We already know that robotics can help protect our oceans in a number of ways, from improving wastewater treatment to improving fuel efficiency on ships. Thus, it makes sense that robotic assistance can have a positive impact on the sustainable energy sector.

Robotic Assistance and the Future of Energy Sustainability

Article from | Jori Hamilton

As technology continues to advance across global industries, robotics holds the key to increased accuracy, precision, and cost savings. But robotics may also play an important role in the realm of energy sustainability. This is especially true when one considers the environmental benefits of automation.

We already know thatrobotics can help protect our oceansin a number of ways, from improving wastewater treatment to improving fuel efficiency on ships. Thus, it makes sense that robotic assistance can have a positive impact on the sustainable energy sector.

As early as 2011, researchers postulatedthe ways in which robotics could assist with sustainable development. While acknowledging that industrial robotics is often associated with an unsustainable economic model, researchers Guido Bugmann and Mel Siegel concluded that the industry also provides qualitative benefits towards sustainability. Further, they found that robotics is a useful tool for waste reduction, increasing food production yields, and managing alternative power generation units.

Nearly a decade later, we are beginning to see the fruits of sustainable robotic assistance in numerous industries, from agriculture to energy production. So what does the future hold for the continued pairing of robotics and sustainability?

Lets explore the ways in which robotics is used in the alternative energy sector. Among sustainable energy sources, solar power tends to get the most press, even though it only makes up about1.5% of the total electricity generated in the U.S., according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The most productive renewable energy sources, in fact, are hydropower and wind power.

Nonetheless, it is in the realm of solar energy that robotic assistance may prove the most beneficial. For starters, the solar energy generation process can be automated, and therefore streamlined, with help from robotics. Robots can also perform integral tasks that are dangerous for humans, such as removing dust from solar cells. Thejob of dust removal is integral to the maximum output of solar energy systems, especially in dust-prone regions like Africa and Americas desert Southwest.

Eliminating dangerous jobs, in fact, is a key element inthe future of robotics and robotic process automation. Robotic assistance has already begun to replace a number of high-risk jobs, such as assembly line and manufacturing jobs, and medical lab technicians. Jobs in the alternative energy sector may just be the next industry on the robotic assistance radar.

Integrating robotics into the alternative energy industry comes with a number of challenges. One of the largest is the current power grid itself, primarily designed to transport energy from large power plants running off of dirty sources such as natural gas and coal. Thus, the majority of the U.S. power grid is outdated and in serious need of an overhaul before alternative energy can be truly integrated as a viable source of power.

Scientists agree thatnew approaches to power grid designare necessary to propel the energy industry into the future. And so-called smart power grids may provide the answer, by integrating various renewable energy sources and helping utility companies to reduce outages. In order to achieve greater efficiency and sustainability, AI and automation are necessary components in the greater picture of energy efficiency.

Robotic assistance may also help preserve natural resources while improving efficiency. For example, in response to the threat to salmon populations at dams in the Pacific Northwest, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has taken an innovative approach. The PNNL introduced small devices, dubbed sensor fish, into waterways surrounding dams in the region.

Once submerged, the robotic sensor fish then collect data such as water pressure and orientation. It is hoped that theinformation gathered by sensor fishcan help dam engineers and operators design and manage hydropower plants in a more fish-friendly manner, writes GeekWire.

This is an important consideration, as hydroelectricity is the most prominent renewable energy source in the U.S.,generating 44% of the nations renewable energy. Americas largest hydroelectric dam is the Grand Coulee Dam, on the Columbia River, and sensor fish likely swim in its waters. In this way, robotic assistance may serve as a catalyst to the more mindful and eco-friendly construction and operation of hydropower plants.

Of course, hydropower is only a small piece of the overall snapshot of energy sustainability. As we have seen, smart power grids may keep some of the guesswork out of the power grid, reducing outages and providing customers with real-time info about their energy consumption habits.

And without automation, this type of innovation wouldnt be possible. As such, the field ofrobotic process automation (RPA) has streamlined a number of industries, serving as the predecessor to automation. In 2020 and beyond, robotic assistance is moving beyond RPA and can help fuel the push for widespread energy sustainability. It may even provide a solution to combating the effects of climate change.

The majority of Americans agree that climate change is real, and it is causing great harm to the planets ecosystems as well as human health. Whats more, approximately 8 in 10 U.S. citizens agree that human activity is fueling climate change, reportsthe Washington Post. But counteracting that change may take more than simple human intervention the robotics industry is ready for action, and ultimately poised at the helm of the sustainability movement.

AboutJori HamiltonJori is an experienced freelance writer from the Northwestern U.S. She covers a wide range of subjects but takes a particular interest in covering topics related to Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Cybersecurity.

* Image Source:https://unsplash.com/photos/zb29xBwpt6c

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Robotic Assistance and the Future of Energy Sustainability - AltEnergyMag

SYRACUSE Wawasee High School hosted a double division event Saturday with 39 teams competing in the high school division and 27 teams competing in the middle school division on opposite sides of Wawasees spectator gymnasium.

The final match was a clash of the green between first seed Zionsville and second seed Wawasee, both school colors being green. Wawasee teams 574C Centurion, with members Evan Rassi, Taylor Fiedeke and Evan Brower, (rank 3, 6-1-0) and 574D Immortal, with members Noah Beckner, Jack Collins, Wesley Hays and Nathan Smith, (rank 12, 5-2-0) fell to Zionsville teams 7701X Xenith and 7701T Tesseract, 44 to 36.

Most of the top ranked teams from Indiana came to Wawasee to experience high level competition before we face off against each other at State in two weeks, Wawasee head coach Jed Wandland said. As much as we wanted to win, we wanted to go up against Xenith and Tesseract who have already qualified for World Championships.

All Wawasee teams advanced into the elimination rounds in the final regular season tournaments on Saturday.

Team 574A, with members Andrea Mickley and Sydni Ewing, (rank 24, 3-4-0); 574B, with members Vanessa Wright, Bailey Smith and Macy Powell, (rank 29, 2-5-0); 574G, with member Harry Doss, (rank 31, 2-5-0), made it into the round of 16. Team 574F, with member Jackson Coverstone, (rank 4, 6-1-0) powered through the quarterfinals and into the semifinal rounds before losing to the 574C and D alliance.

Team 574H Samurai, with members Charlie Krull, Michael Wippel and Alan Warren, charged ahead in the middle school division, ranking sixth for the day with a 5-2-0 record. They made it into the quarterfinal rounds before losing 14-18.

The state tournament will be held March 7 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Doors open to the public at 9 a.m., qualifications start at 10:30 a.m., finals at 3:30 p.m., and awards and closing ceremonies will follow.

Tourney results include:

Middle School Division

574H 6th (5-2-0), 16th (4 pts) Robot Skills

High School Division

574C 3rd (6-1-0), 5th (108 pts) Robot Skills

574F 4th (6-1-0), 13th (33 pts) Robot Skills

574D 16th (5-2-0), 3rd (132 pts) Robot Skills

574A 24th (3-4-0), 20th (8 pts) Robot Skills

574B 29th (2-5-0), 26th (1 pts) Robot Skills

574G 31st (2-5-0), 16th (21 pts) Robot Skills

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Wawasee robotics event ends with 'clash of the green' - Goshen News

Staff at a California school district reportedly spent 20% of their time searching for lost documents until they retained the services of a records management company. Its not a unique problem the average manager spends four weeks out of the year looking for records, by some estimates.

In search of a solution five years ago, three entrepreneurs NASA veteran Kim Lembo, former Apple senior engineering scientist Alex Fielding, and Kevin Hall cofounded Ripcord, a startup developing a portfolio of robots that can digitize paper records. Fresh off a series B funding round, the Hayward, California-based company today announced it has raised $45 million in series B funding, bringing its total raised to over $120 million ahead of a planned global expansion.

Automotive marketplace software developer CDK Global led the round, ostensibly to further its mission of streamlining the car buying experience by reducing errors and costs at dealerships. CDK Globals mission is to help dealerships improve the customer experience in a digital-driven world, and Ripcords intelligent approach to digitization supports our vision and benefits both dealerships and consumers tremendously, said CDK president and CEO Brian Krzanich, previously the CEO of Intel. CDK processes about 65% of the nations auto loans annually. Ripcord will help us meet data compliance demands while eliminating outdated, cumbersome processes to bring the car buying experience into the modern era.

Ripcord processes over 1 billion pages per year for customers like Coca Cola, BP, Chevron, MUFG Bank, UCLA, Cantium, and a number of Fortune 100 companies including three of the top five financial services companies and three of the top five insurance carriers. The company develops physical robots that autonomously scan documents, even removing staples. Courtesy of partnerships with logistics firms, Ripcord transports files containing barcoded labels with metadata to its facilities, where it scans them and either stores them to meet compliance requirements or shreds and recycles them. Fees start at around $0.004 per page, per month.

Employing computer vision, lifting and positioning arms, and high-quality RGB cameras that capture details at 600 dots per inch, Ripcords robots are able to scan at 10 times the speed of traditional processes and handle virtually any format while classifying and extracting data. On the software side, the companys Canopy platform uploads documents to the cloud nearly instantly, all stored as parsable and searchable PDFs. Canopy includes personal workspaces and hierarchical content navigation, as well as integrations with popular enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, and human resource systems. And it can take unstructured data and organize it to feed robotic process automation pipelines for end-to-end automation.

Once you pick a car, all you want to do is drive it off of the lot. But today, there is a mountain of repetitive paperwork and manual data entry blocking the exit, said Ripcord CEO Fielding, speaking about the CDK investment. Together with CDKs expertise in automotive and our unmatched digitization capabilities with intelligent robotics and cutting edge software, we are going to get new car owners on the road more quickly and help dealers perfect compliance and earn greater margins. With this new financing, well continue to expand our offering and transform additional vertical markets across North America and globally.

Existing investors Kleiner Perkins, GV, Steve Wozniak, Silicon Valley Bank, Lux Capital, Tyche Partners, Icon Ventures, and Baidu also participated in the latest round. Notably, Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak contributed to Ripcords series A.

Read more:

Ripcord raises $45 million to digitize paper records with robotics and AI - VentureBeat

The top 48 of 205 Minnesota High Tech Kids FIRST Tech Challenge robotics teams competed on Feb. 7-8 in the Minnesota High Tech Kids FIRST Tech Challenge Stratasys State Championship held at Washington Technology Magnet School.

Nine of those teams now have the opportunity to participate in the FIRST World Championship. Over 30 countries are represented at the event, which will be held April 29-May 2 at the TCF Center in Detroit, Michigan.

Wrench Dressing," Minnesota FTC Team 9415 represented Eastern Carver County Schools at the state tournament, and is one of the nine Minnesota teams advancing to the World Championship.

What I love about this program is that it teaches us gracious professionalism not only with our own team, but other teams competing in the tournaments with us. Gracious Professionalism is a part of everything we do with our FTC season, it encourages high-quality work but also respect & the value of others," stated Josh Bodmer, team representative.

Team members include (from Chanhassen High School unless noted): Joshua Bodmer, senior; CJ Newhouse, senior; Kaleb Wirtzfeld, senior; Benjamin Chua, senior; Jake Norbie, senior; Christopher Patz, sophomore; Delia Derner, freshman (Chaska); Andrew Chua, sophomore; Cody Boie, sophomore; Tommy Good, senior.

Additional advancing teams come from: Maple Grove, Edina, Otsego, Apple Valley, Shoreview, Woodbury, Eden Prairie and Apple Valley.

FIRST Tech Challenge is an international robotics program for students, ages 12-18.

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Eastern Carver County robotics team advances to world championship - SW News Media

Over the last few decades, the progression of industrial robotic technologies has continued to advance at a rapid rateeven long after the robot boom of the 1980s in the automotive industry. Now, many robotic industry players view autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) as the next big movement in industry to address labor shortages, the growing demand for customized order fulfillment, and increasingly dynamic production environments that are pushing manufacturers to employ ever-leaner, more agile technologies.

Most robot industry insiders see AMRs as a replacement for the lengthy conveyor belt lines and automated guided vehicles (AGVs) used to automate material handling tasks in the past. AMRs are seen as a good replacement for AGVs because they do not require permanent wire strips or magnetic tracks along the floor to guide their path. Instead, AMRs navigate through the use of light detection and ranging (LIDAR) technology, and on-board intelligence and collision-detection safety systems that allow for the real-time selection of the most appropriate route to any given destination at a particular moment in time.

Fetch Roboticss CartConnect AMR can pick up and drop off carts from anywhere within a facility. Source: Fetch Robotics

The benefits of AMRs arent difficult to imagine. For one, the lack of infrastructure required to deploy AMRs reduces upfront costs, allowing for a much faster return on investment. Beyond that, the flexibility of being off a fixed track can maximize the use of space in a large plant, and help meet the changing needs of an increasingly adaptive manufacturing landscape.

Manufacturing has really changed, and as the need for adaptive manufacturing has become higher and higher, real estate has become more and more expensive, so plant floor space is now a valuable commodity, says Ed Mullen, vice president of salesAmerica for Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR). Being able to shrink everything down and make changes on the fly is really going to start paying dividends, and AMRs allow for that.

Melonee Wise, CEO of Fetch Robotics, a company that offers Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS), concurred, noting that, aside from the cost savings AMRs entail, the changing demands of industry itself will increasingly require them.

If you look at the environments that theyve [AMRs] been deployed in for manufacturing, especially in the realm of consumer electronics, the flexibility is really key. They change their work cell configuration and their line plan delivery configuration sometimes every several months or even weeks, Wise said. Having the ability to completely change the routes that the [AMR] fleet is moving along quickly is going to be a big win.

inVias Picker robots are designed to move inventory safely from one point within a facility to another. Source: inVia Robotics

Spurring Broader Adoption

As clear as the benefits may be for AMRs, manufacturing remains a risk-averse industry. While adopting new technologies is required to maintain a competitive advantage, doing so too soon can lead to unexpected losses, says Matthew Rendall, CEO of Otto Motors. This is major reason why the proliferation of AMRs has proceeded slowly to date. However, Rendall and others feel that the market is finally beginning to shake-out its kinks, and a proverbial tipping point is just around the bend.

In particular, the shift toward multi-modal functionality has strengthened the value proposition of AMRs. Take for example Stablis HelMo robot, which features a robotic arm mounted on top of an autonomous mobile cart. In the past, an autonomous mobile cart may have offered tremendous time savings just by moving materials throughout a plant. But the picking, loading, and unloading tasks still had to be carried out by humans. With the addition of a robotic arm, HelMo represents an autonomous mobile asset with multiple uses, and thus a stronger case for investment.

What we see from time to time is that people have a hard time justifying the use of a robot for a single purpose, says Sebastien Schmitt, robotics division manager of Stabli North America. With more robotics coming into play, you no longer have the problem of getting parts loaded from the station to your cart or unloaded from your cart to your station, and AMRs have truly come into their own as a product.

MiR is also looking to capitalize on the prospect of a flexible AMR capable of performing various functions to help justify its upfront costs, but its approach differs from Stabli. Rather than offering a general-purpose robot like HelMo, MiR favors a modular approach, whereby their various AMR offerings act as blank slates that other pieces of hardware can be integrated with.

Were really targeting verticals in manufacturing because thats where our low-hanging fruit is, but were [also] opening up our product to many different industries, including hospitals, airports, and logistics. Thats why were starting to see an eco-system of third-party companies looking to build various accessories for the tops of our vehicles, Mullen says. So, instead of being a company that says: Here is a solution, make it work for your application; we say: Heres a tool, and lets develop the right solution for your application.

Perhaps the most compelling business model for the evolving AMR space is robotics-as-a-service (RaaS), which allows companies to contract third-party robots that can be rapidly deployed for a temporary period of time, while also attaining product expertise to assist those who may be unfamiliar with the technology. (See the November 2019 Automation World feature article Robots at Your Service: http://awgo.to/raas).

Fetch Robotics Wise, along with Lior Elazary, CEO and co-founder of inVia Robotics, another RaaS provider, both contend that the unique RaaS model, largely enabled by cloud computing, can ease the learning curve for companies poorly versed in robotics and provide a quicker, more discernible return on investment.

inVia, for its part, drives this point home by employing a billing model that charges per item moved, rather than per robot, an economic choice that places the onus on inVia to move products more efficiently, rather than merely deploying more robots.

In the past, if you look at some robotics companies, theyve sold a bunch of robots, which was great for them, but at some point their sales flat-lined because the customers didnt really know how to best utilize the robots, Elazary says. [Our model] gives them great cost certainty, as well as the reliability that if they need half a million units moved, we can support that.

Yet, according to Elazary, an even greater benefit offered by RaaS is that it opens up the AMR market to small- and medium-sized businesses by removing risk, reducing upfront capex costs, and allowing for rapid scalability.

If you look at Amazon, they had to pay the ultimate price. They actually bought an entire robotics companyKiva Systemsfor $700 million. Most of our customers, even at the highest enterprise level, cant afford to do that, he says. What were allowing them to do is basically have that throughput now and see almost immediate ROI without having to project so many years into the future.

Omrons LD-250 mobile robot has a 250kg payload capacity and is designed to work alongside people. Source: Omron

The Importance of Software

Elazary, Wise, Schmitt, and Mullen all contend that the most promising developments in the AMR space will be found in the domain of software, rather than hardware, with cloud computing, machine learning, and more sophisticated fleet management solutions all taking center-stage as the market heats up.

Wise suggests that cloud connectivity will be imperative to companies looking to get the most out of their AMRs due to the necessity of data collection, consolidation, and analysis to enable AMRs to navigate increasingly complex environments.

I think its important to realize that the warehouse is actually the wild west, whether its a manufacturing or distribution facility. There is a lot of complexity and difficulty there, and this is not a solved problem. If you look at the algorithms and the machine learning that we do today, its pretty sophisticated, she says. Thats really enabled by the cloud, and if youre not in the cloud, youre going to miss a lot of that opportunity.

To surmount the robotics skills gap, several companies, such as Omron, have designed AMR software that can create an internal map of an environment by being driven around with a joystick. According to Darrell Paul, market manager for robotics and motion at Omron, the process is no more difficult than playing a video game. Once an initial tour of a plant floor is complete, Omrons fleet management software can designate zones within the space where different rules are applied, such as speed limits, stopping at intersections, or only moving in one direction down certain corridors.

Elsewhere, startup companies such as California-based Formant are offering the promise of a general-purpose fleet management platform that can integrate many different types of AMRs into a single system.

The MiR100 from Mobile Industrial Robots moving equipment in a Ford facility. Source: Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR)

Labor Concerns andThe Reality of Automation

While the accelerating pace of development in the robotics space may excite engineers and technologists, some fear that the growing prevalence of automation could pave the way to the displacement of human workers by machines. In reality, many of the jobs that AMRs are performing are not being adequately addressed with human labor. In fact, according to Wise, one of Fetchs largest clientsa large automotive facilitytypically sees between 30-40 of its 160 workers absent from any given shift. As a result, robots are increasingly viewed as critical components of production uptime.

Moreover, as robots move into the workplace, humans in the facility will be able to focus on more fulfilling, value-added tasks.

Were working now in a small manufacturing community in Wisconsin, and we were very successful retraining everyone to work with our Ottos. The maintenance personnel and the electricians all used to work with PLCs and conveyors, and after going through our retraining program, theyve leveled up their career and are now one of the first groups in the region to be skilled in AMR maintenance, Rendall says. Thats a really marketable skill, and I think its going to do well for them in the foreseeable future.

For all the material progress thats been made in the past century, the sad truth of early industrialization is that it made man the slave of the machine, chained to immovable production lines and conveyors that trudged forward with a steady, unrelenting rhythm. Now, the emergence of AMRs and other advanced robotics is unshackling the labor force from the static production methods of the past and helping put people back at the helm of operations.

Read more:

Are Autonomous Mobile Robots at the Tipping Point? - Automation World

Artificial intelligence is entering our lives in many ways on our smartphones, in our homes, in our cars. These systems can help people make appointments, drive and even diagnose illnesses. But as AI systems continue to serve important and collaborative roles in peoples lives, a natural question is: Can I trust them? How do I know they will do what I expect?

Explainable AI (XAI) is a branch of AI research that examines how artificial agents can be made more transparent and trustworthy to their human users. Trustworthiness is essential if robots and people are to work together. XAI seeks to develop AI systems that human beings find trustworthy while also performing well to fulfill designed tasks.

At the Center for Vision, Cognition, Learning, and Autonomy at UCLA, we and our colleagues are interested in what factors make machines more trustworthy, and how well different learning algorithms enable trust. Our lab uses a type of knowledge representation a model of the world that an AI uses to interpret its surroundings and make decisions that can be more easily understood by humans. This naturally aids in explanation and transparency, thereby improving trust of human users.

In our latest research, we experimented with different ways a robot could explain its actions to a human observer. Interestingly, the forms of explanation that fostered the most human trust did not correspond to the learning algorithms that produced the best task performance. This suggests performance and explanation are not inherently dependent upon each other optimizing for one alone may not lead to the best outcome for the other. This divergence calls for robot designs that takes into account both good task performance and trustworthy explanations.

In undertaking this study, our group was interested in two things. How does a robot best learn to perform a particular task? Then, how do people respond to the robots explanation of its actions?

We taught a robot to learn from human demonstrations how to open a medicine bottle with a safety lock. A person wore a tactile glove that recorded the poses and forces of the human hand as it opened the bottle. That information helped the robot learn what the human did in two ways: symbolic and haptic. Symbolic refers to meaningful representations of your actions: for example, the word grasp. Haptic refers to the feelings associated with your bodys postures and motions: for example, the sensation of your fingers closing together.

First, the robot learned a symbolic model that encodes the sequence of steps needed to complete the task of opening the bottle. Second, the robot learned a haptic model that allows the robot to imagine itself in the role of the human demonstrator and predict what action a person would take when encountering particular poses and forces.

It turns out the robot was able to achieve its best performance when combining the symbolic and haptic components. The robot did better using knowledge of the steps for performing the task and real-time sensing from its gripper than using either alone.

Symbolic and haptic explanations of a robot opening a medicine bottle shown over time. The top row is stills from a video of the robot carrying out the task. The middle row shows a symbolic explanation of the task. The bottom row shows a haptic explanation. Edmonds et al., Sci. Robot. 4, eaay4663 (2019)

Now that the robot knows what to do, how can it explain its behavior to a person? And how well does that explanation foster human trust?

To explain its actions, the robot can draw on its internal decision process as well as its behavior. The symbolic model provides step-by-step descriptions of the robots actions, and the haptic model provides a sense of what the robot gripper is feeling.

In our experiment, we added an additional explanation for humans: a text write-up that provided a summary after the robot has finished attempting to open the medicine bottle. We wanted to see if summary descriptions would be as effective as the step-by-step symbolic explanation to gain human trust.

We asked 150 human participants, divided into four groups, to observe the robot attempting to open the medicine bottle. The robot then gave each group a different explanation of the task: symbolic, step-by-step, haptic arm positions and motions, text summary, or symbolic and haptic together. A baseline group observed only a video of the robot attempting to open the bottle, without providing any additional explanations.

We found that providing both the symbolic and haptic explanations fostered the most trust, with the symbolic component contributing the most. Interestingly, the explanation in the form of a text summary didnt foster more trust than simply watching the robot perform the task, indicating that humans prefer robots to give step-by-step explanations of what theyre doing.

UCLA researchers test a robot after it has learned how to open a medicine bottle from observing human demonstrators. UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, CC BY-ND

The most interesting outcome of this research is that what makes robots perform well is not the same as what makes people see them as trustworthy. The robot needed both the symbolic and haptic components to do the best job. But it was the symbolic explanation that made people trust the robot most.

This divergence highlights important goals for future AI and robotics research: to focus on pursuing both task performance and explainability. Only focusing on task performance may not lead to a robot that explains itself well. Our lab uses a hybrid model to provide both high performance and trustworthy explanations.

Performance and explanation do not naturally complement each other, so both goals need to be a priority from the start when building AI systems. This work represents an important step in systematically studying how human-machine relationships develop, but much more needs to be done. A challenging step for future research will be to move from I trust the robot to do X to I trust the robot.

For robots to earn a place in peoples daily lives, humans need to trust their robotic counterparts. Understanding how robots can provide explanations that foster human trust is an important step toward enabling humans and robots to work together.

[ Youre smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversations authors and editors. You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter. ]

Mark Edmonds, Ph.D. Candidate in Computer Science, University of California, Los Angeles and Yixin Zhu, Postdoctoral Scholar in Computer Science, University of California, Los Angeles

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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People Prefer Robots to Explain Themselves and a Brief Summary Doesn't Cut It - Government Technology

By: The Associated Press, University of California, Los Angeles, Mark Edmonds and Yixin Zhu February 26, 202012:47 pm

Editors note:This article, distributed by The Associated Press, was originally published on The Conversation website. The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.

Artificial intelligence is entering our lives in many ways on our smartphones, in our homes, in our cars. These systems can help people make appointments, drive and even diagnose illnesses. But as AI systems continue to serve important and collaborative roles in peoples lives, a natural question is: Can I trust them? How do I know they will do what I expect?

Explainable AI (XAI) is a branch of AI research that examines how artificial agents can be made more transparent and trustworthy to their human users. Trustworthiness is essential if robots and people are to work together. XAI seeks to develop AI systems that human beings find trustworthy while also performing well to fulfill designed tasks.

At the Center for Vision, Cognition, Learning, and Autonomy at UCLA, we and our colleagues are interested in what factors make machines more trustworthy, and how well different learning algorithms enable trust. Our lab uses a type of knowledge representation a model of the world that an AI uses to interpret its surroundings and make decisions that can be more easily understood by humans. This naturally aids in explanation and transparency, thereby improving trust of human users.

In our latest research, we experimented with different ways a robot could explain its actions to a human observer. Interestingly, the forms of explanation that fostered the most human trust did not correspond to the learning algorithms that produced the best task performance. This suggests performance and explanation are not inherently dependent upon each other optimizing for one alone may not lead to the best outcome for the other. This divergence calls for robot designs that takes into account both good task performance and trustworthy explanations.

In undertaking this study, our group was interested in two things. How does a robot best learn to perform a particular task? Then, how do people respond to the robots explanation of its actions?

We taught a robot to learn from human demonstrations how to open a medicine bottle with a safety lock. A person wore a tactile glove that recorded the poses and forces of the human hand as it opened the bottle. That information helped the robot learn what the human did in two ways: symbolic and haptic. Symbolic refers to meaningful representations of your actions: for example, the word grasp. Haptic refers to the feelings associated with your bodys postures and motions: for example, the sensation of your fingers closing together.

First, the robot learned a symbolic model that encodes the sequence of steps needed to complete the task of opening the bottle. Second, the robot learned a haptic model that allows the robot to imagine itself in the role of the human demonstrator and predict what action a person would take when encountering particular poses and forces.

It turns out the robot was able to achieve its best performance when combining the symbolic and haptic components. The robot did better using knowledge of the steps for performing the task and real-time sensing from its gripper than using either alone.

Now that the robot knows what to do, how can it explain its behavior to a person? And how well does that explanation foster human trust?

To explain its actions, the robot can draw on its internal decision process as well as its behavior. The symbolic model provides step-by-step descriptions of the robots actions, and the haptic model provides a sense of what the robot gripper is feeling.

In our experiment, we added an additional explanation for humans: a text write-up that provided a summary after the robot has finished attempting to open the medicine bottle. We wanted to see if summary descriptions would be as effective as the step-by-step symbolic explanation to gain human trust.

We asked 150 human participants, divided into four groups, to observe the robot attempting to open the medicine bottle. The robot then gave each group a different explanation of the task: symbolic, step-by-step, haptic arm positions and motions, text summary, or symbolic and haptic together. A baseline group observed only a video of the robot attempting to open the bottle, without providing any additional explanations.

We found that providing both the symbolic and haptic explanations fostered the most trust, with the symbolic component contributing the most. Interestingly, the explanation in the form of a text summary didnt foster more trust than simply watching the robot perform the task, indicating that humans prefer robots to give step-by-step explanations of what theyre doing.

The most interesting outcome of this research is that what makes robots perform well is not the same as what makes people see them as trustworthy. The robot needed both the symbolic and haptic components to do the best job. But it was the symbolic explanation that made people trust the robot most.

This divergence highlights important goals for future AI and robotics research: to focus on pursuing both task performance and explainability. Only focusing on task performance may not lead to a robot that explains itself well. Our lab uses a hybrid model to provide both high performance and trustworthy explanations.

Performance and explanation do not naturally complement each other, so both goals need to be a priority from the start when building AI systems. This work represents an important step in systematically studying how human-machine relationships develop, but much more needs to be done. A challenging step for future research will be to move from I trust the robot to do X to I trust the robot.

For robots to earn a place in peoples daily lives, humans need to trust their robotic counterparts. Understanding how robots can provide explanations that foster human trust is an important step toward enabling humans and robots to work together.

Mark Edmonds is a Ph.D. candidate in computer science at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Yixin Zhu is a postdoctoral scholar in computer science at the University of California, Los Angeles.

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Commentary: People prefer robots to explain themselves - Finance and Commerce

The same sorts of detection and emergency-braking features that have helped make cars safer may soon be coming to the operating room. These could show surgeons things they cant see with their eyes, such as real-time blood flow, and enable them to avoid tissue damage as they operate.

Advancements in artificial intelligence and sensing technologies are breathing new life into the market for robotic-assisted surgical devices, making it easier for surgeons to navigate small incisions, understand changes to the body and limit strain on joints.

Performing a robotic procedure today can look a bit like playing a video game, but as the technology progresses, some futurists think well reach a day when surgeons wont even need to be in the operating room at all during a procedure.

We want to remove surgeons from doing the fine precision work, which is really about how good you are with your hands, and move them into a more supervisory role of how and where you treat disease, said Michael Yip, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, San Diego.

Part of Yips research involves ways for a robot to explore the body and give the doctor several courses of action from which to choose. Once the doctor picks, the robot could execute the procedure while the doctor supervises.

The concept of autonomous robotic surgical machines can seem straight out of science fiction, and theyre admittedly many years from ever becoming reality. But Yip thinks the technology could broaden access to top surgeons and specialists, making it so patients in rural hospitals or on battlefields can get the same treatment as those in big metropolitan areas with a wealth of nearby specialists.

Robotic surgery has long been part of American operating rooms, driven primarily by Intuitive Surgical ISRG, -2.66%, which dominates the market for soft-tissue robotic-assisted devices. But a crop of new entrants that happen to be some of the largest health-care companies in the world Johnson & Johnson JNJ, -3.17%, Medtronic MDT, -4.87% and Stryker SYK, -3.38% are investing billions of dollars into a new wave of surgical robots.

After robotic-assisted devices broke on to the scene with fanfare near the beginning of the millennium, excitement plateaued amid questions about whether machines were actually contributing to better patient outcomes compared with traditional laparoscopies, or minimally invasive procedures.

Now, scientists are excited about the potential for artificial intelligence, improved connectivity, and other technological advancements to make robotic surgery more accurate and accessible, giving a boost to a surgical phenomenon that still makes up a sliver of procedures done today.

In robotic-assisted surgery, doctors sit behind a controller and operate computerized instruments as they perform minimally invasive surgery. The technology is meant to let doctors perform these procedures with more precision and control than they might achieve by standing above a patients body and maneuvering the surgical instruments by hand.

The market for robotic-assisted surgery is $4 billion, according to estimates from Medtronic, already half the size of the market for traditional minimally invasive surgery.

Thats striking because robotic procedures currently only make up about 2% of all procedures, by the companys estimates, while traditional minimally invasive surgery accounts for 30% to 35%. More than 60% of procedures are traditional open surgeries done with larger incisions.

Both [open and traditional minimally invasive surgeries] will be drawn into robotic-assisted surgery, said Robert White, Medtronics executive vice president for minimally invasive therapies, at an investor briefing in September according to a transcript. The company plans to launch a soft-tissue robot soon.

Hospitals tend to view robotic machines as marketing vehicles that can make their facilities stand out from rivals. Yet adoption varies depending on procedure type, and the scientific literature is mixed on whether robots provide benefits over more conventional procedures.

Technological enhancements could help the machines more uniformly bear out their early goals of improvements in patient outcomes and cost.

One key issue the surgical industry is looking to solve is visibility. Doctors can only see so much inside the body under regular white light, but some are upbeat that sensory improvements can help them detect in real time what cant be seen with the naked eye.

Merged with 3-D scans of the body taken before a procedure, this information can help surgeons plot a course of action and adapt as a procedure unfolds.

By converting CT scans into three-dimensional models of the body, Stryker claims it can develop a more precise plan for where to place a knee or hip implant. The companys Mako surgical robot takes that blueprint into account during joint replacements, which can allow a machine to set boundaries at the outset and restrain the saw blade before it hits nearby tendons or ligaments, said Robert Cohen, the chief technology officer for Strykers joint-replacement group.

Preventing damage to surrounding bodily structures is one benefit that orthopedic surgeons say they get from robotics. Patients are experiencing less trauma to their joints and that leads to early recoveries, said Dr. Charles Craven, who conducts hip and knee replacements with the Mako at Novant Health Clemmons Medical Center in North Carolina. He sees patients ditching their crutches and narcotics more quickly.

Intuitive Surgical is also drawing on 3-D scans by enabling doctors to create deeper models based on preoperative CT scans. The company fuses this information with fluorescent vision systems and intraoperative images like ultrasounds to give doctors a better real-time portrait of the body even as matter shifts in the middle of an operation, said Brian Miller, who oversees systems and vision at Intuitive.

The future of surgical visibility is starting to parallel the kinds of safety features that have recently made their way to cars. Side mirrors cant technically reflect a drivers blind spots, but newer models add little lights that indicate when another car is next to yours. They also cause the wheel to vibrate if you accidentally drift out of your lane.

The same type of signals can be applied to surgical robotics, said Todd Usen, the chief executive of Activ Surgical. His Boston-based startups software looks at the reflection of wavelengths to detect where veins, vessels and arteries are without the use of traditional dyes. It can also show things surgeons cant see, such as a real-time portrait of blood flow.

Give these details to a surgical robot and the machine could make precise decisions about how far to push an instrument, taking into account information that didnt show up on a pre-op scan. Get within a millimeter of an unexpected bodily landmine and the surgical instruments could automatically freeze without penetrating any further.

Today, only a doctor can make that decision, Usen said.

Right now, even though robotic arms are doing the cutting, surgeons still sit in the room and control the action. Usen sees a world where robots could eventually be working on one part of a surgery while a human surgeon controls another.

Intuitives Miller, however, is skeptical that surgeons could hand control over to a machine when conducting soft-tissue procedures, meaning those that dont involve joints or bones.

With soft tissue, when things can move around, the surgeon still needs to be in full control and make the final determination, he said. With knees, youve got the site fixed and its immobilized, but in soft tissue its a different story.

Remote surgery is already coming up in conversation as hospitals begin to think about 5G connectivity, said Chris Penrose, an AT&T T, -3.69% executive focused on business applications for the new wireless standard that promises faster data speeds and a quicker lag time between when someone executes a command and sees it actually play out.

Youre going to be able to have that same type of reaction time when youre physically present but be able to do that from afar, said Penrose. As that lag time shortens, doctors may be able to do more things remotely, like monitoring patients after surgery or even conducting procedures from another location.

Intuitive Surgical currently has a lock on the market for soft-tissue robotics. The company counts more than 5,500 da Vinci surgical robots in its installed base of devices and has notched a $70 billion market value by selling its machines, which can cost about $2 million apiece depending on features. Players like Stryker, Smith & Nephew SNN, -2.57% and Zimmer Biomet ZBH, -4.51% operate in the orthopedic-reconstructive space.

The field is about to get more crowded in the coming years, with Medtronic, the No. 1 player in the medical-device market, planning an international product launch that could provide some competition for Intuitives da Vinci. Dow Jones Industrial Average stalwart Johnson & Johnson is stepping up its efforts in the space as well, buying up Auris Health for $3.4 billion last year to gain access to the companys Monarch robot for bronchoscopies. It also took control of a former soft-tissue robotics partnership with Verily, Googles life-sciences arm, that focuses on merging robotics and health information.

The emergence of new players could bring down prices for surgical devices and help break Intuitives monopoly in soft-tissue robotics, said Dr. Conrad Ballecer, a general surgeon at Dignity Health St. Josephs Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix.

Ballecer helps train surgeons outside the U.S. on how to use the da Vinci machine for hernia repairs, and hes found interest overseas, even if limited financial resources hinder how quickly international medical centers can add robots to their hospitals.

Competition will not only drive costs down but also make it more accessible to surgeons on a global basis, and thats ultimately not just a benefit to surgeons but also to patients, Ballecer said.

While heightened competition may help lower the cost of surgical machines, it wont reduce administrative complexity. For hospitals its tough to manage all the logistics of each of these systems, said Ryan Zimmerman, a former surgical director who now covers medical-technology stocks as an analyst for BTIG.

The ultimate winners, in his view, will be companies that can offer a complete universal system for everything from urology to orthopedics to the ears, nose and throat.

Another raging debate centers on whether robotic surgical machines can be compatible with the growing focus on value-based care in medicine, which says that health systems should deliver better quality care at a lower cost. Its a shift from the fee-for-service model that has dominated American medicine.

Whether the devices actually provide an improvement in patient outcomes is still a contentious topic in scientific literature, though doctors like Novants Craven are optimistic that future research will bear out the positive results theyre seeing anecdotally with their patients.

The second part of the equation is the cost side. Automation usually makes things cheaper, but thats not necessarily the case so far, at least in terms of direct costs, said Zachary Landry, the vice president of orthopedics and sports medicine at Novant Health. He cites the additional scans required for robotic procedures as one reason they could be costlier.

Looking at the broader array of medical costs shows a more complex picture. New research indicates that robotic surgery can lead to shorter hospital stays as a result of lower blood loss and less bodily trauma, factors that make the procedures more economically effective. One recent study found that patients also incurred lower out-of-pocket costs after robotic oncological procedures when compared with traditional laparoscopies.

After years of muted excitement over the robotic-surgery industry, the field looks due for a burst of enthusiasm as new players enter the space and technologists dream up ways to enhance the machines.

Emily Bary is a reporter at MarketWatch.

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These companies are investing billions so robots can perform surgery without a doctor in the room - MarketWatch

About 1 in every 160 children globally has autism spectrum disorder. In the US, the rate is nearly triple, likely due to diagnostic and reporting differences. The developmental disability is often characterized by social, emotional, and communication challenges. It is not something that can be cured, but early interventions, like speech and behavioral therapy, can improve a childs development.

But such human-based interventions can often be expensive or time intensive; many children on the spectrum are recommended to have 20 hours of therapy a week. Traditional one-size-fits-all technology interventions can also be difficult to design; symptoms and behavioral patterns vary widely among affected individuals.

Fortunately, the advancement of socially-assistive robots in recent years has opened up a promising new way for autistic patients to get more affordable and personalized care. In theory, in-home robots could help supplement human therapists by taking over the more repetitive training activities, and AI could help individualize the experience.

Sign up for The Algorithm artificial intelligence, demystified

Now a new study, published in Science Robotics today, has taken an important step in advancing the AI that powers these in-home companions. Maja J. Matari and her team at the University of Southern California created a machine-learning model that uses audio and video data, such as dialogue and eye contact, from autistic childrens interactions with the robot to predict whether they are engaged in a given training activity. If theyre not, the idea is the robot could then react and reengage them to hold their attention on therapeutic exercises for longer stretches of time. During testing, the model reached a 90% accuracy in predicting the childs engagement, despite noisy data and high variability among participants.

Importantly, the study was done using data collected from robots that lived with the children in their homes for a month-long period. Its part of a multi-year research initiative that has sought to examine the impact and advance the capabilities of these companions in a realistic environment. In contrast, most other studies to date have been limited to short time scales and controlled lab settings because of the intensive approval and design processes required to bring such technology in-home.

Participants in the study were asked to regularly play space-themed math games on their in-home companions attached touchscreen tablet. The robot then gave expressive feedback based on performance and the game personalized to the individual over time through a reinforcement-learning algorithm.

While the content of the game focused on math, the main purpose was to teach the kids fundamental social skills through their interactions with the robot, such as turn-taking (is it my turn or the robots turn to talk?) and eye contact (should I look at the robot when Im talking?). With every intervention, a behavioral therapist evaluated the childs social skills before and after, validating the approach for improving them.

Kids need to learn in a social setting, says Matari. But for kids with autism, they dont get enough practice with that. Thats why the robot is important. Many of the children learned to engage with the robot as a friend over time, and improved their empathy towards other peers. Many also folded the robot into their family social circles, and became more engaged with their siblings and parents as well, validating the premise that the robots can improve rather than replace existing relationships. These findings were released in an earlier paper.

The in-home environment proved more challenging than the researchers originally anticipated. Participants sometimes accidentally damaged the robot or moved the camera, causing the collected data to be inconsistent and noisy. Oftentimes, the siblings of the autistic children also wanted to play the games themselves, adding more complexity to the analysis. But the realistic environment also gave the researchers a more holistic understanding of how to design the robots to be more effective. They found, for instance, that all the children decreased their engagement with the robot over time, which ultimately motivated the latest Science Robotics study.

This helps substantiate the positive use of socially interactive robots for children with special needs, says Ayanna Howard, a professor at Georgia Tech who also studies the therapeutic effects of robots for autistic children.

Mataris team is also looking at the minimum amount of data required to train the robots machine-learning algorithms, in order to protect privacy. The hope is that such socially-assistive robots will become affordable, personalized therapeutic companions for autistic children, allowing them to receive more comprehensive care and improve their development.

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Robots that teach autistic kids social skills could help them develop - MIT Technology Review

The world is drastically shifting to a more tech-driven era. Thus, it is a great idea to have kids get ready for the foreseen tomorrow. You see, the future needs people who can think creatively, are entirely innovative, and more productive in their careers. Thus, the need to teach robotics to children.

It should not come as a surprise when the government declares robotics as part of the school curriculum. The only sure way to open a wonderful world that is more exciting to kids is simply by teaching robotics. It is about time to embrace what technology has to offer to the kids. And if you are still not so sure about taking online robotics courses at TekkieUni school can be helpful to kids, here are the various perks linked to its learning.

Studying robotics develops teamwork and collaboration in kids

How would you feel if your kids become more collaborative and team players? Well, that would be an excellent achievement. You know, this cannot just come to pass without a bit of effort. Thus, you should consider enrolling your kids for a robotics class.

The input of every child is highly recommended and respected in the study of robotics. This is because there are various disciplines that work together to achieve in building a robot. Thus, they are taught how to work together, listen to the opinions of others, and also have their input appreciated by other learners.

Gives powerful insights into Programming

You see, programming typically van be a challenging fete when kids are learning. However, if your kids take robotics first, then you can easily get more insights into it. Robotics is simple to comprehend. Indeed, programming is complex. However, it evens out when your kids begin with robotics.

Robotics helps inculcate problem-solving skills to kids

Life is typically full of challenges. And without skills on how to solve them creatively, one may get stuck or experience a lot of drawbacks. See, robotics is a great way to teach kids how to solve problems. Right from the start, once they have made the machine using the kits, they will want to know the next step.

The tutor will then show them how things work. They will know that putting together simple robots is easy. When they come across any issues, they will feel free to try again and again, using the skills taught to find out the solution. One of the most effective forms of pf studying is problem-based. It is a great tool that can help many learners understand how to solve problems in this dynamic time.

Wrap up

You have explored the various perks li8nked to the study of robotics. You see, it is not a must that you get admitted to a physical school. There are many online courses that your kids can enroll in to learn robotics. Yes, if you want your kids to get more creative, then you need to have them learn robotics. They will learn how to collaborate, solve problems, and will get powerful insights into programming.

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Here's why kids should learn robotics - Techweez

NEW YORK, Feb. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Toy Fair NY, Hall 1E, Booth # 4514-- Robosen Robotics (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd, a leading innovator in the field of AI and robotics, today showcased T9, the world's most advanced programmable robot that automatically converts from a robot to a vehicle in a stunningly smooth and seamless movement, at Toy Fair New York. T9 is the first robot available in the consumer market that features all of the following functions: automatic convertible movement from vehicle to robot, bipedal walking ability in robot form, race function in vehicle form, programmable/code development, robot control/commands by either voice or via app. T9 retails for $499USD and is available on Amazon and robosen.us

T9 is made with the latest robotic technology available with 23 proprietary chips and 22 proprietary servo motors (one for each artificial joint) that make it one of the most agile and flexible robots ever created; allowing it to perform high-speed, upright bipedal walking, while also automatically converting from robot to vehicle form.

Robosen Robotics' visionary craftsmanship and cutting-edge technology in artificial joint driving algorithms and digital electric drive technology, provide T9's artificial intelligence (AI) - Easy to remember voicecommands, complex animations completed with precision control, captivating dance performances and innovative stunts.

These animations are created and customized with three intuitive and easy-to-use programming platforms (Manual, Visual and 3D Graphics*) and T9's massive storage has enough memory to store tens of thousands of them. So, whether the user is a beginner, intermediate, or an advanced coder, T9's advanced robotics and AI will provide endless entertainment and opportunity to teach logical-based skills. Robosen Robotics also offers free online tutorials which makes learning to code fast and fun.

T9 is controlled by voice as well as via the T9 app (iOS and Android). With just a touch of a button, T9 can perform the latest customized dance animation, race around in vehicle mode, change back and forth from robot to vehicle form and more. Additionally, users can collaborate, create and connect with a global community of robo-centric fans through the Robosen Hub. They'll be able to upload and download popular user created animations, share programming tips and participate in fun events and competitions.

FEATURES/SPECS:DimensionsRobot Form: 265163340 mm;Vehicle Form: 287198149 mmControl MethodMobile app, voice controlWeight1.48kgExternal PortsDC charging port, Micro USB portMaterialAluminum alloy frame, ABS+PC shellBattery Capacity2000mAh lithium battery packServo motor22 (Chest 2 / Hands 42 / Legs 52 / Drive Wheels 2) Adapter Input 100V-240V ~ 50/60Hz 0.6A,OutputDC 12V 2AWirelessConnection Bluetooth 4.2 BLECertificationsFCC Certification

*A summary of each of three programming platforms:

Online Press Kit: HERE

About Robosen Robotics:Robosen Robotics (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd, is a leading innovator in the field of AI and robotics, leading the way in digital drive technology, artificial joint driving algorithms, force feedback technology, digital electric drive technology and artificial intelligence and programming. For more information, please visit https://robosen.us/

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Robosen Robotics Showcases T9 at Toy Fair New York - The World's Most Advanced and Programmable Robot - Salamanca Press

From driving rovers on Mars to improving farm automation, women have been everywhere. These women cover all parts of the robotics industry, both research, product and approach. They are authors and pioneers, they are investigators and activists. They are founders and emeritus. There is a role model here for everybody! Whats more, there is no reason ever not to have a lady talking on a board on robotics and AI.

Robotics is the method for the future, and women are driving the way for the absolute most accommodating innovations! For little girls, strong role models are vital! From Ada Lovelace, the worlds first computer programmer, to ladies engaged with robotics today, this rundown of female pioneers makes certain to motivate children to think about robotics as a future career.

While working at Otherlab, Danielle Applestone built up the Other Machine, a desktop CNC machine and machine control software appropriate for students, and financed by DARPA. The organization is currently known as Bantam Tools and was acquired by Bre Pettis. Right now, Applestone is CEO and CoFounder of Daughters of Rosie, determined to solve the labor shortage in the U.S. manufacturing industry by getting more women into stable manufacturing employments with purpose, growth potential, and benefits.

Crystal Chao is Chief Scientist at Huawei and the Global Lead of Robotics Projects, administering a group that works in Silicon Valley, Boston, Shenzhen, Beijing, and Tokyo. She has worked with all aspects of the robotics programming stack in her previous career, including a stint at X, Googles moonshot production line. In 2012, Chao won Outstanding Doctoral Consortium Paper Award, ICMI, for her PhD at Georgia Tech, where she built up an architecture for social human-robot interaction (HRI) called CADENCE: Control Architecture for the Dynamics of Natural Embodied Coordination and Engagement, empowering a robot to collaborate fluently with people utilizing dialogue and manipulation.

Squishy robots are quickly deployable mobile sensing robots for disaster rescue, remote monitoring and space exploration, created from the research at the BEST Lab or Berkeley Emergent Space Tensegrities Lab. Prof. Alice Agogino is the Roscoe and Elizabeth Hughes Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Product Design Concentration Founder and Head Advisor, MEng Program at the University of California, Berkeley, and has a long history of combining research, entrepreneurship and inclusion in engineering. Agogino won the AAAS Lifetime Mentor Award in 2012 and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring in 2018.

Emily Cross is a cognitive neuroscientist and artist. As the Director of the Social Brain in Action Laboratory (www.soba-lab.com), she investigates how our cerebrums and behaviors are formed by various types of experience all through our life expectancies and across societies. She is right now the Principal Investigator on the European Research Council Starting Grant entitled Social Robots, which runs from 2016-2021.

Dr. Susanne Bieller is General Secretary, of The International Federation of Robotics (IFR), a non-profit organization representing more than 50 makers of industrial robots and national robot associations from more than twenty nations. Prior to that, Dr Bieller was project manager of the European Robotics Association EUnited Robotics. In the wake of finishing her PhD in Chemistry, she started her expert profession at the European Commission in Brussels, at that point dealt with the flat-panel display group at the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) in Frankfurt.

If robots can act in the most profound pieces of the sea, for what reason wouldnt they be able to contribute at home? That question has driven Cynthia Breazeal to pioneer social robotics that communicate with people. She made the worlds first social robot, Kismet, and established Jibo, the worlds first family robot. She additionally directs the Personal Robots Group at MITs Media Lab.

Heather Justice has the dream job title of Mars Exploration Rover Driver and is a Software Engineer at NASA JPL. As a 16-year-old viewing the first Rover arriving on Mars, she stated: I saw exactly how far robotics could take us and I was enlivened to seek after my inclinations in computer science and engineering. Justice graduated from Harvey Mudd College with a B.S. in computer science in 2009 and an M.S. from the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in 2011, having additionally interned at three diverse NASA places and working in an assortment of research areas including computer vision, mobile robot path planning, and spacecraft flight rule validation.

Ayorkor Korsah experienced childhood in Ghana and studies in the United States picking up her Ph.D. in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University. Presently back in Ghana, she is a professor of computer science and robotics at Ashesi University. In 2012, she co-founded the African Robotics Network, a community that shares robotics resources.

Madeline Gannon is a multidisciplinary designer imagining better approaches to speak with machines. Her ongoing works taming giant industrial robots center around growing new boondocks in human-robot relations. Her interactive establishment, Mimus, was granted a 2017 Ars Electronica STARTS Prize Honorable Mention. She was likewise named a 2017/2018 World Economic Forum Cultural Leader. She holds a PhD in Computational Design from Carnegie Mellon University, where she studied human-focused interfaces for autonomous fabrication machines. She additionally holds a Masters in Architecture from Florida International University.

Kanako Harada is Program Manager of the ImPACT program Bionic Humanoids Propelling New Industrial Revolution of the Cabinet Office, Japan. She is additionally Associate Professor of the divisions of Bioengineering and Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering and the University of Tokyo, Japan. She acquired her M.Sc. in Engineering from the University of Tokyo in 2001, and her Ph.D. in Engineering from Waseda University in 2007. She worked for Hitachi Ltd., Japan Association for the Advancement of Medical Equipment, and Scuola Superiore SantAnna, Italy, before joining the University of Tokyo. Her research interests incorporate surgical robots and surgical skill assessment.

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Top 10 Women in Robotics Industry - Analytics Insight

Technology is often blamed for replacing humans in the job market, but when Shelley Fellows looks at a collaborative robot a cobot she sees the result of highly paid, highly skilled labour.

I see the mechanical designer who designed the tooling at the end of that robot arm, said Fellows, vice-president of communications at Windsor, Ont.-based AIS Technology Group, which specializes in automation technology.

I see the workers who fabricated that tooling. I see the electrical designer and the engineers who designed the electrical system and the circuitry. I see the programmers who programmed the controls. I see the vision system designer and the programmer for the vision system.

I see all of those highly skilled people; and without them, you wouldnt see that robot on the factory floor, said Fellows, who also chairs Automate Canada, an industry association devoted to growing Canadas automation sector.

While robotic technology kills certain jobs, automating the more monotonous tasks typically leads to more interesting, better paid positions, said Linamar Corp. CEO Linda Hasenfratz.

Between 2012 and 2019, the Guelph, Ont.-based parts supplier increased employment in Canada by almost 40 per cent, but the payroll was up 60 per cent. Most of the increase in employment occurred in jobs such as engineer and programmer, Hasenfratz said.

I think that is an interesting evolution, and it is a winwin all around, but that does have implications for our education and training system.

We have an increased need for people in engineering, technology, math, the trades.

We need to make sure we are graduating people with more skills.

The cobots also help ease a chronic labour shortage plaguing the parts industry, Hasenfratz said.

We have got huge shortages and need for people in all of these areas.

By automating tasks that are more repetitive, the industry can shift its workforce into the higher-value jobs, Hasenfratz said.

Fellows said an opportunity also exists to boost automation manufacturing in Canada. Currently, one-third of Canadian manufacturers source their automation outside the country.

We can be supplying our Canadian manufacturers with a lot more of our robotics, controls and other automation. To me, it would be a shame if our manufacturers automate but are sourcing most of their technology outside of our country.

William Melek, director of the University of Waterloos Ontario robotics research centre, RoboHub, said making this happen will require a collaborative ecosystem of industry, researchers, policymakers and advisers working together to address everything from workforce training to safety policies for working around cobots, as well as encouraging their development and evolution.

We cant be working in isolation, he said.

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New 'cobot' robots kill some jobs, create others - Automotive News Canada

Zymergen, a science and materials innovation company based in California, has integrated dozens of Meca500 robots to automate experiments in their life sciences facility. (See video below.)

The Meca500 is a miniature industrial robot manufactured by startup company Mecademic. It has found a great number of applications in labs and industries such as watchmaking and medical technology.

Some predict that Mecademic has huge potential with its robot, especially in wtachmaking and medtech, especially as there is currently no other robot like it.

At the moment, Stubli is the leading supplier of robots for the watchmaking and medtech industry, according to a report by Robotics and Automation News.

Zymergen says flexibility, reliability, speed, and ease of integration were a few reasons why the Meca500 maximized throughput and lowered costs for Zymergens lab automation processes.

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Zymergen installs 'dozens' of miniature industrial robots from Mecademic - Robotics and Automation News

What happens when a group of robotics industry veterans have kids? They have start a company specializing educational robots for kids, of course.

Matatalabis fast carving a path for itself in the world of children's STEAM education products and content. Matata's kid's programming robots uses image recognition technology to develop children's cognitive abilities and computational thinking through a variety of programming games. The robot focuses on physical programming, with no need for screen or literacy to learn to code.

Perhaps to the horror of some educators, who believe there's too much tech in education, but the delight of a growing customer base, the company's entry-level learning tech is targeted at kids as young as three. So far Matatalab has pursued an ambitious market strategy, bringing its products out in over 40 countries via a combination of traditional brick-and-mortar stores as well as Amazon.

There area numberof robotics companies vying for space in the lucrativeed techmarket. STEAM eduction is increasingly emphasized in budgets, and many schools now offer coding instruction as part of the standard curricula as early askindergarten. Analysts predict the educational robotics market will be worth$1.7 billionby 2023. In someChinese schools, students begin as early as preschool, which is where Matatalab is focusing.

The company was founded in 2017 by four Shenzhen-based robotics industry veterans who had all had kids who were entering pre-kindergarten. Studies show that brains begin to develop logic around 3 and 4 years old, so the team wanted to make a coding education product that catered specifically to this age group at an early stage of development. Their mission was to give kids around the world the greatest advantage for learning to code as they grow.

Like kid-aimed robots from companies likeCubetto,SAM Labs, andWonder Workshop, the result is an interesting blend of interactive technologies that purport to teach kids to code. The game-basedMatatalab Coding Set, meant for kids as young as four, contains coding blocks, a command board, maps, and challenge booklets. It's a screen-free experience, as well as a word-free experience, relying instead on graphical symbols that differentiate various coding blocks.

The company has won several awards, including the Reddot Design Awards and IDEA Awards. Whether it can eat market share from better known competitors like Wonder Workshop remains to be seen. Price is a perennial Achilles heel in this space, with parents hesitant to shell out on toys they aren't sure their kids will continue to use.

Matatalab's kits range from a $125 "lite" model to a nearly $300 "pro" model.

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What happens when robotics industry vets have kids? - ZDNet

As a new and powerful weapon against the spread of the coronavirus, Chinese hospitals are now deploying Danish disinfection robots from UVD Robots.

Self-driving Danish disinfection robots are now shipping to a number of hospitals in China to help fight the coronavirus, also called COVID-19.

This happened after Sunay Healthcare Supply today signed an agreement with the Danish company UVD Robots.

The first robots shipped this week and in the following weeks, many more robots will be shipped via air to be deployed in the fight against the coronavirus.

With ultraviolet light, the Danish robot can disinfect and kill viruses and bacteria autonomously, effectively limiting the spread of coronaviruses without exposing hospital staff to the risk of infection.

Through Sunay Healthcare Supplys partners in China, the robots will be deployed in all Chinese provinces.

With this agreement, more than 2,000 hospitals will now have the opportunity to ensure effective disinfection, protecting both their patients and staff, says Su Yan, CEO of Sunay Healthcare Supply, a medical equipment supplier to the Chinese market.

Now sold in more than 40 countries, UVD Robots is already delivering its self-driving disinfection robots to hospitals in other parts of Asia in addition to healthcare markets in Europe and the United States.

The invention increases the safety of both staff, patients and their relatives by reducing the risk of contact with bacteria, viruses and other harmful microorganisms.

The concentrated UV-C light emitted by the robots as they drive has a germicidal effect that removes virtually all airborne viruses and bacteria on the surfaces of a room. Results, that led to the UVD robot winning the robotics industrys Oscar IERA Award in 2019.

Technology found superior in the market

Before entering into the agreement with UVD Robots, Sunay Healthcare Supply did its due diligence and screened the market for the best technologies to fight the corona-virus.

We found the UVD robot to be superior compared to other technologies and are pleased to in a very short amount of time enter into a reseller agreement with exclusive rights to supply the UVD robots in China, says Su Yan, emphasizing how both parties have worked intensively to get deliveries of robots to the Chinese hospitals.

CEO of UVD Robots, Per Juul Nielsen, is pleased to be helping combat the spread of the virus in China through the companys solution. In a severe crisis like this where the world health is threatened, our innovative technology really proves its worth, he says.

Developed by large group of collaborators from hospital and robotics industriesUVD Robots is a portfolio company in Blue Ocean Robotics, which develops a wide range of service robots.

The development of the UVD robot started in 2014, when a group of Danish hospitals demanded a far more effective way of reducing infection rates in hospitals.

The fruitful collaboration between bacteriologists, virologists and hospital staff from hospitals, and robot developers, designers, engineers, investors and business people from Blue Ocean Robotics led to an early market introduction in 2018.

Claus Risager, CEO of Blue Ocean Robotics and chairman of UVD Robots, calls it a tremendous satisfaction for employees, management and the circle of owners to witness the deployment of the UVD Robot.

We are now helping solve one of the biggest problems of our time, preventing the spread of bacteria and viruses with a robot that saves lives in hospitals every day.

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China buys Danish robots to fight coronavirus - Robotics and Automation News

InThe Globotics Upheaval: Globalization, Robotics and the Future of Work,Richard Baldwin provides a new analysis of how automation and globalisation could together shape our societies in the years to come. Drawing on numerous examples to keep readers engaged from cover to cover,this book is a tour de force, writesWannaphong Durongkaveroj, discussing the past, present and future of globalisation and automation and their implications on the way we work.

The Globotics Upheaval: Globalization, Robotics and the Future of Work. Richard Baldwin. Oxford University Press. 2019.

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There is little wonder that the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has sparked ongoing debates about the future of work. In The Globotics Upheaval: Globalization, Robotics and the Future of Work, Richard Baldwin, the author of The Great Convergence, provides a meticulous and succinct analysis of how a dynamic duo of economic change automation and globalisation can shape our societies in the years to come.

Baldwin starts by defining the term globotics a combination of globalisation and robotics. These are not old wine in a new bottle. Globalisation is no longer simply a trade of goods and services across boundaries. It is telemigration a widespread, new form of work that allows workers to sit in one nation and work in offices in another. Simply put, forget about the crowded office workers can now deliver services remotely. In addition, a new phase of automation is not just about vast machines and industrial robots that replace blue-collar workers in factories. It concerns white-collar robots software that performs functions that previously only humans could. An example is Amelia an AI-based digital assistant introduced at the Swedish bank SEB. The first key implication of Baldwins argument is that this transformation has happened so quickly. It took just years, rather than a century, for this dynamic duo to emerge, spread throughout the economy and change our lives. Second, it creates upheaval throughout society.

To depict the massive changes brought about by globalisation and automation, Baldwin proposes a four-step progression: transformation; upheaval; backlash; and resolution. First, an advance in digital technology has transformed the nature of jobs. Thanks to collaborative platforms such as Business Skype, Slack and Trello, remote work is possible. This mostly affects jobs that do not require a physical presence: for instance, those in management, business and finance. Moreover, the preponderance of AI-trained robots also disrupts jobs that are automatable. Most of these jobs are in the service sector the sector in which most people work. Baldwin points out that these changes will not eliminate all jobs, but they will certainly lower the headcount in many service-sector occupations (183). At the same time, this is not a doomsday predicament as the duo also helps create some jobs, especially for workers with specific skills in which the human average scores higher than that of AI.

Baldwin asserts that this unprecedented change can lead to a so-called globotics upheaval. This happens when people are forced to find new jobs. Society could wind up in economic, social and political turmoil. Baldwin uses the ubiquity of the iPhone to explain how globotics invades our society. They are everywhere, and we could not imagine how to live without them. For remote workers residing in different countries, they may accept lower wages and may not receive other benefits such as insurance and health care. This creates a fierce competition borne by domestic labour markets. People may view this practice of using remote workers or telemigrants as unfair competition (200), triggering discontent.

Baldwin describes how the globotics upheaval could turn into a violent globotics backlash: a fight between millions of service-sector and professional workers and globots (212). Baldwin argues that a failure on the part of mainstream politicians to stop the disruption of communities, the loss of good jobs and the undermining of hope has already resulted, in part, in the twin convulsions of 2016 Donald Trump winning the US presidential election and the UK referendum on leaving the EU. Protest can be another example of how workers react when their livelihoods and communities are threatened.

Baldwin ends the book with resolution. While it is true that robots are good at many tasks, it is equally true that they are useless in some cases. It is difficult to automate some jobs (e.g. education and technical) and some cannot be carried out from far away (i.e. hotels and restaurants, transportation and construction). Baldwin argues that future jobs will rely heavily on skills that globots dont have (261). These will require face-to-face interactions that stress humanitys abilities over AI robots; such jobs will be newly created in the future. Overall, Baldwin is optimistic about the transformation. As guided by history, he believes that this will make for a better society.

This book is another tour de force from Baldwin. He discusses the past, present and future of globalisation and automation and their implications on the future of work. With the book offering numerous examples, it is easy for readers to stay with Baldwin from cover to cover.

I do agree with Baldwins argument that the globotics transformation can have a profound impact on the future of work. However, while the evidence has been observed in advanced economies, the book does not address the implications for the Global South in a detailed manner. This poses a big limitation in a book aimed at extending our understanding of the future of work. Developing countries have been relying on manufacturing for decades to absorb the flood of labour released from agriculture. The result has been swift poverty reduction unmatched in human history. As industrialisation has fundamentally transformed the West in the nineteenth century, East Asia in the twentieth century and now Africa, it is important to know how the duo of automation and globalisation can have implications for development paths in the Global South, given levels of economic development and human capital. Whether the vulnerable services sector can provide more and better jobs than manufacturing remains an unsolved issue.

Moreover, while job creation is always good, the economy also needs better jobs. Take vulnerable jobs those without formal working arrangements, lacking decent working conditions, adequate social security and labour rights. Telemigrants tend to be particularly prone to this vulnerability. Additionally, the focus on the effects of globalisation and automation should not be limited to the creation of new jobs or the loss of the same old. What matters is the quality of the job. As observed by Winnie Byanyima:

It is the quality of jobs that matter. When you talk about low levels of unemployment, you are counting the wrong things. You are not counting dignity of people. You are counting exploited people.

It would be beneficial if the book had shone some light on this vital issue.

In addition, more analysis of the mechanisms of how resultant upheaval could flare into violent protest could complement the chapter on backlash, one of the key parts of Baldwins four-step globotics transformation. It is true that rising populism is a reaction to current economic and political situations. Yet, the book does not acknowledge other possible ways that people express their dissent, such as through social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter. Furthermore, the book does not systemically picture how governments can cooperate and deal with the protesters. Not all demonstrations in the street will turn violent. Countries with different levels of democracy and regime repressiveness seem to handle national uprising differently. Think of the recent protests in Hong Kong and Chile.

Lastly, Baldwin argues throughout the book that the future of jobs depends on how quickly new jobs can be created. But another illuminating framework is how firms use their profits. As pointed out by Mariana Mazzucato, the future of work looks grim when new profit is not used to reinvest and expand business but rather to maximise shareholder value through financial instruments. This has happened as finance has come to occupy the core of capitalism the same period in which we have seen the rise of globotics. No doubt the changing practices of firms can complement Baldwins story.

As one of the world thinkers on globalisation, Baldwin offers more than simply a prediction of the future in this book. It belongs on the reading list of all of us who live in this ever-changing world.

Please read our comments policy before commenting.

Note: This article gives the views of theauthors, and not the position of USAPP American Politics and Policy, nor of the London School of Economics.

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Wannaphong Durongkaveroj Australian National UniversityWannaphong Durongkaveroj is a PhD candidate at the Arndt-Corden Department of Economics, Crawford School of Public Policy, College of Asia and Pacific at the Australian National University, Australia. His research focuses on poverty, inequality and trade.

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Book Review: The Globotics Upheaval: Globalization, Robotics and the Future of Work by Richard Baldwin - USAPP American Politics and Policy (blog)

Inspection Robotics In Oil & Gas Market (By Major Eminent Players, By Types, By Applications, and Leading Regions) Segments Outlook, Business Assessment, Competition Scenario, Trends and Forecast by Upcoming Years. The study of the Inspection Robotics In Oil & Gas report is done based on the noteworthy research methodology that provides the analytical inspection of the global market based on various segments the Industry is alienated into also the summary and Advance size of the marketplace owing to the various outlook possibilities. The report also gives information about the key players of the Inspection Robotics In Oil & Gas Industry by different features that include the Inspection Robotics In Oil & Gas overview of the companies, the portfolio of the product and also the revenue facts from Period of Forecast.

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Key Players:ABB Ltd.AeroVironment, Inc.Alstom Inspection RobotsCyberhawk Innovations Ltd.ECA GroupFlyability SAFMC Technologies Inc.Honeybee RoboticsHydrovision Ltd.IKM Subsea ASING Robotic AviationInternational Submarine Engineering (ISE) Ltd.Inuktun Services Ltd.MISTRAS Group Inc.OC RoboticsSeegridSky-FuturesVDOS

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Inspection Robotics In Oil & Gas: Market Share, Application Analysis, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies & Forecast up to 2025 - News...

With financial backing from their joint U.S. parent companyTeradyne, Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR)and Universal Robots (UR)have acquired a 50,000 m2 building site in Odense, where $36 million will be invested in the construction of a major cobot hub in the cobot capital of the world. Collaborative robots or cobots are now the fastest growing segment of industrial automation. Cobots are a type of user-friendly robots that can work closely with humans without the need for safety guarding, enhancing both work environment and productivity.

The new cobot hub supports Teradynes mission to further strengthen the significant leads that both MiR and UR have established worldwide.

MiR and UR are leading the world in the collaborative robot revolution thats making automation solutions available to companies of all sizes.Teradyne continues to invest aggressively in the development of new products, solutions, and sales channels and this new facility is a key part of our growth strategy, says Mark Jagiela, President and CEO of Teradyne. We have found something very special in Denmark. The Danes combination of innovative industrial design, combined with a practical business sense, have created a perfect combination for this emerging industry. The ability to make robots work in collaboration with humans in a user-friendly manner is something we have not encountered to this degree anywhere else in the world and were very excited to expand our capabilities in Odense.

This is not the first time the MiR and UR owner has provided cash support for robot development in Denmark. To-date, Teradyne has invested more than half a billion USD in the two young Danish robotic companies, both of which are growing rapidly.

The building site is in Odenses industrial district close to URs current headquarters, which will also become part of the new cobot hub. The two companies will continue as separate entities with the aim to create an attractive environment that will help attract new employees to facilitate the continued growth expected by the two companies in the coming years. Denmark has a significant lead in the global market for cobots. Investing ambitiously in building the worlds largest cobot hub right here in Odense makes a lot of sense, says Thomas Visti, CEO of Mobile Industrial Robots. Offering a strong, professional environment with superb facilities enables us to attract talent from all over the world. MiR has hired 100 new employees the past year, with UR adding 280 new staff members during the past two years. Today, the two companies have 160 and 450 employees respectively based in Denmark. UR employs almost 700 employees worldwide while MiRs staff counts a total of around 220 globally.

Jrgen von Hollen, President of Universal Robots, sees enormous potential in the cobot market. This is a market expected to grow to a total value of almost $12 billion in 2030,accordingto ABI Research. Demand for Danish cobots already means that we are growing out of our current offices in Odense, both at UR and MiR, says the UR President. Odense has a strong ecosystem of talent and we are pleased to have the opportunity to invest long-term in the unique robotics environment that we have been building here over the last 10 years.

The Danish robotics industry is currently booming; the 2019 annualsurveyfrom trade association Odense Robotics shows that 8,500 people now work for Danish robotics companies, 3,900 of them in and around Odense, Denmarks third largest city. If the industry follows the growth forecasts, the Danish robot industry will employ 25,000 employees in 2025,accordingto the Danish analysis firm Damvad.

And its not just the number of employees thats growing. Danish robotics companies total revenue rose by 18 percent in 2018, reaching $995 million with exports increasing 26 percent. These figures are particularly significant in that just 15 years ago Denmark did not have any robotics industry to speak of.

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Danish Robotics Companies Mobile Industrial Robots and Universal Robots Invest $36 Million in Robot Development and Production - Supply and Demand...

VANCOUVER -- Hundreds of high school students from across B.C. got up early on Saturday and made their way to Burnaby for a robotics competition at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

"We call this the last-chance qualifier," said Jason Brett, a BCIT instructor and one of the organizers of the competition. "The kids here today have been playing this game since September. Regional championships are coming up next weekend and you've got to qualify to get in. This is their last chance to do it."

The game involves stacking 14-centimetre cubes using semi-autonomous robots constructed and programmed without any specific instructions for how to do so.

"We get buckets and buckets of steel and aluminum and then we have to build it ourselves," said Declan Lawlor, whose team was one of 100 competing in Saturday's event.

Lawlor said this is his second year participating in a VEX Robotics competition. Last year, his team built and rebuilt its robot 17 times. He said the team's best finish in a competition was 10th place.

The winners of the regional competition will qualify for the worldwide competition, which happens in Louisville, Ky., in April.

Jacob Walter is a BCIT student and a previous winner of the regional competition. He spent his Saturday volunteering as a judge for this year's competitors.

Walter said the world competition could be described as the Super Bowl of high school robotics, complete with a packed stadium full of cheering fans. But, despite the more intense atmosphere, the game itself remains the same.

"It's like the competitions here, just a lot more teams," Walter said.

Brett said B.C. has sent a number of teams to the world competition over the years.

"British Columbia has one of the most competitive VEX Robotics competitions in the world," he said. "Our kids are just really, really good."

The competition isn't just about winning, however. Brett said the program fosters educational goals as well, largely by getting students excited about their work.

He said he remembers kids lining up outside his door when he was a high school teacher because they wanted to get into the classroom as soon as possible and continue working on their robots.

"They learn so much more when they can just go out there and drive themselves to do it," Brett said. "Passion is an amazing thing."

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High school robotics teams converge on BCIT for 'last-chance' competition - CTV News