helped coin the term “uncanny valley.”

Fly and film in HD

... Parrot (PARRO on the Euronext Paris exchange), a French company famous for its audio and wireless devices for phones and cars, unveiled their first AR.Drone at CES in 2010 to huge crowds (I was there). The updated AR.Drone 2 was previewed at CES 2012 and is now available for sale. The big difference is the addition of a HD wide angle video camera.
... AR.Drone sales now represent over 10% of Parrot’s overall revenue. This novel quadcopter, which can be flown from an iPad, iPhone or other smart phone, is opening new retail markets for Parrot products.  More than 300,000 AR.Drones have been sold thus far.
... Their aftermarket sales and support - including tutorials - is a valuable and smart business add-on to expand sales and keep users happy.
... Parrot recently purchased two companies to complement their AR.Drone project and perhaps enter the UAS market with more serious products: senseFly and Pix4D.

NAO, WALL-E, PackBot and BigDog inducted into Robot Hall of Fame

... Aldebaran Robotics’ NAO humanoid robot won in the Education & Consumer category.
... WALL-E, the star of the 2008 Disney/Pixar movie of the same name, won in the Entertainment category.
... iRobot‘s PackBot robot won in the Industrial & Service category.
... Boston Dynamics’ BigDog won the Research category.
... All were selected by popular vote to represent contemporary robotics and all were inducted at a show last night at the Robot Hall of Fame Museum in Pittsburgh.

New Commercial Aerial Drone Introduced

... senseFly, a Swiss start-up, launched their new eBee aerial photography drone with funding from a recent equity investment by Parrot (of AR.Drone quadcopter fame). With it’s 3’ wingspan the eBee can fly for 45 minutes in up to 25 mph winds.
... Two kinds of software drive the eBee: one to create a flight path and the other to turn the 2D geotagged images into 3d maps and reports.
... Two videos explain the process.

Fast Food: Another Robotic Frontier

... A machine that makes a 10.5” pizza from scratch in 2.5 minutes is beginning to appear in malls, student unions and other public places in Europe.
... A cupcake ATM machine created long lines at a Beverly Hills cupcake store and will soon be showing up in Chicago and New York too.
... And robotic arms are dispensing frozen yogurt and ice cream and sprinkling them with various toppings.
... All have simple-to-use order entry and payment screens and all let the user see what’s going on inside the machine.
... Read the details and get the company names here.

Y-T-D Robo-Stox™ Not In Sync With Sales

... The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) said that 2011 was the most successful year for both industrial and service robot company sales:
    ... Industrial robot sales were up 38% from 2010; 166,000 robots were sold of which 34% went to the automotive sector.
    ... Service robot sales were up 9% from 2010 and reflected 16,408 units of which 32% went to the defense sector.
    ... Personal and domestic robot sales were up 15% over 2010 and reflected 2.5 million units, $636 million in sales, mostly in toys and robot vacuums.
... Nevertheless, publicly-traded robotics stocks seem to be mirroring the Dow Jones Industrial Average instead of the more technically savvy NASDAQ. Japanese and Korean stocks are still suffering from the effects of the earthquake, tsunami, nuclear meltdown and reduced power.
... Click graph to enlarge country-by-country results.

Remote Presence Products Proliferating

... Y-Combinator’s Spring 2012 success story Double Robotics, which has already sold 600 units in pre-orders, just received another $250,000 from the new Grishin Robotics Robotic Investment Fund, a fund whose strategy is to invest in consumer-oriented products at the scale-up stage of their development.
... Double Robotics’ mobile iPad stand sells for $2,499 and utilizes the cameras, speakers and mic from an iPad as well as many of the sensors on their mobile pole with an iPad on top. It is driven from the user’s laptop, wherever they may be.
... An even less expensive device (somewhere less than $300), cuter for sure, getting $93,000 in production funding from a Kickstarter presentation, is Botiful, a social presence device. 300 pre-sold devices are in production. Plans for scaling up for further sales are still in the planning phase.
... UPDATE: 9/25: Today’s launch of Willow Garage spin-off Suitable Technologies and their new $16,000 Beam mobile remote presence device adds a new and well-funded product into the marketplace. Originally called Texai when Willow Garage produced them, they are now improved in many ways, including having their own docking station and having 4 wireless radios (and proprietary software) to handle transitions between wifi access points.
... The big news with the Beam launch is that Scott Hassan, the private and somewhat aloof founder of Willow Garage, will be the day-to-day CEO of Suitable Technologies.

Buyer Beware

... This paid-for ad appeared in the Huffington Post.
... Investing in robotic stocks is complicated and some stocks aren’t worth that investment. I wrote about that, and about Quantum International, in a recent post.
Read that article.

7 Automation/Robotics Stocks To Profit From Global Automation

... Credit Suisse recently chose 7 stocks to profit from the trend toward global automation. All 7 stocks are evaluated with a brief description, their reason for selecting the stock for the list, and opinions as to the companies: Siemens AG, Rockwell Automation, Delta Electronics, Keyence, Mitsubishi Electric and TECO.
... The opinions expressed are based on an in-depth overview of what is happening in factory automation, industrial robotics and other types of robotics invoved in the production, movement and handling of products over the next few years.
... Interesting overview, company profiles, alternate company suggestions and projections.
... Read the article.

A Factory of Robots to Make Uniforms

... There was an uproar when it became known that China is producing the uniforms and flags for the American Olympic team for this year’s London Olympics.
... The Pentagon is worried about the same situation regarding our military’s uniforms and has contracted SoftWear Automation to build a complete robotic production facility to cut, assemble and sew uniforms.
... A retired GA Tech professor published a paper on the subject - describing a fully automated work cell with vision controlled cutters and sewing machines.
... Details here.

Join the Wild Ride

… Job Opening at ReThink Robotics “for a developer relations engineer—a person to lead development of a ROS-based SDK for a new low cost manipulator that will be readily available for researchers and educators, and to interact with researchers worldwide to make sure the SDK is useful for them,” says CTO and founder Rodney Brooks.
… Imagine a ROS-based software developer kit (SDK) to make apps for ReThink robots. Then imagine that you can put your app online and sell it to companies around the world with a similar need - just like the app store for your iPhone and iPad.
… Here’s the link where you can apply. Good luck!

Robots and Ethical Choices

... The Economist in recent weeks has printed a series of articles about robots but this video about robo-ethics is particularly clear and worth a few minutes of your time.
... Or read the book by George Bekey and Patrick Lim, “Robot Ethics: The Ethical and Social Implications of Robotics (Intelligent Robotics and Autonomous Agents series)” from The MIT Press.

6,000 Job Ads for Robotics In May

... During May 2012, 6,000 job ads for robotics were posted - a 29% year-over-year growth and twice the volume of similar ads in May 2010, reported Wanted Analytics, a Canadian research firm providing “business intelligence for the talent marketplace.”
... 33% of the job postings were for healthcare practitioners with a robotics skill set and Phoenix, Detroit, New York City, Sacramento and Chicago had the highest number of want ads.
... Good info in want ads: Lenovo in Shenzhen wants a PhD Roboticist to lead movement to vision and interactive intelligence based on cloud computing.

Heartland Robotics Gets $30 million, a New Name and Provides an Outline of Their New Product

... Rethink Robotics (formerly Heartland Robotics) announced that it has secured $30 million in Series C funding to launch the company’s new robot product, begin development of new product lines and expand sales, marketing and services operations.
... This latest round of funding brings the total raised by Heartland/Rethink to $62 million.
... Descriptors for their new product includes the following: “can perform simple tasks in a manufacturing environment, increasing the productivity of the people around them who are doing the more highly skilled and value-added work.” And, “can be taken out of the box, taught a task by an untrained factory worker, and be productive in a few hours, eliminating the need for systems integration. They are safe to interact with people at close range and are easy to train and retrain on the fly.”

Some robotic stocks are defying the down markets

... Stocks of industrial robot makers Adept, Denso, Yushin and Fanuc are doing well year-to-date as are service robot makers Swisslog, Technip, Sohgo Alsok, Thermo Fisher, Perkin Elmer and Accuray.
... Ancillary businesses to the robotics industry bucking the trend include IsraVision, Jenoptik, Harmonic Drive (JP), Keyence and Cimetrix.
... Surprisingly, defense conglomerates with a robotics component like Qinetiq, Dassault, Exponent, EADS, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Teledyne and Textron are also outperforming the year-to-date markets.

First Kiva Systems and now Intelligrated! Who’s Next?

... What is it about automated robotic warehousing? Amazon just acquired Kiva Systems for $775 million and now Permira, a European private equity firm, announced that it was acquiring Intelligrated for an amount in excess of $500 million! The deal is expected to close after the summer.
... Intelligrated designs, manufactures, and/or integrates and installs complete material handling solutions for warehouses, distribution centers and consumer product manufacturing operations and includes a line of palletizing robots along with more conventional conveyor systems.

Teledyne Technologies Acquires BlueView

... BlueView Technologies, a provider of underwater vision systems for many underwater robotics providers, announced that it would be acquired by Teledyne effective in July.
... BlueView delivers instrumentation for underwater vision, monitoring, survey, detection and navigation and has pioneered new technologies in compact forward-looking imaging sonar, microbathymetry systems and 3D scanning sonar.
... Teledyne RD Instruments, itself a subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies, will be the acquiring agent.
... Sale prices was not announced.

Wackiness and STEM-stimulation at MakerFaire

... MakerFaire 2012 was a glorious success. A fire-breathing dragon; the audience pedal-powering the electronics for a concert; a dozen R2-D2s; lectures on everything from laser cutting to DARPA’s new STEM outreach program; 3D printers; turkey legs and corn-on-the-cob; and people dressed for the occasion. Click to see 44 pics.
... MakerFaire, besides being fun and wacky, is a mecca for hands-on, interactive demos of STEM-stimulating software and devices. Topobo (center pic) is the perfect example. A snap-together robotic toy with the ability to record and playback physical motion, invented at the MIT Media Lab, had kids, parents and teachers enthralled.
... Don’t pass up the next MakerFaire—in New York, September 29-30. It’s an inspiring experience.

New spin-off from SRI: Grabit gaining traction

... Grabit’s electroadhesion gripping products provide a technique for holding or grasping objects without the need of bulky, energy-intensive clamping or vacuum suction devices.
... Grabit’s “grippers” are actually flexible soft pads which, at the flick of a switch, will cling or stick to things to which it comes in contact.  Electroadhesion is like a magnet that forms an attraction to almost any material.
... At a recent forum at SRI, Charlie Duncheon, the new CEO, evangelized about Grabit’s reinventing of the way robots grasp objects.

Recon Robotics: In the news with sales and acquisitions

... Last month Recon acquired Xollai LLC, a systems engineering firm with a broad base of intellectual property in automated guidance technology, optics-based autonomous control systems, and image processing and recognition.
... This month Recon received an order for Scout XT robots for the Washington, DC area for 13 different urban area police, sheriff and security agencies.

2012 Robotics H.S. Championships Energize Thousands

... 30,000+ fans, family, educators and industry leaders attended the 2012 FIRST Championship held in Atlanta, Georgia. More than 600 teams from 32 countries competed in the three levels of FIRST competitions.
... One week earlier, in Anaheim, California, the 2012 VEX Robotics World Championship boasted similar-sized crowds and included top teams from over 230 VEX Robotics Competition tournaments which happened in cities around the world from May 2011 to March 2012.
... Both events concluded months of design, construction, software development and competitions leading to the championship contests in Atlanta and Anaheim, all the while providing sports excitement with the rigors of science and technology.

iRobot stock plunges again on Q1 earnings report… but then rebounds

... Click to enlarge.
... After suffering a 33% price drop early February upon announcing that future governmental sales would be down because of DoD cutbacks and delays, iRobot drops another 6.5% when actual Q1 earnings were reported.
... Quarterly earnings were 2 cents per share versus $0.27 last year Q1; the company said earnings would grow to 5 to thirteen cents in the next three months.
... To bolster consumer sales, iRobot just launched a new ad program for their home products with the tagline, “iRobot. Do you?”

GM Robo-Glove to help workers relieve hand stress

... One of the features of the GM/NASA co-development of Robonaut 2, the robotic assistant now residing in the space station, was the grasping capabilities of its hands.
... GM has now translated those robotic features to help factory workers reduce gripping and squeezing muscle tension with the use of a robotic glove called Robo-Glove.
... Says GM’s Marty Linn, “We don’t know yet what the best applications will be… our approach is to try it out on a bunch of tasks and let the operators, who are the real experts, tell us whether it helps or not.”

Military Ground Robotics Displayed in San Diego

... Robots of all types were displayed at the Ground Robotics Capabilities Conference and Exhibition held in San Diego and sponsored by the National Defense Industrial Association and the DoD.
... Hits were Recon Robotics’ Scout XT, iRobot‘s FirstLook throwable robot, and HDT‘s MK2 robotic arm.
... In recent weeks Recon Robotics received Marine and Army orders for 1,100 of their Scout XT robots ($13.9 million) and iRobot received a DoD order for 105 of their FirstLook robots ($1.5 million).

Military Still Doling Out Orders and Getting Attention for Drones and Robots

... AeroVironment gets $11.1 million order for hand-launched 4-pound Raven UAV. Same company makes the kamikaze drone (Switchblade) which explodes on impact and the hummingbird drone (Nano Air Vehicle) which was one of Time Magazine’s 50 New Inventions of 2011.
... Navy opens cutting-edge lab for robotics and autonomous systems in Washington DC. This is where the new fire-fighting and damage control robots are being developed and robotic fueling of unmanned vessels is being tested.
... These research centers are big businesses - like the Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, RI which handles about $1.1 billion annually and awards 30% to nearby private contractors.
... Really interesting infographic about drones from InnovationNewsDaily includes comparisons and a history of deployment beginning in 2001 for the 1st military action to 2011 in Texas for a civilian drug raid.

Turkish Start-up for Paraplegics

... $15,000 device enables paraplegics to be vertical and mobile. Click image to enlarge.
... Turkish start-up company AMS Mekatronik begins selling devices this week in Turkey; US and EU later this year.

Korean company to produce 20,000 window-cleaning robots

... Korean manufacturer Ilshim Global is working on orders for $4 million (20,000 window-cleaning robots) for resellers Euroboats of Germany and Ezicom of France.
... The iWindoro version of this window washer requires you to affix the outside half of the device to the inside half using magnets through the glass. Consequently the current version won’t work on buildings where access to the outside is difficult or dangerous.

3 Robotics Companies Included in 50 Most Innovative List

... Kiva Systems - for their disruptive warehousing robots, Liquid Robots - for their versatile wave gliders, and Siemens AG - for their extensive R&D in energy, transportation and healthcare, were included in FastCompany’s The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies.
... One might not think of Siemens as a robotics vendor but Siemens owns many subsidiaries which provide various services, control systems, sensors and Tecnomatix Robotics & Automation Planning software (which is widely used in defense UAVs and factory material handing applications).

The wacky (and not so wacky) robots of Innorobo 2012

... Innorobo 2012 is a trade show and conference to be held March 14-16 in Lyon, France, where companies display their latest and also participate in three days of conferences on technological breakthroughs, transitions, problems and market analysis.
... Focus is on service robots, ie, every type of robot that isn’t involved in manufacturing, and meeting and spending time with industry players.
... There’s still time to register and attend.

Did you know? 12,500 robot milking systems installed by Lely

… Lely, the world’s first robotic milking system provider, reached the 12,500 sales event in December.
… AgriNews recently featured an Albany farmer that uses the Lely system and describes the myriad benefits derived from its use. The system tracks and reports upon each cow’s production, milk quality, and issues which can be indicators for further breeding or illness.
… Gone are the traditional twice-a-day milkings - now cows visit the robot as often as four times a day… all without intervention by the dairy farmer who has more time for other activities. “I enjoy farming with the robot. You aren’t tied down.” Read more.

Hiring Demand for Robotics Jobs Grows 44% and Robot Sales Jumped 30%

... According to WANTED Analytics, a real-time talent analytics site, there were over 2,100 U.S. job ads for robotics skills in January, 2012, a 44% year-over-year growth rate from 2011. The majority of listings (650) were for engineering jobs and represented a 51% year-over-year increase.
... Underlying this surge in employment, the International Federation of Robotics reported that investment in robot automation surged globally to 150,000 unitis sold in 2011 - a year-over-year growth of 30%.

Pres. Obama funds and encourages STEM education

... Obama, at a White House Science Fair honoring winners of the nation’s top science competitions, announced (and partially funded) a goal of 1 million more math and science graduates in the next decade.
... 100,000 science teachers will be trained by Carnegie University - future roboticists all!

Divergent Views on Communicating with Machines

... Most products at CES were demonstrating “smart” in that they are connected to the Internet, have sensors or AI that gather and process data and make decisions.
... The Apple iPad has already changed our expectations as to how we interact with our computers, tablets and phones. And Apple’s Siri and Microsoft’s Kinect are leading us on to even newer ways.
... Thus the views of Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer and Mercedes’ Dieter Zetsche were sought out to get their spin on the future. But they differed not only in content but in manner of presentation. Read details of what they had to say.

My kind of movie: Robot and Frank

... Shown at Sundance and starring Frank Langella, Susan Saradon, James Marsden and Liv Tyler.
... Offbeat buddy movie about an ex-jewel thief whose grown kids install a robot as his caretaker.

Is 2012 The Year That Robot Applications Take Root?

... Three competing ideas on a theme of using the cloud to provide apps, updates and libraries of robotic data are reviewed in depth here.
  - MyRobots, by Canadian RobotShop, will attempt to be a combination app store and Windows-like environment to permit robotics products to be monitored, repaired, and updated seamlessly.
  - Robots App Store, by San Francisco serial entrepreneur Elad Inbar, is developing their portal to be an online marketplace for selling robot apps.
  - RoboEarth, an EU public-private consortium, aims to use the internet to create a giant open source network and database repository that can be accessed and updated by robots around the world.

More $$ for surgical snake

... Medrobotics, previously CardioRobotics, just completed a $32 million series D round of financing to help finalize commercializing the first surgical snake robot, co-invented by Howie Choset, a CMU professor.
... The Flex Robotic System will enable hospitals and surgeons to expand their offering of single-site access, visualization and treatment options.
... With this round of funding, Medrobotics has raised more than $60 million since its inception.

2012 Holiday Selection of Robotic Gifts and Books

... For gifts and toys, click here.
... For robotics-related books, click here.

Robots and reshoring in the US

... In an opinion piece in the NY Times, Paul Krugman cites a report about the growing evidence of “reshoring” of manufacturing. The principle reasons are rising wages in Asia; lower energy costs in the US; higher transportation costs; and robots. The report concludes that since labor costs don’t matter that much since most of the costly components are already robot-produced in the US, you might as well locate where the markets and infrastructure are.
... Krugman calls this “capital-biased technological change” which shifts income away from workers to the owners of capital and that media and academic literature have incorrectly been focusing on skill bias and have overlooked this situation.
... Besides the article, what is interesting to me are the eloquence and clarity of the readers who commented. It seems that people involved in technology already know these facts - they are acknowledged at work for their skills when their software will be used to replace x many workers. They see it in action.
... I urge you to read at least a few. You’ll be talking to your friends about the subject for the rest of the week.

Researching Robotics Is Getting Easier

... New app “IEEE Spectrum ROBOTS,” not only provides news but has an extensive detailed section for current-day robots of all types: from exoskeletons to remote presence; from military transport to Google self-driving car; from Keepon and Paro to Asimo. For each there are specs, factoids, builder name and cost and interesting graphics and videos. There is also a substantial LEARN section with videos and text by notable and inspirational roboticists.
... The news section is analogous to the NY Times: thorough and in-depth reporting on a wide range of topics—in this case the multiple sciences of robotics—by technical authorities in the field or on the IEEE Spectrum staff. The news section joins many other magazine tablet-style news apps such as ScoopIt, Zite and Trapit and news portal sites such as Robohub and The Robot Report.
... All in all - and particularly for the non-news sections - the new app it is a worthy addition to the field of robotics.
... An even newer site of interest is “Robot Radar” - which provides critical analysis on robotics technology articles published and distributed by the popular press.
... Robot Radar‘s list of contributors is a who’s who of robotics in the US and UK and includes Alan Winfield, UWE, Henrik Christensen, GA Tech, Kerstin Dautenhahn, U of Hertfordshire, Benjamin Kuipers, U of MI, Illah Nourbakhsh, CMU, Maja Mataric, USC, Matt Mason, CMU, and Noel Sharkey, U of Sheffield.

Progress report on eldercare robots

... Nine years ago robotics pioneer Joseph Engelberger described an eldercare assistive robot that would work in a home at a cost of $1.25 per hour. It would fetch things, remind and provide medications, provide security and communication and many other services and tasks.
... Nine years later there is no such robot. Why is that? And what is the present state of the technology?
... Read the details here.
... Or read the article in IEEE Spectrum.

Furby’s are back - this time with an iPhone app and translator

... Hasbro has enhanced their successful Furby toy from years past with a combination of interactive programming and robotic engineering. The updated Furby includes a free Furby app to virtually feed Furby and translate Furbish into English.
... Watch the video.

Accuray launches new TomoHDA and gets FDA okay for CyberKnife M6

... New TomoTherapy System enables faster planning and more focused delivery often resulting in half beam-on time than previously.
... CyberKnife M6 (shown above) is a 3D image-guided and robotically controlled beam and patient positioning radiology delivery system.
... Accuray stock (ARAY:NASDAQ) is up 64% year-to-date from $2.72 to $6.95.

Hansen Medical stock (HNSN:NASDAQ) jumps 22%

... Intuitive Surgical updated their co-exclusive rights to certain of Hansen Medical‘s patent portfolio for a fee of $20 million. Intuitive also purchased $10 million of Hansen Medical’s stock.
... The deal extends a 2005 agreement and adds Hansen patents filed subsequent to that date.
... Hansen Medical provides a line of intravascular robotics products; Intuitive Surgical produces the da Vinci Surgical System.
... Hansen Medical’s stock has been on a steady slide since its 2012 high of $3.90 in early February.

Battered iRobot stock takes another hit

... Although iRobot reported that its 3rd quarter profits rose 8% and the company saw revenue growth within its consumer products, the stocks dropped 19% as it warned that it’s revenue outlook had deteriorated 5% further than previously reported.
... Also announced was the closing of the Durham, NC facility - its maritime operation where iRobot produced its Seaglider robot - a military research project - and the layoff of all its 80 employees at that facility.
... iRobot has been on a year-long plan to shore up its military products and research group, grow its consumer products (which included the acquisition of competitor (Evolution Robotics) and diversify into new B2B (business-to-business) markets (eg, the product launch with partner InTouch Health), and the use of their AVA platform robot for other vertical markets.
... iRobot suffered a 33% drop in its stock in February and then another 6% in late April. iRobot stock is down 39% year-to-date at its current $18.32 per share price.

Man-to-goods vs. Goods-to-man in Warehouse Automation

... Kiva Systems’ innovative goods-to-man warehouse fulfillment methodology is impacting vendors servicing distribution centers.
... Read a profile of three approaches to transitioning from man-to-goods methods to newer practices involving automation and robotics.
... Three really interesting videos help clarify the complexity.

Is Baxter the Biggest Story in Robotics?

... Is all the news coverage because it’s a good product and the market is ripe to buy that product? Let’s hope this is so.
... Every major newspaper, magazine and online service aired the launch and described Baxter, the shop-assistant robot.
... For my personal observations about my trip to Boston to see Baxter, and also a list of links to news sources about Baxter, click here.
... Perhaps research labs will be the early adopter because it’s the cheapest two-armed system available ($22,000).

A Frank Review of the movie ‘Robot & Frank’

... I hate to break this to you but the robot wasn’t a robot after all. It may have looked like Asimo, but it was really Rachael Ma dressed up in a robot costume; the robot’s voice wasn’t AI interaction but an actor reading lines to sound a little inhuman.
... But the movie itself was a charming story that touched on two ethical issues involved with healthcare in the future: concern over a robot providing assistance and life coaching for a person with serious aging and/or psychological issues and over the issue of whether or how a robot might assist in illegal activities.
... The acting by Frank Langella was wonderfully convincing.
... The movie ended with cameo videos of current-day assistance robots as they attempt to achieve that which the movie projects.
... Read the full review here.

Industrial Robot Sales and Companies Doing Well

... 2011 sales of industrial robots—166,000 units; $8.5 billion in sales—are up 38% from 2010 and expected to reach 181,000 robots for 2012. According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), an industry organization that collects data from almost all robot suppliers, that number will reach 200,000 by 2015.
... The Big Four of industrial robot manufacturers—Fanuc, ABB, Kuka and Yaskawa Motoman—are all publicly traded stocks—and all have recovered from the economic setback of 2008-09. In Japan’s case, from the twin disasters of 2011 as well. Each has a presence and market share in China which, according to the IFR, “will become the biggest robot market in the world regarding annual supply.” Click chart above to enlarge.
... Not all publicly traded robotic stocks have done as well as the Big Four as can be seen by The Robot Report’s Robo-Stox™ year-to-date country-by country chart. This is partly due to the various setbacks from the Japanese tsunami and earthquake that happened in March, 2011.

AUVSI Las Vegas Show: Focus Broadens Beyond the Military

... AUVSI, the unmanned vehicle association, has mostly focused on aerial vehicles for the military; underwater and on-the-ground products and services played a lessor role.
... But this year the show reflected a change toward transitioning into the civilian sector led by underwater and on-the-ground providers because aerial drones cannot, at present be legally used in civilian airspace.
... Hence interest was high for the keynote speeches by the heads of the FAA and the agency at the International Civil Aviation Organization involved with changing the rules, regulations, licensing and facilities to enable the Congressionally-mandated change by September, 2015.
... Read the details including a long list of transitioning companies and their products.

Robotic Start-up Companies - A Glimpse At Our Robotic Future

... Thank you for helping by adding 40 new robotic start-up companies to our list
... But don’t stop now. Please add to our list of global robotic start-up companies by sending information to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Thank you.
... Click to see 159 global robotic start-up companies (name, city, website link).
... PS: In addition to the 159 start-ups shown on this map, there are 850+ industrial and service robot vendors - established companies - plus 250 research labs and 650 ancillary businesses in our directories. See left column, at the top.

Look what the’ve cobbled together now

... Look what the folks at Robotic Solutions have cobbled together. No, it’s not a 3D printer.
... It’s the opposite. A robotic milling machine housed in a glass cage.
... A few of the first units have been shipped to a facility in Texas to work hand in hand with local craft stores to handle their custom material trimming, and wood engraving businesses.

2011 Was A Good Year for Korean Robotics

... According to Chosun Media, Korea produced $1.87 billion of industrial robots in 2011 and exported $453 million. The remainder was for domestic use.
... Year-over-year production was up 20% and exports were up 120%. Japan received 74% of 2011’s exports while China and the EU got the rest.
... As part of a government-stimulated program, Korea plans to increase robot production to $20 billion by 2018.

To Open Source or Not

... Article by The Robot Report in AUVSI’s Mission Critical quarterly magazine on the arguments for and against open sourcing in robotics.
... Whole issue is about commercial robots and includes an article about investing in robotic stocks.
... Previous issue is about robots in agriculture—also a good read.

Liquid Robotics Joint Ventures with Oil & Gas Technology Provider Schlumberger

… New company, Liquid Robotics Oil & Gas, will be headquartered in Houston,TX and will initially provide Wave Glider platforms for surveillance; seep/spill detection; and communications gateway services.
… Wave Gliders can operate offshore for up to a year without requiring a crew, fuel or a dedicated support vessel.
… “By teaming with Schlumberger, we can greatly accelerate the availability and worldwide deployment of innovative oil and gas solutions,” said Bill Vass, Liquid Robotics’ CEO. “We are extremely excited about the new capabilities the unique Wave Glider platform will bring to offshore exploration and production—particularly in the areas of seismic, subsea and environmental monitoring,” said Ashok Belani, Schlumberger‘s CTO.

Robot lawnmowers still a work in progress

... Too expensive for most home use, not professional enough for industrial use, robotic lawnmowers have yet to become as commonplace as Roombas. But a new crop of consumer manufacturers is quietly making inroads by providing more bang for the buck.
... John Deere’s all-weather Tango E5, $2,500, can mow an area up to 20,000 sq ft, can program areas to be left alone, and, when it’s battery runs low, can go to it’s recharging station for a quick refill and then resume its work. It requires boundary wires and cut grass is left as mulch instead of removed. Not yet available in the US.
... Bosch’s new Indego 10, $2,100, can handle 10,000 sq ft. Unlike the Tango E5, the Indego mows in sequential rows, like a farmer does row crops. Only available in Scandinavia at present but is planned to be launched globally in 2013.
... Friendly Robotics and their line of Robomowers, $2,000, and Husqvarna and their Automower line, $2,200, have been around for a few years but never hit consumer traction outside of Europe (Husqvarna has sold over 100,000 of their Automowers), partly because of their high price, mulching clumps, inability to handle high grass, need for staked border wires, and their random navigation methodologies.

Flexible, Intelligent Robotics Debuted In Materials Handling Marketplace

... Symbotic, formerly CasePick Systems, is providing mobile robots that grab closed boxes of goods and brings them to a pallet-loading robot. Different from Kiva Systems, recently acquired by Amazon, which moves racks of open boxes to an order-picker who removes items and packs them into shipping boxes.
... Vetex and Yaskawa Motoman will soon be offering a combined mobility platform and robot arm for location to location material handling.
... Underneath them all are the sophisticated software packages that direct the navigation, safely and efficiently move the arms and grippers of the robots, and sense and recognize the materials being handled. Case in point: Universal Robotics (not to be confused with Danish Universal Robots) and their new Neocortex control software for 3D sensing of random objects. It integrates random 3D data, processes it and determines what it is and how it is to be handled, and then integrates that information into user systems, for example, into Yaskawa’s Motoman 2-armed robots, or to robots loading or unloading pallets or to other software providing load sequencing or similar applications.
... I wrote about material handling systems at MODEX 2012 earlier this year but many new products are changing the dynamic.
... BOTTOM LINE: businesses are beginning to make long-put-off capital purchases to automate their warehouses and material handling and new sensing, software and robotic companies are emerging in the process, particularly those that can make sense of and use sensor data.

UAV’s finding uses outside of military, space and defense

... AeroVironment doing test for FCC of an aerial communications relay station which could be used in the event of a disaster. “Small UAVs can provide instant communications capabilities to preserve lives, property and resources,” says AV VP Roy Minson.
... World Surveillance Group‘s Argus Hybrid blimp-like aerostat/airship is a variation on the same theme: to stay on station and provide 24/7 streaming data or a steady platform for communications relay.
... Bluesky, a UK military UAV provider, has launched a surveying wing to collect site specific images and data. “The integrated camera captures high res photogrammetric images that can be used to create map-accurate aerial survey data including height models,” says James Eddy, Bluesky Tech Director.
... Spanish startup Intelligenia Dynamics is working with the U of Granada to use quadcopters to autonomously scan buildings in order to construct 3D models of historical sites.
... WinterGreen Research publishes new “First Responder, Border Patrol, Homeland Security and Security Robots” report ($3,700) reviewing 30+ vendors and including revenue projections to 2018.

Finally a Launch Date for Heartland Robotics!

... The long awaited launch of Heartland Robotics’ new co-robot product line finally has a launch date - next January 21-24 at the Automate 2013 show in Chicago.
... Heartland has reserved a big space right amongst robotics’ largest players. Click here to see the exhibition floor map.
... It is likely that the actual media launch date will be earlier, but the Automate 2013 show, where Heartland reserved a large booth, will be the place to see the new bots in action and an outside date for Heartland’s launch.

Mako Surgical’s Stock Takes A Big Hit

... Stock drops from $41 to $21. Many reasons given: slow sales of RIO systems; utilization rates of existing systems are down; class action suits; and investor restlessness.
... The problem of utilization rates, ie, systems sitting idle; of surgeons taking a long time to learn to effectively use the system, is not limited to MAKO. It’s just not talked about publicly.

Largest Robotics Program in DARPA’s History

... DARPA has created it’s largest robotics program to date: the DARPA Robotics $2 Million Challenge (DRC), to help the world’s resiliency to disasters through the use of robotics.
... Some disasters prove too great in scale, scope or hazard for effective human response; hence the DRC’s challenge to develop ground robots capable of executing complex tasks in dangerous and degraded environments by using standard tools and equipment commonly available (hand tools to vehicles) using non-expert operators, supervised autonomy, and to provide effective operation even with low-fidelity and intermittent communication.
... Proposals due this month; project will run for 27 months with three competitions, one virtual and two live.

Silicon Valley: In Search of a Robotics Cluster

UPDATE 5/7/12: Thorough review of event and situation by Chris O’Brien of the Silicon Valley MercuryNews. He captured the flavor as well as the details. (Saved me from having to write the story!)
... The May 3rd event in Palo Alto was a forum to talk about cultivating a robotics cluster in the Bay Area.
... In an attempt to duplicate the synergies and serendipity of developing robotics projects in the Boston and Pittsburgh areas, XConomy hosted with a who-who’s list of speakers worth the price of admission: Helen Greiner, Mick Mountz, Steve Cousins, Curt Carlson, Rich Mahoney, John Dulchinos, Brian Gerkey, Aaron Edsinger, Tiffany Montague, Charlie Duncheon, James Gosling and Yoky Matsuoka!
... Read more...

Meka Robotics + Willow Garage + SRI = Redwood Robotics

... Meka Robotics, Willow Garage and SRI announced a new startup competitor to Heartland Robotics: Redwood Robotics.
...The new website says that Redwood will be offering a new generation of robot arms that are simple to program, inexpensive, and safe to operate alongside people.
... Those three partners bring a lot of robotic talent to the table and a formidable competitor for Heartland.

AeroVironment Gets Additional Puma Orders

... AeroVironment receives 3 new orders ($28.4 million from Army, Marines and Air Force) for their popular Puma drone.
... More than 1,000 Puma’s are produced and in the field already. AeroVironment also makes Raven and Wasp drones for the DoD.

Closed vs. Open Source for Robotics?

... Impromptu debate at cocktail party in Lyon, France at Innorobo 2012 between Colin Angle of iRobot and Robert Bauer of Willow Garage and their opposing views on how to nurture profitable robotics businesses. Spirited and well-presented.
... Short version via IEEE Spectrum here; unabridged version on Everything-Robotic here.

FAA told to integrate UAVs into airspace by 2015

... President Obama signed into law a bill which gives the FAA three years to integrate UAVs into the national air space.
... The DoD has hundreds of camera-carrying drones from Iraq and Afghanistan that need recycling for training, natural disaster response and homeland security missions.
... And local police and firefighters want their own drones for their own crime-fighting and first-responder purposes.

When a 3rd shift starts, 7.85 new jobs are created. What happens when a robot is deployed?

… A study commissioned by the Intl. Fed. of Robotics found that 3.6 jobs are created for every robot deployed. Click the image to enlarge.
… The logic is complicated and nets out jobs displaced against jobs saved by not moving offshore, but also shows where new jobs in robotics, and downstream, are actually created.
… Read a review of the details here or the full Metra Martech study here.
... Read a poignant story of the plight of American workers in TheAtlantic.

Kiva Systems Presents a Glimpse of Future Pick n’ Pack Fulfillment

... At the recent Modex 2012 in Atlanta, Kiva Systems’ booth featured a fully-functioning warehouse operation where attendees walked up and placed their orders on an iPad and then picked their order right from the Kiva system just seconds later.
... It even validated the product was as called for and that the picker took only the number he ordered.
... Supplychain magazine did a cover story special report about new-tech warehousing methods and featured Kiva as the disruptive player in the crowd.

Japanese Robotic Farming Experiment

... Japan just launched a $130 million (10 billion yen) robotic farming project on a 600 acre plot of land, It is hoped the 6 year experiment will rejuvenate the Japanese agricultural industry. Funding is from a consortium of farmers, high-tech manufacturers and the government’s agricultural ministry; the land was swamped by the March tsunami.
... Unmanned tractors will work fields and other robots will harvest and pick and pack rice, wheat, soybeans, fruit and other vegetables.
... The consortium plans to urge local farmers to consolidate their farmland in similar co-ops where the economics make the use of robots for farming automation affordable.

Paraplegic patients walk during first session

... Ekso Bionics delivers first commercial-version exoskeleton to Denver hospital and is beginning to ship additional units to hospital rehab centers across the US.
... The new 45# exoskeleton is ready-to-wear, battery-powered, and designed for patients with spinal cord injuries that inhibit their ability to walk.
... Preliminary results of the 70-person investigational studies showed that all were able to walk an average 200 steps during their first session.

Adept begins to use Willow Garage’s ROS for their line of industrial robots

... Adept Technology appears to be bridging the gap between industrial robotics and the very real need for safer, more flexible, vision-enabled, mobile and easily trainable service robots. Today they announced a collaboration with Willow Garage to harness Willow Garage’s ROS (robotic operating system) so that new methods can be used to control, simulate and program legacy industrial robots.
... Read how they are entering the material handling marketplace as an OEM, a components provider, and partner with other OEMs.

iRobot shares plummet 33%; GM of government & industrial robots division to leave

... Fourth quarter net income jumped 52 percent compared to the year before on strong demand for robots built for the consumer market. But CEO Colin Angle warned that robot sales to government agencies might slow in 2012.
... iRobot expects revenue in 2012 to be between $465 million and $485 million while net income will be between 75 cents and 95 cents per share - well below expectations of $1.44 per share and revenue of $532.7 million that analysts were predicting.
... Most UAV and robot manufacturers are suffering US DoD cuts but much of that is being offset by actively marketing foreign military and government purchases as drones and robotic warriors spread around the world.
... UPDATE 2/17: Robert Moses, the general manager of the government and industrial robots division of iRobot will leave and an interim manager has been chosen.
... There’s also the problem of repatriating the thousands of robots returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The first to figure out a marketable civilian use wins!

Ubiquitous displays - Corning’s vision for the decade

... In a wonderfully illustrative video, Corning shows how its glass and fiber, with companion technologies, will shape our world and shift our ways of communication in the near future.
... Teachers, healthcare providers, techies, car-buffs, and investors will want to invest 11 minutes to watch this video.

Competition for Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci Surgical System

... Funded by a NSF grant, seven identical Raven II open source surgical robots using open source software (ROS), will be placed in seven universities. Four more universities are in line waiting to get their own Raven II robots.
... “These [seven or eleven universities] are leading labs in the nation in the field of surgical robotics, and with everyone working on the same platform we can more easily share new developments and innovations.”
... “We decided to follow an open-source model, because if all of these labs have a common research platform for doing robotic surgery, the whole field will be able to advance more quickly.”
... The lock that Intuitive Surgical has had with their patented da Vinci Surgical System may be threatened by the results of this new endeavor.

Study shows positive attitude toward healthcare telepresence robots

... In a study to assess how surgical intensive care patients and their families perceived robotic telepresence, 92% of respondents were comfortable with the robot and 84% believed that communication was “easy.”
... Further, 90% did not perceive the robot as annoying and 92% did not believe that “the doctor cared less about them” because of the robot. Also, 92% supported the continued use of the robot.