Daily Archives: July 20, 2017

TC Sessions: Robotics featured robots for as far as the eye could see, and several took the stage for special demonstrations. We were honored to play host as these innovative companies and teams showed off their latest creations. The videos are below are well worth your time.

The latest version of MITs Cheetah robot made its stage debut at TC Sessions: Robotics. Its a familiar project to anyone who follows the industry with any sort of regularity, as one of the most impressive demos to come out of one of the worlds foremost robotics schools in recent years. Earlier versions of the four-legged robot have been able to run at speeds up to 14 miles an hour, bound over objects autonomously and even respond to questions with Alexa, by way of an Echo Dot mounted on its back.

Soft Robotics has developed soft robotic grippers that can manipulate items of varying size and shape without the help of computer vision or sensors. These grippers are FDA approved, meaning Soft Roboticss turn-key offering works well for food packaging.

Harvard Universitys Exosuit helps healthy people (like soldiers) carry loads using 15 to 20 percent less effort than they normally would. They are made with soft textiles and sensors, and powered by a battery and motor that are worn on the back. These ExoSuits can also be used by post-stroke patients and others with impediments to help walk.

Locus Robotics has built a robot that collaborates with humans in the warehouse. While humans will still do most of the picking in their respective zones, Locus Robots can travel around massive warehouses, avoiding objects, people and each other, and humans only need about an hour of training to start working with them.

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Four robot demos you missed at TC Sessions: Robotics | TechCrunch - TechCrunch

Were pleased to report that a so-called Roomba for weeds, Franklin Robotics Tertill, won the TC Sessions: Robotics pitch-off. Because if theres a task that should be relegated to a robot, its weeding a garden.

For winning the pitch-off,Franklin Robotics was awarded an exhibit table in Disrupt SFs Startup Alley.

We actually tried to get away from the circular shape for a while, CEO Rory MacKean told TechCrunch ahead of the pitch-off appearance at TC Sessions: Robotics. We want something thats robust and rugged, with a rectangular shape. We wanted to make it look like a tractor: four-wheel drive, corners. But then the corners dont make sense. It would get itself into a situation where it was hard to back out without damaging anything. You cant turn in place without damaging plants.

The circular shape, along with built-in sensors, help the robot avoid contact with useful plants taller than an inch the company is also shipping the robot with small metal guards to keep it from bumping into younger plants. The Tertill is designed to spend its entire existence outside, drawing power through the large solar panel on its back to fuel the two or so hours a day that it does its routine garden maintenance.

The Tertill competed against three other projects for the spot at Disrupt SF. We thank all the participants of the event including the panel of judges that included Jeremy Conrad of Lemnos, Helen Greiner of CyPhyWorks, Daniel Theobald of Vecna and Melonee Wise of Fetch Robotics.

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Franklin Robotics' Tertill wins the pitch-off at TC Sessions: Robotics ... - TechCrunch

Monday morning in Washington, D.C., the girls finally walked on stage at the First Global Challenge, a competition in which teams from around the world maneuver a robot to collect and sort balls.

The Afghan girls, ages 14-16, were fittingly the last team to take their place. Minutes before the competition began, a cable on their robot failed. The girls nervously raced to replace it. Then they joined teams from Estonia and Gabon to compete against Barbados, the Dominican Republic and Ghana.

The broken cable was the last of many obstacles the girls overcame. The team became a media sensation after its members had their visa applications rejected twice. A half-dozen TV cameras filmed from the bleachers at DAR Constitution Hall, a couple blocks from the White House. The team could only make the trip after President Trump intervened at the last second.

Related: Afghan robotics team travels to U.S. after Trump steps in

From the second they signed up for the competition, they encountered adversity. First, the materials for their robot were held up in customs on their way to Afghanistan. They finally arrived, leaving the girls only two weeks to build their robot, far less than other teams.

But they persevered, under the guidance of Roya Mahboob, the CEO of Digital Citizen Fund, a nonprofit that gives girls in the developing world access to technology.

Mahboob, who organized the team, told CNN Tech she's a believer in technology's ability to create opportunities for women.

"For many of these girls, their life is already defined by family, the community and society. They have to marry, they have to stay at home, they have to raise the kids," Mahboob said. "This environment of working together to solve robotics problems gives them the feeling that they can do something much greater."

Mahboob points to her own life as proof of technology's impact on women. She grew up in Iran, an Afghan refugee. As a teenager she returned to her native country, and later started an IT company there. Mahboob said technology freed her from borders and culture. She found her investors outside Afghanistan and now lives in New York.

"We want to tell the men in our society that women can make it if you give them opportunity and the tools," Mahboob said. "This changes their family's view later on. They say, 'wow,' because this was always for the boys and the men."

The six girls have since taken up Mahboob's mission.

"We want to be a good example for girls," said Rodaba Noori, one team member. "We want to make our country a better place to live, work and get an education."

While their journey was about a lot more than being the best at sorting blue and red plastic balls, they've proven good at that too. Along with Estonia and Gabon, they beat Barbados, the Dominican Republic and Ghaha in their opening match Monday. The competition wraps up Tuesday afternoon.

CNNMoney (Washington) First published July 18, 2017: 10:58 AM ET

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How an all-female robotics team from Afghanistan ended up competing in DC - CNNMoney

Robotics investing has taken off in recent years. Though it still represents a small fraction of overall VC spending, related deals are increasing in both frequency and size, with roughly $520 million invested across 40 deals in the first quarter alone, compared with roughly the same amount invested in 130 companies across all of 2014.

This week, we sat down with top robotics investors Josh Wolfe of Lux Capital, Helen Zelman Boniske of Lemnos and Manish Kothari of SRI Ventures to ask what theyre shopping for right now and what they hope to hear in startup pitches. You can see our sit-down below. In the meantime, some highlights from that conversation:

On why robotics investing has taken off:

Wolfe pointed to the outpouring of engineers, many of whom have been trained at amazing places like MIT under the tutelage of professors who themselves have started companies. He also cited the ebbs and flows of capital markets, noting that any time the hype increases, the cost of capital gets low, meaning more founders are able to raise money right now.

Not last, Wolfe noted that robotics companies are making other robotics companies possible. Specifically, he pointed to the satellite company Planet, which captures photos that are then analyzed by the geospatial analytics company Orbital Insight, which then sells its research to its own customers, including retailers wanting a better idea of how many cars are in their parking lots.

Kothari meanwhile talked a bit about falling component prices and GPUs or specialized electronic circuits that are now a big part of the game and without which a lot of this [uptick in robotics investing] would not be possible.

He also talked of the importance of software becoming far more sophisticated and thus easier for founders to use as a building block.

On whether theres enough follow-on funding for the many young robotics startups that have snagged seed and Series A-stage funding:

At the moment, cash is abundant, said Wolfe. There are new angels coming [into the industry]. There are new venture firms forming. There are corporate guys coming in. SoftBank is making a huge impact on this stuff [including with its huge new Vision Fund]. All of it means that the risk of raising early rounds and follow-on funding is very low, in his view as long as founders make products that are also good businesses. (The funding picture will invariably change, said Wolfe.)

Boniske said that in terms of later-stage funding, shes seeing venture firms in Series A and B deals and that for later-stage deals, strategics i.e., corporations with deep pockets and a need for new technologies are more commonly involved.

Like Wolfe, she, too, stressed that founders better make certain the unit economics of their robots work, given that a downturn is inevitable.

What the VCs want to see in founding teams:

Kothari said he wants to see founders who are creative with their business models. People are now thinking about robot-as-a-service models and other things versus purely a [capital expenditure] play. Those capex plays were tough, and one of the points I make to our companies is if youre going to do a service model, you better find a way to recover your costs in six to nine months. If you cant do that, then you dont have a service model if you do have the proper mechanics, theres no shortage right now of capital to be had.

Boniske said it comes back to the founders and that, in her view, an ideal robotics founding team probably has three people: the CEO whos going to be the visionary and drive the strategy of the overall company; this person is going to be doing the fundraising and recruiting. It should also feature a technologist whos going to go and build out the engineering team and who ideally has a lot of robotics experience.

The third piece and its missing for a lot of teams, she said is someone who can communicate the exact value proposition for the customer and speak its customers language.

As for Wolfe, he said to dazzle him, basically, Yes, margins matter. Yes, the business matters. But in the early stage, what I recommend in two words is: make magic.I can tell you, sitting on the other side of the table, that when an entrepreneur comes to us, and we feel that magic has just been made that weve seen something that nobody else has seen, that weve seen something that came out of a sci-fi movie, that were sitting across from some scientist who is like some rebel thats trying to shape the world in their view thats the thing that gets us to part with our cash.

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Here's what robotics investors say they're looking for in startup ... - TechCrunch

A member of Libyas Team Impact works on his teams robot during the first day of the FIRST Global Challenge on Monday at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Over the past month, international media have been captivated by the story of a team of six teenage girls from Afghanistan who finally gained entry into the United States for a competition after their visa applications were twice denied. Politico reported on July 12 that Trump prompted the State Department to allow the team into the country. The girls arrived Saturday night in Washington, where they joined 162 other high schoolage teams for the FIRST Global Challenge robotics competition from Sunday to Tuesday. Trumps supporters and skeptics alike have applauded the president for his intervention, and his daughter Ivanka helped kick off the last day of the competition to celebrate women in STEM. Some have argued that the presidents small act of mercy does not excuse the cruelty of the travel ban he instituted.

The ban didnt just make travel nearly impossibleit was also a perpetual obstacle in acquiring funding for the team.

Afghanistan is not one of the six countries covered by the ban. However, the travel ban was a significant stumbling block for the team from Libya. Because of challenges presented by the ban, the Tech Impact team was only able to send two boys, 18-year-old Anis Jorny and 17-year-old Oumer Jehad, to the tournament. The three other team members, along with their adult mentor, were forced to stay behind in Tripoli, the nations capital. Theyve been cheering from a distance by watching a livestream of the games, which involve robots competing to complete tasks like collecting small plastic balls on a rectangular playing field.

The teams mentor and founder, Kusai Fteita, said over Skype, After four months of hard work, its really tough for [the other teammates and me] to just watch this on a screen.

Libya is in the throes of a sovereignty struggle between several militant factions. Since the Arab Spring in 2011, which toppled the reign of Muammar Qaddafi, no governing body has been able to step in and ensure stability. ISIS militants took advantage of the disarray and established a stronghold in Sirte, a coastal city, in 2015. Libyan forces just recently retook the city in December. Tripoli, where the team is based, is roughly 280 miles away.

According to the members of Tech Impact, the ban didnt just make travel nearly impossibleit was also a perpetual obstacle in acquiring funding for the team. Although FIRST will provide robot kits, flight tickets, and accommodations in Washington to those in need, it is up to the teams to pay for their own visa applications. The cost of a visa application is $160 per person, so it would cost almost $1,000 for the five-student team and their mentor. Furthermore, Fteita notes, rapid inflation due to conflict in Libya made it particularly difficult for them to find the money.

We wanted every nation to have some skin in the game, said Joe Sestak, president of FIRST. Teams are usually able to make sponsorship agreements with schools or local businesses that will donate the necessary supplies and money. However, Fteita struggled to convince any businesses in Libya to sponsor the team, largely because of Trumps travel ban.

[The businesses] told me, Because of the Trump ban, you will not get the visas, so why should I give you the money? Fteita recalled. Besides visa fees, sponsors often provide a space to meet and practice, uniforms and banners for the competition, and miscellaneous resources like a stable internet connection for research.

Without donors, the team had to improvise. Through a friend, Fteita was able to find them a meeting place in the cramped side room of a computer shop. The team has been toiling since April to build their robot amid instability in the country. Twice they were forced to stop practice to avoid gunfire from nearby skirmishes. The armed conflict has also crippled Libyas electrical grid, so the shop would often abruptly lose power for up to five hours at a time, leaving them unable to program the robots software. And lack of air conditioning during power outages made working in the shop unbearable, as temperatures in Libya can reach 122 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer. But the team developed a system. [During power outages] we work on the [robots] structure and when the electricity returns, we work on the software, Mohammed Zeid, one of the team members, messaged me over Facebook from Tripoli.

They worked long shifts: 10 hours a week in the months leading up to the competition, and five hours a day in the two weeks right before. Some team members had to walk for 45 minutes in the blistering Libyan heat to travel to the computer shop while others took hourlong bus rides.

Shortly before the competition, the team was finally able to find a sponsor willing to take a chance on paying for the visa fees. Yet the sponsor would only pay for the people who had a good shot at getting an application approved under the travel ban. The team decided that Jorny and Jehad were the best candidates, since they had applied successfully for visas the year before the ban was in effect in order to attend exchange programs in the U.S. They boarded a flight to Tunisia to apply at the U.S. embassy (the U.S. does not have an embassy in Libya) and came straight to the competition in D.C. after getting visa approval. The coach and their remaining three teammates17-year-old Zeid, 14-year-old Abdularahman Abu Spiha, and 17-year-old Yaseen Mohamedwere dejected. (Yaseen Mohamed had exams during the competition, so it is unclear whether he would have been able to attend anyway.)

When asked about his reaction to learning that he wouldnt be able to go to the competition, Zeid messaged, Shock! Disappointment! Bad! Frustration! But I always try to remember that I worked for Libya and to improve my country.

On Monday, as the first day of games came to an end in Washington, Jehad and Jorny sat slumped in the corner of the robot repair pit bleary-eyed and overwhelmed. After winning one match and losing another, they had plans to modify their robot, a small metal vehicle that resembles a steampunk wheat combine. A small Libyan flag is posted on the front-right corner of the machine. Not having our mentor here is hard. He usually helps us brainstorm, Jehad said. Also Mohammed [Zeid] has more experience with mechanics so its hard to make the changes without him. Jehad and Jorny had to consult with their mentor and teammates back home through a Facebook chat in order to make the necessary tune-ups for their four upcoming matches the next day.

When asked about the Libyan teams particular challenges, FIRST president Sestak said, We thought there was a fair opportunity for them to [raise funds]. But they were unable to raise funds from sponsors. I was not privy to the reasons, but sponsors were not supporting them already. He noted that the four teams representing other countries affected by the travel ban Sudan, Iran, Yemen, and a team of Syrian refugeeswere nevertheless able to find money for the visa fees. (Somalia was unable to form a team.)

Though teams from other countries affected by the travel ban were indeed able to get their visas, many had similar difficulties finding sponsors and had to pay the fees themselves. The team from Iran also ran into skepticism from potential donors concerning their ability to enter the country under the ban, so they paid for the visa application fees out of pocket. Families of the team members from Sudan paid the fees after initial problems finding sponsors. The mentor for the team of Syrian refugees dipped into his own teaching salary to afford the visas for him and his students, and the students from Yemen received the funds from their local gifted students program. In addition, the team from Gambia, though not technically impacted by the travel ban, initially had its visas denied. The State Department reversed its decision shorty before the competition.

Team Impact ended up winning just one out of its six matches. The result wasnt what the team members had hoped, but now they have their eyes set on the 2018 competition in Mexico City. As the two packed up their robot after the closing ceremonies, Jehad told me, Next year Libya is going to do great. I hope the whole team will be able to make it. Fortunately for them, Mexico doesnt have a travel ban.

This article is part of Future Tense, a collaboration among Arizona State University, New America, and Slate. Future Tense explores the ways emerging technologies affect society, policy, and culture. To read more, follow us on Twitter and sign up for our weekly newsletter.

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How Trump's Travel Ban Hobbled a Libyan High School Robotics Team - Slate Magazine

July 19, 2017 WashingtonGrowing up in Alexandria, Egypt, Yomna Ahmed Rageb remembers a childhood full of Legos. So when her parents suggested she get involved with robotics, it felt natural to trade her plastic bricks for metal gears.

But when she first joined a robotics team as an 8-year-old, Yomnafound she was the only girl in her group and that the boys werent keen on listening. They're underrating my thoughts, I don't know what to do! Yomnarecalls telling her parents after frustrating sessions with the boys. Sometimes I'm right, and sometimes I'm not, but they just don't accept that there's a girl who can [do this].

Now, eight years later, Yomnais one of 830 teenagers, including 209 girls, who showed off their robotics skills in Washington, D.C., over the past three days at the inaugural FIRST Global Challenge, anOlympic-style robotics competition for high-school students from around the world. But on a broader scale, these girls are on the front lines of a global movement of young women seeking to shatter gender barriers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

A lot of countries underrate girls so much, Yomnasays emphatically. Girls are just like boys, they can do whatever they want with their minds. They can create the future as well.

Yomna'sstory is likely familiar to many young women with an interest in STEM fields, both when theyre first starting out and later as they try to enter the workforce.

Globally only28.8 percent of STEMresearchers are women,even though more women holdbachelors and masters degreesthan men,according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).In the United States, women account for 15 percent of the engineering workforce, despite holding 50.3 percent of science and engineering degrees, according tothe National Girls Collaborative Project. A 2016 UNESCO survey of 110 countries showed that just 44 percent of women with STEM degreeswent on to receive doctorates in related fields, a figure that has remained static since 2008.

Those gender disparities were readily apparent at this weekend's competition, where girls made up just one-quarter of all challengers. And, although there were numerous all-male teams, only six were comprised exclusively of girls.

For many of the participating students, gaining a toehold in the world of robotics is about more than tipping the gender scales.

We women, we need to make a difference in the world, we need to make a change, says Gregline Kumba Alatt, one of two girls on Liberias seven-person team. I want for all girls to stand on their feet so that we can join together to make the world a better place to live.

In Greglines home country of Liberia, a 2015 UNESCO report found that only 33 percent of women 15 years and older are literate, compared to 62 percent of men in the same age range. Some 77 percent of girls enrolled in primary school end up attending secondary school as well, but women all but disappear from Liberias statistics on higher education.

For Gregline, 16, her passion for robotics stems from her desire to save the world.

I feel that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are the key tools to change the world, she explains, leaning over her teams table. Their robot, crowned with a tiny Liberian flag, rests beside her.

Greglinedreams of becoming a computer engineer, and she says that participating in a STEM event on a global scale has only increased her ambitions, adding that shes delighted that shes seen so many girls involved.

When asked what its like being around so many young women,she puts it simply: Its something good.

FIRST Global has designed the annual competition to not only inspire young people around the world to get involved in robotics, but also to think creatively about developing solutions to real-life challenges. Each tournament challenge will focus on a differenttheme selected from the 14 Grand Challenges of Engineering, a list of pressing issues identified by national engineering academies in the United States, United Kingdom, and China. This years theme was access to clean water. Armed with a software and robot kit, the students competed to create the most efficient purification system. In lieu of getting wet, the robots sorted beach balls blue (clean) and orange (contaminated) to prove their filtration capabilities.

All 157 teams march out with their flags during FIRST Global's opening ceremony on Sunday, July 16.

Ritu Prasad/Medill News Service

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Caption

For many of the participants, the challenge of providing access to potable water resonated strongly.

Getting clean water is a problem in parts of my country, says Charlene Mena Yaa Owu, a 17-year-old from Ghana. When the waters are dirty, people cant bathe, they cant wash, they can't do anything to get ready for school, so its deterring everything that we do.

Women in Africa bear 90 percent of the responsibility when it comes to gathering water, and in some countries walk an hour to find a safe source, according to the United Nations. For young girls this often takes time away from education.

Globally, 884 million people still lack access to a basic drinking-water source, while more than 2 billion drink water that has been contaminated by feces, according to the World Health Organization. As a result of climate change and population growth, WHO estimates thathalf of the world will live in water-stressed areas by 2025. Engineering innovations like desalination and recycling wastewater will likely be key in addressing water scarcity.

And for Charlene, her dream of becoming an engineer comes from her desire to help fix problems, like not having access to clean drinking water. When I was little I wanted to be a doctor, I wanted to save people, she explains, excitedly. Then when I started fixing things, I started loving robotics even more because helping people is good; curing people is good; but fixing things that can help cure people is better.

Proudly sporting a pin with the words #LikeAGirl, Charleneis one of six members of Ghanas all-girl team from the Archbishop Porter Girls Secondary School in Takoradi. Wearing brightly colored traditional tunics, the girls are proud of their presence as one of the few fully female teams.

Being an all girls team means a lot to me right now, because it means that it has given us equality, says Charlene. Some teams are all boys, but then we are all doing the same thing. It's giving us power, courage. We're right now very bold.

Although 40 percent of girls in Ghana still lack access to secondary school, their enrollment numbers are quickly gaining on the boys, according toUNESCO.However, the gap is large when it comes to female participation in STEM, UNESCO says, citing a Ghana school district where of the 855 girls enrolled in high school only 29 are pursuing STEM subjects.

Emmanuella Baaba Koomson, Charlenes teammate, says young women in Ghana dont pursue STEM because they arent aware that it is a valid career option. They are scared, because they dont get the support they need, Koomson says. Not a lot of girls are into science, so to be chosen to represent my country in an international competition was really great.

Emmanuellahopes that her teams presence at the robotics competition will help raise awareness that girls can be involved in STEM and have fun doing it.

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1 kit, 4 months,157 countries: Robotics competition gets girls excited for STEM - Christian Science Monitor

GREENFIELD The new, 2-foot tall robot at Greenfield Community College doesnt yet have a name, or even a gender, but students are already falling in love with the little creature who, in autonomous mode, says Hi, blinks its eyes, and connects to the internet.

For now, the new arrival is still being powered up; but when he, she or it is ready for school, students will learn how to program the robot to do special movements and tasks.

This school year, Mohawk and GCC will team up to offer a pilot robotics course at Mohawk during the spring semester.

The course will be available for students in Grades 9 through 12 and will be co-taught by GCC engineering, math professor Amy Ehmann and by Mohawk science teacher Downey Meyer.

It will fulfill a science course requirement for graduation here at Mohawk, said Mohawk Principal Lynn Dole. It is not required of all students, but for those who choose to take it, it will count as a full science course for the graduation requirements. The course will be taught here at Mohawk.

According to Cathryn Seaver of GCCs Chief Academic & Student Affairs Office, the instructors will be developing the course together during the fall semester. She said the class offers two college credits.

Its a class thats commonly used to give students hands-on experience in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields.

For its first photo-op, the robot was brought into Ehmanns Internet Engineering classroom, where it was an immediate hit. The robot blinked its eyes and looked around the room. The robot steadied itself on the edge of a table and swayed slightly as it looked around. It seemed to respond to sound.

When its fully programmed, its fingers will open and close, said Mary Ellen Fydenkevez, dean of Engineering, Math, Nursing and Science. The first time we plugged him in, he stood up and said hi.

At one point the robot looked around the room, as if taking in all the attention, then bowed his head. Is that your shy-face? asked Ehmann. To everyones surprise, the robot nodded.

When powered down, the robot gives a little yawn, then kneels down, like a little yogi.

GCC is thinking of holding a naming contest for this new teaching aid.

GCC President Robert L. Pura said GCC has joined with several high schools to collaborate on programs tailored to each. Besides Mohawk, GCC has partnered with Greenfield, Turners Falls, the Franklin County Technical School, Frontier and Northampton on courses to meet their needs.

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GCC, Mohawk team up for robotics class - The Recorder

Dozens of Fort Worth's brightest high school students battled it out in a tough competition.

The group gathered at Texas Wesleyan University for a robotics competition. But it's much more than just a contest.

The robotics class came down to a final showdown of mechanics and the mind. The robots were evenly matched. The brains and competitive spirit come from the students who built them.

"I let her be the competitive side, said student Louis Anguiano. I just get to have fun. I built the robot.

Teammate Yendy Avila is competitive. But when she thinks about winning, it's about securing a future.

"At first, I wanted to be a robotics engineer. But after that, I found out I wanted to be an animator, she said. This helps me a lot by knowing more about the movement and how it works."

The competition is a clash of titans students with a driving force. They're from four Fort Worth high schools taking a summer robotics class at Texas Wesleyan University.

The class is part of Upward Bound, a college prep program. Many of the students in it will be the first in their family to go to college.

The object of the competition is for the teams' robots to pick up letters and spell TX WES by tacking them up on a board. But there are several ways to score points.

The big prize is a stuffed toy. It's good for a lot of extra points if your robot is first to snatch it up and drop it in a tin box.

The enthusiasm from the students tells you it is a lot of fun. It is a lot like a crossroads with no stop sign. But it's the path these students will have to learn to negotiate to succeed.

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Fort Worth students battle it out in robotics competition - FOX 4 News