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IEEE RAS Soft Robotics Podcast with Hod Lipson: Can we design self-aware robots?


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13 January 2021



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Interesting discussion with Hod Lipson, head of Creative Machines Lab, Columbia University in New York. Can robots be self-aware? Can they design other robots and self-repair? Why should we evolve robots to do tasks that animals do so well? Why don’t we have useful autonomous robots in the real world yet? Find out Hod’s answers to these questions and updates on VoxCAD development for designing and simulation of soft robots in this episode of the IEEE RAS Soft Robotics Podcast.

What’s more, Hod gave his personal advice to roboticists being interviewed for an assistant professorship and to 1st-year robotics PhD students looking for a thesis topic, and he also commented on his approach to the ethical dilemma of military funding scientific research. I hope you enjoy listening to the episode! You can check Hod Lipson’s portfolio here: https://www.hodlipson.com/

You can also listen to this podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and explore support options on Patreon.



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Marwa ElDiwiny is an early stage researcher PhD working on modelling and simulating self-healing soft materials for industrial applications at VUB. She also runs the IEEE RAS Soft Robotics Podcast.
Marwa ElDiwiny is an early stage researcher PhD working on modelling and simulating self-healing soft materials for industrial applications at VUB. She also runs the IEEE RAS Soft Robotics Podcast.





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