Monthly Archives: February 2017

There are two options for controlling a robot inside of the human body: Either you try and build some sort of intricate and tiny robot submarine with self contained propulsion and navigation, which would be really really hard to do, or you just make the robot with a tiny bit of something that responds to magnetic fields, and control it externally with some big magnets. The latter approach is vastly less complicated, but it has one major drawback, which is that its very hard to manage multiple robots.

Heres the problem: Magnetic fields, being fields, arent easily constrained to specific areas. Realistically, if youre using something like a clinical MRI scanner to create a magnetic field, whatever gradient you give the field will affect everything inside of the MRI, whether youve got one single microbot or a vast swarm of them. If you want two different robots to do two different things, youre out of luck.

One potential way of getting around this is by making each of your robots slightly different, such that consistent control inputs have inconsistent effects on each robot. But for homogenous robots, its much more difficult. In a paper published today in Science Robotics, researchers from Philips, in Hamburg, Germany,describe a technique that can use magnetic fields to selectively actuate individual microbots, or individual components of a robot, even if theyre all made of the same stuff and located within the same field.

Please enjoy this utterly charming explanatory video from the researchers:

Coooool.

Heres how it works: The global magnetic field inside of the device has a hole in it, called a free field point (FFP), where multiple magnetic fields (each generated by a separate coil) meet up. Inside of the FFP, the magnetic field gradient is low. This doesnt help you move things, but it does help you not move things, because you can lock everything that isnt in the FFP in place by cranking up the field gradient. Then, you apply a gentle rotating magnetic field, which spins anything inside of the FFP and not locked down. By moving the FFP around, you can select which things are lockedand which things are free to rotate.

In this case, the lock is the screws being tilted sideways by the field such that they cant rotate, while the FFP is a region of zero tilt, meaning that the screws can rotate freely. The hardware used in this study was able to individually actuate screws as close together as 3 millimeters.

The researchers suggest a whole bunch of different ways in which this technique could be of practical, immediate use:

One class of applications is based on mechanisms driven by several screws that are controlled individually. In orthopedics, this could be implants, whose shape can be adapted to the healing process. In applications such as limb lengthening or early-onset scoliosis, a mechanism based on several controllable screws may offer higher flexibility in extendible prostheses or growth rods. In addition, the approach can be useful in microfluidics, where simple and tiny magnetic pumps and valves may be envisioned that can be individually actuated without an electrical or mechanical link.

Another class of applications is related to simple micromachines for local therapy delivery, such as remote-controlled drug release from a distribution of injectable magnetic micropills. Remotely switchable radioactive seeds are a special case of this class. Switchable seeds would enable the use of sources with longer half-life or higher dose rates because the radiation can be switched off after the desired dose has been applied. Besides, migrating seeds ending up too close to healthy tissue or sensitive organs could be switched off.

Using a helically slotted shield, directional seeds with remotely adjustable radiation direction could be built. These would allow further improvements in dose painting and sparing of healthy tissue. In addition, magnetic manipulation has been shown to be scalable to the micrometer regime. Using a catheter, seeds of this size could be discharged into the bloodstream of a tumor-feeding artery so that they are carried into the tumor and embolize small vessels. After localization via imaging, only seeds that ended up in the tumor would be activated remotely.

[ Paper ]

IEEE Spectrum's award-winning robotics blog, featuring news, articles, and videos on robots, humanoids, drones, automation, artificial intelligence, and more. Contact us:e.guizzo@ieee.org

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Read more here:

Magnetic Control Could Help Robots Navigate Inside Your Body - IEEE Spectrum

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Immokalee High School Robotics Team seniors Kristian Trevino, left, and Jenni Villa prepare their robots for Friday's state robotics competition on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017. The VEX Robotics Competition takes place Friday in Tampa. (Photo: Dorothy Edwards/Naples Daily News)Buy Photo

It hasbeen almost two years since Immokalee High senior Kristian Trevino, 18, traded his baseball glove for a robot controller, but he hasnever looked back.

Were not doing suicides (physical conditioning drills) or running around the field here at robotics, but were using our minds twenty-four seven, he said.

The former second baseman and current captain of the Immokalee High robotics team has helped lead his team to the VEX Robotics state championships that will take place Friday in Tampa.

The team, only in itssecond year, has qualified two robots: Megazord and Dragonzord, named after the forces made famous by the "Power Rangers" TVshow. Each robot is built and controlled by a team of three students.

The young engineers have been meeting for hours each day after class since the start of the school year. One night they stayed so late the janitor almost locked them in.

They average 20 to 25 hours per week working on these robots, and they spend their free time watching videos of other robots, said Fred Rimmler, an engineering teacher and robotics coach at Immokalee. Theyve blown me away.

Immokalee High School Robotics Team senior Kristian Trevino prepares his robot for Friday's state robotics competition on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017. The VEX Robotics Competition takes place Friday in Tampa. (Photo: Dorothy Edwards/Naples Daily News)

The bots will compete as separate teams against 55 others at the Florida Fairgroundsfor the title of state champion and a chance to qualify for the world competition in Louisville, Kentucky,in April.

The bots will enter a 12-foot-by-12-footplaying field, split down the middle, and compete to see how many toy stars and cubes each can throw over to the other side within the allotted two minutes.

The robots, driven by a team member through a game controller, can win bonus points for climbing onto a corner post and for driving autonomously.

Students gain more than just knowledge about mechanics the games are social. After the first round, teams pair up with each other to compete in groups of three.

You have to be very strategic, Rimmler said. "You have to havea good understanding of the engineering and design side of things, but you also have to know how to make friends."

Rimmler and his students said it was a difficult task to find partners at first, but after winning the regional competition in Miami, other teams have begun seeking them to askwhether theyd be willing to join forces.

At the beginning of the year, I didnt think this was going to happen, but now our robots at a whole new level, said Damian Gonzalez-Perez, 17, the captain and driver of Megazord.

Immokalee High School Robotics Team senior Kristian Trevino prepares his robot for Friday's state robotics competition on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017. The VEX Robotics Competition takes place Friday in Tampa. (Photo: Dorothy Edwards/Naples Daily News)

The engineering masterpiece hasgone through five full redesigns since the start of the year.

Weve built a really aggressive offensive robot. Nobody knew us before, but now when we go to other cities to compete, were known as Immokalee, and its a prideful thing.

For Jennifer Villa, 18, the only girl on the team, the male-dominated competitions have taught her to take initiative. She said she used to feel stigmatized by boys who assumed she wasnt as smart as they were.

The girls are always seen as the pretty ones and the dainty ones. she said. Ive learned to put myself out there more. My team sees the work I put in, and I dont ever feel less than them.

Reporter Annika Hammerschlag will join Megazord and Dragonzord on their quest for glory, beginning at 11 a.m. Friday. Follow her updates on Twitter @a_hammerschlag.

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Immokalee High team set for robotics state championships Friday in Tampa - Naples Daily News

Northeastern State University College of Education recently received national recognition for a robotics academy that is the only one of its kind in the United States, according to a media release.

The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education will include NSUs Robotics Academy of Critical Engagement, or RACE, in the associations Innovation Inventory as a part of its Innovations Exchange.

As part of this recognition, the RACE module will be highlighted during AACTEs new Gallery to Showcase at its annual meeting on March 2-3 in Tampa, Fla. NSU faculty will showcase the module to educators from around the United States in an interactive, question-and-answer format. In addition, NSUs RACE will be featured on AACTEs Innovations Exchange website for a full year.

Within NSUs Robotics Academy of Critical Engagement, all teacher candidates are required to complete a robotics module in their emerging technology class. Future teachers use a variety of coding methods to program robots as a team and get a hands-on look at how students learn.

Students learn in different ways; they have different ways of approaching a task, and this models that for them, said Dr. Debbie Landry, dean of the College of Education.

Landry leads the program with College of Education faculty members Barbara Fuller, Dr. Allyson Watson, Dr. Vanessa Anton and Dr. Cindi Fries.

While working with the robots, teacher candidates learn communication, collaboration, problem-solving and critical thinking.

The College of Education also takes the program into the community to teach local teachers how to use robotics in the classroom.

Everything we do here is focused on improving the quality of instruction for our candidates, but were also always looking to the impact on the student in the K-12 classroom and this program does that, Landry said.

The programalsohas had an international impact. Students from NSU have traveled to Haiti three times and Vienna to share RACE in Haitian public schools and international private schools. The students have mentored students, teachers and parents in robotics.

Landry said NSU sponsored the first all-girl robotics team from Haiti. That team received a special invitation to compete at the world championship in 2016 and earned an invitation to return to the championship in 2017. The country of Haiti now has three participating schools and six individual teams within their schools.

Landry said the RACE module is modeled after a similar program she observed in Taiwan. While on a trip with teacher candidates several years ago, she realized that robotics plays a much larger role in preparing teachers for the classroom in Asian countries.

When she returned to Tahlequah, she started working to incorporate robotics in teacher training at NSU. Through a partnership with the Cherokee Nation, the RACE program began in 2013. In 2014, the program was able to add the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation as a partner.

Information: (918) 444-3739 or roboticsacademy@nsuok.edu.

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NSU College of Education honored for robotics - Muskogee Daily Phoenix

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Mukwonago FIRST Robotics Competition Team 930 members (from left) Owen Goodland, Miriam Huerta, and AJ Magestro work on the team's robot on Feb. 13. The competition build season ends Feb. 21 then teams make final preparations for regional competition. Team 930 will compete in the Wisconsin Regional in Milwaukee and the Seven Rivers Regional in LaCrosse.(Photo: Carol Spaeth-Bauer/Now Media Group)

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition

FIRST Robotics CompetitionTeam 930 from Mukwonago is bigger this year than in most years, with about 40 students on the team, but the challenges of designing, building and programming a robot in six weeks are the same.

Work on the competition robot ends on Feb. 21, when the robot is wrapped up and sealed, not to be touched again until the team competes in the Wisconsin Regional from March 22 - 25 at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panther Arena. After that the team won't have access to the robot until the Seven Rivers Regional in LaCrosse from April 12 - 15.

In their last week, the pace will be fast as team members fine-tune and modify the robot and the code to reach optimal performance. The Charger Robotics mini-regional Feb. 19 will serve as a good testing ground, where the robot and drive team get a taste of how they will perform at regional competition.

Team 930 mentor Greg Billetdeaux said he likes the 2017 FRC challenge, FIRST Steamworks, where teams get to shoot an infinite number of balls, as many as robots can carry, especially during the autonomous portion of the game.

FIRST Steamworks is a game based on an "era where steam power reigns," where "two adventurers' clubs" are challenged to "prepare their airships for a long distance race," according to the game overview on firstinspires.org.

In the game, two alliances made up of three robotics teams each build steam pressure by collecting fuel (balls), start rotors by delivering gears to their pilots, and prepare for flight by hanging onto the "airship" before takeoff, according to the game overview on the FIRST website. Points are scored during the 15-second autonomous period when the robot operates only on pre-programmed instructions. Student drivers take over for the remaining two minutes and 15 seconds of the game, working with teams on the alliance to collect as many points as possible before the end of the match.

Team 930 started out filling gaps created after a number of seniors graduated from the team.

"I think so far the new kids have filled those roles pretty well," Billetdeaux said.

As he talked, students were fine-tuning the shooter, trying to gain accuracy to collect as many points as possible during the autonomous mode.

Directing much of that work as the project managerwas Mukwonago High School junior Miriam Huerta who joined the team as a freshman. Usually Huerta was in the trenches designing or building the robot, but as project manager, she found herself doing less of that type of work.

"My biggest role is to integrate to make sure we are all on the same page, basically me talking to every single person on the team to see how we're doing, where we're going," said Huerta.

Huerta likes to foster that feeling of teamwork, one of the first core values she learned in FIRST when joining FIRST Lego League (FLL) in elementary school.

"I definitely like to have a team that feels comfortable with each other, with their work, and as people in general," Huerta added.

When Huerta was in seventh grade at Park View Middle School, the school started a roboticsprogram using the VEX programing language as part of the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) curriculum, which fueled her interest in robotics.

Aside from being a "really cool experience," robotics taught Huerta how to be assertive. She went from a shy, quiet FLL participant where other kids talked during presentations, to being one of the main speakers for Team 930. She gained confidence and learned leadership skills.

"This experience has helped me foster a leadership position and to see the benefits of trying to provide everyone with that support so that they too can feel like they have some power and position in the team," Huerta explained. "That can make a difference."

She likes being able to work on a team to accomplish a common goal, working with peers on something that is bigger than everyone involved.

Jacob Henrichs, a senior at Mukwonago High School, also learned leadership skills during his years on the team. As a freshman he learned how to design in computer-assisted designand how to make things. As the mechanical lead this year, he directs and supervises team members, allowing them to learn because "they have to continue on for the next few seasons."

Henrichs said it can be challenging trying to accomplish everything in a build season, but not so challenging so that"you can still do a lot." The hardest part has been staying focused during the long hours of a six-week build season and inter-team communication.

"It's difficult to get all the stuff done on time while still trying to have fun doing it," Henrichs pointed out.

Henrichs plans to attend UW-Platteville for mechanical engineering. Huerta has aspirations of attending Princeton University to study mechanical engineering with UW-Madison as a backup.

That's the biggest reason for the FIRST Roboitcs Competitionprogram, Billetdeaux said to prepare students for college and the real world.

While FRC team members work with their peers toward a common goal, the part that's bigger than all of them are the skills they will take into the world to build a better future for all.

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Mukwonago robotics Team 930 steams ahead to competition - Lake Country Now

Microsoft is sharing some interesting tools with the open source community today. Developers and researchers will be able to take advantage of a new simulator that will let people test and train robots and drones in a virtual environment to prepare them for moving around the real world. A beta version of Microsofts research tool is being made available free of charge on GitHub today through an open source license. Its just the latest in a line of tools and software that Microsoft has made available to the open source community in recent years.

While some simulators have existed to help test drone paths and prepare devices for autonomous operations, Microsoft claims its latest tool is far more advanced, and more accurately reflects the navigation challenges of the real world. Engineers are already exploring the possibility of training real-life action in virtual worlds, retrofitting games like GTA for this task. You can even test AI creations in Minecraft. Microsoft is using the latest photorealistic technologies, so its simulator will let you guide a drone over a realistic setting with shadows and reflections.

You can do a lot of experiments, and even if those experiments fail they have very little cost in real life, explains Ashish Kapoor, the Microsoft researcher in charge of the project, in an interview with The Verge. In the real world it's extremely hard to explore all possible things, however in simulation we have the luxury of trying out many different things.

It's more than just crashing drones

Developers will be able to generate random environments and crash drones accordingly, but Microsoft isnt going to limit this to just autonomous vehicles. The initial release of the tool, that Kapoor admits is in its early days, will be geared towards any kind of autonomous vehicles, but Kapoor believes it will even be able to help with computer vision or even other data-driven machine learning systems in the future.

You can think of this as being a data generator, explains Kapoor. If you have any kind of sensor, like a barometer or even maybe say a laser or a radar, you can generate a lot of training data for any of these sensing modalities. You can generate data that you can in turn use to train.

This idea of gathering training data is essential for researchers to build the algorithms required for autonomous vehicles to respond the correct way. This simulator isnt designed to replace real-world testing, but it will be used alongside that testing to replicate scenarios hundreds or thousands of times.

Microsofts Aerial Informatics and Robotics Platform includes support for DJI and MavLink drones, so developers dont have to write separate code to control these drones. Microsoft is planning to add more tools to the platform in the future to help developers build perception abilities and progress the safety of AI-powered autonomous vehicles. You can find Microsofts simulator and tools over at the companys GitHub repository.

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Microsoft lets you crash drones and robots in its new real world ... - The Verge

Molokai Robotics Program receives $10,000 from ASB.

American Savings Bank has invested $10,000 in the Molokai Robotics Program, expanding the programs reach to local high school students.

Currently, the Molokai Robotics Program serves only Molokai Middle School. ASBs $10,000 grant is instrumental in expanding this critical program to ensure continued education and hands-on experience in robotics and STEM for Molokai youth, grades 6-12.

The Molokai Robotics Program provides students opportunities to interact with hardware and software including VEX robotics, computer assisted design, computer science, Google Suite Android operating system app development and digital media.

The program stresses 21st century skills such as teamwork, critical thinking, collaboration and creativity. Once operational, the high school program will allow for continuity from middle school through high school and provide additional opportunities for students to advance their STEM skills and knowledge.

At ASB, we look for opportunities to support innovative educational programs and to provide Hawaiis students with valuable skills that will help drive our economy, said Rich Wacker, president and CEO, American Savings Bank. The Molokai Robotics Program meets all these criteria and more, providing the islands youth with 21st century skills that will allow students to reach great new heights in the classroom and beyond.

In the expanded Molokai Robotics Program, teachers, volunteers and students will closely collaborate to learn from the successes of the middle school program and instill best practices into the new high school program.

I am excited to have the chance to continue being a part of the Molokai Robotics Program in high school, said Maria Angst, an incoming freshman at Molokai High School. I love building robots and designing apps, and I cant wait to take what I learned about STEM in middle school and continue to advance in high school.

ASB made the grant to the Kinaole Foundation whose mission is to educate, advance, and promote the economic development of the people of Hawaii through educational and business development activities and programs, with Native Hawaiians as the principal beneficiary.

In 2013, the Kinaole Foundation launched a STEM program at Molokai Middle School that resulted in the creation of a VEX IQ Robotics program. The program currently has three teams, Team Kalo, Team Menehune and Team Naiwa.

The teams have competed in and won multiple state tournaments, including placing first in 2014, second place in 2015 and first place in 2016. The teams were recognized at the VEX Robotics World Championship competitions in 2014 and 2016. In February 2017, the teams will compete in the Hawaii VEX IQ State Middle School Championship on Oahu.

ASB supports initiatives that promote educational excellence, strengthen families and foster economic growth through donations, sponsorships, grants and scholarships. More than just financial giving, ASB is committed to giving time, work, best ideas and leadership to causes that are important to the health and well-being of Hawaii.

ASBs Seeds of Service teammate volunteer program encourages support of community service projects at all levels to benefit school and nonprofit organizations in neighborhoods on each island. Through Seeds of Service, ASB has donated 22,000 hours of volunteer service and millions of dollars to worthy causes statewide.

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American Savings Bank Invests $10K in Moloka'i Robotics - Maui Now

HELENA Two local robotics teams will represent Montana at the super-regionals competition in Tacoma, Wash. in March.

The two teams, X-team Robotics and Fusion Robotics recently took first and second place respectively at the first tech challenge in Bozeman.

Consisting of both high school and middle school students, the two teams from Helena will compete against teams from eleven other states for a chance to represent the U.S. at the world championship.

The teams recently had a chance to show off their creations to community members and got a surprise visit from Governor Steve Bullock.

Both the coaches and the governor said they couldnt be more proud and impressed by the teams creativity.

Ean Berg the X-Team Coach said, Its fun going to the competitions. You see what kids come up with and itll just amaze you sometimes because youre like wow thats really thinking outside the box.

Democrat Governor Steve Bullock of Montana said, These are kids who are rock stars in all of the schools throughout Helena. And theyre applying creative genius, solving problems in ways that they can teach all of us grown-ups quite a bit.

As for the teams, they said they had a blast working with each other on this project. Win or lose theyre just honored to be able to represent Montana.

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Local robotics teams represent Montana at super-regionals competition - KTVH

Bradenton Herald

Last year they were 14th in the world. Now Braden River students resume quest for robotics dominance. Bradenton Herald Benedicto is headed to the Florida State High School VEX Robotics Competition Championship on Friday, where he and his Braden River teammates will compete with 67 other teams from around the state. At stake are 26 spots for the world competition, ... and more »

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Last year they were 14th in the world. Now Braden River students resume quest for robotics dominance. - Bradenton Herald