In the past, a robotics education started with any inspiration that filtered through the sparse media of the time. Imagine a dull illness during a bland winter, black and white TV on a fuzzy channel, ...
'Bean-counting' is a dull but necessary component of every grant proposal; it helps to keep our plans realistic, doable and accountable. But what if we weren't tied to grants and budgets? Would it cha...
Well, I'm lucky enough to be a gentleman scientist, so I concurrently study problems on minimal dynamical control systems (optimizing performance to silicon ratios), power regeneration and efficiency...
From experience, the single biggest obstacle to personal robotic markets is cost, both in money and time. Robots have the disadvantage of being over-promoted in fictional media while over-priced on ...
It has been said that we are on the edge of a 'robotic tipping point' … but where, exactly, is this edge? And what's holding us back? This month we asked our panelists to weigh in on what's keepin...
To coincide with Robohub's Jobs Focus, we asked our panelists to weigh in on the role that robots play in the wider economy, and whether this is a good thing or a bad thing for employment numbers. Her...
Robots do kill jobs but they're crappy jobs, so good riddance. If you've ever had a job you were desperate for the money, but immediately regretted after you got it, then you know what I mean.
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Robot machines have been shaping the future of war since the first siege engines appeared in ancient times (I like to think the Trojan Horse was motorized). Now with technology significantly exten...
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...
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...
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,...
Link to audio file (34:52)Link to transcriptIn today’s episode we speak with Mark Tilden, about the history before WowWee‘s RoboSapien and FemiSapien and about his belief that bottom up BE...
Link to audio file (41:35)Today we celebrate the 50th episode of ROBOTS!
For the occasion we speak with 12 scientists about the most remarkable developments in robotics over the last 50 years and the...
Link to audio file (36:53)In the spirit of the holiday season, today’s episode is all about robots as toys. We speak to Mark Tilden, robot designer at WowWee Robotics, about designing robots for...