Daily Archives: March 23, 2017

New wave of robots set to deliver the goods

The robots of the future will be coming soon, rolling along at a lumbering pace with those goods you just ordered.

An artificial muscle using rubber tubing is extremely powerful but lightweight, with strong resistance to impact and vibration, allowing for the most compact and energy efficient tough robots ever created. Researchers expect ...

Robots about the size of a beer cooler could soon be rolling down Virginia sidewalks to deliver sandwiches, groceries or packages.

Simulation is a valuable tool to improve the energy efficiency of machines and it is now being used to analyze and optimize soft robotic systems to increase their utility, as described in an article published in Soft Robotics, ...

Social pedestrian navigation, such as walking down a crowded sidewalk, is something humans take for granted, but the actual process is quite sophisticated especially if you're a robot.

An open-source 3D-printed fingertip that can 'feel' in a similar way to the human sense of touch has won an international Soft Robotics competition for its contribution to soft robotics research.

Commercializing a new, innovative product is often the greatest challenge across the research and development landscape, as is evident in the failed attempt to bring jamming-based robotic gripper technology to market. The ...

Flat, orange robots glide under stationary cars and ferry them to empty Chinese parking bays, using space more efficiently and, their creators say, reducing driver stress.

The unstoppable rise of robots in our everyday lives requires urgent EU rules such as "kill switches", European Parliament members warned Thursday as they passed a resolution urging Brussels into action on automaton ethics.

A simple, linear robot is easy to control. With known goals and a clear understanding of variables, a controller tells the robot the rules to follow. If button A is pressed, for example, the robot picks up an item from the ...

"Jia Jia" can hold a simple conversation and make specific facial expressions when asked, and her creator believes the eerily life-like robot heralds a future of cyborg labour in China.

A robot developed by engineers in Taiwan can pour coffee and move chess pieces on a board against an opponent, but he's looking for a real job.

Professor Einstein rolls his eyes, sticks out his tongue, and can give a simple explanation of the theory of relativity. With his lifelike rubbery "skin" and bushy mustache, he can almost make you forget he's a robot.

While merrily chirping, dancing and posing for selfies, a robot named Pepper looks like another expensive toy at a San Francisco mall. But don't dismiss it as mere child's play.

Thirty of the world's top scientists are scheduled to meet at the University of California at San Diego in February to discuss the toughest challenges in robotics and automation, including how to make driverless cars safe ...

A giant South Korean-built manned robot that walks like a human but makes the ground shake under its weight has taken its first baby steps.

Think your office is too cluttered for a robot to deal with? New research from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm shows how robots can autonomously 'learn' their way around a dynamic human environment.

Sex with robots is "just around the corner", an expert told a global conference in London this week featuring interactive sex toys and discussions on the ethics of relationships with humanoids.

The Central Intelligence Agency is able to permanently infect an Apple Mac computer so that even reinstalling the operating system will not erase the bug, according to documents published Thursday by WikiLeaks.

(Phys.org)In 1912, chemist Walther Nernst proposed that cooling an object to absolute zero is impossible with a finite amount of time and resources. Today this idea, called the unattainability principle, is the most widely ...

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have identified cell surface markers specific for the very earliest stem cells in the human embryo. These cells are thought to possess great potential for replacing damaged tissue but ...

A group of scientists in Israel and Germany, led by Prof. Sebastian Kadener from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, have discovered a protein-encoding function for circular RNA. This kind of RNA molecule is highly active ...

Researchers have generated the first immortalised cell lines which allow more efficient manufacture of red blood cells.

The parasite that causes deadly sleeping sickness has its own biological clock that makes it more vulnerable to medications during the afternoon, according to international research that may help improve treatments for one ...

Hydrogen is both the simplest and the most-abundant element in the universe, so studying it can teach scientists about the essence of matter. And yet there are still many hydrogen secrets to unlock, including how best to ...

An outstanding conundrum on what happens to the laser energy after beams are fired into plasma has been solved in newly-published research at the University of Strathclyde.

(Phys.org)A team of astronomers led by Krzysztof Heminiak of the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center in Toru, Poland, has investigated an interesting bright quintuple stellar system in which each of the stars is ...

Pushing the limits of the largest single-aperture millimeter telescope in the world, and coupling it with gravitational lensing, University of Massachusetts Amherst astronomer Alexandra Pope and colleagues report that they ...

You probably haven't given much thought to how you chew, but the jaw structure and mechanics of almost all modern mammals may have something to do with why we're here today. In a new paper published this week in Scientific ...

Drips are the bane of every wine drinker's existence. He or she uncorks a bottle of wine, tips it toward the glass, and a drop, or even a stream, runs down the side of the bottle. Sure, you could do what sommeliers in restaurants ...

Australian National University biologists have found the first evidence of mass extinction of Australian animals caused by a dramatic drop in global temperatures 35 million years ago.

Ravens have impressive cognitive skills when interacting with conspecifics comparable to many primates, whose social intelligence has been related to their life in groups. An international collaboration of researchers ...

(Phys.org)A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in Hong Kong and mainland China has isolated a change in a single nucleotide that is responsible for allowing the H7N9 flu virus to replicate in both ...

Scientists in Germany flipped the switch Thursday on what's being described as "the world's largest artificial sun," a device they hope will help shed light on new ways of making climate-friendly fuels.

The ability to deliver cargo like drugs or DNA into cells is essential for biological research and disease therapy but cell membranes are very good at defending their territory. Researchers have developed various methods ...

Researchers from the UK and China have found that living birds have a more crouched leg posture than their ancestors, who are generally thought to have moved with straighter limbs similar to those of humans. The study, published ...

One of our planet's few exposed lava lakes is changing, and artificial intelligence is helping NASA understand how.

Normally, bare metal sliding against bare metal is not a good thing. Friction will destroy pistons in an engine, for example, without lubrication.

(Phys.org)A team of researchers with members from Sweden and the U.K. has found that female guppies with larger than average brains preferred to mate with males that were more colorful than average compared to smaller ...

Alkaloid-based pharmaceuticals derived from plants can be potent treatments for a variety of illnesses. But getting these powerful therapeutic agents from plants can take a long time and cost plenty of money, because it often ...

Engineers from the University of Glasgow, who have previously developed an 'electronic skin' covering for prosthetic hands made from graphene, have found a way to use some of graphene's remarkable physical properties to use ...

A California State University, Fullerton faculty-student study shows evidence of abrupt sinking of the wetlands near Seal Beach, Calif., caused by ancient earthquakes that shook the area at least three times in the past 2,000 ...

Consider that the Earth is just a giant cosmic dust bunnya big bundle of debris amassed from exploded stars. We Earthlings are essentially just little clumps of stardust, too, albeit with very complex chemistry.

A molecule found in car engine exhaust fumes that is thought to have contributed to the origin of life on Earth has made astronomers heavily underestimate the amount of stars that were forming in the early Universe, a University ...

Charming might not be the best way to describe a spider, but researchers at the University of Cincinnati are finding a wide spectrum of personality in a creature whose behavior was thought to be inflexible and hardwired in ...

More than a century of theory about the evolutionary history of dinosaurs has been turned on its head following the publication of new research from scientists at the University of Cambridge and Natural History Museum in ...

Arctic sea ice appears to have reached on March 7 a record low wintertime maximum extent, according to scientists at NASA and the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado. And on the opposite ...

Nearly 1,000 feet below the bed of the Dead Sea, scientists have found evidence that during past warm periods, the Mideast has suffered drought on scales never recorded by humansa possible warning for current times. Thick ...

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Seacrest Country Day School RoboRays celebrating victory at Orlando FIRST Regional robotics tournament held March 11 12.(Photo: Submitted)

Seacrest Country Day Schools high school robotics team has qualified for the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) robotics world championship in Houston, Texas.

The RoboRays, only in their second year, beat 60 other teams at a FIRST competition in Orlando last week to win the title of co-regional champions alongside two other teams.

There was a bit of confusion and disbelief, said Seacrest senior Kate Talano, 17, a scouter for the RoboRays. Im really humbled to have been able to witness that experience. Ive never seen a team so dedicated.

Most of the teams that compete in FIRST competitions are made up of at least 50 team membersand some have upwards of 100. The RoboRays have only 13 students.

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Were such a small team that nobody expected us to get this far, said RoboRays captain and driver Will LaFreniere, 17, a senior.

Only two students on the team had prior robotics experience when the team started last year.

We started from next to nothing, Will said. Weve had to scrap and scrape to find all the resources we can. Its been really tough but the fact we made it through, theres really a sense of pride that comes along with it.

The team has been practicing six days a week since February, working alongside robotics coach Marc Barry as well as two advisors from the teams sponsor Florida Power and Light.

Barry said the adults have been hands off throughout the robot building process, which has contributed to the teams success.

Its given them a greater sense of ownership and pride and thats shown through in the way they carry themselves and in the pride they have in their accomplishments, he said.

Now that the team has qualified, theyre shifting their focus from circuit boards to fundraising.

Registration to FIRST'sworldcompetition alone costs $5,000. Barry estimates it will cost another $10,000 for travel, lodging and meals.

The team is holding a Cars & Coffee Autoshow fundraiser on Saturday, April 1 from 9 a.m. 1 p.m. at Seacrest Country Day School at 7100 Davis Boulevard in Naples. All proceeds will go towards the robotics program to sendthe students to the world competition, which will take place April 19 22.

Car registration costs $20 in advance and $25 the day of the fundraiser. For more information or to register a car, contact Tina LaFreniere at 918-497-8500 or tina@pintime.com.

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Seacrest's robotics team qualifies for world competition - Naples Daily News

GLENDALE -

About a dozen students from Desert Mirage Elementary School in Glendale are ready to show off their robotics skills in a worldwide competition.

This is the first year the school put a robotics program in place and they were excited that three of their teams beat out the state competition, to move on to the "Vex Worlds Event" in Louisville, Kentucky.

The students design and build their own robots. They compete against other teams, just like a sporting event, getting their robots through challenges and obstacles.

"It means the world," said seventh grader Sidney Casillas, who is on an all-girls team. "My team wasn't the best in the beginning but we spent so much time and it's just crazy that we are able to go to world."

Many of the students have found a passion for technology by joining the group.

"You can make anything out of it," said eighth grader Jose Leon. "There is not limit to what you can make. That is the main thing I like about robotics."

About 275 teams will be coming in for the competition from all over the world. It is going to cost about $1,500 for each student to attend so they are raising money right now.

If you want to help them make it to their competition, you can donate to their fundraiser athttps://www.youcaring.com/desertmirageroboticsclub-766472

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Glendale students heading to international robotics competition - ABC15 Arizona

The Gunn High School robotics team will advance to the national and world FIRST Robotics Competition Championship in April in Houston.

The Gunn Robotics Team qualified for the championships after ranking first at the Arizona North Regional on March 11, the first time the team has won a regional since 2013.

The team also won the Excellence in Engineering Award at the regional event in Flagstaff, which they also won at the Hub City Regional in Lubbock, Texas.

Team captain Mihir Juvvadi said that judges were impressed with the teams use of alternative construction techniques, such as laser cutting and 3D printing, as well as the teams design and prototyping process.

Everything we could have possibly hoped for out of this regional happened, Juvvadi said in summarizing the event.

The teams first match at the regional was a little rocky but things improved with more preparation, said Juvvadi, a senior at Gunn.

What should have been a home run match paired with another high-performing robot went very poorly, and following it, we scrambled to prepare for the rest of the day, Juvvadi said. That preparation paid off however, and that first match was our only loss of the day.

The Gunn team formed an alliance with teams from Monte Vista High School in Cupertino and Beyer High School in Modesto to compete in the tournaments playoffs.

Seth Mallory, who has mentored the Gunn team for 15 years, was recognized at the regional event with the Woodie Flowers Award for being an outstanding mentor.

He personifies the mission of the program, that is to guide students to discover solutions for themselves, rather than be handed it, Juvvadi said. His dedication to the team allows it to continue year after year, and the program would not be what it is without him.

Juvvadi also said the student-guided organization benefits from the mentor support of lead mentor Kristina Granlund-Moyer.

Paly Robotics Team 8 ranked 20th at the Ventura Regional, which ended Saturday, and earned the FIRST Deans List Finalist Award, Creativity Award and Entrepreneurship Award.

These local high school teams and others will be in action this year at the annual Silicon Valley Regional, set for March 29 to April 1 in San Jose.

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Palo Alto: Gunn robotics team advances to championship - The Mercury News

ELMIRA, N.Y. (18 NEWS) - Notre Dame High School's Robotics team, The Electric Fire, won the Finger Lakes Regional FIRST Robotics Competition in Rochester last weekend.

"We went there to go have some fun and we ended up winning so it was pretty intense," Electric Fire coach Robert Stanley said. "To be honest when I found out we won finals I laid down and cried for a couple minutes," junior Macie Barone said.

"It was like mind blowing my team was just like hugging and screaming and jumping like I don't think any of us could've said anything articulate at that point," senior Kayle Watson said. "We were just so excited."

Now the team is looking to raise money for the FIRST World's Robotics Competition in St. Louis next month.

"We had 49 teams we were competing against," Stanley said. "Now there's 1,400 teams that we're going to be looking at when we get to St. Louis."

The National Science Foundation found women comprise 50 percent of the U.S. workforce but just 29 percent of STEM workers. Being a part of the robotics team has inspired many of these young women to take interest in science, technology, engineering and math.

"It's really helped out because I've been thinking of maybe doing a STEM program," Barone said. "It's really just opened my eyes the whole world of engineering and mechanical stuff."

"There's a team sponsored by Corning actually where I'm going to college so I might mentor there or help out or just do something," senior Katie Bohart said.

It's even enabled some students to make connections.

"I made a lot of friends at the competition, people who don't even live here I am now connected with because of robotics," sophomore Aylash McCloe said.

"I just feel like they could come from somewhere really far away now because of robotics we're together and talking and friends and stuff," sophomore Jacqueline Chen said.

No matter what happens in Missouri, these students will cherish the experience. "To make it to worlds it's incredible I wouldn't trade it for anything," Barone said. "Just like have fun and enjoy being there cause that's really what it's about," Watson said. "It's going to be three or four days of intense competition but it should be pretty awesome," Stanley said.

Stanley said all teams and their members qualify to apply for about $50 million in college scholarships just for participating in FIRST Robotics Competitions. If you'd like to donate follow this link to the Go-Fund-Me-Page.

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Notre Dame Robotics Team Celebrates Victory, Starts Fundraising for Tournament - My Twin Tiers.com

FULTON, Ill. Next year Fulton High School students will have the opportunity to take a year-long class in robotics.

The River Bend School Board approved a request to add the FIRST Tech Challenge course beginning with the 2017-2018 school year. The board voted 6-1, with Nick Crosthwaite voting no, to add the course.

Crosthwaite said he was voting no due to the timing of adding the course and the fact that registration had already taken place.

"Let's know what we're going to offer on a timely basis," he said.

Joe Holmbo said he voted yes for the proposal because adding courses like these are what makes Fulton High School stand out from other area schools, and provides unique opportunities for students.

According to a course description, the yearlong course acts as an introduction to robotics in a competitive format. In addition to in-school work, the students will be required to work out of school and attend at least four competitions throughout the year.

"Teams of up to 10 students are responsible for designing, building, and programming their robots to compete in an alliance format against other teams," information from the district reads.

The coursework also includes working with mentors in different industries, including engineering, marketing and business and programming.

The course will be graded on 10 percent daily course work, 40 percent on a student's engineering notebook and 50 percent on tests and major projects.

A course outline also states how each quarter of the school year will be used for the class, with the first quarter building on the basic principles of engineering and robotics alongside early planning for the first competition in November.

In the second quarter, students will design and build their robot for competition, in the third quarter they will focus on competition preparation, and in the fourth quarter they will focus on more principles of engineering and robotics.

The number of students that will take the course next year was not available, but Fulton High School Principal Chris Tennyson said he would have a number for the board when the master schedule is made in the next month or so.

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Fulton High School to offer robotics class | Local News ... - Clinton Herald

Students from Cambria and Somerset counties came together a few years ago to form the Laurel Highlands Education and Robotics Team, Robotic Doges. Three years later, the group has wontwo state championships and, most recently, a super-regional championship.

Nowthe nine students, ranging from eighth-graders to seniors, are preparing for their first visit to the FIRST World Championship in St. Louis, Missouri.

Michelle Lamkin, one of two coaches for the team,saidthat has been a goal since Day 1.

Whats been really exciting for me as a coach is to see how every year these students have expanded their skills, Lamkin said. Every year the kids have really increased their knowledge base.

At the East Super-Regional Championship in Scranton last weekend, the team competed against 72 othersin the Northeast from Virginia to Maine. While the local participants mayhave been considered underdogs, they walked away from the tournament with first place.

JuniorMatt Romesberg said the win was gratifying.

It was pretty exciting, hesaid. Especially when comparing to last year, we put so many more hours into the robot.

Romesberg said the groupworkedon its robot ina team members family garage in Hollsopple.

Lamkin said the effort put forth by the team is exactly what the founder of the FIRST Tech Challenge was hoping for when he launched the program.

Shecalled the program a well-rounded approach to learning how to conduct business, because the team not only works to create a robot, but also doestheir own fundraising, budgeting and marketing each season.

What you learn is more important than what you win, she said.

As the team preparesfor next months world championshipin St. Louis, membersare looking forward to a highly competitive week.

Robotic Dogeswill host a Dessert & Demo open house from6:30 to 9 p.m. April 1 at St. Davids Lutheran Church, 401 N. Main St., Davidsville to help raise money for its trip tothe world championship tournament. Donations to the team will help cover its travel expenses and lodging.

For more information on the Robotic Doges, visitftcteam8645.wix.com/roboticdoges.

Ronald Fisher is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter @FisherSince_82.

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Robotics team aiming for world championship | News | tribdem.com - TribDem.com

Elementary school projects have come a long way since the days of paper mache volcanos.

These days, students from all around Cherokee County are taking science to a new level with robotics clubs, vying with other schools to see who has the best creation.

A couple of the schools that compete throughout the state are Greenwood and Heritage elementary schools, and both have earned their way to Vex Robotics World Competition in Louisville, Ky.

Mendy McKee, a fourth-grade math and science teacher at Heritage, said she's beyond proud of her students on the robotics team for making it to the world competition.

"They're really pumped up right now," she said. "The world competition takes money, though, so now they're in the business of asking sponsors within the community for support, and they're entering classrooms with their robot to talk to the kids more about the program."

The schools' robotics teams are formed through the Tahlequah Public Schools Boys & Girls Club, and require after-school participation.

Lori Freymuth of Greenwood Elementary said the program allows kids from all walks of life to get involved in an extracurricular activity.

"They're all different," she said. "We have kids who are severely autistic who cannot function in a normal classroom typically, and they bring something to the table. We had a little boy last year who was kicked out of four different schools for behavior. [He] came into our program and you could tell it was his niche. His scores in school went up and his behavior issues stopped, because he knew that he had somewhere he belonged and that he was valued."

The robotics clubs allow students to develop skills like critical thinking, project management and communication - all of which are required to help them become the next generation of innovators.

McKee said part of the goal is to get the students thinking creatively.

"They're realizing that it does take an outside-of-the-box thinker to create something," she said. "Learning isn't all cut and dry - A, B, C, D - right-or-wrong answers. We need some out-of-the-box thinkers and some who are willing to try things and make mistakes."

Aside from building a robot, the students have to learn how to design it, program it and present it.

"There's something for everyone," Freymuth said. "There's so many different avenues and they all have their niche."

While it teaches the students how to communicate to an audience for a presentation, it also shows them how to effectively communicate with one another.

Cayden Nix of Greenwood said the groups don't always see eye-to-eye on different portions of the projects.

"We had to sit down and talk about all of our ideas," he said. "When we listened to each other, that's when we started to understand each other a lot better than usual."

The robotics projects have had students working all year long, which involved countless hours of trial and error.

"This is probably our 20th design and counting," said Matt Talburt of Greenwood, holding his robot.

Both schools will test their robots on the world stage in Louisville, at the Kentucky Exposition Center, April 23 - 25.

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ROBOTICS RENDEZVOUS - Tahlequah Daily Press