Monthly Archives: May 2017

French startup Stanley Robotics just raised $4 million (3.6 million) from Elaia Partners, Bpifrance and Idinvest Partners. The company is building giant robots that pick up your car at the entrance of a parking lot and park it for you.

If you drive your car to the airport, you know how expensive it can be to leave your car at the airport for a week. Airport parking lots have turned into one of the most lucrative businesses for airport companies.

Stanley Robotics plans to take advantage of that with a robot called Stan. It is going to make airport parking lots more efficient. When you think about it, your average parking lot has a ton of wasted space: you need to be able to circulate between all parking spaces, you cant double park and you need to be able to leave your car and get back to the airport quickly.

With this robot, you can imagine much bigger parking lots as you leave your car near the airport. And even when you come back home, the system knows your itinerary and will bring your car back right before you land.

And if somebody is going away for a while, the robot knows that it can put the car away in a corner and double park another car in front of it.

Stan works with all kinds of cars. It doesnt need your key as it clamps your wheels, lifts the entire car and moves it around. Once the car is in a parking space, Stan puts the car down.

All of this sounds great on paper, but the most reassuring thing is that Stanley Robotics is already operating at Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Paris. Its been years in the making, but a parking lot is now operated by robots.

Working with airports is quite a lucrative business. As Ive said, parking lots are an essential part of their revenue, so theyre willing to invest. With todays funding round, the startup plans to sign new deals with more airports around the world.

Working with Stanley Robotics is cheaper than constructing new parking lots. Airports are still going to build new parking lots, but Stanley Robotics offering is a nice addition.

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Stanley Robotics is building robots that can park your car for you - TechCrunch

DAKAR

The hum of tiny machines fills a fenced-off obstacle course, as small robots compete to gather mock natural resources such as diamonds and gold.

The robots were built by teams of young people gathered in Dakar for the annual Pan-African Robotics Competition.

They're among the several hundred middle school and high school students from Senegal and surrounding countries who spent last week in Dakar building robots. Organizers of the annual robotics competition say the goal is to encourage African governments and private donors to invest more in science and math education throughout the continent.

'Made in Africa'

The event's founder, Sidy Ndao, says this year's theme is Made in Africa," and focuses on how robotics developed in Africa could help local economies.

We have noticed that most countries that have developed in the likes of the United States have based their development on manufacturing and industrialization, and African countries on the other hand are left behind in this race," Ndao said. So we thought it would be a good idea to inspire the kids to tell them about the importance of manufacturing, the importance of industry, and the importance of creation and product development."

During the week, the students were split into three groups.

The first group worked on robots that could automate warehouses. The second created machines that could mine natural resources, and the third group was tasked to come up with a new African product and describe how to build it.

Building a robot a team effort

Seventeen-year-old Rokyaha Cisse from Senegal helped her team develop a robot that sends sound waves into the ground to detect the presence of metals and then start digging.

Cisse says it is very interesting and fun, and they are learning new things, as well as having their first opportunity to handle robots.

As part of a younger team, Aboubacar Savage from Gambia said their robot communicates with computers.

It is a robot that whatever you draw into the computer, it translates it and draws it in real life," Savage said. It is kind of hard. And there is so much competition, but we are trying. I have learned how to assemble a robot. I have learned how to program into a computer."

The event's founder, Ndao, is originally from Senegal, but is now a professor at the University of Nebraska's Lincoln College of Engineering in the United States.

I have realized how much the kids love robotics and how much they love science," Ndao said You can tell because when it is time for lunch, we have to convince them to actually leave, and then [when] it is time to go home, nobody wants to leave."

Outsourced jobs cost Africa billions

A winning team was named in each category, but Ndao hopes the real winners will be science and technology in Africa.

The organizers of the Next Einstein Forum, which held its annual global gathering last year in Senegal, said Africa is currently missing out on $4 billion a year by having to outsource jobs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to expatriates.

Ndao said African governments and private investors need to urgently invest more on education in those fields, in particular at the university level.

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Robotics Contest for Youth Promotes Innovation for Economic ... - Voice of America

The News Star 1:20 p.m. CT May 23, 2017

Louisiana Tech, CenturyLink partner for regional robotics event(Photo: Louisiana Tech University)

The third and final Regional Autonomous Robotics Circuit (RARC) of Northeast Louisiana (NELA) competition for the 2016-2017 academic year was held recently at CenturyLink Headquarters in Monroe, with Louisiana Tech University staff, parents, teachers, and community partners watching as students competed for the grand championship and bragging rights as the best robotics team in the region.

The RARC NELA event is an extension of the RARC developed and hosted in Bossier City, Louisiana, for the past six years. The three robotics competition sequences are hosted locally by the Louisiana Tech College of Educations Science and Technology Education Center (SciTEC), and CenturyLink.

Lindsey Keith-Vincent, director of SciTEC and the Office of Outreach and External Funding at Louisiana Tech, believes that opportunities such as the RARC competitions allow students to explore Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) concepts in an innovative and engaging fashion.

The ability for students to use 21st century collaborative, communication and leadership skills to collectively execute a complex challenge is very difficult to cultivate, said Keith-Vincent. However, in this unique landscape and under the leadership of outstanding coaches and teachers, students can flourish and excel in these areas. It is incredibly important that our future leaders obtain and master such skills to compete in a global market.

The SciTEC team in the College of Education at Louisiana Tech University is pleased to have the opportunity to partner with CenturyLink on this effort.

CenturyLink is excited to have hosted this competition once again and we appreciate the opportunity to get our employees involved, said Bill Bradley, CenturyLink senior vice president, cyber engineering and technology services. Together, we are developing talent along the I-20 corridor to address the cyber and technology skills gap that continues to grow nationwide.

Keith-Vincent said the efforts and support of CenturyLink employees as well as Louisiana Techs Jaicee Choate, the Cyber Innovation Centers staff, NICERCs Jo Ann Marshall, and numerous volunteers, coaches, parents and teams contributed to making this event possible.

RARC NELA competitions are being tentatively scheduled for the 2017-2018 year with dates, locations and times to be posted soon on the Cyber Innovation Centers National Integrated Cyber Education Research Center webpage and Louisiana Techs College of Education Facebook page.

To learn more about RARC NELA and how to participate in future competitions, please contact RARC NELA Competition Coordinator, Jaicee Choate at (318) 257-2866 or jchoate@latech.edu, or Lindsey Keith-Vincent at lbkv@latech.edu.

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Louisiana Tech, CenturyLink partner for regional robotics event - Monroe News Star

Drones are opening up the skies to farmers who want better ways to monitor their crops. But even though flying a drone over a field is less labor-intensive than walking through one, Reese Mozer says that current drones still take too much time and effort for farmers to use.

Mozer, founder and CEO of American Robotics, is developing drone technology whose automated capabilities could take the piloting controls out of the farmers hands.

We dont want our customers to worry about piloting, he says. We just want them to focus on the data.

Boston-based American Robotics is announcing today that it has raised $1.1 million in seed funding to support further development of its drone technology. Angel investors led the round, which included participation from Brain Robotics Capital, a fund focused on companies working in artificial intelligence, robotics, and Internet-of-things technologies.

Mozer says he started American Robotics after conversations with farmers and agronomists revealed gaps in what drone technology provides. Drones are still too manual and complicated for farmers to use on a regular basis, he says. He adds that the technology is time-consuming, particularly for large commercial farms that have thousands of acres and sites that are miles apart. Using an off-the-shelf drone requires the farmer to drive to each field and hand-launch the drone.

While drones are not new, of course, use of the devices was grounded pending finalization of FAA rules governing commercial applications. Those regulations, finalized last June, limit drones to no more than 55 pounds in weight and speeds no faster than 100 mph. A drone must be flown within the line of sight of its operator and only in daylight, unless outfitted with anti-collision lights. The FAA also requires a commercial drone to be operated by someone certified as a remote pilot. Heres where the American Robotics flight plan gets a little hazy.

Mozer describes his drones as automatednot piloted by the farmer. But when asked if the American Robotics drones comply with the FAA rules requiring that these devices be operated by someone whos a certified pilot, Mozer demurs.

Thats another long conversation, he says. One that were working hard on as well.

FAA rules do permit drones to fly autonomously through a flight plan that is sent to an autopilot on board the craft. But during an automated flight, the FAA says that a remote pilot in command must have the ability to change the course of the drone or command it to land immediately. That means that even if farmers who use American Robotics drones dont have to fly the aircraft themselves, theyll still need a pilot on hand ready to take control if necessary.

Earlier this month, a federal appeals court struck down an FAA rule that required hobbyists to register their aircraft. But that ruling does not apply to commercial applications of drones. Those users must still register their aircraft with the FAA and they must also receive a remote pilot certification from the agency.

The sensors on American Robotics drones are supplied by an outside company. Mozer wouldnt talk about specific details of his startups drones, such as their weight or flight time. But he says that American Robotics will offer farmers the capability to analyze data collected from scouting flights.

A number of other drone startups are aiming for agricultural applications. Raleigh, NC-based PrecisionHawk, which closed an $18 million Series C round of investment a little more than a year ago, offers both fixed-wing and multi-rotor drones, as well as a software platform that can analyze data captured from farm fields. Though PrecisionHawk drones can be flown by a pilot on the ground, the company also has software that allows operators to program a flight path that the drone can fly autonomously.

Another startup, Neurala, might offer American Robotics some competition in automated-drone software. That company, also based in Boston, has developed software that can make calculations on the device itself, without the need for an Internet connection or a link to a far-away server. This capability is crucial for drones or autonomous vehicles, CEO Max Versace told Xconomy following Neuralas $14 million Series A funding round.

American Robotics operates from the collaborative workspace set up by MassRobotics, a Boston nonprofit organization established to support robotics startups. MassRobotics provided the introduction to Brain Robotics Capital. Mozers company employs five workers full-time; he says that the new funding will allow the company to hire additional engineers.

This summer, American Robotics will continue with product development and conduct tests on crops in order to get farmer feedback. Those tests will provide the company with additional data to support its case for raising more money.

Like most startups, were always fundraising, Mozer says.

Photo by Flickr user Ted Van Peltunder a Creative Commons license.

Frank Vinluan is editor of Xconomy Raleigh-Durham, based in Research Triangle Park. You can reach him at fvinluan [at] xconomy.com

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American Robotics Scouts Out $1.1M to Bring A.I. to Farm Drones ... - Xconomy

Duluth East joined with teams from Warroad and East Ridge of Woodbury to win a best-two-of-three final against an alliance of teams from Greenbush-Middle River, Edina and Prior Lake.

The alliance that included the Daredevils lost the first finals match before regrouping and hitting its stride to win the final two matches and claim the state crown.

Its the second state robotics title for Duluth East, which also won a state title in 2015 as part of alliance that also included East Ridge. Duluth East and Esko represented the Northland in the 2017 FIRST Robotics World Championship last month in St. Louis.

FIRST Robotics teams must build and operate their own robot, but during competition they form alliances with other teams.

This year's challenge, called Steamworks, required teams to build robots that picked up balls and put them into a "boiler." The more balls that went into the boiler, the more "steam" was created in the boiler to power an "airship." The robots needed to move gears to the airship, where students put the gears together to power the ship. In the final part of the competition, the robots pulled themselves up a rope to board the ship.

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Duluth East robotics wins state title - Prairie Business

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Armed with a thick rectangle of titanium spinning at 17,500 RPM, Hempfield Area High School's ELI robot took on all comers and won a national robotics competition over the weekend at California University of Pennsylvania.

In the culmination of a year of late nights, last-minute tweaks and flying sparks, Hempfield won its first grand championship in the National Robotics League competition. They not only beat all the other robots in gladiator-style combat but also took first place for their thick binder of design documents and blueprints and an interviews with judges about the process.

"We went for the biggest, hardest-hitting weapon Hempfield's ever seen," said team member Joel Aston.

When it connected, the spinning weapon sent opponents flying as high as 15 feet in the air.

"A table saw is one pound going at 7,000 RPMs," said team president Colin Phillips. "This is 3 12 pounds going at 17,500 RPMs."

For three minutes at a time, remotely-operated robots from more than 60 teams competed one-on-one inside a protected arena. The winner either disabled the other robot or won on points from judges based on damage dealt.

Hempfield's ELI won the final round against Disko, the entry from Carnegie Mellon University's robotics club. A team from Pine-Richland won a separate category for best-engineered robot.

The Hempfield team started designing its robot at the beginning of the school year but made tweaks as recently as the weeks between winning the regional competition and the start of nationals on Friday, Phillips said.

Students would skip other classes and stay after school to work on the robot, making up their missed work later. Once, when the team's manufacturing partner, Washington Township-based Composidie Inc., suddenly moved a deadline for making parts, three weeks' worth of blueprint revisions had to be condensed into three days.

"I didn't go to class for three days and stayed here until 3 a.m.," Phillips said.

Other teachers were understanding of the work that the students put in, said advisor Craig Siniawski, noting how many teachers and staff came to the competitions to root for the team. One of his favorite parts of the process was sitting at lunch with an economics teacher, discussing the various trade-offs the team made in designing and building their robot, he said.

The team skipped armor around the outside that would protect their wheels but gave ELI bumpers with rounded corners so the robot would tip back onto its wheels if knocked onto its side. Its front axle was vulnerable to attack, but getting close to it put opponents in range of ELI's weapon.

Siniawski said the blueprints the team produced had to be professional-quality for Composidie to manufacture certain parts. Other pieces, like the battery pack, were made on the 3-D printer in Siniawski's classroom.

In all, the team took home $4,000 in prize money, plus another $2,500 and a giant Craftsman tool chest for competing in an optional battle that didn't count toward the tournament.

But the best reward was everything the participants learned about engineering, design and manufacturing, and all the contacts and experience they made within the manufacturing industry, said William Padnos, director of youth engagement for the National Robotics League and executive director of BotsIQ, the regional robotics competition that doubles as a workforce development program for the Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Foundation.

"We try to connect the schools with local manufacturers, who help the schools with expertise and mentoring on career pathways," Padnos said. "Our goal is to engage the manufacturers of the next generation. ... I don't really care if they win a single round."

Matthew Santoni is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724 836 6660, msantoni@tribweb.com or via Twitter @msantoni.

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Hempfield takes top honors at national robotics competition - Tribune-Review

Cabrillo High School junior Mildred Cortez said Tuesday morning that she had been looking forward to this week since her freshman year at the school.

Cortez worked closely alongside fellow junior Veronica Nolasco on Tuesday to put the finishing touches on an ROV, or remotely operated vehicle, that the students had designed and built over the past couple months with another classmate. Later that afternoon, the girls would put their creation to the test in Cabrillos on-campus pool as part of the schools annual interclass ROV competition.

This is a big part of why most people look forward to junior year, so they can build something cool, like underwater robots, Cortez said. Its just something you always think about.

The annual contest, which began in 2005, kicked off Tuesday and is slated to continue through Thursday. About 180 students, spanning six classes, are participating in the event. The students, working mostly in groups of three, built about 50 ROVs between them and will spend the three-day competition running the robots through underwater tests that include an obstacle course, a relay race and a tug-of-war battle.

Its not as easy as it looks, Nolasco said of building and controlling the ROVs. Its definitely a challenge.

This years contest was organized by Jennifer Mason, the program director for Cabrillos robotics classes. Mason, who teaches an advanced integrated science class, said it is precisely because of that challenge faced by the students that she considers the event to be so successful.

We put so much time and effort into what we do here and its really cool to see the kids and what theyve done from start to finish, Mason said prior to taking her class to the pool Tuesday. I have girls in the class who had never picked up tools before and now they know the difference between a flathead and a Phillips screwdriver.

There are kids who think they could never do this, and then they do it, she added. Its just awesome and exciting to see the thrill on their face when theyre done with their project.

The STEM Science, Technology, Engineering and Math program is intended to give the students up-close experience with real-world skills while also learning state standards in several topics, including Earth science, chemistry and physics, among others.

The projects also span across multiple classes.

Some of the students used their time in separate graphic design classes to develop logos for their respective ROV teams. Sean Dziobaka took advantage of the skills he acquired in a separate innovations class to design new propellers for his teams ROV. He then created those propellers with a 3-D printer.

Its a lot of hands-on experience, he said.

In addition to running their robots through the competitions, each of the student teams also goes through an interview with a panel of experts in the field. Among the panelists this year are members of the aquatics program at the UCSB and professionals from defense contractor Raytheon.

At the end, the students will be awarded prizes in a range of categories.

Several of the students said theyve found the program to be beneficial beyond the classroom.

Miranda Vargas, a senior, enjoyed the program so much last year that she became a teaching assistant for Mason, primarily so she could work with this years group of students. She said her team went through its struggles last year, but it was all worth it.

A lot of it has helped in ways that I didnt think it would, she said, noting that it gave her a better understanding of basic engineering concepts.

That sentiment was shared by Brandin Goldsberry, a junior and a member of the same team as Dziobaka.

Its a lot of fun, thats for sure, Goldsberry said. Some people in this class had never picked up tools before, and now theyre learning how to do circuits, screws, basic construction principles its definitely a lot of fun.

Science teacher Chris Ladwig, whose class was the first to take over the pool deck Tuesday, said the program is also commendable for its inclusiveness.

Its really neat because a lot of robotics programs that get attention are maybe one class or one after-school group, and its maybe a dozen kids at a huge expense, he said. Whereas here, its six classes and the robots are relatively inexpensive. So this touches a huge number of kids. Its not just the honors or AP kids.

Cortez said she didnt know much about wiring or electrical components before getting involved in this program. She said she can envision several applications where the skills learned in the Cabrillo class will pay off outside of academics.

I definitely think itll be an advantage in the future and not just something fun that we did in high school, she said.

Willis Jacobson covers the city of Lompoc for Lee Central Coast Newspapers. Follow him on Twitter @WJacobsonLR.

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Cabrillo HS students kick off 3-day robotics competition - Lompoc Record