Ayanna Howard, the first female dean of Ohio State University’s College of Engineering, discusses her new book on Sex, Race, and Robotics.
Millennials ready for robots to aid family health and wellness, finds IEEE survey
The IEEE surveyed 2,000 millennials with children worldwide and found growing acceptance of robotics for maintaining the healthcare and wellbeing of their families. U.S. respondents were more wary than averaage.
Designing robots for manufacturability; inside Jibo’s revival
Welcome to Episode 21 of The Robot Report Podcast, which brings conversations with robotics innovators straight to you. Join us every week for discussions with leading roboticists, innovative robotics companies, and other key members of the robotics community. Listeners can subscribe to The Robot Report Podcast on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, Google Play, and…
Toyota Research Institute shows service robot prototypes in virtual open house
Toyota Research Institute demonstrated its research into machine learning, simulation, and manipulation in a virtual open house, which included a ceiling-mounted kitchen gantry robot.
Amazon’s security drone, life-size Gundam & robotic-assisted surgery
Welcome to Episode 18 of The Robot Report Podcast, which brings conversations with robotics innovators straight to you. Join us every week for discussions with leading roboticists, innovative robotics companies, and other key members of the robotics community. Listeners can subscribe to The Robot Report Podcast on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, Google Play, and…
Robot gardening startup, Tertill, names Helen Greiner CEO
We don’t often cover personnel moves, but this one is too important to pass up. Helen Greiner today was named CEO and Chairman of Tertill Corporation, which was formerly known as Franklin Robotics. The North Billerica, Mass.-based startup develops the Tertill weeding robot for vegetable and flower gardens. Of course, Greiner co-founded iRobot in 1990, alongside…
iRobot adds lower-cost Roomba i3+ with self-emptying bin
iRobot introduced the Roomba i3+ today, its lowest-cost robot vacuum that features a self-emptying cleaning base. It also features iRobot’s new Genius Home Intelligence Platform for personalized cleaning control. The iRobot Roomba i3+ robot vacuum is available now in the U.S. ($599) and Canada ($749) at iRobot’s online store. It’ll hit retailers in September. The…
Soft Bubble Gripper a step toward domestic robots, says Toyota Research Institute
The Soft Bubble Gripper developed by a Toyota Research Institute team combines sensors and advanced materials to more safely handle objects in a step toward household robots.
UL 3300 to examine safety of human-robot interaction
UL 3300 is UL’s first consumer and commercial robot certification document that addresses human-robot interaction safety concerns.
iRobot Genius enables personalized control of cleaning robots
If you own a high-end robot vacuum or mop from iRobot, it’s about to get easier to use.
Developing robots that promote social-emotional learning in children
Paolo Pirjanian, CEO at Embodied, will discuss how the relationship between humans and machines is evolving, including how robots and robotic technology can be applied for social good.
iRobot Root rt0 is a low-cost coding robot for kids
iRobot acquired Root Robotics in June 2019 to boost its STEM offerings. And it’s certainly doing that today with the introduction of the iRobot Root rt0 coding robot. The iRobot Root rt0 ($129) is equipped with many of the same features and sensors as the original Root rt1, but it’s $70 less expensive. The iRobot Root…
Roybi develops educational robots, responds to pricing and pandemic pressures
Roybi has developed social robots to entertain and educate children and met the challenges of keeping the price point down and addressing the pandemic head on.
Companion robots needed during COVID-19 crisis more than ever
The great lyric poet Billy Idol once sung, “Eyes without a face, got no human grace, you’re eyes without a face.” This profound statement has been ringing loudly during this period of social distancing and masked encounters. As I professed on several webinars to understand the mechanics of reopening with robots, I have been challenged…
Podcast: Paolo Pirjanian on why building companion robots is a ‘moonshot’
Welcome to Episode 2 of The Robot Report Podcast. Join Steve Crowe and Eugene Demaitre every Wednesday for discussions with leading roboticists, innovative robotics companies, and other key members of the robotics community. Eugene and Steve this week talk with Paolo Pirjanian, Founder and CEO of Embodied, which is developing the Moxie companion robot that…
Lantronix teams with Misty Robotics to build Misty II open platform
Lantronix, which provides edge computing, IoT, and embedded computing systems, helped Misty Robotics build the Misty II educational and open development platform with Qualcomm technologies.
ElliQ beta testing shows how robots can relieve isolation for older people
Intuition Robotics, which raised funding shortly before global shutdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, has reported positive results from beta testing of its ElliQ digital companion in relieving isolation among older people.
Survey finds coronavirus changing consumer comfort with AI, robots, and self-driving cars
A new survey has found that Americans have become somewhat more accepting of AI and robots, but developers will still have to take skepticism and job fears into account.
Embodied designs Moxie for children’s social, cognitive, and emotional development
While other social robotics startups have struggled, Embodied has spent the past four years developing Moxie to help children with social interactions.
iRobot Terra robot lawn mower delayed due to COVID-19
COVID-19 won’t stop lawns from being mowed, but it looks like you’ll be doing it the old-fashioned way for even longer. iRobot delayed the launch of its long-awaited Terra robot lawn mower. And the Bedford, Mass.-based company didn’t specify a future launch date for the product. In its Q1 2020 earnings call, iRobot said it “suspended…
iRobot Education launches to train future roboticists
iRobot has created a new division, iRobot Education, to house all of its education products and services under one roof. iRobot Education includes the Root coding robot, Create 2, a new iRobot Coding platform, and the company’s STEM outreach program. “With students and teachers nationwide currently homebound, virtual learning resources, educational content and tools have…
Humanoid robots don’t provoke fear in older people, finds German study
Contrary to popular belief, older people don’t fear humanoid robots, found German psycholgists.