What happened

Shares of Mazer Robotics(NASDAQ:MZOR), an Israeli-based robotic-surgery company focused on diseases of the spine and brain, fell by 11% in afternoon trading on Thursday.

Mazor released anSEC filing today stating that the Israeli Securities Authority (ISA) conducted a search at the company's office. The ISA is also questioning "certain officers" in connection with aninvestigation being run by the agency.

Mazor's response to this news was brief: "Mazor has not been informed as to the subject matter of the investigation, nor has it been charged with any wrongdoing. Mazor is cooperating fully with the ISA."

As expected, a numberof law firms have already announced their intention to conduct investigations on behalf of shareholders to see ifMazor has misled the public.Given the unexpected news, it's easy to understand why traders are selling off shares today.

Image Source: Getty Images.

Without any additional information, it's hard to know what to make of today's news. It's possible that we could learn a great deal more about this situation tomorrowas CEO Ori Hadomi is scheduled to give a presentation at theJefferies 2017 Global Healthcare Conference at 8:00 a.m. EDT. While the conference is invitation only, a webcast is going to be published on the company's website.

While this news is certainly unsettling, I'm personally still abeliever in Mazor's products and long-term potential. For that reason, I'm content to sit tight until more news surfaces.

Brian Feroldi owns shares of Mazor Robotics. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Why Mazor Robotics Is Tanking Today - Motley Fool

CareersTech Posted By Terri Williams on June 8, 2017 at 7:05 am

U.S. companies believe that an increase in artificial intelligence and robotics is good for business, according to a new Randstad Sourceright Talent Trends survey. Responses from C-suite and human capital leaders reveal the following:

While companies have been criticized for increasing their use of automation, its actually a good business decision for companies that want to remain competitive. Jim Guerrera is the managing director of SC Novi, an affiliate of MRINetwork, a search consulting firm specializing in recruiting for the automotive, industrial and automation sectors. An increase in AI and robotics will definitely increase productivity and corporate profits, especially in the manufacturing sector, Guerrera tells GoodCall. Companies that do not go all in on automation will be phased out over time, as the automated factories will far out produce those that are not automated.

Making the move to automation isnt cheap, but its well worth the return on investment. Even though it is an expensive capital cost, the way these machines are built today, they will be able to last for several years, off-setting the large upfront capital outlays, Guerrera explains.

However, he says, The work cannot be done with robots alone American manufacturers need skilled and technical workers to operate these facilities.

So, why do Americans in general, and American workers in particular, believe that AI and robotics will take their jobs instead of increase hiring? Hary Bottka, global concepts leader at Randstad Sourceright, tells GoodCall, There has been a lot of focus in the media on the loss of jobs in the U.S., in particular, that certain jobs are moving overseas and are not being replaced.

And since this was a key issue in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, Bottka believes it is still fresh in the minds of the American public.

AI and robotics are a natural next threat, as technology will displace certain job profiles in the coming years. But, Bottka says the survey reveals that these advances in technology will actually create jobs while also changing the skills required by many organizations.

Chris Nicholson is the CEO of Skymind, the company behind Deeplearning4j, a deep learning tool for Java that is used for everything from fraud/anomaly detection to image recognition to predictive analytics.

Nicholson tells GoodCall that many workers may be displaced. Displacement is a good term to explain whats happening, because it implies moving from one job to another. But he admits, Who gains and who loses? Its not always the same people. Bottka agrees that technology will not completely phase out jobs. In reality, technology is producing more of a shift in jobs requiring new skills, as compared to a complete loss of job opportunities for workers.

However, it would be nave to think that companies are not considering employee-related costs when deciding to increase their use of AI and robotics. The rise of health care costs in the U.S. only adds to the desire for plants to get automated, because less overall workers means less overall healthcare expenses, Guerrera explains. And there are other productivity benefits such as the ease and ability of the robots to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year in addition to manufacturing locally, so U.S. manufacturers will be able to greatly reduce their supply chain costs.

As a result, some fears of American workers may be justified. Especially workers who lack the skills to move into other areas.

You cant automate everything, and when companies want to sell their products, they will hire more administrative and sales people, so other roles are growing, Nicholson says. We need to try to get some of the displaced workers into these roles.

He also advises workers to be open to moving to another city or state. A lot of people feel trapped in a local job market, but there are places where the local economy is really healthy and robust but again, this may entail moving to another part of the country.

In fact, Bottka reveals that one of the primary concerns of C-suite and HR leaders is the inability to find the talent they need for some of the new roles created by AI and robotics.

Thats because some of the new roles will require more advanced training. Randstad provides Recruitment Process Outsourcing services to some of its clients, and Bottka says theres definitely been a shift in the types of jobs clients need. Roles such as application developers, service technicians, and hardware or software specialists are now in demand in organizations that traditionally have hired labor to fulfill more manual roles, Bottka explains.

It may be comforting to know that robots are incapable of replacing all U.S. jobs. American manufacturers need skilled and technical workers to operate these facilities, Guerrera says.

But he warns that it wont look anything like the manufacturing work force from the 1970s through the early 2000s. Instead of a plant filled with general manual labor workers and only some skilled workers, the plants will be filled with mostly skilled technical workers, albeit a far lower number of overall employees.

Guerrera describes some of the most in-demand positions:

In addition, Guerrera says that since machines do occasionally break down, workers with general maintenance skills are also needed. Skilled field service personnel and maintenance engineers will be paramount to a top performing automated manufacturing facility because these individuals will perform the important tasks of keeping the machines running.

But manufacturing is just one of the industries looking to increase automation. Bottka and Nicholson warn that employees in other areas should also step up their game. Workers and potential workers must be aware of the skills gaps in the market and tailor their interests, studies and training to prepare themselves to be in a position to fill the these gaps, Bottka says. Specific skills are in limited supply, so there is a need for the existing workforce, as well as incoming workers, to choose an education and training curriculum that prepares them for these jobs.

Nicholson agrees that learning new skills is crucial. A lot of skills are hard to automate, like people skills, where youre dealing with people and helping them. He mentions nurses, therapists, counselors, teachers, and managers as jobs that are difficult to automate. Robots cant provide healthcare; jobs that are people-centric and where you need to need to establish a relationship are pretty safe bets.

Terri Williams Terri Williams graduated with a B.A. in English from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her education, career, and business articles have been featured on Yahoo! Education, U.S. News & World Report, The Houston Chronicle, and in the print edition of USA Today Special Edition. Terri is also a contributing author to "A Practical Guide to Digital Journalism Ethics," a book published by the Center for Digital Ethics and Policy at Loyola University Chicago.

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AI and Robotics Lead to US Business Growth; Skilled Talent Needed - GoodCall News (blog)

Updated June 09, 2017 10:47:01

A school in the south-east of Perth is working to boost the future workforce in key areas of science and technology by engaging students through robotics.

Science, technology, engineering and maths known as STEM subjects are said to teach people the skills and knowledge needed for 75 per cent of the fastest growing occupations.

Yet despite children being more engaged with technology than ever before, recent studies have shown the number of Australian students in the STEM area is decreasing.

The Robotics Club at Southern River College in Gosnells, about 20 kilometres from Perth, has been running since 2012 and is already having positive results.

"Many of the students have gone on to pursue similar interests in further study," Southern River's deputy principal Mike Erith said.

"And it's not just the technology skills.

"There's all those other higher order skills: the collaboration, leadership, problem solving and team work."

The group meets once a week for two hours after school over two semesters.

Students are given specific missions, which they have to complete through building and programming their robots.

The previous group of students came fifth in a robotics competition at Macquarie University in March which Mr Erith said was a wonderful achievement.

"That group loved the program so much they've even come to me and told me they wanted to start their own club," he said.

"It shows when you open their minds and get that aspect of inquisitiveness in their learning combined with joyful learning they'll want to make it their own. It's a win, win."

The program at Southern River is facilitated through The Smith Family, an education-based charity for children.

WA general manager Ian Moore said people of all backgrounds and gender should be given the opportunity to enter what is fast becoming the job market of the future.

"If we look at students in lower socio-economic backgrounds compared to those in higher socio-economic backgrounds there is a schooling gap in terms of performance in maths and science-related subjects when we get to Year 9 of about three years," he said.

"So some students can be three years behind."

He said the way the program worked was by first grabbing the students' imagination while also delivering a number of skills needed for further study and work in the field.

Mr Moore said there needed to be more access to STEM subjects for everyone especially considering the current fear of a shortage of key science and technology workers down the track.

"Essentially what we've got is a huge cohort of kids and young people that aren't being given the opportunity to take up careers in science and technology," he said.

"And there is absolutely no reason not to include girls in that."

Year 8 student Alexis Gidman is one of three girls in the group at Southern River College.

She said she had always had an interest in the area so signed up right away.

"I want to build limbs for people that have missing ones," she said

"So they can do everything they need to for everyday life."

Dylan Pudwell wants to be a forensic scientist, and said he found the club had helped him in other areas.

"It's helped me with my maths, given me practice with the maths skills," he said.

"And really helped with how I solve problems."

Topics: education, science, robots-and-artificial-intelligence, gosnells-6110, wa, perth-6000

First posted June 09, 2017 07:47:07

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WA robotics students are tech wizards of the future - ABC Online

There is plenty of enthusiasm in Westlake High Schools award-winning robotics program, and it has come a long way since being formed 10 years ago. This year, it inaugurated a new home with substantially more space in the old bus barn, but there never seems to be enough room to accommodate the growing interest.

Six different classes are offered and students who cant fit robotics into their schedule during the day, can participate in a team after school.

Students are passionate about this program where science meets fun, and Coach Norman Morgan says that along the way, the top five skills his students learn are: communication, problem-solving, time-management, failure and success.

First Tech Challenge Teams are filled with Freshman and Sophomores, and Juniors and Seniors work on the varsity team which participates in the First Robotics Challenge. Morgan said. The last two years, weve had over 70 students on our varsity team and over 65 on the junior varsity teams.

One of his goals has been to recruit more girls to the program, and theyve increased the number of girls substantially. The team made a concentrated effort to recruit at the seventh-grade level to convince enough girls to sign-up. One of them was Rosemarie Pousset, 17, who will be a senior.

A few girls and I came together and founded the all-girls First Tech Challenge team at Westlake, called the Psionics, Pousset said. Im so proud of the legacy we have here because Ive been mentoring the younger girls. Seeing the girls get hands-on after being afraid to makes me so happy.

Pousset is on the leadership team, which does fundraising pitches. Morgan says they go out and find corporate sponsorships.

Financing the team is always a problem because it is a real expensive, Morgan said. We developed a pitch-deck, and she (Pousset) and a few others trained with a start-up guy. Now they have experience pitching to these multi-national corporations.

Shrey Majmudar, 17, who will also be a senior, is a member of the outreach team who goes to Science days at the elementary schools. He encourages STEM and robotics participation in the middle schools, and informs the public about the teams successes and needs. Voluntary service is a big component of the program.

This summer, were hosting 23 camps through EISD, Majmudar said. We have our teams student volunteers at each of these camps, teaching kids from third to ninth grade about everything from programming their own apps, to 3D printing, to classic LEGO robots.

Every year, First Robotics Competition gives out the Deans List award, its highest honor, to the student whose passion and effectiveness is exemplary in leading their teams. Majmudar was one of four students to win in the 10-year history of the Westlake robotics program.

Morgan also won the Woody Flowers Award, which is the highest honor any team mentor can receive. He was also honored by the Eanes school district with its Teacher of the Year title in 2014.

The First Robotics Competition held every year, brings an intense challenge with a six-week time limit to build and program a large robot capable of playing a field game against competitors. Teams have limited resources and must raise funds and use their wits and imagination to best their opponents. For the past five years in a row, the Westlake team received the Chairmans Award at the regional level of this competition because it best represents a model for other teams to emulate

This years team also got to the subdivision finals of the World Championship competition with their robot-the furthest the team has ever gotten.

Some team members have also traveled the globe to mentor teams in other countries. Alumni of the program are rewarded by acceptance into prestigious colleges and are employed by pioneering technology companies.

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Westlake Robotics exceeds tech challenges - Austin American-Statesman

(HEATH, TX June 7, 2017) The Rockwall-Heath High School Black Hawk Robotics team celebrated its state championship-winning season with an awards ceremony recognizing its standout team members on Monday, June 5.

The following students were honored with awards during the celebratory event, held in the cafeteria at Rockwall-Heath High School:

Darius Day Team Spirit Brandon Diaz Humor Under Fire Garrett Short Gracious Professionalism Geovanni Copioli Rookie All Star Katie Layton Outstanding Veteran Madison Drake Outstanding Leadership Kamrey Mantz Team MVP (non robot) Ben Selle Build Team (Robot) MVP

Each of the teams six volunteer mentors also received honorary plaques during the event.

Black Hawk Robotics Coach Leslie Reese said the students put in well over 400 hours after school throughout the season, including Saturdays and some Sundays a testament to their work ethic and dedication.

Reese said the team started the season with one goal in mind qualifying for the Einstein Round Robin of the FIRST Robotics Competition. Not only did they qualify, the team came away victorious at Einstein and eventually went on to win the Texas UIL Robotics State Championship, capping off their most successful season yet.

The students biggest strength was being able to work together as a team, with the drivers telling the pit crew whats wrong with the robot so they can fix it really fast, the scouts being able to pick the right robots that were going to pair with, that type of thing. Since they get along so well, they communicated very well. Its all communication, and it all has to come together to have a successful season like this, Reese said.

Ive seen us grow as a team a lot, said Rockwall-Heath Junior and Team Media Captain Kamrey Mantz. We were kind of shaky at first, but we have our own little groups that we work with so its pretty productive. Its a good system we make sure everyones involved all the time.

Pit Crew Captain Ben Selle said the robot performed at a high level in competition despite going through a number of changes throughout the season.

If you saw the robot at the start of the season, it looks nothing like it does now. Definitely a lot of iteration, we completely changed everything on there. But the robot performed phenomenally. Towards the end of the season it was running just like we wanted it to run, Selle said.

By Austin Wells, Blue Ribbon News. Photos courtesy of Black Hawk Robotics.

Our monthly print edition is delivered free to 19,000+ homes in Rockwall and Heath, TX.

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Black Hawk Robotics celebrates successful season with awards ceremony - Blue Ribbon News

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KLIX) A Lego robot moved to block a goal, sending the ball off the table. A student picked it up and placed it near his teams robot for another shot. His opponents robot once more blocked the ball.

Nobody became angry that goals were missed; the activity was all about having fun.

This was table soccer at the University of Idaho Extension Office on Wednesday morning in Twin Falls. It was the third day of the robotics camp for students. In a room downstairs of the County West building, another team of students prepared their bots to play another form of soccer using plastic donuts.

The students had already participated in several different activities earlier this week, said Extension Educator Suzann Dolecheck, and a few more were planned for Thursday and Friday, including a STEM event focused on literacy.

Braden Mealer, 8, said he enjoyed participating in the table soccer tournament in which his teams robot played the goalkeeper. His favorite activity, however, was making a robotic alligator.

The camp seemed to offer something that attracted each student differently. Eight-year-old Jose Carpenter said she enjoyed the soccer game, while Connor Howard said he liked building an airplane.

Students worked in teams instead of alone. The soccer-playing bots were hooked up to laptops into which the students programmed their movements.

The STEM program science, technology, engineering and math aims to help youthbecome more engaged with tools that will help them be more rounded in an ever-advancing technological world. But the robotics camps also increase students knowledge in language, literacy and social studies.

It shows them a little more of how STEM is applicable, said Alyssa Keyes. The cars we drive are robots, drones are robots.

Later in life, as students become of age to choose a career, they might want to consider something in the scientific or technological field. The camps give them a taste of STEM-related activities and gets them thinking toward a career in technology.

If nothing else, it allows them to have fun with their peers.

This is Keyess second year working as an intern for the university. She said technology has come a long way in just the past few years, as she doesnt remember doing much of what these students were doing on Wednesday.

Classes this week include the WeDo Robotics camp for students in grades K-3, an EV3 and advanced EV3 camp for students in grades 3-6, and a Take to the Skies event for youth in grades 4-9. Dolecheck said another robotics event will be held in July.

Dayton Legg, 11, said he enjoys robotics week because its chance to socialize and work closely with his peers. You dont usually work alone, he said, but instead you are part of a team. He also likes robotics events because they are much broader based than the science camps hes attended.

You get to use more than just science, he said.

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Students Have Fun, Broaden Skills at Robotics Camp - News Radio 1310 KLIX

When it comes to the future of artificial intelligence "only a joint approach will make us strong" says Audi CEO Rupert Stadler, and this involves rewriting the Three Laws of Robotics.

Speaking to journalists ahead of the UN's AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, Stadler said it's inevitable that artificial intelligence will become integrated into every aspect of our daily lives, but for it to be accepted the public must first trust it.

Audi has already demonstrated its Audi Q7 driverless technology, created with Nvidia, and Stadler plans to demo its all new 'level three' piloted driving with the new Audi A8 this summer. The goal is level five, where no driver is needed. In terms of technological advancement, Stadler believes we are not that far off and predicts prototypes will be demoed from 2020 onwards if public trust is achieved.

Over the past two years, Audi has brought experts in philosophy, psychology, law, and computer science from MIT Media Lab, Oxford University, Singularity University, along with entrepreneurs, together to join its Beyond Initiative. The initiative's aim is to help develop a framework, debate ethical dilemmas that driverless cars necessitate and "make sure AI will share our values when making decisions". One of the most pressing of these problems, Stadler points out, is that we expect technology to always do the 'right' thing, even when it would be virtually impossible for a human to achieve that.

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Talking about theoretical dilemmas, such as an autonomous vehicle being faced with the choice of harming an elderly person, a pregnant woman, or the passenger in the car, he said: "In such a situation, human beings like you and me have no time for thoughtful decisions. We simply react. Interestingly, we expect the autonomous car to make the right decision, and, quite understandably, people are emotionally touched when thinking of such a scenario. From a rational perspective, such a situation is very unlikely to happen. Of course we as car manufacturers do everything we can to avoid such a situation. Our cars are equipped with many many sensors to detect dangerous situations and to fully brake autonomously if necessary.

"As soon as a car will make decisions by itself in a certain traffic scenario, such a situation can theoretically happen. How should the autonomous car decide when it is not fully clear what will happen in the direction it steers into? Is it ethically sound to choose for the unknown? As a society, we will have to find ways how to deal with these topics. We need an open discourse, in which the massive chances of automated and autonomous driving are considered in relation to the ethical challenges."

To meet these challenges, Stadler suggests we rewrite sci-fi author Isaac Asimov's infamous Three Laws of Robotics. These dictate that AI cannot harm a human, must obey humans unless it means causing harm, and must protect itself as long as that does not involve contradicting the other two laws. Instead, Stadler believes these laws should be: "Number one: we will always handle artificial intelligence based on our human intelligence. Number two: robots and human beings should not harm each other or allow harm by doing nothing. And number three: they should support each other according to their specific capabilities."

Part of Audi's sell for its own future line of driverless cars is providing people with the '25th hour' giving them time they did not have before. Any driverless car should be able to do that. but he suggests that as the technology becomes commonplace, it will more likely see multiple people travelling together in cars for efficiency's sake. Audi will still differentiate itself as the luxury option.

"Maybe you want to take your car alone or do some business. It will be a premium user experience. Maybe it will have an excellent Bang and Olufsen sound system. You could take an hour for relaxation. We are able to hand back to our drivers the 25th hour. Time will be the most precious gift in the future."

Continuing about the future of driving, Stadler said: "The future car I dream of will be a chauffeur who drives me safely wherever I want to go to, a secretary who reminds me what I need to do where and when a butler who gets my groceries, a post box on wheels where couriers can deliver parcels, a private medical staff that keeps an eye on my vital functions and maybe it even becomes an empathetic companion throughout my day. Or in brief: a personal avatar.

"This companion can detect my mood and change the lighting and music and conversation to cheer me up! In a nutshell: AI will allow us to make our lives easier by collecting and interpreting huge amounts of data and by predicting situations of the future. You will be able to play with your children in the car, while the car pays attention to other children playing on the street."

The topic of the summit is AI for good, and, of course, there is plenty of good to be achieved through driverless vehicles beyond the time to relax. Stadler points out that 90 per cent of accidents are caused by human failure, which AI stands to dramatically reduce.

"AI will fundamentally change your mobility, and it's up to all of us to make sure AI is used for the benefit of society. We must set a mechanism for labour markets [to create the] perfect match of man and machine." That relationship between humans and machines needs to be fostered not just in the consumer markets when robot taxis hit the streets and put drivers out of a job, but in Audi's own factories, Stadler said.

"We should not just see the threat, but the opportunities. How the human-machine interface works in a smart factory is always to the benefit of the employee. There's lots of heavy stuff that has to be moved from a to b so why shouldn't technology safeguard employees. And enrichment of jobs will change - there will be different jobs available."

Software engineers and data analysts will be in high demand, and Stadler suggests a basic income could be "the right answer". Humans will still always be better at certain things than machines, such as creativity and empathy, for example.

Yet Audi is definitely not ready to welcome an AI onto its board, as a VC management firm in Hong Kong has already done. "We have the responsibility for 88,000 humans. Sometimes it is good not to be rational alone."

"We have to make sure technology serves society - and not the other way round. Then machines will follow the pace of people again. We want to use AI to secure jobs and to raise the standard of living. At Audi we know: robots wont buy our cars! We have to make sure that our economic system stays in balance. We need a good employment and wealth for our whole economy."

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The Three Laws of Robotics need to be overhauled if AI is to power our homes, cars and lives - Wired.co.uk

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) - A robotics camp at the College of Southern Idaho is teaching children to program Lego robots.

High school students who compete in robotics taught kids 6 to 8 years old.

They said the kids may have struggled at the beginning, but it was fun watching them figure it out.

"It's just fun to see how their though process is and how they go about finding the solution to their problem," said Blake Miller, one of the instructors.

This camp is a two-day course where the kids learn to operate Milo the robot.

He has a sensor that interacts with a flower the kids built. He can move, make sounds and light up different colors.

The instructors said the kids, as young as 6, were learning STEM skills that will help them in their futures.

The group is also offering camps for older children and uses the fees to help pay for travel to their robotics competitions.

For more information on the camps you can visit CSI's website linked below in the right-hand column.

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Robotics camp teaches children to enjoy S.T.E.M. - KMVT - KMVT

The first-ever South Carolina Independent School Association (SCISA) Robotics Competition took place May 13 at Pinewood Preparatory School.

Ten Lower and Middle School teams from across the state competed in the inaugural event. The idea for a private school competition was introduced by Pinewoods Idea Lab (design thinking and engineering) faculty members in conjunction with SCISA, and was planned by a committee of parent volunteers, faculty, and staff.

Teams were judged on their robotics skills in three different stages: a "Meet the Team" interview room in which members explained their role on the team and why they joined robotics, a "Robot Design and Programming" room where members detailed the programming process and design engineering steps needed to create a robot, and a table competition to showcase the tasks their robot can perform, based on the theme of "Mars Robotics."

The judging panel was comprised of volunteers from local cybersecurity, aeronautics, and other technology-based businesses and organizations.

Pinewoods two Lower School teams (Roar-Bots 4 and 5) competed, as did one Middle School team. High School Robotics Coach Jim Brice demonstrated the robot created by Pinewoods High School Robotics program.

Spartanburg Christian Academy received the overall Champion Award for the competition.

All three participating teams from Pinewood received divisional awards. Roar-Bots 4 placed third in Robot Table Games and Meet Our Team, and second in Robot Design and Programming. Roar-Bots 5 placed third in Robot Design and Programming, second in Meet Our Team, and first in Robot Table Games. The Middle School Panthers placed second in Robot Table Games and first in Robot Design and Programming.

The committee behind the 2017 competition hopes to see the event continue and expand in years to come.

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Pinewood hosts inaugural SCISA Robotics Competition - Journalscene.com

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An adversarial approach to training robots could make them more quickly adapt to new tasks and environments.

Whether it was your favorite toy or the last portion of mashed potatoes, anyone who grew up with a sibling knows that you learn to forcefully stake your claim to whats rightfully yours.

It turns out that a similar idea can be applied to robots.

In a new piece of research presented at the recent 2017 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) engineers from Google and Carnegie Mellon University demonstrated that robots learn to grasp objects more robustly if another robot can be made to try and snatch it away from them while theyre doing so.

When one robot is given the task of picking up an object, the researchers made its evil twin (not that they used those words exactly) attemptto grab it from them. If the object isnt properly held, the rival robot would be successful in its snatch-and-grab effort. Over time, the first robot learns to more securely hold onto its object and with a vastly accelerated learning time, compared to working this out on its own.

Robustness is a challenging problem for robotics, Lerrel Pinto, a PhD student at Carnegie Mellons Robotics Institute told Digital Trends. You ideally want a robot to be able to transfer what it has learnt to environments that it hasnt seen before, or even be stable to risks in the environment. Our adversarial formulation allows the robot to learn to adapt to adversaries, and this could allow the robot to work in new environments.

The work uses deep learning technology, as well as insights from game theory: the mathematical study of conflict and cooperation, in which one partys gain can mean the other partys loss. In this case, a successful grab from the rival robot is recorded as a failure for the robot it grabbed the objectfrom which triggersa learning experience for the loser. Over time, therobots tussles make each of them smarter.

That sounds like progress just as long as the robots dont eventually form a truce and target us with their adversarial AI, we guess!

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These robots get better at grabbing objects by playing poorly together - Digital Trends

MANSFIELD -- For the second time in three years, FIRST Robotics Competition Team 5413, Stellar Robotics, has brought home the state championship.

This year, that championship covered three states: Ohio, West Virginia, and western/central Pennsylvania.

Stellar ranked first in qualifying rounds and thus earned the right to first pick in order to build a winning alliance for the playoff rounds. They selected FRC Team 48, Delphi Elite, out of Warren, Ohio, and FRC Team 1317, Digital Fusion, out of Columbus.

"We had an all-Ohio alliance, which was kind of fun," said Team Mentor Chantal DeYoe. "But the best part was that all three robots were essential to the alliance and our win. We worked really well together."

FIRST promotes such skills as teamwork by designing games which require these alliances to work together to complete the tasks of the game. Student team members must communicate, cooperate, and negotiate with their alliance partners to implement match-winning strategies.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a worldwide program which has been offering hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) opportunities to students for more than 25 years. Students can develop such skills as public speaking, writing, and business administration. They can work on website development, computer animation, videography, and statistics.

Stellar Robotics is a community-based, nonprofit organization within FIRST, offering these hands-on learning opportunities to students in Richland County from kindergarten through twelfth grade. The best part of team membership is that no experience is required. Quite the opposite--team membership is an opportunity to learn skills that students may not have a chance to learn elsewhere.

Through the generous support of North Central State College, Stellar Robotics operates out of the Kehoe Center in Shelby. They receive financial support for their program from a variety of community sponsors, including ArcelorMittal, The Regional Manufacturing Coalition, SJE-Rhombus, Phillips Mfg and Tower Co, TASCO, and others. The program has grown exponentially over its three years of existence and welcomes additional team members, mentors, and sponsors.

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Stellar Robotics team wins multi-state championship - Richland Source

LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. - A group of local high school students has an exciting trip planned this summer.

Team Titanium, a FIRST Robotics team with Lee's Summit West High School, was chosen as one of only 15 international teams to travel to China for a robotics competition. The China Urban Youth Robotics Alliance, or CUYRA, invited the team to this year's 4th China Robotics Challenge held in Zhengzhou.

The competition will be held July 26 through 29. CUYRA is contributing $15,000 towards Team Titanium's trip, but they still need to raise $10,000 more.

Team Titanium FRC 1989 took 2nd place in this year's FIRST Robotics World Championship Competition.

"They were just three points shy of being that World Champion," said coach Aaron Bailey. "We started the team back in 2007 and it has been getting better every year."

The competition looks like a life-sized board game with robots as the pawns.

"We have six weeks to build the robots to solve a problem that we are presented with at the beginning of January," said teammate Daniel Schnelle, a recent graduate looking to study mechanical engineering. "At the end of the six weeks we have to put the robot into a sealed bag and we cannot touch or work on our robot until we get to our competition."

Robots for this year's competition had to collect gears and move them to a central location, shoot balls into a tube and climb a rope before the round ended. Each of these tasks gains the team points.

"There's 3,000 teams," said Schnelle. "I don't know of any time where there's been two identical robots. We build with sheet metal, so ours is never like anybody else's."

"We love watching these kids work hand to hand with professionals to build, to fold metal, to wire robots, to learn these deep technical skills, but also know what it means to work really, really hard," said Bailey. "We want our kids to know there are great job opportunities right here, you don't have to leave our community. We want to make Lee's Summit a great place to live."

According to its mission statement, FIRST Robotics works to "inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting Mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation."

Many students who participate end up following the career path to technology and/or science jobs.

"A lot of our team is planning on going into multiple varieties of engineering. We have electrical, mechanical, civil, engineering management," said Schnelle.

To learn more about FIRST click here:https://www.firstinspires.org/

If you would like to help Team Titanium on their voyage to China there are two ways to do so:

GoFundMe:www.gofundme.com/titaniumtochina

Mail: Payable to "LSWHSRobotics", and sent toLSWHSRobotics, c/o NancySpatz,2600 SW Ward Rd., Lee's Summit, MO 64081

Read the original:

Lee's Summit robotics team heads to China - KSHB

It feels like robotics kits are everywhere these days, as companies compete to figure out the best way to turn basic robotics, electronics, and coding concepts into a toy or game to get kids to learn STEM skills under the guise of having fun.

Boson, from DRFRobot, is the latest of these, and it has all the trappings of a STEM learning toy: colorful plastic, simple design, and powerful possibilities for those willing to learn the system. At its core, Boson is a block coding tool similar to Tynker or Blockly, but built in the real world with various physically connected blocks instead of virtual representations.

The Boson modules are divided into four kinds, easily identifiable by color: blue ones are for inputs, green for outputs, yellow for functions, and pink for power. Theres no coding or soldering necessary to use Boson just connect the blocks together, and youre good to go.

Boson also offers an impressive variety of over 50 modules across the four categories. There are sensors for heat, humidity, flame, conductivity, soil, IR, light, motion, touch, sound, steam, and more along with a variety of buttons and joysticks for inputs. Outputs offer things like motors, servos, fans, buzzers, LEDs, and an OLED monitor. Function modules allow for building out basic logic functions, like AND, OR, and NOT. And if the module blocks arent enough, Boson is also compatible with Arduino, making it possible to write more advanced programs with languages like Python and JavaScript.

The other selling point of Boson is the compatibility of the modules with other things. You can connect Boson modules to Lego bricks, screw them onto things, place them on a fridge with magnets, or velcro them to a wall.

DFRobot is selling four different kits of Boson modules, each focused on different projects a basic Starter kit for $45, a Science kit for $109, a Coding kit for $109, and an Inventor kit for $139. There are also bundles of the Science and Inventor sets for $219, and the Science, Coding, and Inventor sets for $309. DFRobot has been around for a while selling various microcontrollers and electronic components, and has successfully ran a previous Kickstarter, so backing Boson is probably safer than most crowdfunded campaigns. That said, as always, you should use your best judgement when backing.

DFRobot hopes to ship the Boson kits in September and October.

Read the original post:

The Boson kit is a modular robotics set that will teach kids STEM topics and coding - The Verge

OCTOPUZ Inc. Posted 06/06/2017

OCTOPUZ is pleased to announce that Pride Automatics has signed on to become an official reseller of OCTOPUZ software in the Russian Federation.

Located in Penza, Pride Automatics is a young, growing company servicing the welding industry and is a KUKA Integrator and cooperates with Kawasaki Robotics. They have begun creating and offering their own turn-key solutions to their customers in a growing marketof industrial robots in the Russian Federation.

Pride Automatics required a versatile instrument for fast robotized cell prototyping and programming for both brands, and the ability to provide fast offline programming to their customers. Pride Automatics decided to proceed with OCTOPUZ because of the ability that it will give them to create 3D cell for customers, calculate parameters and price faster than before, and offline program any robot with reliable welding, cutting and milling paths.

Evgeny Popravko, CEO, expressed excitement about the opportunity to provide versatile and complex solutions for their customers:

Mastering OCTOPUZ software will give us the possibility to create 3D cells for customers, calculate parameters and price faster than competitors, and create fast offline programming for both brands of robots. The possibilities with OCTOPUZ are so much greater than we expected.

OCTOPUZ combines the offline programming of robots with manufacturing process simulation, providing mainstream, powerful, and effective solutions. It is fully customizable and can cut down on path generation time by 50% or more, allowing users to program and simulate multiple robots simultaneously across a wide range of applications.

Excerpt from:

Robotics Industry News - Robotics Online (press release)

Figure 1: A distributed robotic system managing the logistics of a warehouse.

It isnt a secret that distributed robotic systems are starting to revolutionize many applications from targeted material delivery (e.g., Amazon Robotics) to precision farming. Assisted by technological advancements such as cloud computing, novel hardware design, and manufacturing techniques, nowadays distributed robot systems are starting to become an important part of industrial activities including warehouse logistics or autonomous transportation.

However, as many engineers and scientists in this field know, several of the heterogeneous characteristics of these systems that make them ideal for certain future applications robot autonomy, decentralized control, collective emergent behavior, collective learning, knowledge sharing, etc. hinder the evolution of the technology from academic institutions to the public sphere. For instance, controlling the motion and behavior of large teams of robots still presents unique challenges for human operators, who cannot yet effectively convey their high-level intentions in application. Moreover, robots collaborating through the cloud might find difficulties applying shared knowledge due to physical hardware differences. Solutions to these issues might be necessary steps towards mainstream adoption.

In response to these challenges, new lines of research propose innovative synergies to tackle the current problems existing in the field. For instance, the inclusion of wearable and gaming technologies to reduce the complexity of controlling a robotic swarm by human operators or, using blockchain-based models to create new consensus and business models for large teams of robots.

In order to understand the current state of the art of the distributed robotic systems field and foresee its breakthroughs, the International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems decided to launch a special issue titled Distributed Robotic Systems and Society. This special issue seeks to move beyond the classical view of distributed robotic systems to advance our understanding about the future role of these systems in the marketplace and public society. Insights to unasked questions in the field are especially suited to this issue. For instance, what security methods are available and are efficient for these systems? What kind of distributed robotic algorithms are suitable to introduce human-oriented interactions? Are there new interfaces to connect with these systems or reduce their complexity? Are distributed networks such as Bitcoin a feasible way to integrate distributed robotic systems in our society? Are there new business models for distributed robot ventures? How can distributed robotic systems make use of unlimited access information in the cloud?

We also welcome submissions on other topics addressing multi-robot systems in the society. We seek papers with conceptual and theoretical contributions as well as papers documenting valuable results of experiments conducted with real-robots. Finally, the editorial team of this special issue (Dr. Penaloza, Dr. Hauert, and myself) would like to encourageresearchers and scientists to submit their manuscripts. We are confident that the ideas, methods, and results included in this special issue will assist the scientific community as well as the industry to reach new horizons in the field of distributed robotics systems.

Originally posted here:

Looking at new trends in Distributed Robotics Systems and Society - Robohub

Robotic Industries Association Posted 06/06/2017

A3 Mexicos First Training Initiative Delivers Fundamentals of Robotics, Vision, and Motion Control and Offers Networking Opportunity

ANN ARBOR, MI Today, the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), the leading global advocate for the benefits of automating, announced it will offer free automation training sessions on June 13 and 14 in Guadalajara, Mexico. In conjunction with EXPO PACK Guadalajra, the training covers the fundamental automation disciplines of robotics, vision and motion control and will provide insight on how companies can successfully implement robotics and automation. A free networking reception will follow the training and provide a forum for automation companies to network, share knowledge and best practices needed to move the Mexican robotics market forward.

A3 Mexico Free Training Sessions The four training sessions, located at Expo Guadalajara, introduce the key automation disciplines of robotics, vision and motion control. With training guidance ranging from how to evaluate and budget robotic equipment and suppliers, how to work with robotics system integrators to ensure success, and how to avoid common pitfalls of machine vision deployment, launch and production to examining the principals behind motion control, attendees will gain solid insight into fundamental principles needed in adopting automation technologies. The training sessions include:

Tuesday, June 13, 8:30am 11:00am

Wednesday, June 14 (both sessions in Spanish)

Register for the free training online.

Mexicos $2.2 trillion economy is poised to enjoy rapid growth in automation technologies and A3 Mexico is dedicated to support and promote the automation ecosystem here, said Jeff Burnstein, A3 president. These training courses and networking event tap into the collective knowledge and expertise weve gained working with 1000+ companies on implementing automation technologies into their businesses. As outlined in our recent white paper, the age of automation will bring many new opportunities and benefits, and key to all of it will be training and skill development. A3 Mexico Reception Provides Strong Networking Opportunities To encourage networking of automation-related companies in Mexico, A3 Mexico is hosting a free reception at Westin Guadalajara located near Expo Guadalajara where EXPO PACK Guadalajara is held.

The event, which will include a review of the robotics market and its opportunities,offers companies a venue to network, learn more about automation and discuss ways that A3 Mexico can best support the Mexican automation industry.

Companies that conduct business in Mexico are invited to share this invite with Mexican colleagues and partners based in Mexico. All attendees need to RSVP.

A3 Mexico to Foster Rapidly Growing Automation Industry A3 Mexico, an association formed earlier this year by A3, the Association for Advancing Automation, serves as a networking hub, fostering interaction between entrepreneurs, investors, vendors, customers, students, educators, scientists, journalists and industry analysts. Embracing Mexicos vast array of industries including substantial automotive and aerospace manufacturing sectors, A3 Mexico will support and promote the rapidly growing Mexican automation industry. In Mexico, the Robotic Industries Association (RIA), AIA Advancing Vision + Imaging, and Motion Control & Motor Association (MCMA) will operate as individual groups under A3 Mexico offering focused support for relevant member companies.

For more information about A3 Mexico, please visit our new website.

About Association for Advancing Automation (A3) The Association for Advancing Automation is the global advocate for the benefits of automating. A3 promotes automation technologies and ideas that transform the way business is done. A3 is the umbrella group for Robotic Industries Association (RIA), AIA - Advancing Vision + Imaging, Motion Control & Motor Association, and A3 Mexico (MCMA). RIA, AIA, MCMA, and A3 Mexico combined represent over 1,000 automation manufacturers, component suppliers, system integrators, end users, research groups and consulting firms from throughout the world that drive automation forward. For more information, please visit our websites: A3; RIA;AIA;MCMA;A3 Mexico.

Originally posted here:

A3 Mexico Offers Free Automation Training Sessions at EXPO PACK Guadalajara in Mexico - Robotics Online (press release)

Amazon Robotics seek to use Amazon Go computer-vision technology in its warehouses Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) ... sensors that can. VIEW SLIDESHOW 12 photos. Figure 3A shows a warehouse robot carrying shelves with lights, cameras and sensors that more. Amazon Robotics is seeking to hire engineers who can help streamline human-robot work in warehouses. and more »

More here:

Amazon Robotics seek to use Amazon Go computer-vision technology in its warehouses - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle)

Hollywood comes to Lima as LA film crew shoots movie in Allen County By Jessica Gavin 6 & 11 PM Weekday Anchor / Producer 2017-06-06T01:53:35Z

Hollywood has invaded Allen County as several area sites will be locations for a movie shoot. A Los Angeles film crew was at Bath High School Fridaymorning doing a "run through" for their movie "AWalk with Grace."

A man is in jail after exposing himself to children at two different playgrounds in St.Marys.

Three Lima area people are being sent to prison for their rolls in trafficking two teenage girls for sex.

Summer is nearly here, and Lima Parks will be seeing a big boost.

A summer of reading is finally underway for the Lima Public Library.

Ohio remains the number one state in the country for the number of Tree City USAcommunities.

The co-director of the Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen is facing criminal charges. According to court records, 58 year old Scott Catlett was arrested and charged with one count of kidnapping. According to Lima Police Chief, Kevin Martin, police received a complaint of an incident where a man claimed he was kidnapped and sexually assaulted on Saturday at Catletts home. Police investigated the mans claim and arrested Catlett today (6/1).

The excessive rain has cut strawberry season short this year.

A two-vehicle accident sentone person to the hospital Saturdayafternoon. The Ohio State Highway Patrol says that narcotics might be involved with one of the drivers.

A house fire on Lima's south side had firefighters busy early Monday morning.

Here is the original post:

Robotics Course Offered in Auglaize County - Your News Now

Two teams headed to world competition

VEX Robotics has only just been introduced in the Indian River School District, yet two IRSD teams beat schools from across the state to advance to this years VEX Worlds competition.

Much of the programs success in southern Delaware is due to Georgetown Elementary School assistant principal Travis Bower, who taught Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or STEM at Selbyville Middle School before taking the job in Georgetown. GES and SMS are the only Indian River schools offering VEX Robotics programs.

Its a very young program in Delaware, Bower said. Its teaching them a lot of STEM skills theyre going to use down the road if they choose a STEM career, but it also teaches them how to problem-solve. Rather than getting upset and worrying about it, they think about how they can get in there and fix it.

The VEX Robotics company creates hands-on STEM learning tools like robots for educators, while the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation fosters STEM and interpersonal skills in students through robotics competitions, camps, workshops and conferences. The RECF hosts competitions in communities around the world, which culminate each year at the VEX Worlds, April 19-25 this year at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville.

Robotics teams qualify by winning regional competitions. In the United States, those are organized by state. The Delaware teams at the elementary, middle and high school levels competed in March at Wesley College. Countries like China, Singapore, New Zealand, Bahrain, the United Kingdom, Russia, Ethiopia, Paraguay and Egypt are among those sending winners from their own regional divisions.

Selbyville Middle STEM teacher and robotics coach Jon Casto said the competition is a great experience for students.

Even just traveling to another state, some of them have never been on a plane, he said. Theyre forming friendships with kids from around the world.

All the kids are doing it

At Georgetown Elementary, students in grades 3-5 can participate in after-school robotics. Bowers and teachers Nicole Morey and Dickey Messick coach the team. The program, in its second year, is extremely popular among students. This year, the coaches put the kids who started last year on the competition team, taking on all 60 of the sign-ups for robotics basics.

Fifth-grader Wyatt Warner and fourth-graders Addison Layne and Kayla Betts will represent Delaware elementary schools in Louisville. Theyve been meeting once a week since the school year began, and more often as competition time gets closer.

The elementary school competition, VEX IQ Crossover, takes place on a ping-pong table-size board with short walls on all sides. The board does not change, but its design does. Last year, robots placed round balls into nets. This year, the students are working with hex balls, shaped like jacks, and must place them in square slots. Just moving the hex balls from one side of the board to the other scores the team points, but more points are scored for getting them in the slots or for getting the robot onto the bridge that connects the two sides of the board.

Dower said the students designed the robot on their own.

They engineered it, he said. They programmed it.

The teams work with robot kits which contain everything needed to build a battery-powered robot. The design is up to them.

The design is critical because the robot has to be able to pick up the hex ball, remain upright and move across the board, plus other moves. To do all that, it has to be programmed to work with a handheld controller that the students operate. At Georgetown Elementary, learning to program is part of the curriculum. The students connect the robot to a computer and type in the code.

In addition to designing and building the robot, students complete a journal, logging everything theyve done in preparation. On the elementary school level, students must also create a project in which they research ways in which robotics could benefit their communities. The GES team chose tractorless farming.

Addison said tractorless farming would allow farmers to spend more time with their families. But theyre still in testing, she said.

At the state competition, Addison, Kayla and Wyatt bested 11 other schools for the excellence award and the right to compete at VEX Worlds. Compete, however, is misleading in this case; regional winning teams are randomly paired and have to work together to earn points. Bower said language barriers can sometimes be a challenge, but thats just another tool for teaching cooperation.

Its interesting, he said. Right now, Im just giving them my phone to use Google Translate.

Bigger kids, bigger challenges

A bit farther south, at Selbyville Middle School, sixth-graders Kaitlin Johnson and Evan Carpenter and seventh-grader Kendall Coleman are working on a bigger scale.

The board at the middle school level is a 12-by-12-foot space on the floor, with fence-like barriers on two sides. The Vex IQ Challenge requires they use their robot to move stars, or bigger jack-shaped objects, past the fence, by either lifting them over or pushing them under it. In addition to the stars, each team gets a cube, pre-placed on the robot, which, when moved to the other side of the fence, also scores them points. Middle school teams must keep a journal of their activities, but arent required to complete a research project like the elementary school teams.

In addition to working with a bigger board, middle school students must design a bigger robot. The SMS team has designed and redesigned their robot four times this year, and is particularly proud of their robots ability to lift the cube over the fence.

Kendall said their first design had a claw, but it didnt lift high enough, said Kendall.

Then we built a scissor lift, but the wheels had too much friction, so it would overheat, Kendall said. We tried a longer claw design, but that didnt work.

The wheels of progress turn slowly. While third-graders at Georgetown Elementary knew how to code, the SMS team students did not, as coding wasnt a part of the curriculum when they were that age. Fortunately, Kendall learned to code from previous team members, and is in turn teaching her current team members.

While the elementary and high school level robotics programs in Delaware seem to be growing exponentially, there are fewer teams on the middle school level. SMS had just one competitor at the state competition this year: Talley Middle School of Wilmington. Nevertheless, SMS took home the excellence award and will head to Kentucky, accompanied by coaches and SMS teachers Casto and Tommie Morrison.

Almost 1,000 teams from elementary, middle and high schools, or their countrys equivalent, will compete at VEX Worlds this year. On the high school level, Cape Henlopen, Appoquinimink and Cab Calloway High Schools will be representing Delaware. Each teams trip is funded through donations and grants.

Were still fundraising, Bower said. We got a grant from RECF, which was cool, and we got a lot of local businesses to donate, even DuPont.

The SMS students are doing their own fundraising, holding bake sales and other events. If youre interested in donating toward their trip, contact the school.

More:

IRSD dominates state robotics tournament - Sussex Countian

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. For 4388 Ridgebotics, a Fort Collins-based competitive robotics team with championship dreams, a sponsor was its only hope. The trip to Houston for the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Championship seemed to be financially out of reach that is, until the Denver Broncos and Arrow Electronics stepped in.

The Broncos and Arrow had announced they would work with Colorado FIRST to select a robotics team they could sponsor to help reach the international championship, which hosts teams from 39 countries and takes place from April 19-23. After qualifying for the championship in the regional competition that took place March 24 at the University of Denver, Ridgebotics also received the sponsorship after being identified as a team in need of funding.

"Before the sponsorship, we weren't sure if we were going to go, considering the funding that we had at that time," Ridgebotics' captain Carissa Vos said. "So we were all looking forward to when we heard we could apply for this and potentially get it. ... And once we found out we got it, we were super excited. We've been awaiting this day ever since."

For many members of the team who are also Broncos fans, the funding isn't even the best part. The best part is being able to represent the Broncos.

"I can't even describe it," Vos said. "Once we found out, I was like, 'Oh my gosh, we're going to have the Broncos' logo on the back of our shirts and ... we're going to have the Broncos and Arrow [as] part of our name when they announce our team a couple times throughout the competition.' And we have the jerseys and some pants and hats that's just super cool, too.

As part of the sponsorship, the Broncos invited Ridgebotics to visit UCHealth Training Center, where they gave the young engineers an opportunity to get an inside look Friday at how the team operates. The Ridgebotics members also received shirts, hats and a pair of Broncos jerseys representing the team name before they were to leave for the four-day competition.

The students were pleasantly surprised the Broncos had a sponsorship for a high-school robotics team, as those on the Ridgebotics team knew they would need some help to get to Houston.

When it was announced at [FIRST Robotics Competition] Kickoff, that was just really cool to see, Vos said. "And I was like, All right, weve got to go for that."

Three other Colorado teams joined Ridgebotics in qualifying for the national competition: Longmont's Up A Creek Robotics, Denver's Thomas Jefferson High School and Colorado Springs' Cougars Gone Wild.

See more here:

Broncos, Arrow team up to power Colorado robotics team to international competition - DenverBroncos.com (blog)