Monthly Archives: July 2017

The Waccamaw Neck Branch Library hosted a new camp this summer for students to gain hands-on experience in robotics and programming.

Sixteen students ages 9 to 16 signed up for LEGO Robotics Camp and were split into pairs to build and program their own robots.

Children's librarian Amy King said she tried to keep the numbers down so students could have the chance to program on their own.

"This is a more advanced program," King said. "We wanted students to be able to get their hands on a robot."

Students at the camp included newbie programmers and seasoned pros, including two-year library robotics team veteran Ellie Keesee.

"My favorite part of the camp is programming," Keesee said. "The camp teaches us a lot about it."

King and computer programmer Amanda Blair assisted the students throughout the camp. King and Blair also both volunteer to coach robotics during the school year; King at the library and Blair at Socastee Elementary School.

The library received the camp's robots through an eco literacy grant, and King said she hopes to use this new technology to help build robotics programs at schools in the area.

The library has been home to its own robotics team for two years, but is now looking to play more of a supporting role for Georgetown County schools.

"There's a huge learning curve when you start a team," King said. "New programs can be difficult to learn. We want to reach out and help coaches and students with robotics."

The Georgetown and Carvers Bay branch libraries will also be hosting robotics camps in the coming weeks to expose students to computer programming.

View post:

Camp sparks kids' interest in robotics - South Strand news

From delivery drones to automated cars, robots are on the rise -- and that includes bots you can have sex with, thanks to the growing number of companies working to bring artificially intelligent sex dolls to the masses.

The Foundation for Responsible Robotics, which calls for "accountable innovation for the humans behind the robots," sees sexualized robots creeping up on the horizon, so it put together a comprehensive report on the subject. It's a fascinating read, covering evolving societal attitudes, ethical implications and sociological concerns.

Theentire report's worth a look, but here are seven key takeaways.

The report cites a number of studies on whether people would have sex with a robot, and points to a wide range of responses. For instance, 9 percent of respondents to a Huffington Post survey expressed interest in the idea; another survey found 66 percent of men and about half as many women would want to give sexbots a go. Still another poll found that 86 percent of respondents believed a robot would be able to satisfy their sexual desires, suggesting potential for the market to grow as attitudes toward sex robots evolve.

The report also examines what future relationships with sex robots might look like, and draws comparisons to professional sex workers, many of whom say, according to the report, that high-paying clients often want to drink, socialize and do drugs together to form the pretense of a relationship in addition to having sex.

While the technology needed to make sex robots into drinking buddies is likely a long way off, the report points to men who say they've formed emotional connections with inanimate dolls. These sorts of "fictive relationships" are a little like imaginative play, the report says, and social acceptance of these kinds of relationships will be needed for more people to feel comfortable entering into them.

In another of the many surveys cited in the report, respondents were asked if sex robots were an acceptable substitute for prostitutes. On a scale of one to seven, with one being unacceptable and seven being acceptable, the survey results averaged out to a perhaps surprisingly high six. This, coupled with the fact that bordellos of inanimate sex dolls are already on the rise in Asia, leads the authors of the report to conclude that sex robot brothels might be a logical next step.

The report points out that there's no question creating humanoid sex robots based on pornographic representations of female anatomy objectifies women. Still, it asserts much of sexual societies already feed off of that sort of objectification, and goes on to suggest sex robots could ultimately serve more to reinforce existing mindsets than to create new ones. There's not a lot of research here, though, especially with regard to under-represented communities.

The authors of the report and the scholars they cite are fairly unified in the belief that the advent of sex robots could lead to greater social isolation. One big factor: Sex robots are easy to have sex with, and people who use them could be put off by the additional communication and social interaction that goes into a traditional sexual experience. They also express concern that sex robots could desensitize users to intimacy and empathy.

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RealDoll wants to build you a sexbot

The report goes on to discuss the potential therapeutic value of sex robots for people with social disorders or physical disabilities or even the elderly. There's some history to draw from here -- namely nursing homes that use semi-robotic dolls to provide companionship for their residents, including patients suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. Still, there are ethical questions with regard to dolls like these, even before you bring sex into picture. Some authors argue they infantilize the elderly, and others question whether those suffering from mental disabilities can truly provide informed consent.

The report cites controversial suggestions that sex robots could ultimately be used to stem the rise of sexual assault, rape and pedophilia by providing people predisposed to those acts with a non-human outlet. In addition to questioning the legality of such dolls (specifically those that depict children), the report's authors express skepticism about the proposed benefits, and even question whether they could actuallyencourage harmful behavior.

It's Complicated: This is dating in the age of apps. Having fun yet? These stories get to the heart of the matter.

Tech Enabled: CNET chronicles tech's role in providing new kinds of accessibility.

Read the rest here:

Sexbot brothels? What we might see in an era of sex robots - CNET

Finding value in the technology space looks incredibly hard at the moment and the tech heavy Nasdaq sits on its all-time high. In such an environment and with the bull market entering its 9th year after the Global Financial Crisis, it becomes harder and harder to find value. What I would search right now is structural growth stories with very strong market positions. I believe Teradyne (TER) fits my criteria. Structural growth is coming predominantly from exposure to robotics and to the increasing use of sophisticated microchips in many applications (automotive and assisted driving above all). At the same time, the market position appears very solid: in testing equipment, Teradyne holds approximately 50% of the market, with small market share gains over the past few years. In robotics, the company holds a 60% share of the cobots market.

Company description

First, let me give you a brief description of the markets in which the company operates: testing equipment and robotics.

On the first front, the focus is on semiconductor testing, but it also includes wireless and computer storage testing. In a nutshell, we are talking about large machines that test the functionality of hardware components for laptops and smartphones and also semiconductors for a wide variety of other applications (including the automotive sector). This explainer video from the company may help in understanding what we are talking about:

On the robotics side, the company bought Universal Robots (UR) of Denmark in 2015. Unlike traditional automation robots, UR offers collaborative robots (also known as cobots). These are much smaller than traditional robots, have force-limited joints that allow them to be operated alongside humans, are extremely flexible in performing different tasks, and can be programmed by a shop floor operator with a few easy moves. These characteristics make them affordable for small enterprises (a cobot can have a cost of around $100,000 or less rather than millions for a typical high-end robotic machine), and the payback is generally less than 12 months.

Stock performance in the last few years

I believe that looking at the chart of Teradyne shares since the financial crisis provides some very interesting information on the different growth stages:

TER data by YCharts

The first phase (20092011) coincided with the launch and extraordinary growth in the high-end smartphone market, coupled with a still decent computer equipment market. The stock quadrupled during this period. Between 2011 and 2016, shares stopped growing altogether in the context of a flat underlying market. Even though the number of smartphones and semiconductors in general increased, so did the testing capacity of the machines. This increase in equipment productivity, coupled with some in-house, cheap testing solutions developed by low-end smartphone manufacturers, led to an overall stagnant market. The third phase started in late 2016, with shares finally breaking out of the range and the company beating earnings and raising guidance more than once. This may just be the beginning, and several growth drivers seem to be supporting the trend.

The growth drivers

First of all, we have some rapidly expanding markets. Automotive is a very interesting growth story. Microchips used in the auto industry need to go through very extensive testing due to the high performance and extended lifespan required. At the same time, cars are becoming more and more connected (think assisted/autonomous driving and electric vehicles), with many high-end electronic and computer-based options now becoming widely available on low cost/high volume models. The slide below, from a recent Infineon (OTCQX:IFNNF) presentation, shows the range of sensors that are currently marketed in the automotive division and how their presence will dramatically increase over the next few years:

Source: Infineon investor presentation June 2017

Another factor to take into consideration is the ever-increasing complexity of app processors. Added complexity means extended testing times and a reduction in the productivity gains that prevented the testing equipment market from growing over the past few years (more limited parallel testing potential).

The third growth driver can be found in robotics and the increasing range of applications for cobots. This market is currently very small (around $200 mln worldwide) but growing at around 50% per annum and expected to grow at similar levels over the next few years. I am always skeptical about these very high growth markets as I remember the disaster in 3D printing stocks. Here is what I like about this sector: there is a much broader range of applications for all sorts of industries, a simple setup process but, most importantly, a very clear and easy to measure payback period, as cobots substitute manual work. I also like Universal Robots dominant market share in cobots (around 60%), a market that they effectively invented. But more importantly, UR is aggressively working on the creation of a broad ecosystem of third party hardware and software to adapt cobots to perform more and more industry specific tasks and is rapidly expanding its global distribution network. I believe these efforts will help the company maintain a solid position in a rapidly expanding market.

The financials and valuation

In the most recent quarter, Teradyne announced results that beat guidance and expectations and provided guidance for the second quarter that was higher than consensus. The company also increased its view on the size of the overall market for testing equipment even from its recent January estimate. What I find particularly encouraging is the breadth of the revenue/orders beat with automotive, mobility, image sensor, and memory all driving orders higher in the quarter and Universal Robots increasing sales 117% yoy. Surely, Universal Robots still represents a small part of the business (around 8% of total sales in Q1), but with sales growth of 117% yoy in the quarter and new orders up 150% yoy, we can expect this division to become sizable and soon capable of moving the needle.

The company has plenty of liquidity, with net cash of more than $1 bn (17% of the market cap) on the balance sheet and a plan to distribute more than $250 mln during 2017 through dividends and buybacks. From a valuation perspective, the stock is trading on 15.7x consensus 2017 earnings. This is not significantly above the average forward P/E of the past few years even though growth expectations have increased over the last 12 months.

Conclusions

Over the past 12 months, the stock appreciated significantly and is up roughly 50%. I generally find it very difficult to recommend an investment in a stock that has already seen such a significant growth, and, to be honest, I wish I discovered Teradyne earlier. That said, Teradyne still trades at a significant discount to Nasdaq on consensus P/E (15.7x vs. 19.5x) despite clear signs that we may be close to a shift in growth expectations in the industry. Risks are those typical of high growth technology industries, with price deflation and an increasing competition in robotics being the most significant. However, I believe the solid level of market share in both semi test equipment (50%) and cobots (60%) will certainly help Teradyne reap the benefits of a re-acceleration in growth that doesn't seem to be fully appreciated by investors.

Disclosure: I am/we are long TER.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Link:

Teradyne: Robotics And Assisted Driving Will Drive Growth - Seeking Alpha

Dive Brief:

School leaders and administrators must be careful that the introduction of new technology is not a burden to teachers, as it could have detrimental effects for both educators and students. In a recent survey, educators expressed pessimism on how ed tech is used in their schools, with only 13% reporting that new tech would help advance learning experiences for students. Many teachers felt there was a likelihood that the introduction of such tech to classrooms would include extensive out-of-pocket costs for teachers.

Therefore, it is important for administrators to consider applying tech that can help, rather than hinder, educators. Robotics and AI technology offer a unique ability to proffer some form of classroom instruction, which could be of great assistance to educators managing classrooms with a high number of students. For example, students making great strides in a given subject may be able to challenge themselves through the use of AI-assisted tech. This would free educators to offer more extensive human interaction to students who are struggling with the given subject matter.

Utilizing robotics tech in K-12 classrooms to assist early learners in math can pay off in dividends later in their educational career. Recent news from California indicates that many students must take remedial math courses to qualify for community college. While there are successful models of remedial instruction, it can still be a strain on institutions and students, often causing enrollees to drop out before receiving a diploma. With research showing that early childhood education generally offers robust returns on investment, and specifically that early mathematics learning can be essential for students future understand and proficiency in mathematics, robotics and AI offer an additional tool for educators to utilize one that can be particularly immersive and engaging for younger students.

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Robotics and AI tech can revolutionize classroom ed - Education Dive