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Willow Garage changes direction
Frank Tobe
12 Feb 2013
For many years now Willow Garage has invested in open source and open platform robotics. Their goal has been a reflection of the vision of it's founder (and chief funder) to advance the state of robot...
euRathlon is go!
Alan Winfield
07 Feb 2013
I'm very excited to be leading a new project called euRathlon - which is short for European Robotics Athlon. Up until now the project has been under wraps, but now - finally - we can go public. I'll e...
ABB IRB 120: bringing art to robotic video
John Payne
04 Feb 2013
http://youtu.be/-39W3fdD5WA
The IRB 120 is a no-nonsense workhorse of a robotic arm, but, as with other modern robots, it seems to have been designed to minimize jerk (the first derivative of accel...
Robots on TV
Frank Tobe
04 Feb 2013
Verizon and GE have produced television advertisements that include robots. The ads are playing frequently and nationally. They are good, they're being talked about and tweeted, audiences like them, a...
CMURobotics RI Seminar: Mel Torrie of Autonomous Solutions
John Payne
02 Feb 2013
As guest speaker for a CMURobotics RI Seminar, titled Lessons Learned Bootstrapping a Robotic Vehicle Company, Mel Torrie of Autonomous Solutions (Petersboro, Utah), describes how he got into robotics...
Mark Tilden on “What funding scheme is the most conducive to creating a robotics industry?”
Mark Tilden
31 Jan 2013
Funding schemes aren't viable until we can make more innovative roboticists, and over the years I've tried several methods of engendering the Divine Frankenstein Complex in others. Teaching at a unive...
Old and new at Automate 2013
Frank Tobe
29 Jan 2013
Industrial Robots; Robot Arms; Cameras, Scanners and Vision Systems; Collaborative Cage-free Robots; Mobile Robots; Robot Operating Systems; Warehousing and Materials Handling; New Technologies, and J...
Joichi Ito interviewed at World Economic Forum
John Payne
27 Jan 2013
Rana Foroohar, of Time Magazine, in the context of the World Economic Forum, interviewing Joichi Ito, Director of the MIT Media Lab.
View on the WEF website...
3D printing the future
Eric Wind
24 Jan 2013
The next big thing seems to be 3D printing. Last year, it enjoyed extended attention because of a variety of breakthroughs. It's important to keep in mind what it can do and what it can't, though....
Activelink Power Loader gives HAL some competition, but who’s going to Fukushima?
Reno Tibke
22 Jan 2013
New Japanese exoskeleton pushing into HAL's (potential) marketshare
We of the robot/technology nerd demo are well aware of the non-ironically, ironically named HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) exoskelet...
Analysis: Robot learning in the cloud
Markus Waibel
21 Jan 2013
Cloud robotics, a shorthand for the idea of leveraging the Internet for robots, offers unprecedented opportunities for robot learning. Apart from using the World Wide Web for faster communication or f...
CES gets robots all wrong
Andra Keay
15 Jan 2013
In my opinion, the International Consumer Electronics Show used robots gratuitously, out of context and without benefit to robotics companies. It’s a category problem more than anything else and is ...
Rethinking drones
Eric Wind
15 Jan 2013
To have this discussion, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. One, "drone" is a wide-ranging term that technically means any remote-controlled vehicle. Second, it's probably fair to say that ...
If you had a EUR 100M investment fund, into which robotics technology or field of robotics would you put your money?
RBI Editors
15 Jan 2013
Welcome to Robotics by Invitation! Each month we pose a question of general interest to the robotics community, and ask our panel of experts to answer.
So, where would the experts invest their m...
Herman Bruyninckx on “If you had a EUR 100M investment fund, into which robotics technology or field of robotics would you put your money?”
Herman Bruyninckx
15 Jan 2013
A project that would:
represent human knowledge about manufacturing in an ontology server;
focus on system integration software and hardware issues;
develop affordance-driven system and compon...
Mark Tilden on “If you had a EUR 100M investment fund, into which robotics technology or field of robotics would you put your money?”
Mark Tilden
15 Jan 2013
Well if it was for fun, I'd invest in autonomous paving mothers (APMs). A self-driving solar-powered mobile furnace robot that eats sand and dirt and spits out interlocking solar-panel paving stones...
Henrik Christensen on “If you had a EUR 100M investment fund, into which robotics technology or field of robotics would you put your money?̶
Henrik Christensen
15 Jan 2013
Robots for manufacturing. Generating a new family of robots that have a
fluent interaction with humans. It will be easily programmable. Some would
argue that Baxter provides this functionality. Unfo...
Frank Tobe on “If you had a EUR 100M investment fund, into which robotics technology or field of robotics would you put your money?”
Frank Tobe
15 Jan 2013
As the robotics industry continues to grow, enters new industries, and provides new applications, strategic focus is necessary or the overall industry will develop haphazardly and spread out around th...
CBS News 60 Minutes provides new definition of robots
Frank Tobe
14 Jan 2013
CBS News Reporter Steve Kroft interviews Rodney Brooks at ReThink Robotics.
Click on the image to see the segment.
On Sunday, January 13, CBS News 60 Minutes reported on robots. Their focal po...
Robotics by Invitation
RBI Editors
09 Jan 2013
Welcome to Robotics by Invitation!
Each month we ask our panel of experts to weigh in on a question of general interest to the robotics community, and offer a forum for commentary.
We ...
David Gardner, CEO of RASE, at Oxford Farming Conference
John Payne
06 Jan 2013
Together with Professor Maurice Maloney, Director of Rothamsted Research, David Gardner, CEO of The Royal Agricultural Society of England, speaking with Charlotte Smith of the BBC R4's Farming Today, ...
Filling a need… or feeding a diversion
Frank Tobe
02 Jan 2013
Today's robotics industry could use some strategic guidance,
particularly in the area of healthcare.
It is clear to me that the next big markets for robotics are:
SMEs (robot...
Why I’m not going to CES 2013
Frank Tobe
01 Jan 2013
I've gone a few years in a row to Las Vegas CES and found it VERY interesting for trends in everything "smart," digital and embedded, and not so interesting in terms of robotics....
Robotics year in review: Top 10 stories of 2012
David Pietrocola
26 Dec 2012
The past year was a watershed moment for robotics. From defense to exploration, startups to legislation, we saw products, laws, and investments that have shifted robotics out of the lab and into our l...
Technology for its own sake vs. benefits
John Payne
23 Dec 2012
On using robots to make gardening scalable to millions of acres…
You might wonder why I want to turn land management over to robots. Is it because I'm such a geek that I think everything goes bet...
Alex Zelinsky on “What are the five must-read publications for budding roboticists?”
Alex Zelinksy
15 Dec 2012
The field moves quickly. So much of the material dates quickly. Joining a professional association such as IEEE or IFR and regular reading of publications - magazines and journals - is essential.
&...
Mark Tilden on “What are the five must-read publications for budding roboticists?”
Mark Tilden
15 Dec 2012
Aside from the conventional introductory texts on BEAM Robotics, control systems, electronics, and multi-axis mechanics, I always recommend books to inspire thoughts on robotic history, possibilities,...
What are the five must-read publications for budding roboticists?
RBI Editors
15 Dec 2012
Welcome to Robotics by Invitation! Each month we pose a question of general interest to the robotics community, and ask our panel of experts to answer.
So, what's on the essential reading list f...
Robots and reshoring in the US
Frank Tobe
09 Dec 2012
... 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 energ...
Re-righting the food pyramid through robotics
John Payne
07 Dec 2012
There are two main reasons why meat, dairy, and cereal products have come to dominate the dietary landscape. First, humans have a natural taste for animal-sourced foods, a taste we've gradua...
1,000 Robot Makers!
Frank Tobe
26 Nov 2012
Well -- almost 1,000. Presented on this map are 977 robot manufacturers and the top 20 robotics universities and research facilities. Every type of company; every facet of the industry; most industria...
Reviewing “Farmerbots: a new industrial revolution” by James Mitchell Crow
John Payne
11 Nov 2012
Writing in issue 2888 of New Scientist, James Mitchell Crow introduces us to the notion that robots will, sooner or later, be tending the crops we depend upon for food, and takes us on a whirlwind wor...
Robotics trending towards the consumer
Andra Keay
09 Nov 2012
Robotics is trending towards the consumer. We’re on a journey towards ‘appliances with attitude’ that started with the now ubiquitous GPS and smartphone technology. These are some of the underly...
Self-awareness, robot rights, and today’s robots
AJung Moon
06 Nov 2012
http://youtu.be/cVCghLfdzsY
This past weekend, I have been a little bit occupied with the idea of self-awareness and robots. The above video is just for fun of course. But this post isn't really ab...
Eldercare robots
Frank Tobe
03 Nov 2012
Games, sensors and robots are among the tools beginning to come to market to help aging people live in their homes as long as possible.
In December, 2003, BusinessWeek Magazine interviewed Joseph En...
Real robots: Out of the labs and into our lives
David Pietrocola
29 Oct 2012
Every week, robots are making 60,000 food deliveries to patients in 150 hospitals across the United States. A lovable robotic baby seal is transforming the lives of hundreds of individuals suffering f...
