All-girls Seaman Middle School Robotics Team headed to World Championship – WIBW

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) -- Seaman Middle School's all-girls robotics team, Vextropolis, is the first team in the history of the district to qualify for the Vex World Championship. Vextropolis members include eighth graders Haley Mannell, Kate Eckert, Gloria Worthington and Meadow Cunningham. In April, the girls will be competing against 360 other middle school teams from all over the world in Louisville, Kentucky.

The team qualified through the design category, an award that is presented to a team demonstrating the most thorough and detailed design process during the creation of their robot. The biggest component of the design award is the engineering notebook, where students outline plans, log daily progress, and record information on attempts and prototypes. Judges are looking for thoughtful management of time, resources, and team roles. One of the unique things Vextropolis did that impressed the judges was to set weekly and monthly goals, and then to reflect and evaluate themselves on how they met those goals after each tournament, explained SMS Robotics Coach Rob Jackson.

These four girls are some of the hardest working students I have ever taught at the middle school, said Jackson. Starting the very first week of school, our returning members were already staying after school to start their design process. They came in for two to three hours a day, five days a week, for the entire school year. They are already at the door waiting for me to arrive in the mornings so they can have an extra 30 minutes to work. During the last month leading up to state, they came in on four or five of their days off for more build time. Their dedication is truly inspiring, and they are very deserving of this accomplishment.

The students will spend the next month preparing for the world competition. We definitely discovered some problems with our robot during the state tournament, and the students took detailed notes and have already started planning how they are going to change their robot in the next six weeks, said Jackson.

Seaman High School qualified a team for the US Robotics Championships in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Both SMS and SHS robotics teams are currently working to find additional funding and sponsorships to increase the number of teams participating in the tournaments.

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All-girls Seaman Middle School Robotics Team headed to World Championship - WIBW

Robinson robotics team trying to develop Vulcan Vitals – Kingsport Times News

The cost? An estimated $2,500 to $4,000. The result? Improved health monitoring and ultimately better health for the homeless.

Called Vulcan Vitals after Team Vulcan and the vitals the machine would monitor, the team presented its idea at the Kids Business Expo Feb. 28 at the MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center.

(Spoiler alert: This has nothing do do with Mr. Spocks vitals from the Star Trek television series.)

The team was part of a Feb. 8 FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO League robotics competition in Cookeville, whereanother Robinson Middle group, Team Jiqiren, competed and earned the chance to move on to a national event. Even though Team Vulcan did not place or advance, members still want to pursue the idea of the Vulcan Vitals machine that for now is only a cardboard prototype.

Jiqiren is the Chinese world for robot, while Vulcan is the Roman god of technology.

Athrv Grewal, a 14-year-old eighth-grader at Robinson, said Team Vulcan came up with an idea that could monitor the homeless health and help them get healthier. He said team members talked with the Salvation Army of Kingsport and Shades of Grace United Methodist Church, both which serve the homeless, and the United Way of Greater Kingsport.

We wanted to help homeless people get better access to healthcare, Grewal said.We decided we would make a vitals machine that would take blood pressure, oxygen saturation, pulse and temperature. It has a thumbprint scanner for privacy and to save to a database. It also prints a color-coded receipt in case the patient cant read. We would put that machine in a homeless shelter. We are trying to get donations. We are expecting a cost of $2,500 to $4,000 and we want to promote this idea.

Other team members include sixth-grader Elizabeth Crow, 11; sixth-grader Hannah Bastian, 12; seventh-grader Eric Shao, 13; and eighth-grader Isaac Call, 13. Although Grewal reached out to the Kingsport Times News about the project, he said the team collaborates and really doesnt have a president or captain.

We try our best to make decisions as a group, Grewal said.

Team coaches are seventh grade science teacher Shelby Morris; applied technology teacher and coach Jennifer Sturgill; and volunteer coach Elise Eagan, an engineer at Eastman Chemical Co. They also helped another Robinson team that is headed to a national competition for, among other things, its homeless phone app called Donor Dashthat matches donors with homeless people who need donations, among other things.

Team Vulcan finished first in a regional competition but did not place in the state competition, while TeamJiqiren finished second in the regional competition and third in the state round, meaning it will move on to a national competition in Arkansas May 14-17.

For more information about the Vulcan Vitals of Team Vulcan, email [emailprotected]orfollow@vulcanvitals on Twitter.

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Robinson robotics team trying to develop Vulcan Vitals - Kingsport Times News

Uniontown robotics team programmed to succeed | Education – Uniontown Herald Standard

Three years ago, this young man knocked on my office door and said, Hey, Mrs. Wallace, I want to build a robot that we can use to compete. How do you turn him away and say no, were not going to do that.

Therein lies the origin of the Uniontown Area High School robotics team, a small but determined group of students who, over the course of two school years, have thrived on a curiosity of technology.

The young man is Uniontown senior Noah Trimmer, who with classmate Andrew Schoener, got the robotics program up and running with the assistance of district education technology coordinator Mary Wallace at the start of the 2018-19 school year.

Ive done a lot of personal projects. I wanted to take them out of my garage and share them with my friends and have fun, said Trimmer.

While the high school offers as an elective an introduction to robotics course called Agile Robotics, which both Trimmer and Schoener took as underclassmen, the two students were more ambitious.

The class teaches the basics. We wanted to go beyond the basics, said Schoener. We wanted the freedom to build our own thing.

Seeking resources and direction, the new team affiliated with Fayette County 4-H, which operates a robotics club and provided Uniontown with materials for its first activities.

They went fundraising, securing grants from the Uniontown Area Education Association, Pitsco Education and Williams Inc.

And then they set to work on the main endeavor.

Like several other area schools that sponsor robotics teams, Uniontown entered the realm of competitive building. Unlike other schools, theyve opted to compete in the FIRST Tech Challenge series of competitions operated by FIRST, an international youth robotics community that promotes team-based programs through competitive events.

The FIRST Tech Challenge is designed for teams of students to design, build and program a robot using a modular robotics platform powered by Android technology and to compete head-to-head in an alliance format against other teams in a FIRST-designed game.

Teams have to build a robot that will perform specific tasks, explained Schoener.

They received a kit of basic parts from FIRST and built a robot for a regional competition held at Upper St. Clair High School a year ago. While the result wasnt exceptional, the rookie team received the Judges Award for its perseverance despite a last-minute setback when much of the robots programming was accidentally deleted the night before the competition.

This year, the Raiders fared much better.

In a 26-team competition at Garrett College in nearby McHenry, Maryland, in January, the team was chosen by another competitor after the qualifying rounds to form an alliance that took them on a run to the finals, where they ultimately lost by mere points.

I think teams saw we had a really good robot but just had been really unlucky with pairings (with other teams in the qualifying rounds), said Trimmer, noting the many hours of work that has gone into programming the robot.

The team, which has consisted of up to 15 active members over the last two years, comprises a core that is rounded out by seniors Abigail Bellina and Luke Smearcheck.

Wallace commended the dedication of the four students Bellina, Schoener, Smearcheck and Trimmer who often spent upwards of four hours meeting on Monday nights during competition season to prepare their bot.

Academically theyre taking extremely hard courses. Theyre active in band, in clubs, playing sports theyre generally well rounded individuals, said Wallace.

Wallace said Jennifer Deichert, 4-H educator with Penn State Extension, was instrumental in the development of the high school robotics program. The school received a grant through Remake Learning to hold a camp in conjunction with 4-H last summer, during which the high schoolers taught basic robotics to students in grades 4-8.

There are many, many hours of dedication, and that knock on the door started us off.

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Uniontown robotics team programmed to succeed | Education - Uniontown Herald Standard

Knapp presents the perfect blend of robotics and AI – Modern Materials Handling

By Bridget McCrea, Editor March 9, 2020

At a press conference at Modex 2020, Knapp (Booth 5406) discussed its strong business growth over the last year, gave an overview of its latest products, and showed how a partnership with Covariant is helping it create AI-enabled robots for the fulfillment environment.

Knapps executives gave the audience an update on the OSR Shuttle Evo, of which the company has sold more than 15,000 units since introducing it two years ago. Launched last year, the Pick-It-Easy Evo offers a modular option that can be adapted to any facility.

Knapps PIE Robot is cloud integrated and features self-learning capabilities that build and enhance its SKU database. These features have not been available in the market until today, said Kevin Reader, director of business development and marketing, and have lifted real world success rates for fully automated order picking from 20% to 95% or more.

Modex 2020 is scheduled to be held March 9-12 at Georgias World Congress Center in Atlanta. The tradeshow will showcase the latest manufacturing, distribution and supply chain solutions in the materials handling and logistics industry. Moderns complete coverage of the show.

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Knapp presents the perfect blend of robotics and AI - Modern Materials Handling

Showing robots how to do your chores – The MIT Tech

Training interactive robots may one day be an easy job for everyone, even those without programming expertise. Roboticists are developing automated robots that can learn new tasks solely by observing humans. At home, you might someday show a domestic robot how to do routine chores. In the workplace, you could train robots like new employees, showing them how to perform many duties.

Making progress on that vision, MIT researchers have designed a system that lets these types of robots learn complicated tasks that would otherwise stymie them with too many confusing rules. One such task is setting a dinner table under certain conditions.

At its core, the researchers Planning with Uncertain Specifications (PUnS) system gives robots the humanlike planning ability to simultaneously weigh many ambiguous and potentially contradictory requirements to reach an end goal. In doing so, the system always chooses the most likely action to take, based on a belief about some probable specifications for the task it is supposed to perform.

In their work, the researchers compiled a dataset with information about how eight objects a mug, glass, spoon, fork, knife, dinner plate, small plate, and bowl could be placed on a table in various configurations. A robotic arm first observed randomly selected human demonstrations of setting the table with the objects. Then, the researchers tasked the arm with automatically setting a table in a specific configuration, in real-world experiments and in simulation, based on what it had seen.

To succeed, the robot had to weigh many possible placement orderings, even when items were purposely removed, stacked, or hidden. Normally, all of that would confuse robots too much. But the researchers robot made no mistakes over several real-world experiments, and only a handful of mistakes over tens of thousands of simulated test runs.

The vision is to put programming in the hands of domain experts, who can program robots through intuitive ways, rather than describing orders to an engineer to add to their code, says first author Ankit Shah, a graduate student in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AeroAstro) and the Interactive Robotics Group, who emphasizes that their work is just one step in fulfilling that vision. That way, robots wont have to perform preprogrammed tasks anymore. Factory workers can teach a robot to do multiple complex assembly tasks. Domestic robots can learn how to stack cabinets, load the dishwasher, or set the table from people at home.

Joining Shah on the paper are AeroAstro and Interactive Robotics Group graduate student Shen Li and Interactive Robotics Group leader Julie Shah, an associate professor in AeroAstro and the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

Bots hedging bets

Robots are fine planners in tasks with clear specifications, which help describe the task the robot needs to fulfill, considering its actions, environment, and end goal. Learning to set a table by observing demonstrations, is full of uncertain specifications. Items must be placed in certain spots, depending on the menu and where guests are seated, and in certain orders, depending on an items immediate availability or social conventions. Present approaches to planning are not capable of dealing with such uncertain specifications.

A popular approach to planning is reinforcement learning, a trial-and-error machine-learning technique that rewards and penalizes them for actions as they work to complete a task. But for tasks with uncertain specifications, its difficult to define clear rewards and penalties. In short, robots never fully learn right from wrong.

The researchers system, called PUnS (for Planning with Uncertain Specifications), enables a robot to hold a belief over a range of possible specifications. The belief itself can then be used to dish out rewards and penalties. The robot is essentially hedging its bets in terms of whats intended in a task, and takes actions that satisfy its belief, instead of us giving it a clear specification, Ankit Shah says.

The system is built on linear temporal logic (LTL), an expressive language that enables robotic reasoning about current and future outcomes. The researchers defined templates in LTL that model various time-based conditions, such as what must happen now, must eventually happen, and must happen until something else occurs. The robots observations of 30 human demonstrations for setting the table yielded a probability distribution over 25 different LTL formulas. Each formula encoded a slightly different preference or specification for setting the table. That probability distribution becomes its belief.

Each formula encodes something different, but when the robot considers various combinations of all the templates, and tries to satisfy everything together, it ends up doing the right thing eventually, Ankit Shah says.

Following criteria

The researchers also developed several criteria that guide the robot toward satisfying the entire belief over those candidate formulas. One, for instance, satisfies the most likely formula, which discards everything else apart from the template with the highest probability. Others satisfy the largest number of unique formulas, without considering their overall probability, or they satisfy several formulas that represent highest total probability. Another simply minimizes error, so the system ignores formulas with high probability of failure.

Designers can choose any one of the four criteria to preset before training and testing. Each has its own tradeoff between flexibility and risk aversion. The choice of criteria depends entirely on the task. In safety critical situations, for instance, a designer may choose to limit possibility of failure. But where consequences of failure are not as severe, designers can choose to give robots greater flexibility to try different approaches.

With the criteria in place, the researchers developed an algorithm to convert the robots belief the probability distribution pointing to the desired formula into an equivalent reinforcement learning problem. This model will ping the robot with a reward or penalty for an action it takes, based on the specification its decided to follow.

In simulations asking the robot to set the table in different configurations, it only made six mistakes out of 20,000 tries. In real-world demonstrations, it showed behavior similar to how a human would perform the task. If an item wasnt initially visible, for instance, the robot would finish setting the rest of the table without the item. Then, when the fork was revealed, it would set the fork in the proper place. Thats where flexibility is very important, Ankit Shah says. Otherwise it would get stuck when it expects to place a fork and not finish the rest of table setup.

Next, the researchers hope to modify the system to help robots change their behavior based on verbal instructions, corrections, or a users assessment of the robots performance. Say a person demonstrates to a robot how to set a table at only one spot. The person may say, do the same thing for all other spots, or, place the knife before the fork here instead, Ankit Shah says. We want to develop methods for the system to naturally adapt to handle those verbal commands, without needing additional demonstrations.

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Showing robots how to do your chores - The MIT Tech

Isaac Asimov, the candy store kid who dreamed up robots – Salon

The year 2020 marks a milestone in the march of robots into popular culture: the 100th anniversary of the birth of science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. Asimov coined the word 'robotics', invented the much-quoted Three Laws governing robot behavior, and passed on many myths and misconceptions that affect the way we feel about robots today.

A compulsive writer and homebodypossibly, an agoraphobicAsimov hated to travel: ironically, for a writer who specialized in fantastic tales often set on distant worlds, he hadn't been in an airplane since being flown home from Hawaii by the US Army after being released from service just before a test blast of the atomic bomb on the Bikini Atoll. (Asimov once grimly observed that this stroke of luck probably saved his life by preventing him from getting leukemia, one of the side effects that afflicted many servicemen who were close to the blast.)

By 1956, Asimov had completed most of the stories that cemented his reputation as the grand master of science fiction, and set the ground rules for a new field of study called "robotics," a word he made up. Researchers like Marvin Minsky of MIT and William Shockley of Bell Labs had been doing pioneering work into Artificial Intelligence and Robotics since the early 1950s, but they were not well-known outside of the scientific and business communities. Asimov, on the other hand, was famous, his books so commercially successful that he quit his job as a tenured chemistry professor at Boston College to write full-time. Asimov's 1950 short story collection, I, Robot, put forward a vision of the robot as humanity's friend and protector, at a time when many humans were wondering if their own species could be trusted not to self-destruct.

Born in January 1920, or possibly October 1919the exact date was uncertain because birth records weren't kept in the little Russian village where he came fromAsimov emigrated to Brooklyn in 1922 with his parents. Making a go of life in America turned out to be tougher than they expected, until his father scraped together enough money to buy a candy store. That decision would have a seismic impact on Isaac's future, and on robotics research and the narratives we tell ourselves about human-robot relationships to this day.

As a kid, Isaac worked long hours in the store where he became interested in two attractions that pulled in customers: a slot machine that frequently needed to be dismantled for repairs; and pulp fiction magazines featuring death rays and alien worlds. Soon after the first rocket launches in the mid-1920s, scientists announced that space travel was feasible, opening the door to exciting tales of adventure in outer space. Atomic energythe source of the death rayswas also coming into public consciousness as a potential "super weapon." But both atomic bombs and space travel were still very much in the realm of fiction; few people actually believed they'd see either breakthrough within their lifetimes.

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The genre of the stories in the pulps wasn't new. Fantastical tales inspired by science and technology went back to the publication of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in 1818, which speculated about the use of a revolutionary new energy source, electricity, to reanimate life. Jules Verne, H. P. Lovecraft, H. G. Welles, and Edgar Rice Burroughs all wrote novels touching on everything from time travel, to atomic-powered vehicles, to what we now call genetic engineering. But the actual term, "science fiction," wasn't coined by any of them: that distinction goes to Hugo Gernsbeck, editor of the technical journal, Modern Electrics, whose name would eventually be given to the HUGO, the annual award for the best science fiction writing.13

Gernsbeck's interest in the genre started with a field that was still fairly new in his time: electrical engineering. Even in 1911, the nature of electricity was not fully understood, and random electrocutions were not uncommon; electricians weren't just tradesmen, but daredevils, taking their lives in their hands every time they wired a house or lit up a city street.14 Gernsbeck, perhaps gripped by the same restless derring-do as his readers, wasn't satisfied with writing articles about induction coils. In 1911, he penned a short story set in the twenty-third century and serialized it over several issues of Modern Electrics, a decision that must have baffled some of the electricians who made up his subscribers. At first, Gernsbeck called his mash-up of science and fiction "scientifiction," mercifully changing that mouthful to "science fiction." He went on to publish a string of popular magazines, including Science Wonder Stories, Wonder Stories, Science, and Astounding. (Gernsbeck's rich imagination didn't stretch far enough to come up with more original titles.)

Asimov's father stocked Gernsbeck's magazines in the candy store because they sold like hotcakes, but he considered them out-and-out junk. Young Isaac was forbidden to waste time reading about things that didn't exist and never would, like space travel and atomic weapons.

Despite (or possibly because of) his father's objections, Isaac began secretly reading every pulp science fiction magazine that appeared in the store, handling each one so carefully that Asimov Senior never knew they had been opened. Isaac finally managed to convince his father that one of Gernsbeck's magazines, Science Wonder Stories, had educational valueafter all, the word "science" was in the title, wasn't it?15

Isaac sold his first short story when he was still an eighteen-year-old high school student, naively showing up at the offices of Amazing Stories to personally deliver it to the editor, John W. Campbell. Campbell rejected the story (eventually published by a rival Gernsbeck publication, Astounding) but encouraged Isaac to send him more. Over time, Campbell published a slew of stories that established Isaac, while still a university student, as a handsomely paid writer of science fiction.

When you read those early stories today, Asimov's weaknesses as a writer are painfully glaring. With almost no experience of the world outside of his school, the candy store, and his Brooklyn neighborhood and no exposure to contemporary writers of his time like Hemingway or FitzgeraldIsaac fell back on the flat, stereotypical characters and clichd plots of pulp fiction. Isaac did have one big thing going for him, though: a science education.

By the early 1940s, Asimov was a graduate student in chemistry at Columbia University, as well as a member of the many science fiction fan clubs springing up all over Brooklyn whose members' obsession with the minutiae of fantastical worlds would be familiar to any ComicCon fan in a Klingon costume today. Asimov wrote stories that appealed to this newly emerging geeky readership, staying close enough to the boundaries of science to be plausible, while still instinctively understanding how to create wondrous fictional worlds.

The working relationship between Asimov and his editor, Campbell, turned into a highly profitable one for both publisher and author. But as Asimov improved his writing and tackled more complex themes, he ran into a roadblock: Campbell insisted that he would only publish human- centered stories. Aliens could appear as stock villains but humans always had to come out on top. Campbell didn't just believe that people were superior to aliens, but that some peoplewhite Anglo-Saxons were superior to everyone else. Still a relatively young writer and unwilling to walk away from his lucrative gig with Campbell, Asimov looked for ways to work around his editor's prejudices. The answer: write about robots. Asimov's mechanical beings were created by humans, in their own image; as sidekicks, helpers, proxies, and, eventually, replacements. Endowed with what Asimov dubbed "positronic brains," his imaginary robots were even more cleverly constructed than the slot machine in the candy store.

Never a hands-on guy himself, Asimov was nonetheless interested in how mechanisms worked. Whenever the store's one-armed bandit had to be serviced, Isaac would watch the repairman open the machine and expose its secrets. The slot machine helped him imagine the mechanical beings in his stories.

Although Asimov can be credited with kick-starting a generation's love affair with robots, he was far from their inventor. (Even I, Robot borrowed its title from a 1939 comic book of the same name written by a pair of brothers who called themselves Eando Binder, the name eventually bestowed on the beer-swilling, cigar-smoking robot star of the TV show, Futurama.) But in writing his very first robot story, Asimov was both jumping on a new obsession of the 1920s, and mining old, deep myths going back to ancient Jewish tales of the golem, which was a man made of mud and magically brought to life, as well as stories as diverse as Pygmalion, Pinocchio, and engineering wonders like the eighteenth century, chess-playing Mechanical Turk, and other automatons.

Robots have an ancient history and a surprisingly whimsical one. Automatons have been frog marching, spinet playing, and minuet dancing their way out of the human imagination for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, but it wasn't until the machine age of the early twentieth century that robots appeared as thinking, reasoning substitute humans. The word robotCzech for "mechanical worker"wasn't coined in a patent office or on a technical blueprint, but as the title of a fantastical play by Karel Capek, Rossum's Universal Robots, which was first performed in 1920, the reputed year of Isaac Asimov's birth. In adopting robots as his main characters, and the challenges and ethics of human life in a robotic world as one of his central themes, Asimov found his voice as a writer. His robots are more sympathetic and three-dimensional than his human characters. In exploring the dynamics of human-robot partnershipsas Asimov would do particularly well in detective/robot "buddy" stories, such as his 1954 novel Caves of Steel he invented a subgenre within the broader world of science fiction.

Asimov's humanoid robots were governed by the Three Laws of Robotics. More whimsical than scientific, they established ground rules for an imaginary world where humans and mechanical beings coexisted. Eventually, the Three Laws were quoted by researchers in two academic fields that were still unnamed in the 1940s: artificial intelligence and robotics.

First published by Astounding magazine in 1942 as part of Asimov's fourth robot story "Runaround", the Three Laws stated that:

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

According to Asimov's biographer Michael Wilson in Isaac Asimov: A Life of the Grand Master of Science Fiction (New York, Carrol & Graff, 2005), "Asimov was flattered that he had established a set of pseudoscientific laws. Despite the fact that in the early 1940s the science of robotics was a purely fictional thing, he somehow knew that one day they would provide the foundation for a real set of laws."

The Three Laws would continue to appear not only in the world of robot-driven books and filmslike Aliens (1986), where the laws are synopsized by the synthetic human Bishop when trying to reassure the robot-phobic heroine Ellen Ripleybut by some real-world roboticists and AI researchers, who are now considering how to develop a moral code for machines that may one day have to make independent, life-or-death decisions.

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Isaac Asimov, the candy store kid who dreamed up robots - Salon

Battle of the bots: High schoolers put their robots to the test in Bethesda – WTOP

There was quite a crowd at Walt Whitman High School this weekend for a high-energy robotics competition putting the top high school robotics teams head-to-head with a new challenge this year.

There was quite a crowd at Walt Whitman High School this weekend for a high-energy robotics competition putting the top high school robotics teams head-to-head with a new challenge this year.

Hanging is a new thing that we didnt see last year, last year you had to climb up onto something so each year its kind of a different skill setthat you have to master, said Zoe White, 17, a junior at Walt Whitman High School.

This is the fourth year the school has hosted the FIRST Robotics Chesapeake District Regional competition. It runs Saturday and Sunday at the school.

The outline of the challenge is released in January, and teams have to build and program a robot to complete a series of tasks.

This year consisted of shooting playground balls into an elevated goal, then hanging and balancing from a seesaw.

There were 36 local Maryland, DC and Virginia teams that took to the arena for a chance to put their robots to the test.

Weve gotten really quick at being able to fix, locate and get rid of the issues that come up during matches, said Ezra Bird, 16, a junior at Walt Whitman High School.

He said robotics has taught him a lot more than science.

Robotics is really important to me and its really important in general because it gives you a lot of teamwork skills which is really important in STEM, and in life, that you can work well together with other people, Ezra said.

Caroline Gee, an 11th grader at Battlefield High School in Virginia, said she hopes to take the skills she learned to new heights.

My goal is to become an astronaut, Caroline said.

She wants to make history. Her goal?

Definitely a walk on Mars, she said.

Battlefields robotics coach and teacher Gail Drake said the real lesson comes when the students have to modify the robots programming after each round of the competition.

Theyll watch how the robots performing in the game and then theyll go back and do the analysis on what tweaks they want to make to their design, Drake said. So that becomes an extra challenge on the engineering side.

Farish Perlman, team president for Whitman Robotics, said its fun to see all the teams working together for a common goal.

My hope for today is that teams just really compete at their best level, their highest level and have the best time today that they can have, Perlman said.

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Battle of the bots: High schoolers put their robots to the test in Bethesda - WTOP

The Global robotics system integration market is expected to grow by USD 2.94 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 10% during the forecast…

New York, March 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global robotics system integration market 2020-2024" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p04877225/?utm_source=GNW Our reports on global robotics system integration market provides a holistic analysis, market size and forecast, trends, growth drivers, and challenges, as well as vendor analysis covering around 25 vendors. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current global market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. The market is driven by surge in the industrial robotics market.In addition, increasing demand for application-specific industrial robots is anticipated to boost the growth of the global robotics system integration market as well.

Market Segmentation The global robotics system integration market is segmented as below: Application: Material Handling

Welding And Soldering

Assembly Line

Others

Geographic Segmentation: APAC

Europe

MEA

North America

South America

Key Trends for global robotics system integration market growth This study identifies increasing demand for application-specific industrial robots as the prime reasons driving the global robotics system integration market growth during the next few years.

Prominent vendors in global robotics system integration market We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the global robotics system integration market, including some of the vendors such as ABB Ltd., Dynamic Automation, Geku Automation, Genesis Systems Group, KUKA AG, Midwest Engineered Systems Inc., Phoenix Control Systems Ltd., RobotWorx, Van Hoecke Automation NV and Yaskawa Electric Corp . The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to an analysis of the key vendors.Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p04877225/?utm_source=GNW

About ReportlinkerReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.

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The Global robotics system integration market is expected to grow by USD 2.94 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 10% during the forecast...

How robotics will define the surgical future – VatorNews

Promaxo is bringing imaging machines in-office, to eventually do surgical procedures in that space

On the battlefield, the breakthroughs in video imaging, robotics and artificial intelligence have enabled pilots to apply a surgical strike at a target thousands of miles away, sometimes in densely populated areas. Now imagine surgeons using joysticks to operate small, lithe, steady robotic hands as theyre guided by state-of-the-art cameras and artificial intelligence to conduct remote precision surgeries on people in other towns, states, faraway countries or outside of a standard operating room and inside clinicians offices.

As sci-fi as that sounds, we might see such advancements in our lifetime.

This year, it's projected that there will be over 1,500 surgical robots in use, a staggering 22-fold increase in the last decade since 69 were installed in 2010. Driving that leap in usage is the capital flowing to make these innovations a reality. The global healthcare robotics market is projected to more than double to $11.44 billion from $5.4 billion in 2017.

At Promaxo, were doing our part by miniaturizing the hardware, in this case the bulky MRI machines, to bring these robust imaging machines into the office setting, allowing physicians to initially conduct diagnostics and eventually surgical procedures inside that space, thereby dramatically reducing the time between a doctors visit and the operating room. Its a vision that is very much aligned with the overall market trends and validated amongst fellow innovators who are also shaping the surgical landscape of the future.

A confluence of different modalities

The benefits of having a robot assist in surgery are manifest: thanks to their small size, they can go deeper into impenetrable places too imposing for a human to get to and handle high-definition cameras to give surgeons a more accurate view of the operating area. They can also provide decision-making guidance during the procedure by leveraging knowledge accrued from thousands of surgeries analyzed and reviewed in the database. The benefits for patients are smaller incisions, therefore less bleeding, which leads to faster recovery times, and overall a time-and-cost-savings experience.

In order to achieve these benefits, a number of methods have to and are starting to work together.

Very soon, well be combining imaging modalities, such as MRI, CT scan and x-ray, with artificial intelligence so that physicians will be able to get on their computer in their office and telerobotically manipulate catheters. If we build in this AI with imaging, we can use communal expertise and experience along with individual abilities to enhance catheter technique, manipulation as well as decision making, said Louis Cannon, MD, FACC, FSCAI, whose venture firm BioStar Capital invests heavily in medical device innovation.

Both Cannon and I also expect that these combined modalities will be used in more complicated procedures, such as heart and brain surgery. Well take that robotic precision that theyve developed in urology and gynecology and other procedures, combine that with AI as well as imaging modalities, into valve surgery, carotid artery surgery, brain surgery, orthopedic surgery. The field is just developing and were seeing a lot of innovation coming out in those areas.

Indeed, urological and gynecological surgeries are the leading areas were seeing robotic surgery applied. In fact, the use of robotic assistants account for more than half of the gynecologic and urologic procedures.

The next step, however, is advancing the modalities enough to allow surgeons to execute without even being in the same room as the patient.

Moving surgical procedures in-office

As stated above, our vision is to do just that: take surgeries out of the operating room and into a clinicians office, whereby a remote surgeon can be networked in and take over.

It is a vision shared by Abel Ang, CEO of medical device company Advanced MedTech, a medical device company and a leader in the field of urology. The Holy Grail for remote surgery is when we get robotic surgery procedures out of the operating room and into the doctors office, Ang believes.

When you shift the site of care out of the acute care setting, into a doctors office, you also shed a whole bunch of costs as well, which is why you see in the US this push toward ambulatory surgery centers, Ang said. Theres going to be a lot of reward for a company that can enable this. But its a function of finding a procedure for which you are going to be reimbursed well. Its just a matter of time, however, because thats where the opportunity is.

Such a move will also mean a shift in what modalities are used for diagnosis, and even treatment. Theres already a move away from x-rays to MRIs and ultrasounds, mostly due to the fact that theres no cancer risk with an MRI or ultrasound thanks to the lack of radiation exposure. Thats why theyre already being used for things like kidney stones, as well as for treating prostate enlargement, also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

There seems to be a significant push in the US right now to move away from x-ray as an imaging modality. We see that a lot in urology. The amount of interest that I have seen in ultrasound imaging for something as simple as kidney stones has been incredible, said Ang. I see ultrasound as potentially a leading indicator of this move away from traditional imaging modalities into the newer imaging modalities, and MR is a good example of that.

The goal of the surgical future: remote surgeries

If we can shift the surgery into a doctors office, then it shouldnt be long before we conduct cross-state, cross-country and cross-continent surgeries. Such a scenario would be beneficial for patients in remote and rural areas, where they don't currently have access to the best surgeons.

BioStars Cannon agrees. His observation: If you look at a state like Michigan, we have a lot of major centers in places like Detroit and Ann Arbor, but if you look at the upper peninsula, theres a huge population that really has no access to interventional radiology or cardiology. So, its important to have imaging modalities in those smaller community hospitals, and the ability to have some type of lab, where an emergency physician or a phlebotomist can put in an arterial line, get the first catheter ready in the robot, and then the catheters can be manipulated from afar by a surgeon, he said.

The potential use cases for remote surgery are practically endless: think of someone on a cruise ship, for example, who needs emergency surgery but cant get back to the mainland in time, or a soldier in the field of battle, where instead of having to be airlifted out and taken somewhere else to get surgery, that procedure could be done right then and there, saving time and potentially their life.

While these are life-changing advances, theres multiple events that need to happen first, not the least of which is removing latency -- the potential lag between what the surgeon is seeing and whats actually happening inside the patient.

This is where 5G networks can make big inroads. Stefano Bini, Chief Technology Officer for orthopedic surgeries at UCSF, also believes that without that upgrade in network capacity, we wont realize the potential of robotic surgery.

5G will have a significant potential impact in remote robotics surgery, as well as on the use of data collected from the robots, said Bini. It will allow us to connect that data across multiple sites, and large enough datasets, from which we can optimize machine learning algorithms for a specific outcome, and then optimize that outcome by supporting the surgeons on the decision-making side.

Most importantly, we both believe 5G can be used to improve how imaging is collected from the tissue being managed so that we can improve the accuracy of the robot as it performs its functions. Notably, that is where he thinks that the largest and the fastest changes are coming right now.

With soft tissue imaging, it has some value, but imaging at the time of surgery has even more value and that is happening now with fluorescents that identify the structure of interest to camera-vision-enabled robots.

Another current issue in robotic surgery is around licensure. Even if the industry can prove that a machine learning algorithm can provide better diagnostics than a clinician, the machine cant actually make a decision on treatment without a human being present because only a human has the license to make that call.

What Bini has observed is that machine learning algorithms can pick up a fracture with 99.99 percent accuracy, which is more accurate than a regular radiologist. We already know we can do that, he said. But its one thing to make a diagnosis, its another thing to act on it because it requires the robot to have a medical license.

Conclusion

Weve come a long way since the first robotic system was deployed back in 1985. Particularly in urology, robotic surgery is already pervasively used in simple surgeries, and in time will be applied to more complex ones. The Holy Grail of allowing for surgeries in-office is around the corner as telerobotics becomes a reality.

I think were actually going to see the realization of this within five to 10 years, Cannon tells me. I believe the armed forces are already significantly looking into how to bring acute trauma and injury care to the patient so as to not take the patient to where they can be treated but take treatment to them.

Theres still a number of things that have to happen in that time, including a better connection, which 5G will help with, but once it does, not only will procedures finally be able to be done remotely, but also in-office, making them not only more accessible but also cheaper.

Say hello to your robot surgeon.

(Image source: hub.umd.edu)

Link:

How robotics will define the surgical future - VatorNews

Edtech Company Resurrects AI Robots and Smart Toy Cars – Grit Daily

Pittsburgh-based edutainment tech company Digital Dream Labs recently acquired three popular AI robots from the defunct robotics firm Anki, and they have big plans for them.

In January they announced the acquisition of A.I. race car system Overdrive, as well as consumer AI robots Cozmo and Vector. And, they reached their $75,000 Kickstarter goal to revamp Vector in one daycontinuing to blow past it as the campaign comes to an end this week.

The opportunity to acquire exclusive ownership of Cozmo, Vector and Overdrive fit perfectly into our mission and purpose-driven culture, said Chief Marketing Officer Matt Goren, in their January press release.

We plan to change the current narrative of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, giving a voice to our customers, while relaunching Cozmo, Vector, and Overdrive with updates and new features on the way

Vector, an autonomous robot, resembles a mini toy tractor with colorful, expressive digital eyes. It promises companionship and an array of capabilities. The AI robots can answer questions by connecting to The Internet, function as a timer or alarm, self-charge, and navigate around the home while avoiding obstacles. In addition, it can take photos and show you the weather. Yes, show youas in having raindrop shapes appear on its face/screen when you ask for a weather update.

With Alexa, it can do more. For example, with the voice tech set up, the robot can control smart devices like lights, speakers and thermostats, as well as create reminders. And Vector can update its skills and features by connecting to the Cloud via Wi-Fi.

Not long after the acquisition, Digital Dream Labs realized Vector was so much more than a robot, according to the companys CEO, Jacob Hanchar, Ph.D. He said they received hundreds of emails and letters from users touting the robots ability to provide mental health support.

Some customers claim the device helps people with Tourette syndrome and autism. Hanchar, a neuroscientist by profession, also mentioned that it helped an army veteran deal with PTSD.

It became obvious to me that you can essentially use this as a support robot. The key thing is that this thing doesnt judge you.

Digital Dream Labs plans to pursue FDA approval for Vectors use as a peer bot a mental health assistant that helps alleviate loneliness, depression, and PTSD symptoms. If they receive approval, insurance companies could possibly cover Vector-related costs.

Peer bots are an extremely new field. So, there are no real competitors, according to Hanchar.

The FDA doesnt know how to define peer robots, he said. Were pioneers because not a lot has been established. And, were working with The FDA as partners, to come up with criteria and define the process.

Theyre currently in the pre-examination stage and plan to file for approval within the next two months.

Vector has approximately 200,000 active users worldwide. In the near future, Digital Dream Labs plans to allow users to use Vector without the cloud server. Also, Hancher expects the robot to function as an open source app store, where users can write programs to install directly onto the device.

Whereas Vector functions independently, Cozmo, which WIRED once dubbed The Worlds Cutest Robot, relies on apps to run. The pet-like, AI-powered gadget aims to help kids and adults learn while having fun.

Its a fantastic product, Hancher said. It helps elementary through high school kids to master coding and robotics.

Cozmo uses games to help users learn how to code. And, it requires a compatible iOS or Android device and the Cozmo app.

The Cozmo community consists of about two million customers globally. And according to Hancher, Cozmo demand has led to hundreds of thousands in back orders.

Overdrive, a self-driving race car kit, which Goren describes as Mario Kart in real life, also has about two million customers around the world in addition to AI robots.

With the use of an app, multiple users can control their cars while racing each other. You can put up to six cars on a track, and each car has its own battle weapon.

Each player can control their cars speed and weapon use, as well as switch lanes. And if a car gets bumped off the track or turned backwards, itll find its way back or turn itself around, respectively.

Witchcraft, you say? Not exactly. Each car scans the track, and the scanners help it memorize the track layouts and boundaries.

Goren said that Digital Dream Labs plans on fixing a lot of things that current users want, such as new cars, improved batteries, and more advanced game play. And, he hopes to partner with more brands to license the use of their characters. Currently, Overdrive has a Fast & Furious edition.

Digital Dream Labs, whose name was inspired by the classic sci-fi novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, stays busy funneling Ankis former customers to their websites.

Were building a bridge to get everyone over here, Goren said. Some dont even realize Ankis out.

But, the companys up for the challenge of continuing the products legacies and shaping their futures.

They see that were listening [to their feedback] and see how we use it. So, they re so happy that weve taken care of these products.

Original post:

Edtech Company Resurrects AI Robots and Smart Toy Cars - Grit Daily

FierceMedTech names XACT Robotics as one of its Fierce 15 companies of 2019 – GlobeNewswire

HINGHAM, Mass. and CAESAREA, Israel, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- XACT Roboticstoday announced that it has been named by FierceMedTech as one of 2019s class of Fierce 15, designating it as one of the most promising private medtech companies in the industry. XACT Robotics is committed to advancing the field of radiology, while aiming to democratize percutaneous interventional procedures.

XACT Robotics technology is the first hands-free robotic system, combining image-based planning and navigation with insertion and steering of various instruments to adesired target across an array of clinical applications and indications. The technology is cleared to market in the U.S. for use during computed tomography (CT) guided percutaneous interventional procedures and has also received CE Mark clearance in the EU.

We are honored that XACT Robotics has been recognized by FierceMedTech as one of its Fierce 15 companiesthis is yet another milestone toward our commitment to redefine the way the entire medical community utilizes robotics, beginning with interventional radiologists, said Harel Gadot, Founder, Executive Chairman and President, XACT Robotics. This award adds to the continued momentum behind our robotic system, which will advance the field of radiology and democratize interventional procedures while providing unmatched accuracy, consistency and efficiency.

The Fierce 15 celebrates the spirit of being fiercechampioning innovation and creativity, even in the face of intense competition. This is FierceMedTechs 8th annual Fierce 15 selection. This years full list can be viewed at: https://www.fiercebiotech.com/special-report/fiercemedtech-s-2019-fierce-15

One of the true joys of covering this field is being able to talk with the people driving the next great medical advancementstechnologies that may not just change a patient or parents life, but also the day-to-day work of clinicians, surgeons, researchers and developers themselves, said Conor Hale, associate editor of FierceMedTech. Potential breakthroughs such as these can ripple into new therapies, procedures and interventions, and ultimately more ways to heal more people.

An internationally recognized daily report reaching a network of over 90,000 medtech industry professionals, FierceMedTech provides subscribers with an authoritative analysis of the day's top stories. Every year FierceMedTech evaluates hundreds of private companies from around the world for its annual Fierce 15 list, which is based on a variety of factors such as the strength of its technology, partnerships, venture backers and competitive market position.

About XACT RoboticsFounded in 2013, XACT Robotics Ltd., is a privately held company with offices in Hingham, MA, and Caesarea, Israel. XACT Robotics is pioneering the first hands-free robotic system, combining image-based planning and navigation with instrument insertion and steering capabilities to democratize percutaneous interventional procedures.

For further information, please visit https://xactrobotics.com. Follow XACT Robotics on Social Media: LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

About FierceMedTechFierceMedTechkeeps biopharma executives, device developers, engineers, and researchers updated on the must-know news, trends and developments in medical technology. More than 90,000 top industry professionals rely on FierceMedTech for an insider briefing on the day's top stories.

About QuestexQuestex helps people live better and longer. Questex brings people together in the markets that help people live better: travel, hospitality and wellness; the industries that help people live longer: life science and healthcare; and the technologies that enable and fuel these new experiences. We live in the experience economyconnecting our ecosystem through live events, surrounded by data insights and digital communities. We deliver experience and real results. It happens here.

FierceMedTech ContactRebecca WillumsonQuestex, 202-824-5050rwillumson@questex.com

Media ContactErich Sandoval(917) 497-2867erich.sandoval@finnpartners.com

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FierceMedTech names XACT Robotics as one of its Fierce 15 companies of 2019 - GlobeNewswire

CT Robotics Team Earn Their Way to World Championships – i95rock.com

The Wilton Library's robotics team has clinched a spot in the World Championships and now they're heading to Detroit.

Ten teens from Wilton who make up the team 'Singularity Technology' have been down this road before and have come close, but this year they've hit the big time according to an article on the ctinsider website. Not only have theyearned the honor ofcompeting inthe 'FIRST Tech Challenge World Championships' but they also came in first place in the state competition.

The 'FIRST Tech Challenge' is for students in grades 7 through 12 who compete by designing, building, and programming a robot that goes up against other state winners.

In September, each robotic team isgiven instructions as to what their specific robot must be able to accomplish. Points are scored by programming its robot to follow through on certain tasks.

The mission for this year's robot is to collect yellow plastic blocks and then transport the blocks and stack them at the other end of a 12-foot-square field. When team members were asked about how they've managed to successfully accomplish the mission, they talked in terms that I couldn't even begin to explain like, 'intake system,' 'dual slide system,' and 'water jet cutter.'

Wilton's robotic team'Singularity Technology' will be traveling to Detroit for the world championships where some 400 teams will compete from April 29 through May 2 where I'm sure they'll do Connecticut proud.

Originally posted here:

CT Robotics Team Earn Their Way to World Championships - i95rock.com

ACME, ARES robotics teams advance to NorCal Championship – The Union of Grass Valley

Every practice begins with a meeting. Tuesday was no exception.

The ARES and ACME robotics teams circled to discuss their plans for the day, what they were trying to improve and how best to prepare for the upcoming tournament.

ARES members discussed the need to install a grabber on their robot. ACME members said they needed to work on their robots software.

But despite the routine, this practice carried a bit more meaning. Thats because both teams are headed to the NorCal Championship in San Jose this weekend the first time two robotics teams will represent Nevada County.

(The season) has been going pretty well for us, said ARES Robotics team member and Ghidotti sophomore Sean Giomi.

The ARES team is only 2 years old. It began last season with the help of ACME members who wanted to expand student interest in robotics. While the team consists of members between grades eight and 10, the group was formed based on friendships and bonds, not by age. Both teams have students from a wide range of Nevada County schools.

Giomi said this year the ARES Robotics team has achieved success, even beating ACME Robotics at a January tournament, in addition to having competed with them at other competitions.

Were going to have really good matchups, said Giomi of the upcoming tournament.

ARES member and Nevada Union sophomore Kenton Boswell spoke of how the team has helped him understand mechanical engineering as much as its helped him manage group dynamics. In order to diffuse potential conflict, Boswell said team members detach themselves from an idea, and try adopting both sides of an argument if a disagreement arises. With this technique in place, the team has high hopes for moving past the state tournament.

I think well do pretty well, said Julia Barbieri, eighth grader at Yuba River Charter School and ARES member.

Despite a slow start to the season, Nevada Union senior and ACME member Ashland Arriaga said the team dominated at a February tournament, qualifying them for the NorCal Championship.

This year, ACMEs robot is entirely customized, said Arriaga, which allows members a distinct feeling of satisfaction, particularly when they brought the robot to life, moving something from imagined conception to physical reality.

Now, Arriaga said the team has a good shot at moving on from the state tournament, but that theres no way of telling what will happen.

The championship in March features the top 56 of over 200 teams in northern California, according to Stephanie Lewis, team mentor to ACME and ARES. The top teams from that championship will qualify for the World Championship in Houston in April.

To contact Staff Writer Sam Corey, email scorey@theunion.com or call 530-477-4219.

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ACME, ARES robotics teams advance to NorCal Championship - The Union of Grass Valley

Now, robots to battle COVID-19 – The Hindu

A challenge can also be an opportunity is how the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) views the current cycle of COVID-19 infections in Kerala.

The government nodal agency for entrepreneurship and incubation activities has launched two robots developed by startup firm Asimov Robotics to spread awareness about arresting the spread of the virus. One of the robots also distributes face masks, sanitizers and napkins for better cough hygiene.

At the KSUMs Integrated Startup Complex at Kalamassery, the other robot screens detail about the World Health Organisations campaign to contain the pandemic.

Asimov CEO Jayakrishnan T. said a general public apathy towards preventive measures against COVID-19 prompted the solutions-provider company to go for such a drive

.The use of robots in the campaign has invited public attention, also considering the propensity of Coronavirus to spread though human contact, a communication said.

All startups being incubated at KSUM, too, are being given health guidelines in the context of COVID-19, KSUM Chief Executive Officer Saji Gopinath said.

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First female robotics team in Indiana showcase robot for competition – wlfi.com

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)The first female robotics team in Indiana hosted their annual reveal on Saturday. The all girl group call themselves the "Girl Gang Robotics." They showcased their robot for competition season. In just seven weeks the Girl Gang Robotics created their robot.

By promoting integrity, acceptance and teamwork the girls hope to represent women in the STEM field. President of Girl Gang Robotics Liz Jones said this will prepare these young girls for their future education and careers. It will also show that girls can do this too.

"I'm hoping more so that we can get guys to realize that girls are just as capable as boys in STEM," said Jones. "Because I don't want these girls to have to leave their team. I want them to feel comfortable with whatever team they are on."

Their first competition will be in Mishawaka, Indiana next week.

Excerpt from:

First female robotics team in Indiana showcase robot for competition - wlfi.com

Robotics team kicks off Mohegan reading campaign – Shelton Herald

Mohegan School students got to play catch with the Shelton High robotics team's latest creation during a special assembly Monday.

Mohegan School students got to play catch with the Shelton High robotics team's latest creation during a special assembly Monday.

Photo: Brian Gioiele / Hearst Connecticut Media

Mohegan School students got to play catch with the Shelton High robotics team's latest creation during a special assembly Monday.

Mohegan School students got to play catch with the Shelton High robotics team's latest creation during a special assembly Monday.

Robotics team kicks off Mohegan reading campaign

Mohegan School students got quite a boost as they began a month-long reading extravaganza. And what better day to start than Monday, March 2 which also happened to be Read Across America Day and the birthday of the ever-popular Dr. Suess.

Students gathered in the gym and were greeted by Principal Kristen Santilli, who announced the kick off of I Love to Read month with the schools Bolt Into Reading-themed campaign. The program is designed to cultivate an enjoyment of reading by the students.

Among the special guests helping to open the months campaign were Board of Education Chair Kathy Yolish, Board of Education member Amy Romano, the award-winning Shelton High Gaelhawks robotics team and newly appointed school Superintendent Beth Smith.

Santilli said the robotics team, with coaches Michele Piccalo and John Niski, were more than happy to lend a helping hand.

The team brought a robot to demonstrate the importance of reading, science, technology, engineering, and math, said Santilli.

Some of the robotics team remained in the gym with fourth graders to discuss what the team does in its competitions. Other SHS students visited classrooms and read to the younger children.

The books they read were related to STEM, said Santilli, adding that, as part of the reading incentive, all students will read eight books in different genres fiction, nonfiction, fairy tale or fable, biography, poetry, history, science, geography and one free choice.

Students will log their reading on the reading log that is sent home. Book logs will be turned into the Media Center to track their progress. All students who participate will enjoy a reading celebration to culminate the reading incentive.

brian.gioiele@

hearstmediact.com

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Robotics team kicks off Mohegan reading campaign - Shelton Herald

Robots Instead Of Forklifts? Fetchs Melonee Wise Debuts Fully Autonomous Ones That Can Carry Up To 1,100 Pounds – Forbes

Fetch Robotics' Melonee Wise with her new fully autonomous bot and cart.

For more than a century, factories and warehouses have depended on forklifts to move heavy objects from one place to another. Roboticist Melonee Wise, founder and chief executive of Fetch Robotics, thinks fully autonomous robots could do a better job. In a conversation with Forbes, she shared a sneak peek of a new version of her giant Freight bots that has the ability to pick up items from one place and drop them off at another with no humans involved.

Fetch intends to debut the new Freight 500, called CartConnect500, which can lug up to 500 kilograms (or 1,100 pounds) at the Modex 2020 trade show in Atlanta on March 9. A fully autonomous version of the Freight 1,500, which can haul up to 1,500 kilograms (or 3,300 pounds), is in development and likely will launch later this year. The robots have attachable, industrial-grade carts that can carry bins and totes for efficiency and organization.

While San Jose, California-based Fetch has offered its Freight lineup of pallet movers since 2017, making them fully autonomous and attaching carts to them is a big step forward. For carts, its completely new for the industry, says Wise. The robot has to find the cart, detect it and pick it up.

As with self-driving cars, these giant robots rely on Lidar sensors, 3D cameras and mapping software to navigate safely around objects and people. Fetch ties its robots together with a software program, called WorkBuilder, that can manage their operations. Fetch typically offers the Freight 500 under a service plan, for $3,500 to $5,000 a month, depending on the robots configuration and accessories.

Wises idea comes at a time when warehouses and factories are increasingly looking to automate in order to operate more efficiently with fewer people, at a time when hundreds of thousands of jobs remain open. It also comes as the forklift industry itself has been shifting to incorporate more automation into its products, as Forbesdetailed in a recent profile of Crown,the countrys largest forklift manufacturer. What weve built is pretty complementary to autonomous forklifts. Most of their value is in lifting things up and putting them down. Its not really in the transit, says Wise. Were talking with some automated forklift manufacturers about bringing our two products together.

Fetch Robotics' robots have detachable carts, which allow them to get right up to the assembly line.

But for some customers, eliminating forklifts is a goal. GE Appliances, one of Fetchs early customers, plans to use Fetchs robots to help it slash the number of forklifts it uses across its nine U.S. factories from some 350 to 175 by the end of 2021. Shifting from forklifts, which require human operators, would cut costs, while also improving safety. The new Fetch robot with its connected cart allows GE Appliances to move items from where theyre stored to the assembly line. We can take things to the line side, which helps us get rid of forklifts, says Harry Chase, GE Appliances director of advanced materials. Nothing going to the assembly lines will have forklifts.

Today, GE Appliances, which started with the smaller Freight 100 robots and helped developed the Freight 500 as a beta customer, has nearly 20 Fetch robots across five plants. It might ultimately roll out a few hundred robots across its facilities, though Bill Good, the companys vice president of supply chain, notes that the company could choose to use a mix of robot manufacturers. Toyota teaches us that inventory is waste, and moving that inventory is waste, Good says. So I want to put people in adding value to the product, and not just moving waste from point A to point B.

Today, Fetch is one of a number of companies that make robots for warehouses, including Amazons Kiva Systems though Wise argues that her robots are very different than Kivas because they can operate with people and dont require extensive changes to a companys existing warehouse space. One of its main competitors in the warehouse market is Mobile Industrial Robots, a Denmark-based industrial robotics company that was acquired by publicly traded industrial giant Teradyne in 2018. Fetch has raised $94 million, at a valuation of $221 million, according to venture-capital database PitchBook.

[Fetch] is a quite impressive player in an increasingly saturated field, which is robotics platforms for logistics and manufacturing, says ABI Research analyst Rian Whitton. Melonee is one of the more charismatic CEOs.

Wise is one of the few high-profile women robotics entrepreneurs. As a child, she wanted to be a photographer, but she also tinkered with building blocks. She studied engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she built robots in her spare time, including one called Zippy that Wired described as an autonomous bot that wasnt much more than a few motors tied to a piece of plywood.

She stayed at University of Illinois to study for a Ph.D. in engineering, where she worked on building an autonomous car as part of the DARPA Urban Challenge. After a trip to California as part of that project, she dropped out of her Ph.D. program, and moved west to join Willow Garage, a robotics lab founded by Scott Hassan, as its second employee. It was random in many ways, Wise says. I had no idea [Willow Garage] would become one of the most famous places to do robotics of the past 50 years.

Willow Garage shut down in 2013. Wise founded a short-lived startup, called Unbounded Robotics, then launched Fetch. Her plan: To develop fully autonomous, mobile robots for use in warehouses and logistics operations. The Freight line of robots includes a rolling base that can autonomously follow a warehouse worker. A variety of carryons enable it to be immediately incorporated into a factory line without needing to be reconfigured.

Over time, Wise made her robots and carts larger and larger. What we kept hearing from customers is, Can you just make it bigger? she says. The big challenge going from our small robots to our big robots is that the big ones are closer to the size of a car in terms of their weight so the safety standards are a lot different.

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Robots Instead Of Forklifts? Fetchs Melonee Wise Debuts Fully Autonomous Ones That Can Carry Up To 1,100 Pounds - Forbes

Robotics team’s win sends them to world competition – Norfolk Daily News

Rebel Robotics wasnt expecting to win, let alone for a second year in a row.

The Norfolk-based robotics team won first place at the Nebraska FIRST Lego League recently, which qualified it to attend the FIRST Robotics world championship on April 28 in Detroit.

Rebel Robotics, which consists of five homeschooled students, also attended the world competition last year after qualifying at the state competition, co-coach Amber Haake said.

We didnt really expect it because we thought it would be hard to qualify again since there were a lot of really good teams, Haake said. We were hoping to do well, but were thrilled.

Its an exciting experience for the kids to go and meet and compete at that level.

Haake and her husband, Rob, coach the robotics team, which includes their son, Emmett. The group has been competing for the past four years. Members range from ages 12 to 15.

My son had an interest in robotics and there was nothing in the area that we could sign him up for, so we decided to start our own team, Haake said. From there, we really reached out to people in our homeschool community (to join).

Rebel Robotics took home the winning trophy out of 56 teams at the state competition Feb. 22. This year was the fourth time the group competed at state, according to a previous Daily News article.

The team also was named the Nebraska nomination for global innovation at the state competition for its research project. Teams can compete in a research component, where they have to come up with a solution to a prompt that changes every year.

This year, the competition prompt is to solve a problem that occurs in cities, Haake said. Members met with the city engineering department to discuss current issues and decided on the topic of roundabouts.

The team created pedestrian mats that address the issue of how pedestrians can navigate roundabouts safely.

The ADA-accessible mats are solar-powered and light up when they are stepped on, which helps increase the safety at a roundabout.

Rebel Robotics was named the Nebraska nomination for this product.

Last year, Rebel Robotics received third place at the world competition for its research project, which was a special cap to address the issue of washing hair in space.

It was obviously a completely new experience and our goal was to learn and have fun, Haake said about the 2019 world competition. When they took third place for their research project, it was pretty exciting.

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Robotics team's win sends them to world competition - Norfolk Daily News

Gator robotics teams advance to playoff rounds at Great Northern Regional – East Grand Forks Exponent

Holding a controller, Badger Robotics drive team member Kennedy Truscinski focuses in on the action during a match at the 2020 FIRST Robotics Great Northern Regional at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks. (photo by Emily Wicklund)

GMR Robotics human player Olivia Brazier focuses in on the action at the Great Northern Regional, as GMR mentor John Langaas (background) looks on. (photo by Emily Wicklund)

The Badger Robotics team poses for a team photo with its robot named Eclipse at the Great Northern Regional. Pictured are (L-R): Standing: Jandi VonEnde, Jedd VonEnde, Jasmine Christianson, Hannah Rud, Aulona Jasiqi, Lexi Rud, Kennedy Truscinski, Talon Hilligas, Jack Burkel, Jasmyn Rud, Avdyl, Jasiqi, Alex Truscinski, Valerie Truscinski, Bryza Rud, Alan Truscinski, and Olivia Hamann; Kneeling: Brooke VonEnde, Talisha Hamann, Katerina Nubson, and Liesl Aarhus. (submitted photo)

The GMR Robotics team poses for a team photo with its robot at the Great Northern Regional. Pictured are (L-R): Front: Christian Wahl, Elizabeth Gust, Sarah Stanelle, Wyatt Whitchurch, Lauren Kvien, and Piper Sondreal; Middle: Michael Diaz, Ray Tarala, Diana Wang, Max Utter, Olivia Brazier, Ryan Hlucny, Landon Kvien, Paris Sondreal, and Cari Swenson; Back: Mary Anderson, Aaron Kvien, Kyle Stauffenecker, Thor Anderson, Dennis Brazier, John Novacek, John Langaas, Teresa Hlucny, Doug Hlucny, Riley Sovde, Vern Langaas, and Russ Anderson. (submitted photo)

Two Gator Robotics teams, Team #3750 out of Badger High School, and Team #5172 out of Greenbush-Middle River High School, opened their competition seasons at the Great Northern Regional from the Alerus Center in Grand Forks, N.D., February 26-29 a Week One FIRST Robotics event. Both Gator teams would get the opportunity to compete in the playoff rounds, but both fell short of capturing that regional title.

As for the Badger team, after day one of qualification matches, it stood in the second ranked position, climbing to first at the beginning of the first day. The team would remain in this position until the final qualification match of the regional one that the Badger team lost. The Badger team would finish qualification matches which ran February 28 and 29 with an 8-1 record and in the fifth ranked position.

Captain of the fifth ranked alliance heading into playoff rounds, Badger selected Team #5653, the Iron Mosquitoes from Babbit, Minn., and Team #7858, the Warriors from BOLD High School in Olivia, Minn, to form its alliance.

In quarterfinal playoff actiondone in a best-of-three series format the Badger-led alliance would fall to the fourth ranked alliance, made up of Team #2883, F.R.E.D out of Warroad, Minn., Team #3082, Chicken Pot Pie out of Minnetonka, Minn., and Team#2847, The MegaHertz out Fairmont, Minn. The Badger-led alliance lost by scores of 150-132 and 187-129. Although its regional run ended sooner than hoped, Badger Team Coach Val Truscinski was proud of her teams efforts.

The Badger teams next regional event, the Iowa Regional, takes place March 27-28 in Cedar Falls.

The Greenbush-Middle River team would finish the two days of qualification rounds with a 6-3 record and ranked twelfth in the 60-team field, including both students and engineering and technical mentors from North Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and Manitoba, Canada.

Not earning a top eight spot needed to become an alliance captain, the GMR team would accept an offer to join the top-ranked alliance captain, Team #3293, the Otterbots from Fergus Falls, Minn. This alliance also invited Team#4198, Robocats from Waconia, Minn., to join it.The GMR alliance would win its quarterfinal match-up over the eighth ranked alliance made up of Team #8002, The Knack from Hartland, Wisc., Team #3007, the Robotitans from Oakdale, Minn., and Team #5638, LQPV Robotics from Madison, Minn., by scores of 262-162 and 238-80.

Advancing to the semifinals, the GMR alliance defeated the fourth ranked alliance of Team #2883, Team #3082, and Team#2847, by scores of 233-100 and 206-122.

One series win away from a regional title and an automatic trip to the FIRST Robotics World Championshipheld in Detroit, Mich., April 28-May 2 the GMR alliance would take on the second ranked alliance made of Team #1619, Up-A-Creek from Longmont, Colo., Team #876, Thunder Robotics from Hatton-Northwood, N.D., and Team #4593, Rapid Acceleration from Rapid City, S.D.

The GMR alliance would fall short, dropping the best-of-three series by scores of 254-230 and 228-184.

The GMR teams next competition is the 10,000 Lakes Regional held at Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis, March 25-28.

To see the complete story, read the March 4 issue of The Tribune in print or online.

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Gator robotics teams advance to playoff rounds at Great Northern Regional - East Grand Forks Exponent

Fun with robotics at SCA – The Suffolk News-Herald – Suffolk News-Herald

Students at Suffolk Christian Academy were treated to fun Robot Day demonstrations on Feb. 28, and the school also received a donation from SuperDroid Robots Inc.

The demonstrations were given by Aaron Cockrell, who assists in shipping and logistics for SuperDroid Robots Inc., which is based in Fuquay-Varina, N.C. The company specializes in custom robotics and builds robots in-shop for tactical and inspection purposes. According to Susan Payne, owner and chief financial officer of SuperDroid Robots Inc., the company has sold more than 10,000 robots and parts over the past 20 years.

Aaron Cockrell was in SCAs first graduating class in 2010, and his sister and fellow SCA graduate Abby Cockrell teaches STEAM and computer classes at the school. Abby Cockrell spoke to her brother last fall about introducing robotics to the schools newly-formed STEAM class this year, and his company was happy to oblige.

Aaron Cockrell was able to bring a few of their advanced robotics for the demonstrations on Feb. 28. Furthermore, the company donated Tamiya Robot Kits to the school, which will be used by second-through-fifth-graders in STEAM class, Abby Cockrell said.

As the paradigmshiftsto acceptance of more robotic applications in industry and personal use, students need to develop basic skills in manual dexterity and critical thinking, Payne wrote in an email Monday. By donating robot kits to Suffolk Christian Academy, we hope to spark interest in robotic concepts. Donations like this help to secure an educated and trained workforce for the future.

More than 200 SCA students were wowed by the machinations in store for them at the demonstrations throughout the school day.

Students were excited to watch the movements of the arm on an LT2/F Bulldog tactical robot. This one-armed bot carefully grabbed pencils out of their hands, with Aaron Cockrell manning the advanced controller for the machine.

The students were also impressed by the sleek inspection bot, painted silver and black and small enough for crawlspaces and other tight spaces.

They were just super stoked, Abby Cockrell said. You could see it on their faces. They were bright smiles and wide eyes, and super curious.

Aaron Cockrell also had the students draw their own robot designs on pieces of paper. Some of them may have been far-fetched, like a robot that would do their homework, but that creative spark is the start of a lifelong interest in robotics.

It all starts with a creative mind, he said. I think a lot of times people think, I cant do this, but when you are creating you start realizing, Hey, what Im learning in school actually means something.

He said he had a great time coming back to his old Suffolk stomping grounds to show the students at SCA how their STEAM lessons can be applied to an exciting industry thats constantly growing, and his sister was very pleased with her students enthusiasm.

STEAM is all about just exposing kids early to the different parts of STEAM to science, technology, engineering, art and math and how that is incorporated in everyday life, Abby Cockrell said.

Its all about showing them how they can get involved and what they need to do to get there, and lessons like Robot Day are the building blocks for that foundation, Abby Cockrell said.

Its just exposing them to the subject, inspiring them and showing them what could be, she said.

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Fun with robotics at SCA - The Suffolk News-Herald - Suffolk News-Herald