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Opinions
Loving your #startup to death
The world may be a harsh critic, but most good ideas die because they are given too much love. If you've got a startup or project, you're probably loving it to death right now, and your friends and fa...
05 March 2014, by
Andra Keay
7 consumer robots to look out for from CES 2014
This year’s CES in Las Vegas showcased some of the latest technologies from both established and up-and-coming robotics companies. Drones, telepresence robots, automated cleaning devices and enter...
11 January 2014, by
Shima Rayej
Discovering social robotics with the Aisoy1
Aisoy, a spanish robotics startup, is motivated by the goal of building intelligent, personal, "social" robots, which make our lives easier and funnier. Their robot, the Aisoy1, is their first step to...
23 December 2013, by
Mike Hamer
Soft robotics in space
Space robotics is understandably conservative. When the cost of putting a robot on a planet, moon or asteroid runs into the billions we need to be sure the technology will work. And with very long pro...
14 December 2013, by
Alan Winfield
Noisy imitation speeds up group learning
Broadly speaking there are two kinds of learning: individual learning and social learning. Individual learning means learning something entirely on your own, without reference to anyone else who might...
03 December 2013, by
Alan Winfield
Ethical robots: Some technical and ethical challenges
I've been talking about robot ethics for several years now, but that's mostly been about how we roboticists must be responsible and mindful of the societal impact of our creations. Two years ago I w...
19 November 2013, by
Alan Winfield
A close(ish) encounter with Voyager 2
It is summer 1985. I'm visiting Caltech with colleague and PhD supervisor Rod Goodman. Rod has just been appointed in the Electrical Engineering Department at Caltech, and I'm still on a high from ...
27 October 2013, by
Alan Winfield
25 women in robotics you need to know about (2013)
In celebration of Ada Lovelace Day, we've compiled a short list of some women in robotics that everyone should know about. There are so many many more that we're already looking forward to featuring t...
Robot startup resources: Pitching
You have a robot prototype or an idea. At some stage you want funding. Here are the two most useful resources for robot startups. Even if you are bootstrapping, using crowdfunding or friendly angels, ...
07 October 2013, by
Andra Keay
Don’t build robots, build robot systems
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Why aren't there more intelligent mobile robots in real world applications? It's a good question, and one I'm often asked. The answer I give most often is tha...
07 October 2013, by
Alan Winfield
Don’t blame technology for persistent unemployment | Slate
Posting on the Slate blog Future Tense, James Bessen takes issue with the notion that technology causes unemployment, illustrating his point by debunking a pair of frequently cited examples, textile w...
06 October 2013, by
John Payne
Classroom robotics: Motivating independent learning and discovery
Sharon Marzouk with a class of excited youngsters and their Thymio-based creations.
Sharon has found classroom robotics is an excellent motivator for independent learning and discovery: “The way I ...
03 October 2013, by
Sharon Marzouk
My pathway to robotics
My name is Jaidyn Edwards. I am eighteen years old and live in South Australia. For me, being interested in robotics was part of an evolutionary process built upon a few core interests I had as a chil...
25 September 2013, by
Jaidyn Edwards
Drones for Schools
To understand what the Drones for Schools program is, and how it came about, it helps to know a few things about my background. I didn't originally set out to be a STEM educator. I had some science ed...
24 September 2013, by
Matthew Schroyer
Getting started in robotics, an educational concern
I am profoundly convinced that if we are able to preserve the natural curiosity of early childhood in growing up individuals, without fail they will develop a durable attraction to science, technology...
23 September 2013, by
Claude Baumann
The triangle of life: Evolving robots in real-time and real-space
At the excellent European Conference on Artificial Life (ECAL) a couple of weeks ago we presented a paper called The Triangle of Life: Evolving Robots in Real-time and Real-space (this links...
20 September 2013, by
Alan Winfield
FounderDating hardware edition
First crowdfunding, now startup services – hardware is eating the software world. FounderDating launched a hardware vertical on Wednesday, after seeing increasing demand from hardware entrepreneurs ...
28 August 2013, by
Andra Keay
Memories of Skyrim
From time to time I like to visit Skyrim. I've been going there for about 2 years - completed the main quest a year or so ago, and since then go back to undertake a side quest or, more often that not,...
26 August 2013, by
Alan Winfield
The scourge of the RoboTroll is already upon us
When a robot ethics working group met nearly three years ago one of the things we fretted about was privacy. We were concerned especially about personal companion robots. Whatever their purpose, be it...
22 August 2013, by
Alan Winfield
The truth is no stranger than fiction when it comes to robots
Killer robots, a problem as old as voodoo. Source: x-ray delta one.
By Kathleen Richardson, University College London
Robots represent the cutting edge in science. For decades we have been promis...
21 August 2013, by
The Conversation
The right way to regulate drone privacy
On August 6th, I had the honor of testifying in front of the California State Assembly Public Safety Committee on regulation of drones, by the state of California. The committee is considering seve...
19 August 2013, by
Robert Morris
In-corporating body language into NLP (or, More notes on the design of automated body language)
This article discusses how body language is a part of natural language, personality, and NLP design. The article covers various methods for approaching this problem and makes recommendations for the r...
07 August 2013, by
Mark Stephen Meadows
When terrible engineers are good
A recent post "I need terrible female engineers" on Medium by Amy Nguyen describes her feelings as a female engineer; feeling that technical women are expected to be super humanly perfect - like Summe...
06 August 2013, by
Andra Keay
When robots start telling each other stories…
About 6 years ago the late amazing Richard Gregory said to me, with a twinkle in his eye, "when your robots start telling each other stories, then you'll really be onto something". It was a remark wit...
31 July 2013, by
Alan Winfield
DARPA’s Virtual Robotics Challenge a practical step forward on the long road toward disaster-response capable humanoids
Based on a media rountable discussion with DRC Program Manager Gill Pratt and CEO of the Open Source Robotics Foundation Brian Gerkey.
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear disaster was a wake-up call...
24 July 2013, by
Hallie Siegel
Robotics has a new kind of Cartesian Dualism, and it’s just as unhelpful
I believe robotics has re-invented mind-body dualism.
At the excellent European Robotics Forum earlier this year, I attended a workshop called AI meets Robotics....
22 July 2013, by
Alan Winfield
euRathlon and the DARPA Robot Challenge: A difference of approach
A week ago the DARPA Robotics Challenge unveiled the ATLAS humanoid robot, which will be used by seven competing teams. Developed by Boston Dynamics, ATLAS is an imposing 1.8m 150Kg bipedal humano...
22 July 2013, by
Alan Winfield
Long view required to keep economic policy in step with developments in robotics
Policy is really about long-term thinking — a process we should do but don't do for various reasons. Though China is a notable exception, very few governments make long-term planning a priority.
...
16 July 2013, by
Frank Tobe
Robotics and the disruptive transformation of agriculture
Over the last few years, there has been increasing talk about the potential of agriculture as a market for robotics. Speaking about future markets for unmanned aerial systems in a recent presentation ...
15 July 2013, by
John Payne
My robot is smelling my dirty laundry (or, Notes on privacy, PRISM, and home service robotics)
This article considers privacy in robotic systems (such as personal service robotics) as being of greater importance than privacy in telecommunications (such as Internet). We will return to our regula...
03 July 2013, by
Mark Stephen Meadows
