Chinese researchers have developed an aerial manipulator capable of writing. It could someday help maintain skyscrapers and other structures too difficult or dangerous for humans to reach.

Two images remain in my mind from IROS 2013 last week in Tokyo. The respect for Professor Emeritus Mori and his charting of the uncanny valley in relation to robotics, and the need for a Watson-type synthesis of all the robotics-related scientific papers produced every year. Let me explain. Uncanny Valley: Almost all of the presentations at…