Monthly Archives: July 2017

Robots will carry luggage, assist lost travelers, clean floors and catch shoplifters in Japan's railways.

Traveling can be a pain, especially when lost luggage, delayed flights and confusing train station layouts are the norm.

Japan is hoping to make traveling safer, and maybe even more fun, by adding robots to give a helping mechanical hand at train stations.

East Japan Railwayslast week announced the creation of JRE Robotics Station, a company that will design robots to help travelers navigate train stations and get to their trains on time.

Other robots will be designed to carry luggage -- mainly assisting travelers with disabilities, not merely those who hate to lug around heavy suitcases.

The robots will also be programmed to understand a variety of languages to accommodate foreign visitors. Other robots will be designed to clean floors and otherwise tidy up the train stations.

Security robots that can detect shoplifters are also part of the new initiative. The idea of futuristic RoboCops makes sense considering the railway company also manages a number of hotels and shopping centers in Japan.

But if you want to see this new robotic workforce in action, you may have to wait awhile. JRE Robotics Station has yet to announce when the robots will be in place to servetravelers.

17

The coolest robots from UK Robotics Week 2017

Read the rest here:

Robots to haul luggage, and fight crime, in train stations - CNET - CNET

Photo-illustration: IEEE Spectrum; Roomba image: iRobot In this guest post, Joe Jones, the inventor of the Roomba, argues that home robots will follow computers into the shadows.

How many computers do you own?

If you picked a number close to three (say, laptop, tablet, and smartphone) youre way off. The answer is probably dozens. There are computers in your car, in your appliances, in your thermostat, and maybe even in your light bulbs. Every year the number goes up.

Today, visible computers are just the slimmest tip of the iceberg. Most computers are hidden away, quietly performing their jobs without you even being aware of the work they do for you. Thats as it should be. You have no interest in the computers themselves, you just want certain tasks done.

Cute, social robots currently get a lot of press, but are these engaging devices early emissaries of our robotic future? Are we entering an era where no one would dream of living without a cheerful electromechanical companion? In my view, companion robots offer novelty over utility, but once the novelty wears off, its only utility that people will pay for.

Rather than being front and center, home robots, I believe, will follow computers into the shadows. Why? Because people dont want robots. (I say this despite 30-plus years as a practicing roboticist.) Consumers want a spotless floor; not a machine buzzing around underfoot. Every morning, you want to find your dresser filled with clean clothes; you have no need to socialize with a laundry-bot no matter how exuberant it may be. People want the things a robot can do for them; the robot itself may just get in the way.

Acknowledging that consumers dont love robots the way we do might help roboticists build better products. The robot, I think, should not be an end in itself but instead should be the simplest, most cost effective way to deliver what our customers truly want. Furthermore, if a proposed robot is not the simplest, most cost effective solution to a problem consumers want solved, then we shouldnt build that robot.

In the fairytale of the shoemaker and the elves, the shoemaker awakens each morning to find that his work is done. Discovering how the work was accomplished requires effort on the part of the shoemaker. This, I think, is good inspiration for robot developers.

Home robotics hasnt achieved that happy ideal yet. We can program Roomba to emerge and work when no one is home, but its still necessary to empty the dirt compartment and clean the brushes. My newest robot, Tertill, which is available on Kickstarter, is another step in the direction of invisibilitydelivering a weed-free garden with almost no attention from the gardener.

I look forward to the day when the logistics of home life will simply run smoothly and no one need trouble themselves with the details. Unless they want to.

Joe Jones is co-founder and CTO of Franklin Robotics, which is developing a solar-powered garden-weeding robot named Tertill. Previously, he was co-founder and CTO of Harvest Automation and a senior roboticist at iRobot, where he was the co-inventor of the Roomba vacuuming robot. Follow him on Twitter: @JoeRobotJones

IEEE Spectrums 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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The French company worked in secret for two years to create Pepper. Now Japanese telecom giant SoftBank is ready to sell it to consumers 26Dec2014

Google, Microsoft, and Apple are investing in robots. Does that mean home robots are on the way? 2Jan2014

Tomorrows robots will become true helpers and companions in peoples homesand heres what it will take to develop them 29May2014

Most people think they intuitively know the answer. But when pressed for details, they often stumble 13Dec2011

The famed MIT roboticist is launching a crowdfunding campaign to bring social robots to consumers 16Jul2014

What problems do engineers need to crack before they can deliver the proverbial Rosie the Robot? 13Jan2016

The inventor of the Roomba tells us about his new solar-powered, weed-destroying robot 6Jul

With an easy-to-use interface based on MIT's Scratch, you can command Cozmo to do complex tasks without any programming experience 26Jun

Clever little cubes automate robotic craft projects for kids 13Jun

Billed as a Replacement for Man, the Hughes Mobot combined strength with a delicate touch 26May

At-home telepresence gets significantly more affordable, although it's still not cheap 13Apr

Giving a Roomba a tail makes it easy for humans to understand its "feelings" 16Feb

One day, robots like these will be scampering up your steps to drop off packages 9Feb

Take a walk, a jog, or a bike ride with 19 kg of stuff autonomously following you 2Feb

A $35 kit turns a little legged robot into an autonomous interactive critter 24Jan

Your weekly selection of awesome robot videos 13Jan

With an endearing design and a projector in its butt, Mykie is here to help you cook 11Jan

Many of the social robots introduced at CES look similar. Are they all copying Jibo? 6Jan

A Bosch-backed startup introduces a cute little mobile robot 3Jan

For this radio-controlled lawn mower, the garden of tomorrow never arrived 22Dec2016

Continued here:

Why I Think Home Robots Will Become Invisible - IEEE Spectrum

The Big Bang happened in Taylor July 7-8 when the Taylor Schools robotics program held its annual invitation of the same name.

In all there were 23 schools from the U.S. and Canada represented.

Joe Horth, the robotics director for the school, said this was a bigger version of the invitational they started hosting last year, but that he would like to see it continue to grow.

The competition was outside of the traditional high school competitive season, but if Horth has his way, that might change in the future as well. He said the school might attempt to host a high school district competition in the future.

The competition was held in the Belle Tire Arena, with the staging held at the other ice arena. The ice surfaces at both arenas are down during the summer months.

Read this article:

Robotics competition held at Taylor Sportsplex - Southgate News Herald

The Second Edition of the award-winning Springer Handbook of Robotics edited by Bruno Siciliano and Oussama Khatib has recently been published. The contents of the first edition have been restructured to achieve four main objectives: the enlargement of foundational topics for robotics, the enlightenment of design of various types of robotic systems, the extension of the treatment on robots moving in the environment, and the enrichment of advanced robotics applications. Most previous chapters have been revised, fifteen new chapters have been introduced on emerging topics, and a new generation of authors have joined the handbooks team. Like for the first edition, a truly interdisciplinary approach has been pursued in line with the expansion of robotics across the boundaries with related disciplines. Again, the authors have been asked to step outside of their comfort zone, as the Editorial Board have teamed up authors who never worked together before.

No doubt one of the most innovative elements is the inclusion of multimedia content to leverage the valuable written content inside the book. Under the editorial leadership of Torsten Krger, a web portal has been created to host the Multimedia Extension of the book, which serves as a quick one-stop shop for more than 700 videos associated with the specific chapters. In addition, video tutorials have been created for each of the seven parts of the book, which benefit everyone from PhD students to seasoned robotics experts who have been in the field for years. A special video related to the contents of the first chapter shows the journey of robotics with the latest and coolest developments in the last 15 years. As publishing explores new interactive technologies, an App has been made available in the Google/IOS stores to introduce an additional multimedia layer to the readers experience. With the app, readers can use the camera on their smartphone or tablet, hold it to a page containing one or more special icons, and produce an augmented reality on the screen, watching videos as they read along the book.

For more information on the book, please visit the Springer Handbook website.

The Multimedia Portaloffers free access to more than 700 accompanying videos. In addition, a Multimedia App is now downloadable:AppStoreandGooglePlayfor smartphones and tablets, allowing you to easily access multimedia content while reading the book.

Read the original:

Second edition of Springer Handbook of Robotics - Robohub

What happened

Investors in Israeli-basedMazor Robotics (NASDAQ:MZOR)had to stomach a greater than 15% plunge in June, according to data fromS&P Global Market Intelligence.

The decline was primarily caused by the news that the Israeli Securities Authority had conducted a search at the company's headquarters. Investors also learned that the agency had also performed a question and answer session with some of the company's officers.

While management stressed that Mazor has not been charged with any wrongdoing and that it is fully cooperating with the agency, the surprise news caught traders off-guard. In addition, a number of law firms announced their intention to look into the matter on behalf of investors to see ifMazor's management team had misled the public in some way.

Given the negative news flow, it isn't hard to figure out why traders knocked down the company's share price in June.

Image source: Getty Images.

Mazor's CEOOri Hadomi did his best to calm the market's fears during his presentation at theJefferies 2017 Global Healthcare Conference mid-month. He reasserted that the company has not been charged by the agency and that it made the announcement in an effort to be as transparent as possible with investors.

Thankfully, the markets appear to be looking past this issue after the company pre-announced its secondquarter results. Investors learned that Mazor expects to reportrecord revenue of about $15.4 million in the quarter, which represents growth of more than 85% year-over-year. In addition, the company reported that itsold 19 systems during the period. That helps to reaffirm that its partnership with Medtronic is paying off.

All in all, Mazor's continued success with system sales continue to prove that the bull case for owning its stock remains intact. For that reason, I'm personally content to hang on to my shares for the foreseeable future.

Brian Feroldi owns shares of Mazor Robotics. The Motley Fool owns shares of Medtronic. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Original post:

Why Mazor Robotics Dropped 15.6% in June -- The Motley Fool - Motley Fool