As a researcher in robotics, I tend to cringe whenever someone asks how long it will take until people start to see terminator-like robots on the streets. It’s a fun question to think about, but it ...
The potential of robotic implants is limitless, but I am not interested in super-human powers. Instead, I’d be happy with human powers, and in particular the ability to remember. Growing up, I would...
Photo credit: Image Agency
Why do people who use Facebook spend so much of their online time there? Why do people want to share, to comment?
Patrick Levy Rosenthal asked himself these answers and wa...
In another surprise release to the press, Google announced the acquisition of Nest Labs, the inventor and manufacturer of the stylish learning thermostat device, for $3.2 billion.
According to Aaro...
In a recent post in IEEE Spectrum Automaton, Robert Morris abstracted a paper he wrote with Richard Green, a finance professor at CMU. The thesis of his article is that robotic ventures are not capi...
Empire Robotics, a Boston-based start-up, is beginning to sell their VERSABALL kits, a new-tech jamming gripper enabling adaptive gripping operations with a single inexpensive tool.
Filled with a g...
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...
What are they putting in the water in the Keystone state? It turns out that Penn State Lunar Lions team announced plans to get launched to the moon as well. They have made a deposit for a ride in ...
An Irish surveyor tested results (and had those results peer reviewed through the local university) of surveys done by drone and software vs. doing it by hand (which took days longer). The surveyor is...
Two different points of view about adding robots to stay competitive.
The A3 (Association for Advancing Automation*) has a new website and a video on the subject “Why I Automate”, which shows ...
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...
If you still have holiday shopping to do, these gift ideas from the Robohub team will be sure to please the robot fans in your life. From stocking stuffers to once-in-a-lifetime gifts, you can find so...
I was invited last month to moderate a panel discussion on the “Robotics Renaissance” at the 2013 Open Innovations Forum in Moscow. The brainchild of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the Fo...
Although Rethink Robotics is downsizing, their action is not indicative of the robotics industry, which is booming and hiring.
The Boston Globe reported that Rethink Robotics, maker of the $22,000 ...
There is serious momentum in robotics these days, evidenced by recent news from Apple, Amazon and Google:
Apple announced that they were investing $10.5 billion in supply chain robots and automati...
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...
'David and Goliath' was the most exciting story in robotics this year. 2013 has seen huge companies showing an interest in robotics, starting with Apple launching Anki live on stage at their global de...
2013 is drawing to a close, and what a year it's been — not just for robotics news, but robotics-in-the-news too … this year has probably seen more news about robotics in the mainstream press than...
2013 was a year filled with talk of drones.
I’m not saying this just because I’m biased by the recent news reporting on how large companies (Amazon, DHL, and UPS to be exact) are exploring t...
Given all the chatter on drones and automation, we thought it would be a good time to dive deeper into the Kiva opportunity and potential impact on leverage/margins. For the sake of our analysis, we t...
The private space race is on! With the $40M at stake from the Google Lunar X Prize (GLXP) leading other private and pseudo-private investment, this is a real race. I, for one, love racing. By foot, ...
On Sunday, Charlie Rose from CBS News 60 Minutes, interviewed Jeff Bezos about what is next for Amazon, the world's largest online retailer with more than 225 million customers.
Volume can reach 30...
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...
This article returns to the thread of the last few months by looking at how robots can measure our emotions and body language.
My aunt, a Tennessee tobacco grower, used to remind me that God gave m...
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...
Photo: Nasdaq
On Tuesday, a sleek robotic arm rang the closing bell of the Nasdaq stock exchange. It was the first time a robot performed the task.
The event celebrated the launch of Robo-Stox, a...
Last spring the Whitehouse launched We the Geeks, a series of Google Hangouts meant to highlight the future of American science, technology, and innovation. The latest hangout, playfully titled Don't...
Photo credit: Taichi on Wikimedia Commons.
Robohub team members just returned from an exciting trip to Tokyo, where we attended the 2013 IROS conference and the concurrent iREX robot expo. With so ma...
I found the plenary speeches at IROS to be especially interesting. Marc Raibert gave an entertaining talk on the robots being developed at Boston Dynamics. It's encouraging to see that robots are beco...
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 s...
For me, the highlight of IROS was the Uncanny Valley special session, although the sheer size of the IROS conference and the parallel iRex industrial and service robot expo also gave much food for tho...
Did you know that the world’s population is set to increase from seven billion people to more than nine billion in the next 40 years? In order to meet this growing demand, agricultural producers wil...
The popular conception of farming as low-tech is woefully out of date. Modern farmers are high-tech operators: They use GIS software to plan their fields, GPS to guide field operations, and auto-steer...
University of Colorado's robotic plant growth is demonstrated at the Kennedy Space Center. Source: NASA.
Targeting a sustainable presence of humans in outer space will require solving air, water, ...