Smart boxes, meters and grids, laser technologies, digital factories, energy efficiencies and future application areas for industrial automation were the focus of the trade show. In spite of flight delays from volcanic ash, over 150,000 bussed and trained to attend. Highlight of show: Festo’s elephant trunk robotic arm designed to be an agile and delicate…
Kiplinger’s 8 robots that will change your life
Kiplinger Report suggests the following eight areas of robotics that will become commonplace in the very near future: (1) Search and rescue; (2) food processing and handling; (3) guides and receptionists; (4) quality control; (5) exoskeletons; (6) couriers; (7) laundry processing; (8) mobile telepresence workstations. See article about Willow Garage and their telepresence robots. Also…
National Robotics Week Results
Stanford Block Party displays many new inventions and products including SRI’s stickybot and drone. All in one place for crowds of people to see: WillowGarage’s PR2 and Texai telepresence robots; Neato vacuum; Meka’s arm; SRI’s new telesurgical robot to name a few. East Coast block parties and events equally successful and well-attended.
Vision System Ideal for 3D Vision Robotic Guidance
ADLINK Technology, Inc., announced the release of the EOS-1000, a compact vision system based on the Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo P8400 processor. The EOS-1000 provides four independent PoE (Power over Ethernet) ports with data transfer rates up to 4.0 Gb/s and combines high computing power and multi-camera imaging–ideal for applications such as 3D vision robotic guidance. […]
Scale Effect – Part 2
While on the subject of Scale Effect in the design of Wind Turbines, I came across some interesting aspects of the problem that are making the headlines. Though it may not be high profile in the US, there are disturbing reports coming in from wind project in England and Denmark. The United Kingdom is pursing […]
Plethora of Military UAV Roadmaps but none for civilians
All these roadmaps refer to civilian uses for UAVs — but they’re really talking about homeland security rather than commercial uses. The real civilian UAV roadmap is part of the robotics roadmap floundering in Congress and at the FAA. Here are links to some of the roadmaps: Air Force, Navy, Army, DoD, and Robotics Roadmap.…
Do robots take away jobs from humans?
From an interview of Adept CEO John Dulchinos by GetRobo’s Noriko Kageki: Did you know that there are a billion cell phones per year being made globally of which 200-300 million are sold in the U.S. but not a single one is built in the U.S.? Ten years ago that was not the case. If…
Robots in the News — 33 Picture Slideshow from Boston Globe
Korea’s Strategic Investment Program Model for U.S.
BusinessWeek focuses on Koreas success in strategic investment to enable Korea to successfully compete worldwide. Last year they launched a plan to expand Korea’s economic base by promoting robotics and 16 other next-generation ventures. Seoul has invested $500 million in R&D and pilot projects to test education, entertainment and disaster-fighting robots. This includes the new…
20,000 attend 19th Annual F.I.R.S.T. Competition in Atlanta
Big crowds, intense competitors at F.I.R.S.T. Robotics Championship in Atlanta. Click for photo enlargement. High School teams from Redondo Beach, CA, Milford, MI and South Windsor, CT formed the winning alliance from over 340 teams competing.
Solar Power and Economies of Scale
If solar power costs decline to “grid parity” or the same cost as generated electricity costs at the grid, it will take over a significant portion of the utility industry. That has been the goal for 20 years. It’s a great idea. Because eventually homeowners can generate their own electricity, become independent of the utility […]
Pres. Obama Spells Out New NASA Direction
Obama pledges manned flights in the future – but not to the moon. There is to be a quickening pace between human and robotic exploration. NASA to rely on private industry to build new rockets and capsules. Robonaut 2, the humanoid robot developed by NASA and General Motors, begins work in the lab, working side-by-side…
First USDA approved hygienic food processing robot shipped
Adept shipped it’s new meat and poultry processing parallel robot bound for multiple primary food handling applications requiring high-speed USDA-approved processing. Two articles describing present and immediate future of robotics in food processing, packaging and handling. What’s cooking with food robotics? and Food for Thought: Robotics in the Food Industry, both by Bennett Brumson, RIA.
Stanford Medical Innovation Conference Focuses on Robotics
Changing roles for the surgeon; black boxes, automated scrub nurses – these and other ideas were presented at the Stanford Medical Innovation Conference on Medical Robotics Saturday, at Stanford University. Presenters from business, research labs and venture capital firms. Other medical information making the news: Steadily improving medical software developed by IBM to help Mayo…
Scale Effect
Scale Effect is the latest mantra of the alternative energy community. If we can just make things bigger, the costs will decrease. I hear it a lot lately. GE and Siemens both have prototype wind turbines in demonstration programs that are designed at 2.3 to 4 megawatts of peak power. The real key to the […]
Colbert Shows DEKA Prosthetic; Ferguson Adds Robotic Sidekick
Late-Late Night Show host Craig Ferguson’s new robotic sidekick has a limited set of preprogrammed responses. Funny but ridiculous. Dean Kamen showed DEKA’s wonderful but not-yet-ready arm and hand prosthetic and plugged F.I.R.S.T. on The Colbert Report. Wounded Americans are still receiving hook-type prosthetics (CBS News) even though TouchBionics, a UK company, has working and…
Torque, Control and Adaptive Gain
Torque is a very important aspect of motion control. Torque in a car (electric or combustion powered) is what turns the tires. Torque control is the ability to control the amount of torque needed based on conditions of the application. In the car, starting torque requirements can be very high, depending on how fast you […]
FYI: DARPA’s Minds Eye and EU FP7’s HUMAVIPS projects
Persistent Stare Surveillance Platforms. That’s DARPA-speak for a fixed-position surveillance system (either land-based or unmanned in the air). What DARPA is actually seeking in their Mind’s Eye Announcement, is research to provide human-like visual intelligence (e.g.: a deep learning smart camera which condenses raw data into meaningful data) from surveillance systems. HUMAVIPS is a 3-year…