Litecoin Price analysis: LTC/USD recovery stalled as Charlie Lee mulls the idea of miners’ donations – FXStreet

At the time of writing, LTC/USD is changing hands at $53.20, down nearly 2% since the beginning of the day. The seventh larges digital asset with the current market value of $4.3 billion has been moving within a short-term bearish trend amid low volatility.

While commending the initiative of the Bitcoin Cash community to force miners to transfer 12.5% of their revenues, the creator of Litecoin Charlie Lee suggested that miners should donate 1% of their block rewards (0.125 LTC) to the ecosystem development. He also added that the donations should be completely voluntary.

He wrote on Twitter:

I think a better way to fund development is mining pools voluntarily donate a portion of the block reward. How about Litecoin pools donate 1% (0.125 LTC) of block rewards to the @LTCFoundation? If every miner/pool does this, it amounts to about $1.5MM donation per year!

He also added that due to merged mining of Dogecoin and other coins based on Scrypt algorithm, miners are able to receive over 105% of block rewards. What's more pool of miners can decide on the target. of their donations, for example, Litecoin.com or The Lite School.

The community reaction was controversial. Someone supported the initiative, while others expressed doubts and suggested that Lee should have donated the proceeds from selling his coins in 2017.

LTC/USD hit the bottom at $50.65 on January 24 and has been recovering ever since. However, the further upside may be limited by SMA50 1-hour at $53.60, which is closely followed by the short-term downside trend line. Once it is out of the way, the upside is likely to gain traction with the next focus on SMA100 at $55.50 and SMA200 1-hour at $57.00.

On the downside, the support comes at $52.00 ( the lower line of 1-hour Bollinger Band). A sustainable move below this area will take us towards the recent low of $50.65. If the price breaks below $50.00, SMA50 daily at $46.50 will come into focus.

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Litecoin Price analysis: LTC/USD recovery stalled as Charlie Lee mulls the idea of miners' donations - FXStreet

Litecoin, Stellars Lumen, and Trons TRX Daily Analysis 20/01/20 – Yahoo Finance

Litecoin

Litecoin fell by 2.82% on Sunday. Following on from a 2.61% fall from Saturday, Litecoin ended the week up 11.98% to $57.57.

A bullish start to the day saw Litecoin rise to an early morning intraday high $62.50 before hitting reverse.

Litecoin broke through the first major resistance level at $61.81 and 23.6% FIB of $62 before sliding to a mid-day intraday low $55.33.

The reversal saw Litecoin slide through the first major support level at $57.33.

Finding support at the second major support level at $55.39, Litecoin broke back through the first major support level to reduce the loss on the day.

At the time of writing, Litecoin was down by 0.56% to $57.25. A mixed start to the day saw Litecoin rise to an early morning high $57.84 before falling to a low $56.78.

Litecoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Litecoin would need to break through to $58.50 levels to support a run at the first major resistance level at $61.60.

Support from the broader market would be needed for Litecoin to move back through $60 levels.

Barring a broad-based crypto rebound, however, resistance at $60 would likely limit any upside on the day.

Failure to move back through to $58.50 levels would likely see Litecoin spend the day in the red.

A fall back through Sundays low $55.33 would bring the first major support level at $54.47 into play.

Barring a crypto meltdown, however, Litecoin should steer clear of sub-$54 levels on the day.

Major Support Level: $54.43

Major Resistance Level: $61.60

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $62

38.2% FIB Retracement Level: $78

62% FIB Retracement Level: $104

Stellars Lumen fell by 1.87% on Sunday. Reversing a 1.27% gain from Saturday, Stellars Lumen end the week up 22.70% to $0.06010.

A bullish start to the day saw Stellars Lumen rally to a late morning intraday high $0.066108 before hitting reverse.

Stellars Lumen broke through the first major resistance level at $0.06568 before sliding to a mid-day intraday low $0.05826.

Steering clear of the first major support level at $0.05722, Stellars Lumen found support through the 2nd half of the day.

Stellars Lumen moved back through to $0.061 levels before easing back.

At the time of writing, Stellars Lumen was down by 1.05% to $0.059469. A mixed start to the day saw Stellars Lumen rise to an early morning high $0.060162 before falling to a low $0.059469.

Stellars Lumen left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Story continues

Stellars Lumen would need to move through to $0.06150 levels to support a run at the first major resistance level at $0.06472.

Support from the broader market would be needed for Stellars Lumen to break out from the morning high to $0.061 levels

Barring a broad-based crypto rebound, however, Stellars Lumen would likely come up short of the morning high $0.060162.

Failure to move back through to $0.06150 levels could see Stellars Lumen struggle throughout the day.

A fall back through Sundays low $0.05826 would bring the first major support level at $0.05687 into play.

Barring a crypto meltdown, however, Stellars Lumen should steer well clear of sub-$0.0580 levels.

Major Support Level: $0.05687

Major Resistance Level: $0.06472

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $0.1051

38% FIB Retracement Level: $0.1433

62% FIB Retracement Level: $0.2050

Trons TRX slid by 5.93% on Sunday. Reversing a 1.06% gain from Saturday, Trons TRX ended the week up by 10.64% to $0.016613.

A bullish start to the day saw Trons TRX rise to an early morning intraday high $0.018081 before hitting reverse.

Falling short of the first major resistance level at $0.01820, Trons TRX fell to a mid-day intraday low $0.015964.

Trons TRX fell through the first major support level at $0.01723 and the second major support level at $0.01674.

Through the 2nd half of the day, Trons TRX moved back through to $0.0166 levels to cut the deficit on the day. In spite of the partial recovery, Trons TRX failed to break back through the support levels.

At the time of writing, Trons TRX was down by 0.23% to $0.016574. A mixed start to the day saw Trons TRX move to an early morning high $0.016704 before falling to a low $0.016514.

Trons TRX left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Trons TRX would need to move through to $0.01690 levels to bring the first major resistance level at $0.01781 into play.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Trons TRX to break out from $0.01700 levels.

Barring a broad-based crypto rebound, resistance at $0.017 would likely cap any upside.

Failure to move back through to $0.01690 levels could see Trons TRX fall deeper into the red

A fall back through to Sundays low $0.015964 would bring the first major support level at $0.01569 into play

Barring a crypto meltdown, however, Trons TRX should steer clear of sub-$0.015 levels and the second major support level at $0.01477.

Major Support Level: $0.01569

Major Resistance Level: $0.01781

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $0.0322

38.2% FIB Retracement Level: $0.0452

62% FIB Retracement Level: $0.0663

Please let us know what you think in the comments below

Thanks, Bob

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

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Litecoin, Stellars Lumen, and Trons TRX Daily Analysis 20/01/20 - Yahoo Finance

Litecoin, Stellars Lumen, and Trons TRX Daily Analysis 22/01/20 – Yahoo Finance

Litecoin

Litecoin gained 0.65% on Tuesday. Partially reversing a 0.76% decline from Monday, Litecoin ended the day at $57.49.

A bullish start to the day saw Litecoin rise to an early morning intraday high $57.98 before hitting reverse.

Falling short of the first major resistance level at $58.29, Litecoin slid to an early evening intraday low $55.76.

Litecoin found support at the first major support level at $55.81 to move back through to $57 levels and into the green.

At the time of writing, Litecoin was down by 0.05% to $57.46. A mixed start to the day saw Litecoin fall to an early morning low $57.37 before striking a high $57.81.

Litecoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Litecoin would need to move back through the morning high $57.81 to support a run at the first major resistance level at $58.03.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Litecoin to break back through Tuesdays high $57.98.

Barring a broad-based crypto rally, the first major resistance level at $58.03 and Tuesdays high $57.98 would likely limit any upside.

Failure to move back through the morning high could likely see Litecoin spend the day in the red.

A fall back through to sub-$57.40 levels would bring the first major support level at $56.91 into play.

Barring a crypto meltdown, however, Litecoin should steer clear of sub-$56 levels on the day. The second major support level at $56.32 should limit any downside.

Major Support Level: $56.91

Major Resistance Level: $58.03

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $62

38.2% FIB Retracement Level: $78

62% FIB Retracement Level: $104

Stellars Lumen rose by 0.32% on Tuesday. Following on from a 4.19% rally on Monday, Stellars Lumen ended the day at $0.062868.

A relatively bullish start to the day saw Stellars Lumen rise to an early afternoon intraday high $0.06446 before hitting reverse.

Falling short of the first major resistance level at $0.06521, Stellars Lumen slid to an early evening intraday low $0.061496.

Holding above the first major support level at $0.05980, Stellars Lumen bounced back to $0.064 levels before easing back.

At the time of writing, Stellars Lumen was up by 0.14% to $0.062955. A range-bound start to the day saw Stellars Lumen rise from an early morning low $0.062943 to a high $0.062955.

Stellars Lumen left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Story continues

Stellars Lumen would need to move through to $0.063 levels to support a run at the first major resistance level at $0.06439.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Stellars Lumen to break back through to $0.064 levels.

Barring a broad-based crypto rally, the first major resistance level and Tuesdays high $0.06446 should limit any upside.

Failure to move back through to sub-$0.063 levels could see Stellars Lumen struggle throughout the day.

A fall back through to sub-$0.06290 levels would bring the first major support level at $0.06142 into play.

Barring a crypto meltdown, however, Stellars Lumen should steer well clear of sub-$0.0600 levels.

Major Support Level: $0.06142

Major Resistance Level: $0.06439

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $0.1051

38% FIB Retracement Level: $0.1433

62% FIB Retracement Level: $0.2050

Trons TRX rallied by 4.39% on Tuesday. Following a flat Monday, Trons TRX ended the day at $0.017308.

A bullish start to the day saw Trons TRX rally from an early morning intraday low $0.01658 to an early afternoon intraday high $0.017591.

Steering clear of the major support levels, Trons TRX broke through the first major resistance level at $0.01686 and the second major resistance level at $0.01708.

Coming within range of the third major resistance level at $0.01763, Trons TRX fell back to sub-$0.017 levels.

Finding support at the first major resistance level at $0.01686, Trons TRX broke back through the second major resistance level to wrap the day at $0.017 levels.

At the time of writing, Trons TRX was up by 0.76% to $0.017439. A relatively bullish start to the day saw Trons TRX rise from an early morning low $0.017395 to a high $0.017439.

Trons TRX left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Trons TRX would need to move back through Tuesdays high $0.017591 to support a run at the first major resistance level at $0.01774.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Trons TRX to break through to $0.0177 levels.

Barring a broad-based crypto rally, Tuesdays high $0.017591 and first major resistance level would likely cap any upside.

Failure to move through to Tuesdays high could see Trons TRX hit reverse.

A fall back through to sub-$0.01716 levels would bring the first major support level at $0.01673 into play

Barring a crypto meltdown, however, Trons TRX should steer clear of sub-$0.016 levels. The second major support level at $0.01615 should limit any downside on the day.

Major Support Level: $0.01673

Major Resistance Level: $0.01774

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $0.0322

38.2% FIB Retracement Level: $0.0452

62% FIB Retracement Level: $0.0663

Please let us know what you think in the comments below

Thanks, Bob

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

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Litecoin, Stellars Lumen, and Trons TRX Daily Analysis 22/01/20 - Yahoo Finance

Litecoin, Stellars Lumen, and Trons TRX Daily Analysis 21/01/20 – Yahoo Finance

Litecoin

Litecoin fell by 0.76% on Monday. Following on from a 2.82% slide on Sunday, Litecoin ended the day at $57.10.

A bearish start to the day saw Litecoin fall to an early afternoon intraday low $55.71 before finding support.

Steering clear of the first major support level at $54.43, Litecoin struck a late afternoon intraday high $58.19.

Falling well short of the first major resistance level at $61.60, Litecoin eased back to $57 levels and into the red.

At the time of writing, Litecoin was up by 0.30% to $57.27. A mixed start to the day saw Litecoin fall to an early morning low $56.86 before striking a high $57.32.

Litecoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Litecoin would need to steer clear of sub-$57.00 levels to support a run at the first major resistance level at $58.29.

Support from the broader market would be needed for Litecoin to move back through $58 levels.

Barring a broad-based crypto rally, however, the first major resistance level and Mondays high $58.19 would likely limit any upside.

Failure to steer clear of sub-$57.00 levels would likely see Litecoin spend the day in the red.

A fall back through to $56.50 levels would bring the first major support level at $55.81 into play.

Barring a crypto meltdown, however, Litecoin should steer clear of sub-$55 levels on the day.

Major Support Level: $55.81

Major Resistance Level: $58.29

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $62

38.2% FIB Retracement Level: $78

62% FIB Retracement Level: $104

Stellars Lumen rallied by 4.19% on Monday. Reversing a 1.87% fall from Sunday, Stellars Lumen to end the day at $0.062675.

A relatively bearish start to the day saw Stellars Lumen fall to an early morning intraday low $0.059469.

Steering clear of the first major support level at $0.05687, Stellars Lumen rallied to a late morning intraday high $0.064878.

Stellars Lumen came up against the first major resistance level at $0.06472 before easing back to $0.061 levels.

Story continues

In the mid-afternoon, Stellars Lumen tested the first major resistance level for a 2nd time with a high $0.064777 before easing back.

At the time of writing, Stellars Lumen was up by 0.43% to $0.062945. A mixed start to the day saw Stellars Lumen fall to an early morning low $0.062030 before rising to a high $0.062945.

Stellars Lumen left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Stellars Lumen would need to move through to $0.063 levels to support a run at the first major resistance level at $0.06521.

Support from the broader market would be needed for Stellars Lumen to break out from the Mondays high $0.064878.

Barring a broad-based crypto rally, however, Stellars Lumen would likely come up short of $0.065 levels on the day.

Failure to move back through to sub-$0.063 levels could see Stellars Lumen struggle throughout the day.

A fall back through to sub-$0.06230 would bring the first major support level at $0.05980 into play.

Barring a broad-based crypto sell-off, however, Stellars Lumen should steer well clear of sub-$0.0600 levels.

Major Support Level: $0.05980

Major Resistance Level: $0.06521

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $0.1051

38% FIB Retracement Level: $0.1433

62% FIB Retracement Level: $0.2050

Trons TRX ended the day flat on Monday. Following a 5.93% slide from Sunday, Trons TRX ended the day at $0.016649.

A mixed start to the day saw Trons TRX rise to an early morning intraday high $0.016745 before hitting reverse.

Falling short of the first major resistance level at $0.01781, Trons TRX slid to an early afternoon intraday low $0.016195.

Steering clear of the first major support level at $0.01569, Trons TRX recovered to $0.01670 levels before easing back.

At the time of writing, Trons TRX was down by 0.41% to $0.016580. A bearish start to the day saw Trons TRX fall from an end of Monday $0.016649 to a low $0.016580.

Trons TRX left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Trons TRX would need to steer clear of sub-$0.01650 levels to support a run at the first major resistance level at $0.016860.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Trons TRX to break out from Mondays high $0.016754.

Barring a broad-based crypto rally, Mondays high and first major resistance level would likely cap any upside.

Failure to steer clear of sub-$0.01650 levels could see Trons TRX fall deeper into the red.

A fall back through to $0.01640 levels would bring the first major support level at $0.01631 into play

Barring an extended sell-off, however, Trons TRX should steer clear of sub-$0.016 levels and the second major support level at $0.01598.

Major Support Level: $0.01631

Major Resistance Level: $0.01686

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $0.0322

38.2% FIB Retracement Level: $0.0452

62% FIB Retracement Level: $0.0663

Please let us know what you think in the comments below

Thanks, Bob

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

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Litecoin, Stellars Lumen, and Trons TRX Daily Analysis 21/01/20 - Yahoo Finance

Dukascopy to Offer Litecoin CFDs to Its Users – CryptoVibes

Switzerlands premier forex bank and broker Dukascopy is creating a stronger portfolio of cryptocurrency offerings with new Litecoin CFDs. The bank already offers Bitcoin and Ethereum CFDs to users.

Though Dukascopy already offers Bitcoin and Ethereum contracts-for-difference (CFDs), the addition of Litecoin is a landmark for the bank. It is also a positive development for the Litecoin project. Dukascopy bypassed Ripplex XRP, Bitcoin and other prominent crypto coins to settle on LTC, the seventh-largest cryptocurrency in the world.

At the time of writing, Litecoin has a market capitalization of $3.7 billion and traded at $58.37. Litecoin is one of the most popular forks of the original Bitcoin Core (BTC) blockchain. In recent months, Dukascopy has been trying to create a bigger portfolio of crypto offerings. It allows its clients to deposit and withdraw funds in cryptocurrencies. Moreover, they are also allowed to transfer crypto-assets using mobile banking. The service, if used by two users of the same bank, is offered for free.

According to the lender,

The Banks infrastructure already allows clients to fund their trading accounts using BTC, exchange its own cryptocurrency Dukascoin on the internal marketplace and trade CFDs on BTC/USD and ETH/USD with leverage of up to 1:3.

The forex bank doesnt just offer crypto products but also offers its own stablecoin Dukacash. The fiat pegged cryptocurrency also has peers like CNY+, connected with Chinese Renminbi, GBP+ connected with UK Pound, JPY+ connected with Japanese Yen, MXN+ connected to Mexican Peso and RUB+ connected with Russian Ruble.

This new class of assets was launched in 2018 when the bank first tested its Bitcoin offering service and took its initial steps into the crypto field. It suggests that it could release some other cryptocurrencies in the future. Currently, Dukascopy provides Dukacash custodial services. It also accepts payments for its services in Dukacash.

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Dukascopy to Offer Litecoin CFDs to Its Users - CryptoVibes

Trons Justin Sun Had Secret Talks With Litecoins Charlie Lee. Is a Partnership On The Cards? – ZyCrypto

With 2019 safely in the history books and no sights of the Warren Buffet lunch, the Tron community is definitely hoping to see more partnerships and zero gimmicks in 2020. A few days ago, Tron CEO hinted at a new partnership with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak after the pair had lunch together.

Now, in a tweet on Saturday (January 25), the CEO has revealed that he had a meeting with Litecoin Founder Charlie Lee.

As per Justins post, he met with Charlie Lee where they discussed bitcoin (BTC) and their respective blockchains. Sun then threw in a little teaser that he and Lee discussed some secrets.

Per usual, this tweet raised a lot of speculations about a possible Litecoin and Tron collaboration.

Suffice it to say, weve got to hand it to Justin for making big moves. In late December last year, blockchain-based streaming platform DLive began its migration to the Tron blockchain where it would be merging with Trons BLive. More recently, adult video giant Pornhub announced that its models can now receive payments in Tether (USDT) via the TRONLink wallet.

So, the big question is, did Sun manage to score a partnership with Litecoins Lee as well?

Notably, no further details about the conversation with Charlie Lee have been provided yet and this could have been nothing more than a simple meeting. Also, given Suns record with announcements gone terribly wrong, the secrets that he discussed with the Litecoin founder are anyones guess.

In the past, Justin Sun has graced headlines in the mainstream press all around the world. He has, however, always sparked mixed feelings within the crypto-verse. Some in the crypto industry have applauded the young entrepreneur for drawing attention to Tron (and the crypto space in general) with his eccentric marketing skills, while others have simply called his tactics misleading. This is especially because of Suns history of making an announcement about a big announcement.

Perhaps the most notable pratfall was the lunch with legendary investor Warren Buffet. After paying top dollar to have lunch with the billionaire and a few invited guests, Sun unexpectedly canceled the meeting apparently due to kidney stones. He later apologized to the crypto community for canceling the luncheon while admitting that he had excessively marketed the lunch.

TRX has not been moved by the recent Justin Sun announcement. The asset recently moved up to No. 10 spot on CoinMarketCaps rankings but it has since slipped to position 12. Tron (TRX) is currently valued at $0.016234 with 1.53% losses on the 24-hour adjusted timeframe.

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Trons Justin Sun Had Secret Talks With Litecoins Charlie Lee. Is a Partnership On The Cards? - ZyCrypto

Binance Coin was 2019s best performer; outperformed Bitcoin, Litecoin – AMBCrypto News

In its latest report, Binance Research addressed the market performance of Bitcoin, Binance Coin, and other large-cap crypto-assets, while also expanding on the correlation between these assets over 2019. According to the Malta-based exchanges research team, only four of the ten largest cryptocurrencies partially sustained their substantial price gains from the first half of the year.

Bitcoins price climbed by 87%, however, it was outperformed by Binance Coin (BNB), the exchanges native token which rose by around 130% in 2019. Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash also netted positive gains of 30% and 25%, respectively, in 2019. The report also expanded on how the adverse movements among most large market capitalization crypto-assets had started back in Q3 of last year, before continuing into Q4.

The report said,

While only three assets, Tezos (XTZ), NEO, and Bitcoin SV (BSV) started recovering their price, all price movements slowed down drastically, indicating a potential stabilization of the market.

Only Tezos, Huobi Token, BNB, and ChainLink showed higher price appreciations than Bitcoin over 2019, represented by increasing market dominance of the original cryptocurrency over the year. While its dominance slowly declined during the fourth quarter of the year after peaking in Q3, Bitcoins dominance over the year rose from 52% at the start of 2019 to 68% by its end.

Binance Research also compared Bitcoins market dominance to its trading dominance, something that Binance defined as the respective volume contribution from Bitcoin trading, with BTC as a base currency, relative to the total spot volume on a platform.

According to the report, this ratio started at close to 20% on 1 January 2019, before briefly falling to 10% in March 2019. This meant that only 10% of the trading volume was against Bitcoin as a base asset. Since then, the report highlighted that this ratio kept increasing to between the 45-50% marks and stabilizing at around 40% for the rest of the year.

Binance Research also claimed that the ratio between market dominance and trading dominance can be used as an indicator for relative interest in Bitcoin and that it may allow for a general estimation of the current market perception of altcoins.

Read the rest here:

Binance Coin was 2019s best performer; outperformed Bitcoin, Litecoin - AMBCrypto News

Spacewalking astronauts are upgrading the space station today. Here’s how to watch it live. – Space.com

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch are taking their third spacewalk outside the International Space Station today (Jan. 20) to replace the orbiting laboratories aging batteries and you can catch the epic action live online.

The spacewalk began at 6:35 a.m. EST (1335 GMT) today, marking the third time an all-woman team has worked together outside the station. You can watch the spacewalk live here and on Space.com's homepage, courtesy of NASA TV.

Meir and Koch are wrapping up work that began in October 2019, to upgrade the batteries that store power generated by the space station's solar array. Their first spacewalk (which was the first all-woman spacewalk ever) took place Oct. 18. A second spacewalk successfully wrapped up Jan. 15.

Related: The amazing spacewalks of Expedition 61 in photos

Astronauts use power in space for everything from lighting rooms to conducting experiments. The upgraded batteries are lithium-ion batteries, which are expected to last longer and to generate more power than the previous generation nickel-hydrogen batteries that were installed several years ago.

If Koch and Meir finish the last battery spacewalk as expected, there's another spacewalk by other astronauts coming shortly. NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan and Italian ISS commander Luca Parmitano are expected to exit the ISS Saturday (Jan. 25), but for a different task.

Parmitano and Morgan spent much of the end of 2019 working on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), which is an aging dark matter experiment on the ISS. The astronauts, in concert with teams on the ground, are doing a complex repair that NASA says is the toughest work the agency has done in space since the last Hubble Space Telescope upgrade in 2009.

The duo completed three of four planned AMS spacewalks in 2019. In December, NASA warned that the battery spacewalks (which are more urgent than the AMS spacewalks) and a busy schedule of visiting space vehicles could delay the last AMS spacewalk.

As of this week, however, NASA is projecting all spacewalks will be finished before half of the six-person Expedition 61 crew returns to Earth in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Three astronauts will remain in space as NASA works out the sequence of future missions, which is under discussion as final tests are being run for American commercial crew vehicles to fly astronauts. (Currently, all astronauts fly to the ISS using the Soyuz, but NASA is seeking to shift most of their astronauts to commercial crew vehicles.)

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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Spacewalking astronauts are upgrading the space station today. Here's how to watch it live. - Space.com

A Lego International Space Station kit is on the way – Autoblog

Does this have anything to do with cars? Not at all, but we like Lego, space is cool, and what the heck, it's Sunday. Lego is celebrating 10 years since it launched Lego Ideas, a platform for fans to concoct new creations that otherwise didn't already exist. To mark the occasion, Lego took one of the community's ideas, a small-scale model of the International Space Station and turned it into a real, for-sale product. The design comes from Christophe Ruge, and it will be available to buy on February 1, 2020.

Lego already offers numerous space-themed kits and toys. There's a lunar space station, a deep space rocket with a launch control building, a NASA Apollo 11 lunar lander, a shuttle transporter, a Mars research shuttle, a space research and development people pack, and many more. This is the first time, however, a replica of the International Space Station will be available.

The new kit includes a 148-page instruction booklet that explains how to put together 864 pieces. When assembled, it measures 7 inches high, 12 inches long, and 19 inches wide. It sits on a black pedestal stand and also comes with its own space shuttle (unlike the real I.S.S.). Several detailed features make the kit as realistic as possible, including a dock for the space shuttle, a poseable Canadarm2, two rotating joints, and eight adjustable solar panels.

Technically, the idea is not new. Ruge, a 42-year-old Germany native, submitted the kit, along with several other space kits, roughly three years ago. It gained thousands of votes of support from the Lego Ideas family, but it never made it to home base.

"We decided to dive into the archives of Lego Ideas projects that had gathered 10,000 supporters but hadnt quite made it into production," the Lego Group Engagement Manager Hasan Jensen said in an online announcement. "We decided that one of these great ideas should have a second chance, so we thought we would turn the Lego Ideas process upside down. This time we started the internal review and came up with four exciting projects that we thought showed the greatest potential and then it was up to the Lego Ideas community to decide which of the four would be made into Lego Ideas set number 29."

The initial project was built on a larger scale and took Ruge, a computer engineer who works for a company that builds trains, more than three years to design. This time around, however, the kit was much smaller, so it only took him about four days to create (Read more about Ruge and his process at Lego Ideas).

The official kit will be available online and at Lego retailers on February 1 for $69.99, plus tax. Or, if technology, global collaboration, and the search for the meaning of the universe is of no interest to you, Lego is also selling a Flintstones kit with the Flintstones car for $59.99.

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A Lego International Space Station kit is on the way - Autoblog

International Space Station to Pass Within View Wednesday Evening – UVA Today

Riding high but not that high the International Space Station will pass over and within sight of Central Virginians on Wednesday from 6:35 to 6:40 p.m. (It will do so again Thursday night, but the weather is likelier to be cloudy, so Wednesday is the night to get your view.) The space station will be 260 miles above Earth, traveling from southwest to northeast.

The ISS looks like a very bright star moving slowly across the sky, University of Virginia astronomy professor Ed Murphy said Friday in a newsletter to members of the Friends of the McCormick Observatory. It is visible when the sun has set for us on the ground, but the sun is still shining at the altitude of the ISS.

What viewers will see is sunlight reflecting off the solar panels of the space station.

Murphy said the space stations orbit is oriented in a way that makes it visible to Central Virginians every few months as the craft travels southwest to northeast, with six astronauts currently aboard. A few weeks later, it passes over again, traveling northwest to southeast. Those next passes will occur in early February.

Murphy recommends that space station-gazers go outside this evening a few minutes before the pass to allow time for their eyes to adjust to the darkness. Face the southwest. Then, a minute or two after 6:35, if the sky is reasonably clear of clouds, you will see the space station appear like a particularly bright star moving fairly slowly upward across the sky. After a few minutes, as it glides toward the northeast, it will pass into the shadow of the Earth and quickly fade from view. The craft is traveling at 17,100 miles per hour, but appears to move slowly because of its distance from Earth.

Aboard the space station are NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch, who on Monday Martin Luther King Jr. Day replaced some batteries on the craft, and thereby completed historys third-ever all-woman spacewalk. (They accomplished the first all-female spacewalk last October.)

This has really been an amazing experience, Meir is quoted by media as having said after Mondays expedition outside the ship. Today is also Martin Luther King Day, a personal hero for both me and Christina. I will borrow his wise words for this moment: We may have all come on different ships, but we are in the same boat now. When one has as spectacular a view as we had today looking down on our one common home, planet Earth, his words resonate loudly.

Tonight, Central Virginians have an opportunity to look up to the astronauts, as they sail overhead looking at us.

For more information about ISS tracking, click here. For information about the Friends of the McCormick Observatory, click here.

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International Space Station to Pass Within View Wednesday Evening - UVA Today

ESA, Airbus join forces on the Space Station – Spatial Source

ESA and Airbus have signed a contract for the Bartolomeo platform on the International Space Station.

The Bartolomeo platform from Airbus opens new opportunities for research on the International Space Station (ISS). The European Space Agency ESA has now booked a payload slot for a Norwegian instrument to monitor plasma density in the Earths atmosphere.

The Bartolomeo platform named after Christopher Columbus younger brother is currently in the final stage of launch preparation at Airbus in Bremen, Germany, and is scheduled for launch to the ISS in March 2020. Bartolomeo is developed on a commercial basis by Airbus using its own investment funds and will be operated in cooperation with ESA.

The platform can accommodate up to 12 different experiment modules, supplying them with power and providing data transmission to Earth. Bartolomeo is suitable for many different experiments. Due to the unique position of the platform with a direct view of Earth from 400 kilometres, Earth observation including trace gas measurements or CO2 monitoring of the atmosphere are possible, with data useful for climate protection or for use by private data service providers.

The Multi-Needle Langmuir Probe (m-NLP) is an instrument from the University of Oslo and the Norwegian company Eidsvoll Electronics to measure ionospheric plasma densities. With its relatively low orbit, the ISS passes near the peak plasma density of the ionosphere. The m-NLP is currently the only instrument in the world capable of resolving ionospheric plasma density variations at spatial scales below one metre. It will gather valuable data from the equatorial and mid-latitude ionosphere, enabling study of the dynamic processes in this region in unprecedented detail. The Langmuir Probe will map plasma characteristics around the globe.

The mission is financed through the ESA PRODEX programme and supported by ESAs Directorate Human & Robotic Exploration. The payload is scheduled to launch on ISS resupply flight NG-14 in October 2020 and will be the first payload to be installed on the Bartolomeo Platform outside the European Columbus Module.

Together with UNOOSA (United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs), Airbus is currently inviting tenders for further research opportunities on the platform, in particular to enable research institutions from developing countries to participate in scientific space research.

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ESA, Airbus join forces on the Space Station - Spatial Source

How SpaceX and Boeing became NASA’s best shot to revive US spaceflight – Business Insider

SpaceX launched one of its Falcon 9 rockets on Sunday, only to watch it erupt in a ball of fire.

But the explosion was intentional and went exactly as planned. It was the final step in a long process of testing the company's Crew Dragon capsule a spaceship designed to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

Boeing has designed a similar spacecraft, and the two companies are racing to fly NASA astronauts on US-made spacecraft for the first time in nearly a decade.

Since NASA ended its space-shuttle program in 2011, the agency has relied exclusively on Russia to ferry its astronauts to and from orbit in Soyuz spacecraft. But those seats have gotten increasingly expensive: A single round-trip seat now costs NASA about $85 million. So the space agency launched its Commercial Crew program to spur the development of new American-made spacecraft.

The program put private companies in competition for billions of dollars' worth of government contracts. SpaceX and Boeing came out on top.

SpaceX's latest test has teed Elon Musk's rocket company up to launch its first-ever human passengers this spring.

"This critical test puts us on the cusp of once again launching American astronauts on American rockets from American soil," Jim Bridenstine, NASA's administrator, tweeted shortly after the mission.

Here's how SpaceX and Boeing became NASA's best shot at resurrecting American spaceflight.

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How SpaceX and Boeing became NASA's best shot to revive US spaceflight - Business Insider

NASA astronauts to fly SpaceX Crew Dragon in spring how they prepare – Business Insider

SpaceX is poised to launch its first astronauts into space this spring: Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley.

Their flight on the company's Crew Dragon spaceship will mark the first time an American spacecraft has carried NASA astronauts since the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011.

Behnken and Hurley's liftoff is expected to launch a new era of US spaceflight, since it will allow NASA to stop relying on Russian launch systems to get astronauts into space. It will probably also make the two astronauts the first to ever fly a commercial spacecraft.

"Bob and I were lucky enough to be selected together," Hurley told The Atlantic in September. "As we get closer to launch, things in the last year have actually been pretty hectic. We've been spending increasing amounts of time in California, because that's where most of the work is being done for Dragon."

In preparation, they've run through emergency procedures, undergone extensive training the Crew Dragon's mechanisms, worn their new spacesuits, and met with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

"People to a degree think it's pretty glamorous to be able to go into space, but it's actually like a messy camping trip," Hurley told Reuters in June.

Here's how the astronauts were selected and how they're preparing to fly Crew Dragon to the space station.

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NASA astronauts to fly SpaceX Crew Dragon in spring how they prepare - Business Insider

XinaBox, Quest for Space To Send Experiments To The International Space Station – Space in Africa

Cape Town-based Xinabox R&D, a developer of modular electronics and IoT kits for rapid prototyping and STEM education, is partnering with U.S-based Quest for Space to launch experiments to the International Space Station (ISS).

The XinaBox experiment alongside 17 other experiments affiliated with the Quest for Space Program will be launched to the ISS on 7 February 2020, onboard a Northrop Grumman NG-13 Launch Vehicle on a resupply mission from NASAs Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia. Fourteen of these experiment modules are being developed by Partner Schools as part of the Quest for Space Program, one by Texas A & M University, and two Quest Improved Design Qualification Units.

San Jose-based Valley Christian High School, started the Space Lab Program in 2009 to enable students to research, design and build unique science experiments that operate aboard the ISS for a minimum of 30 days. Quest for Space is a non-profit focused on making these and other programs available to schools globally.

In an email chat with Space in Africa, Dan Saldana, Director of ISS and Satellite Programs at Valley Christian Schools, notes that the Space Lab Program was developed to help students identify and enhance their passion by applying their technical and managerial skills in the development of their unique science experiment. The goal is for the students to develop, launch and perform a post-flight analysis on their experiment within the school year.

Since the first launch to the ISS in January 2010 onboard a Japanese HIV-3 ISS Service Vehicle carrying a student plant growth experiment, Quest for Space has expanded its program beyond the shores of the United States, to include partner schools from Finland, Singapore, Indonesia, and Australia. As of today, Quest for Space and its Partner Schools have launched a total of 138 student experiments to the ISS.

The launch in February will include the XinaBox experiment as a pilot to demonstrate cutting-edge technology of the XK92 xChips Xinaboxs latest kit developed for the ISS mission. Schools across the globe will be engaged to concurrently collect data, with their XK92 kit, for data analysis and interpretation on Earth. Student teams will compare their data with that recovered from the ISS XK92, upon its return to Earth on the SpaceX 20 mission.

While onboard the ISS, the XinaBox payload will collect various datasets ranging from temperature to humidity, pressure, volatile organic compounds, g-force and acceleration. The datasets will be stored on a SD card to be assessed once the experiments return to Earth after some weeks.

The XinaBox payload, just as other Quest for Space experiments, will independently carry out its research after it is unpacked, without requiring assistance from the astronauts on the ISS.

During the mission, schools and engineering clubs within the XinaBox ecosystem will develop and run mirror experiments using the XK92 xChips to collect and analyze data to be compared with the dataset on the SD card from the ISS.

Schools can record more data at the same time, which means that they are not only able to record their data and compare it with the data from the International Space Station, but they can also look at the data from other institutions that have conducted the experiment anywhere in the world, Bjarke Gotfredsen, the inventor and co-founder of XinaBox told Space in Africa.

The idea is to have students in a classroom mirror science experiments conducted on the International Space Station and experience the dream of collecting space data for scientific research, Judi Sandrock, co-founder of XinaBox, said, pointing out that they intend making available the ISS mission payload as a learning kit for schools to build upon.

We would like the students to come up with different ideas of what they could learn from the large selection of valuable data sets collected on the SD card while onboard the ISS. We are looking at the mission from a scientific inquiry perspective. This will spur students curiosity and enable schools to expand the outcomes of the research.

Commenting on how the mission aligns with the goals of the Quest for Space Program, Saldana said the program takes the student from the concept of their idea to the shipping of their final product through analyzing the experimental results upon its return. Students have hands-on experience specifying, designing, and building their one of a kind experiment by meeting defined milestones and presenting their design to NASA Safety for review.

Three things make the XinaBox xChips viable for many more schools around the world. One is that they dont need a lab to put it together. Two, the kit itself is not expensive compared to what people normally send to the International Space Station. Three, because it takes up so little space, it can be easily packaged together with the Quest for Space program. These three factors help to expand or open up space for many more schools, Gotfredsen said.

While the launch in February 2020 is a proof of concept for what Judi Sandrock believes is the first of many in the companys partnership with Quest for Space, it is important to point out that this is not XinaBoxs first orbit experience.

On 17 April 2019, the ThinSat Programme launched a constellation of 55 student picosatellites into space, using XinaBox as the payload to study weather conditions and carry out scientific experiments in Extreme Low Earth Orbits. XinaBox supplied the kits and content for building the picosatellites and supported sixteen schools in the Western Cape of South Africa that collectively developed one of the picosatellites.

Xinabox co-founders believe the new partnership between Quest for Space and XinaBox will broaden opportunities for schools in emerging regions, particularly in Africa, to send experiments to the ISS through the Quest for Space Program.

Judi said the Quest for Space Program is comparatively attractive to schools across the world, adding that the introduction of Xinabox will further lower the cost considerably because the XinaBox xChips take less space and energy.

We look forward to having Partner Schools from Africa and other parts of the world join our Quest for Space Programs, Saldana said.

All of the Quest for Space Lab Partner Schools are invited to attend and compete in the annual American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR) Conference student poster competition. The students prepare and present a poster on their experiment to the NASA Research Scientists, and the winners get cash prizes and an opportunity to present to and network with NASAs top research scientists.

The Quest for Space Lab educational research flight opportunity was made available to Valley Christian High School of San Jose, California, via a partnership with the Quest Institute for Quality Education, and by Space Tango who provides both the payload architecture and in-flight operations on the International Space Station.

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XinaBox, Quest for Space To Send Experiments To The International Space Station - Space in Africa

El Paso scientists team up for heart research project at the International Space Station – KVIA El Paso

EL PASO, Texas -- Biomedical research scientists from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso and The University of Texas at El Paso are partnering up to send "artificial mini-hearts" to the International Space Station to better understand how microgravity affects the function of the human heart.

The three-year project, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the space station's U.S. National Laboratory, brings together TTUHSC El Paso faculty scientist Munmun Chattopadhyay, Ph.D., and UTEP biomedical engineer Binata Joddar, Ph.D. The researchers will collaborate in their Earth-bound labs to create tiny (less than 1 millimeter thick) heart-tissue structures, known as cardiac organoids, using human stem cells and 3D bioprinting technology.

By exposing the organoids to the near-weightless environment of the orbiting space station, the researchers hope to gain a better understanding of a health condition known as cardiac atrophy, which is a reduction and weakening of heart tissue. Cardiac atrophy often affects astronauts who spend long periods of time in microgravity. A weakened heart muscle has difficulty pumping blood to the body, and can lead to problems such as fainting, irregular heartbeat, heart valve problems and even heart failure. Cardiac atrophy is also associated with chronic disease.

The first year of the project, which began in September, will focus on research design. During this phase, Dr. Joddar will use 3D printing to fabricate the cardiac organoids by coupling cardiac cells in physiological ratios to mimic heart tissue. The second year will be centered on preparing the organoid payload for a rocket launch and mission in space. The third and final year of the research will involve analyzing data from the experiment after the organoids are returned to Earth.

The project will also provide an educational opportunity for the El Paso community, with a workshop for K-12 students to learn about tissue engineering projects on the space station. It will also include a seminar for medical students, interns and residents about the benefits and challenges of transitioning research from Earth-based laboratories into space.

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El Paso scientists team up for heart research project at the International Space Station - KVIA El Paso

Which Fallout 76 Faction Is Cooler, The Crashed Space Station Or The Log Cabin? – Kotaku

Fallout 76s upcoming Wastelanders expansion will add two new faction settlements: settlers and raiders. One of these looks like a Lincoln Log fort while the other is made out of a crashed space station. Can you guess which one players are already gravitating towards?

Yesterday, Bethesda shared some screenshots of the two new locations and more information about the people living there. The settlers, led by Paige (the former head of the D.C. Construction Workers Union), are a hard-working, salt of the earth lot who have taken up refuge in Spruce Knob toward the southeastern part of the map. The raiders, meanwhile, have come back to Appalachia to take back territory theyve claimed for themselves before it falls into the hands of the settlers.

Their leader, Meg, looks like shes seen some shit out in the wasteland and probably isnt one for negotiating mutually beneficial deals. The crashed space station she and her gang call home is up in the northern edge of the map, and frankly it looks way more fun. Most raider camps tend to look like if your friend of a friends screamo band played their basement show inside of a scrapyard barbeque pit, but Megs looks like a sci-fi arcade.

In Wastelanders Im going to check out the settlers, wrote one person on Reddit. If they are blowing glass, making electronic components, making their own ceramics...Ill stay. But if its an entire camp of Sturges hammering at the same section of wall for months I think I have to go raider.

Sturges was a synth repairman from Fallout 4 who never did jack shit. Understandably, some players are worried that the big NPC update many are expecting to finally make Fallout 76 good will only repeat some of the last games more uninspired moments. Nothing beats protecting the innocent, but I do envy the raiders and their space station town, wrote another player.

The new characters, dialogue trees, quests, and romance options coming in the Wastelanders update will all be based in one of the two new settlements, with Bethesda heavily implying that a players reputation with one will hurt their reputation with the other, forcing them to choose one over the other.

Based on their sense of style and interior design, Im gonna have to go raiders on this one, despite my deep-rooted commitment to labor solidarity.

See original here:

Which Fallout 76 Faction Is Cooler, The Crashed Space Station Or The Log Cabin? - Kotaku

Gaganyaan, space station will pave way for continuous Indian presence in space: ISRO chief – The Hindu

Gaganyaan, the first Indian human space flight set for 2022, and a subsequent space station would pave the way for continuous Indian presence in space, K. Sivan, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space, said here on Wednesday.

The crewed space mission would also help to build a framework for long-term global partnerships that benefit society in many ways, he said at the inaugural of a three-day international symposium on human space flight.

Gaganyaan was not just an ISRO project. It was a national endeavour that involved numerous agencies, laboratories, disciplines, industries and departments. It was expected that new science will emerge from Gaganyaan and enhance our science and technology capabilities, Dr..Sivan told an international gathering of space experts, decision-makers, associated industries, astronauts and students.

One ISS [International Space Station] put up by multiple countries may not be enough. Regional ecosystems will be needed and Gaganyaan will focus on regional needs: food, water and energy security, he said.

From employment to security [food, energy and so on], most countries have similar goals, and these partnerships can help meet those goals. Benefits from possible spin-offs are aplenty, he observed.

The target of realising Gaganyaan by August 2022, he admitted, was challenging. However, ISRO already has the GSLV-MarkIII as a working launch vehicle. It had proven systems for re-entry and recovery of the crew capsule, space-qualified parachutes for safe descent of crew and was working on a comprehensive emergency escape system for astronauts. The missing systems, namely human life science and support system, are being developed now, he stated.

ISRO is getting four candidate astronauts from the Air Force to train in Russia and taking French assistance for training in their health upkeep during space travel.

K. Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, referred to the challenges of climate change that warranted coordinated global efforts. Space collaborations, he said, had shown the world how to tackle such international issues.

As for the critical area of life sciences that is important in a human flight, he said that many more studies were needed for a full understanding in spite of numerous astronaut missions.

Key officials from eight space agencies and five astronauts from five countries are in Bengaluru for the event that focusses on the challenges and future trends of human flights.

The symposium is organised by ISRO, the International Astronautical Association (IAA) and the Aeronautical Society of India.

Among the key participants are Joel Montalbano from NASA's ISS Program Office, director of Russian ROSCOSMOS's department of manned spaceflight Alexander Bykov, IAA Secretary General Jean-Michel Contant, French agency CNES's head of the launch vehicle directorate Jean-Marc Astorg, European Space Agency's inter-agency Coordinator Thomas Reiter, Japan Exploration and Space Agency's Director-General of Space flight Technology Shizuo Yamamoto and Romanian Space Agency CEO Marius-Ioan Piso.

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Gaganyaan, space station will pave way for continuous Indian presence in space: ISRO chief - The Hindu

Bear Robotics, a company making robot waiters, just raised a $32 million round led by SoftBank – TechCrunch

Back in August, we flagged a filing for you that we found interesting, one for a now 2.5-year-old, 40-person Redwood City, Calif.,-based startup called Bear Robotics thats been developing robots to deliver food to restaurant customers. The filing listed a $35.8 million target; Bear Robotics founder and CEO John Ha now tells us the final close, being announced today, was $32 million in Series A funding.

The round was led by SoftBank Group, whose other recent robotics bets include the currently beleaguered food truck company Zume and, as we reported yesterday, Berkshire Grey, a seven-year-old, Lexington, Mass.-based company that makes pick, pack and sorting robots for fulfillment centers and that just raised a whopping $263 million in Series B funding led by SoftBank.

Because we know youre interested in much more than Bear Robotics funding picture, we asked Ha a former Intel research scientist turned technical lead at Google who in recent years opened and closed his own restaurant to share more about the company and its robot servers.

TC: You were an engineer at Google. Why then start your own restaurant?

JH: Its not like I had a dream of having a restaurant; it was more of an investment. It sounded fun, but it didnt turn out to be fun. What I was really shocked by was how much hard work is involved and how low [employees] income is. I felt [as I was forced to close it] that this was going to be my lifes work to transform the restaurant industry with the skills I have. I wanted to remove the hard work and the repetitive tasks so that humans can focus on the truly human side, the hospitality. At restaurants, youre selling food and service, but most of your time is spent dealing with hiring people and people not showing up, and I suspect our product will change [the equation].

TC: How did you come up with the first idea or iteration of the robot youve created, that youre calling Penny?

JH: First, me and my restaurant staff constantly discussed, If we have this robot, what would it look like and what capacity and features would it need? I knew it couldnt be too big; robots have to be able to move well in narrow spaces. We also focused on the right capacity. And we didnt want to make a robotic restaurant. I wanted to build a robot that no one really cares about; its just in the background, sort of like R2-D2 to Luke Skywalker. Its a sidekick a bland robot with a weak personality to get things done for your master.

TC Lets talk parts. How are these things built?

JH: Its self-driving tech thats been adopted for indoor space, so it can safely navigate from Point A to Point B. A server puts the food on Penny, and it finds a way to get to the table. It has a two-wheel differential drive, plus casters. Its pretty safe. A lot of similar-looking robots have blind spots, but ours doesnt. It can detect baby hands on the floor even something as thin as a wallet thats fallen from someones table.

Were not using robot arms because its very difficult to make it 100% safe when you have arms in a crowded space. The material its going to be plastic is safe and easy to clean and able to work with the sanitizers and detergents used in restaurants. Weve also had to make sure the wheels wont accumulate food waste, because that would cause issues with the health department.

TC: So this isnt out in the world yet.

JH: We havent entered the mass-manufacturing phase yet.

TC: Where will these be built, and how will you charge for them?

JH: Theyll be made somewhere in Asia maybe China or some other country. And we havent figured out pricing yet but restaurants will be leasing these, not buying them, and there will be a monthly subscription fee that they are paying for a white-glove service, so they dont have to worry about maintenance or support.

TC: How customizable are these Penny robots going to be? Are there different tiers of service?

JH: Penny can be configured into several modes. The default is [for it to hold] three trays, so it can carry food to a table or a server can use it for busing help.

TC: Will it address the customers?

JH: Penny can speak and play sound, but its not conversational yet. It can say, Please take your food, or play music while its moving. Thats where customers may want to personalize the robot for their own purposes.

TC: Ultimately, the idea is for this to be sold where just restaurants?

JH: Wherever food is served, so its being tested right now in some restaurants, casinos, some homes. [Im sure well add] nursing homes, too.

Read more from the original source:

Bear Robotics, a company making robot waiters, just raised a $32 million round led by SoftBank - TechCrunch

The robotics revolution – Daily Sentinel

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. Rainy Saturday mornings and malfunctioning elevators did not stop Roosevelt Elementary students from making school history in the Marshall University Vex IQ Qualifier.

The students participated in their first tournament with the newly formed robotics team, Robocats, last weekend. They are the only Vex robotics elementary team in Mason County.

Roosevelts team consists of 14 fourth through sixth graders and is led by Sarah Starcher, special education teacher and now, robotics coach.

This is Starchers first time leading a robotics team. She said she had heard about the program from a friend and was immediately interested.

I have a friend that has people who do this in Kanawha County, Starcher said. We need something like that in Mason County, so I kind of dove into it headfirst. I was, like, this is something Im going to try and so far, its been really great. The kids love it, I love it.

For some students, the team is putting everything they like together into competitive form.

I like science and I like robots, said Ryan Matheny, sixth grader. The robot pieces look a lot like Legos, and I like Legos.

Participants had the opportunity to build their own robot, as well as learn how to code the programming needed for it to run. The Vex competition allows them to put that knowledge to practice.

Students come to compete and there are five different awards-design, excellence, teamwork challenge and driving skills, Starcher said.

They drive in an alliance, Starcher added. So were paired with other schools, and they are scoring as many points as they can in one minute. They also have a chance to drive, just two driver team and score as many points as they can, thats their driving skills. The students have also coded the robot to drive autonomously by itself and they get one minute to see how many points their robot can score by itself just from their coded program.

Despite a rocky lunch where a few students found themselves stuck in an elevator, sixth grader Reghan Cossin did not let it put a damper on her excitement for the day.

I really like engineering and I really like science, so whenever they said they were going to have a robotics team, I was like, Absolutely. I need the paper, I need to fill it out, I turned it in the first day, Cossin said.

Cossin shared her excitement and how it is more than just building a robot

Theres a lot of bumps in the road on the way to a goal. Like the counselor in our school has always said that, Cossin said. But really weve changed our design like seven times. There was a lot of technical difficulties, but we got it and were doing pretty good.

While Roosevelt is an elementary team, the challenge paired them up with various students from fourth through eighth grade.

Everybody has been super nice; the kids have made new friends. Another team brought them bracelets. Starcher said. Theyve been talking strategy, like what their robot can do and what it cant and how they can work together to score the most points.

Both of Roosevelts teams qualified for finals in the competitions and left taking home second and third place overall rankings.

Funding for the program has come from various grants Starcher has applied for, fundraising, and community sponsors.

Starcher is hoping to continue the program next year, as well as expand it.

Kids werent really sure what this was this year, Starcher explained. Theyre seeing it at school, and theyre interested in it.

I did get a grant through the Rick and Tanya Handley Charitable Fund. They have provided me with some smaller robots. Its not Vex, but its Sphero robots and its called a Dash Robot. Those are geared more for younger kids, Starcher explained. So, Im going to work collaboratively with teachers at school in first and second grade. Were going to have them start doing some different activities. So theyll just start the basic foundations of coding and programming.

The team is working on their next fundraiser, but are always appreciative of donations.

Each competition has a fee, but where I have two teams, both teams are charged for competition. Theres a couple that are free that we are going to, Starcher said. Ive filled out some grants and were planning on more fundraisers too just to keep funding in our account that way we have the money there. Sometimes we find out we need more parts than what we have and we have to order them.

To contribute to the Robocats, contact Roosevelt Elementary school.

Pictured are members of the Robocats team and staff, including, back row, from left, Dixie Oliver, Gabriella King, Madison Farley, Reghan Cossin, Abigail Oliver, Sarah Starcher, Ryan Matheny; front row, from left, Shelly Durst, Levi Legg, Rilie Wamsley, Layland Maynor, Mason Barnette, Hadleigh Cossin, Claire Thompson.

Pictured are scenes from the Marshall University Vex IQ Qualifier, where Roosevelt Elementary students made school history by competing as team Robocats. Roosevelts team consists of 14 fourth through sixth graders and is led by Sarah Starcher, special education teacher and now, robotics coach. Both of Roosevelts teams qualified for finals in the competitions and left taking home second and third place overall rankings.

Pictured are scenes from the Marshall University Vex IQ Qualifier, where Roosevelt Elementary students made school history by competing as team Robocats. Roosevelts team consists of 14 fourth through sixth graders and is led by Sarah Starcher, special education teacher and now, robotics coach. Both of Roosevelts teams qualified for finals in the competitions and left taking home second and third place overall rankings.

Pictured are scenes from the Marshall University Vex IQ Qualifier, where Roosevelt Elementary students made school history by competing as team Robocats. Roosevelts team consists of 14 fourth through sixth graders and is led by Sarah Starcher, special education teacher and now, robotics coach. Both of Roosevelts teams qualified for finals in the competitions and left taking home second and third place overall rankings.

Pictured are scenes from the Marshall University Vex IQ Qualifier, where Roosevelt Elementary students made school history by competing as team Robocats. Roosevelts team consists of 14 fourth through sixth graders and is led by Sarah Starcher, special education teacher and now, robotics coach. Both of Roosevelts teams qualified for finals in the competitions and left taking home second and third place overall rankings.

Pictured are scenes from the Marshall University Vex IQ Qualifier, where Roosevelt Elementary students made school history by competing as team Robocats. Roosevelts team consists of 14 fourth through sixth graders and is led by Sarah Starcher, special education teacher and now, robotics coach. Both of Roosevelts teams qualified for finals in the competitions and left taking home second and third place overall rankings.

Roosevelt Robocats take on Vex Robotic Challenge

Brittany Hively is a freelance writer for Ohio Valley Publishing and graduate of Marshall University, with a bachelors degree in public relations and journalism. She is currently working towards her MBA, also at Marshall. Reach her at hayes100@marshall.edu.

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The robotics revolution - Daily Sentinel

Raising the bar in Robotics: Liverpool Central School District hosts first competition for middle school students – WSYR

Posted: Jan 25, 2020 / 06:39 PM EST / Updated: Jan 25, 2020 / 06:39 PM EST

LIVERPOOL, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) Robotics have been an important part of the Liverpool Central School Districts curriculum for years, and this year, they organized a robotics competition for their middle schoolers!

Anika Keysor is only in 8th grade at Soule Road Middle School, but robotics are helping her get a head start on her future career as an aspiring computer engineer.

Shes only been pursuing robotics since the beginning of the school year.

Its amazing. Its fantastic to be a part of something so new and help it develop, Keysor said.

Since 1998, Liverpool Central School District has been hosting robotics competitions for its high school students.

The first VEX IQ middle school focused competition was held at the Soule Road Middle School, and 18 teams spread across New York State attended.

It gives kids the ability to problem solve using STEM skills, science, technology, engineering and math to be able to problem solve through a game design challenge and try and figure out how theyre going to compete to win the overall competition, said Matt Starke, Technology and Engineering Educator at Liverpool Central School District.

But how does the competition work?

Every team today is going to have 8 matches. Those 8 matches, theyre going to try to score as many points as they possibly can, Starke explained.

From there, scores were averaged together and ranked 1 to 18. Teams then chose an alliance team to partner with as they head into another round of competing. This challenge was similar to a March Madness style, as teams were eliminated one by one.

Not only were there 2 competition fields at the front of the room, there were practice fields for teams to fix any mechanical errors in between competitions.

However, its not just about high scores and championships. The biggest takeaway are the skills students acquire as they head into their future careers.

Maybe I went into engineering and thats awesome, but maybe I just learned how to work together, how to communicate with adults and how to communicate with other studentsall those natural skills that you need to learn, they take away from this as well, said Starke.

Saturday morning, students like Anika realized just how important teamwork is.

Were all balancing each other out and were making it better, so its not as much competition as were all teamwork, said Keysor.

Teams were either trying to win the competition or score well enough to qualify for state championships.

Heres a list of Saturdays winners:

iDesign Solutions, a Central New York based company, sponsored and attended the competition. It gave students a look at the new products and hands-on STEM experiences.

Win or lose, students put all of their skills to the test!

For more local news, follow Adrienne Smith onTwitter @AdrienneSmithTV

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Raising the bar in Robotics: Liverpool Central School District hosts first competition for middle school students - WSYR