Daily Archives: September 9, 2020

Head of operations at NATO-led KFOR tortured in Nazi-like camp in Turkey – Nordic Research and Monitoring Network

Posted: September 9, 2020 at 11:22 am

Abdullah Bozkurt

Muhammet Tanju Poshor, a decorated colonel and the head of operations at the Kosovo Force (KFOR), a NATO-led international peacekeeping force in Kosovo, was detained while on leave of absence in Turkey and brutally tortured for days by Turkish authorities who wanted to extract a false confession.

Poshor arrived in Ankara on July 14, 2016 from his post at KFOR with a plan to take his family back to Kosovo, where he had rented a house. He was ordered by the deputy chief of staff of the Turkish Armed Forces to take up a short assignment as an observer at a military drill that was scheduled for the next day. At the last minute, the drill was changed to an emergency deployment to respond to the threat of a terrorist attack at the Turkish Radio and Television Broadcasting Corporation (TRT) building by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Shortly after their arrival at the TRT building, the troops came under fire from an unidentified group of civilians who were mobilized to gather there by the government. He was shot in the back while trying to diffuse the tension and rushed to the h

Early on the morning of July 16, 2016 he was unlawfully detained in the hospital while in a hospital gown and about to have surgery for a gunshot wound in his back. The unidentified people stormed his hospital room, started beating him while his back had an open wound and put him in handcuffs without even identifying themselves or advising him of the charges against him.

In court testimony Muhammet Tanju Poshor exposed horrible torture ordeal he suffered under detention:

He was taken to an unofficial detention site in a sports hall where close to 1,000 people were kept in what Poshor described as Nazi camp-like conditions. For 10 days he was subjected to torture and abuse in this hall, where victims were denied food and water for days, not allowed to use the bathroom facilities, beaten regularly by guards and forced to remain in stress positions such as kneeling on a hard floor for hours while handcuffed from behind.

Poshor was separated from the group, blindfolded and taken to a room where three teams tried various torture tactics on him for 10 days. The torture method applied by the first interrogation group was to beat me up, make me suffer by punching sensitive parts of my body and deliberately working especially on muscles until they were torn, Poshor told the court in a subsequent trial.

Another group of torturers took over the shift on the second day, trying to make him to sign a false confession. He was electrically shocked until he passed out. When I was awake, I got used to the pain, but I still havent gotten used to the smell of burnt flesh in a year and a half. This smell also disturbed my torturers and occasionally caused them to vomit, Poshor said of the terrible memories at the hands of his torturers.

A man who appeared to be the head of the guards came and told the torture team, Dont try too hard, bag him and leave him. When Poshor heard what the chief said, he thought they were going to kill him and put his lifeless body in a body bag. But he was wrong. I learned that bagging was another torture technique, not killing. They put me on the floor back first, then a heavy, muscled person sat on my chest, pressed my arms with his two knees, put a bag on my face and pressed hard, while someone else started squeezing and twisting my testicles. I dont know how many seconds this lasted but I really learned the meaning of pain. I was out of breath and fluid seeped out of every part of my body. I swallowed some of my vomit because my face was sealed with a bag, the colonel told the panel of judges in a hearing on May 5, 2018 at the Ankara 19th High Criminal Court.

Turkish Prosecutor included false statements in the indictment to incriminate Muhammet Tanju Poshor:

When the torture session ended, the interrogators asked him to tell everything or face a new round of torture. He said he had already told them what he knew, but his statement was not the one the police were looking for. Another round of the same kind of torture took place. After a terrible ordeal that lasted 10 days, he was taken to a prosecutors office, accompanied by one of his torturers. He saw a bar-appointed attorney for the first time waiting by the door of the prosecutors office. The lawyer asked him to not say anything about the torture. He said, If we talk about torture now, theyll continue to torture you, so lets not talk about it. They didnt let the lawyer into the prosecutors office, so I went in alone, Poshor said.

The prosecutor told him to confess to being a member of a terrorist group, a reference to government critic the Glen movement, which was accused by the government of being behind the failed coup. The movement strongly denies accusations, and the government has failed to present solid evidence to support its allegations. He said if I confessed to being a member of the organization, he would secure my release at the first hearing or he would hold me for another month at MIT [Turkeys notorious intelligence agency]. That was his statement, and I understood that the prosecutor knew about my torture, Poshor remarked.

The colonels recollection of his conversation with the prosecutor suggests that the unofficial detention site was run by the intelligence agency and that police were also there to help in running the center. It was clear that the prosecutor knew about the MIT torture site and was threatening the victim to go along with the government narrative by falsifying his statement.

Then he [the prosecutor] said, You knew youd be tortured, so why didnt you commit suicide? he recalled the prosecutor as saying to him in his office. He leveled more threats and sent him to a detention hall in the courthouse. Poshor thought he had caught a break as no one tortured him there. His relief did not last long. Only two or three hours later, he was taken from there and put in a room where a group of three or four men started beating him. The goal was to make him agree to the false statement in line with the prosecutors wishes. He was forced to sign papers and later referred to court for a 30-second arraignment before a formal arrest order was issued by a judge.

The prosecutor who indicted him later falsely stated that Poshor was detained on July 23, 2016 when he was in fact dragged from his hospital bed early in the morning of July 16. According to Poshor, this was not simply an oversight but rather a deliberate attempt to clear the authorities of violating his rights and cover up the torture evidence. That was not the only factually incorrect statement included in the indictment by the prosecutor. The prosecutor claimed that he confessed to having a conversation at noon on July 14 with Muhsin Kutsi Bar, commander of the Guard Regiment, in his office. However, at the time the prosecutor claimed Poshor had spoken with the commander, he was still in Kosovo. His flight landed in Ankara at 16:00 hours.

His acceptance of a direct order from his commanding officer, then-Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaar Gler, currently chief of general staff, put him in the middle of the chaotic July 15 events. Glers order was for him to accompany the Presidential Guard Regiment on July 15as an observer. He was supposed to compile a report of his observations and submit it to Gler. Although he explained this during the interrogation, the prosecutor removed that part of his statement from the indictment because that would have incriminated Gler as well and the government wanted to protect him due to his involvement in the false flag operation.

Muhammet Tanju Poshor was targeted for an assassination, but he survived:

When Poshor reported that he was ordered to observe the military drill, the commander of the Guard Regiment said he would let him know when the drill started. At around 21:00-21:30 hours, the commander told Poshor that he had received new orders from the General Staff to send reinforcements to state broadcaster TRT in order to secure the building against a possible terrorist attack by ISIS. He did not find the new orders strange given the fact that ISIS and the PKK had carried out terror attacks in the Turkish capital before, and intelligence alerts were arriving regularly to warn the military against possible attacks.

Col. Poshor explained in court that the regiment took a bomb-sniffing dog when they were deployed to TRT and said if this was a coup, the regiment would not have needed a bomb-sniffing dog. When they arrived at the TRT building, he thought he was observing a security operation to protect the building against terror threat. As the troops took their positions inside and outside the building, a group of 40 police officers came and started shooting at them. He went to talk to the police chief and explained to him why they were deployed. The chief told the colonel that they had been ordered to remove the soldiers from the building. It is clear that the false flag planners had mobilized military and police units with completely opposite orders while calling on civilians to gather there.

In order to diffuse the tension and clear the conflicting orders, Poshor said he would take care of the removal of the troops given enough time and returned to talk to the commanders. While they were speaking in a guard building at the entrance, all of a sudden they came under helicopter fire. Many were injured from shrapnel fragments. Posher was also among the wounded, but his injury was different than the others. I wasnt hit by shrapnel. The wound on my back was a 9 millimeter bullet wound, not from the gunfire of the cops, I was shot by one of the civilians in that crowd, and I was deliberately shot by someone who used the helicopter fire as cover, he said.

The full court transcript of the defense testimony of Col. Muhammet Tanju Poshor:

He revealed in court that he later learned that Zekai Aksakall, the commander of Special Forces who worked with the Turkish intelligence agency in executing the false flag coup bid, unlawfully ordered his execution. Aksakall had nothing to do with the Presidential Guard Regiment; yet he was very much involved in steering events at the TRT building. Aksakall was told by his aide that Poshor had been killed when he was being transferred to the hospital in an ambulance. In order to shape public perception, Aksakalls team even leaked the murder to journalist Myesser Yldz, who worked for the neo-nationalist Oda TV, which ran the fake murder story on its website. Poshor claimed he was one of three senior officers who were targeted for execution that night by Aksakall.

Col. Poshor, a decorated officer who was wounded twice in 1994 and 1995 in clashes with militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in south-eastern Hakkari province and northern Iraqs Kurdistan region and received medals for outstanding bravery, suffers from a loss of hearing and vision as a result of the torture he endured in Turkey.

In the coup trial Poshor denied accusations that he was involved in the putschist attempt and testified that he was complying with a direct order from Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Gler. He asked that Gler be compelled take the stand so his lawyer could cross-examine him, but Gler never appeared in court.

The prosecutor asked the court to sentence him to a two consecutive life sentences. The case is still pending.

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Head of operations at NATO-led KFOR tortured in Nazi-like camp in Turkey - Nordic Research and Monitoring Network

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Estonia’s Security Options Eroded by Far-Right Governing Party – Foreign Policy Research Institute

Posted: at 11:22 am

Estonias relations with neighboring Finland have been unsettled by late Julys announcement that the countrys ambassador in Helsinki, Harri Tiido, resigned. Tiido cited difficulties in maintaining strong cooperation between Estonia and Finland due to a string of controversial statements attributed to outgoing chairman of the far-right populist Conservative Peoples Party of Estonia (EKRE), Mart Helme. While the global COVID-19 crisis has diverted focus, this controversy links back to December 2019 when Helme, Estonias 70-year-old minister of interior, participated in a radio discussion where he disparaged Finlands newly elected prime minister, 34-year-old Sanna Marin, as a cashier. Helme followed this with a denouncement of Marins Social Democratic Party, which he said leads Finlands governing coalition as reds desperately trying to liquidate Finland. The former is a bizarre reference to Marins student job before she obtained a masters degree and embarked on her political career, the latter has warped connotations with the Finnish Civil War in 1918.

The diplomatic consequences of Helmes comments continue to linger, with Tiido arguing: When diplomats have to ask for some support from Finland, its really difficult to go to the Finns after those kinds of statements. The senior Estonian diplomats public criticism of his government has caused considerable domestic controversy, but Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Reinsalu has refuted Tiidos claim, saying that relations between Tallinn and Helsinki remain strong at a ministerial level and that inappropriate statements from last year have not harmed [Estonias relationship with Finland], though these [statements] could have been left unsaid. Despite this, Tiidos serious claim that EKRE are reducing, or have already reduced, Estonias room for maneuver internationally is a troubling assessment that requires deeper scrutiny.

Estonias relations with Finland sometimes resemble an unrequited love story. Reinforced by linguistic similarity, it is not uncommon for Estonian leaders to refer to a special relationship between the two countries. Tallinn perceives a close security partnership between Finland and NATO as further benefiting Estonias security. Estonias total defense system, which relies on the large-scale mobilization of military reserve components and civil society to support territorial security, is modeled on the system initially developed by Finland from the Winter War (1939-1940) onwards. Enthusiasm to more closely factor Estonian concerns into Finnish security policy has not been as strong on Helsinkis side. While welcoming broader regional security dialogue, Finnish governments have sometimes interpreted Estonian encouragement on closer Finnish-NATO cooperation as too pushy and out of step with Helsinkis more cautious management of relations with Russia.

Coming on top of other controversies, the saga leading from Helmes comments to Tiidos resignation risks compounding doubts in Helsinki on deepening foreign policy cooperation with Estonia. While most mundane diplomatic matters progress satisfactorily, Estonia-Finland relations have still experienced some uncomfortable moments over recent years. For example, in 2015, Estonias then Foreign Minister Keit Pentus-Rosimannus took an unusually heavy-handed decision to officially summon Finlands ambassador to Estonia. The move was in response to comments from Finlands Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, who argued Estonia had left its society exposed to Russian propaganda by failing to offer news in Russian. (This was incorrect, as Estonias public broadcaster has long provided Russian language news programs on TV, radio and online an effort furthered by the dedicated Russian language ETV+ channel launched in 2015.).

Conversely, during the COVID-19 crisis, the Estonian governments expectations of Finnish solidarity were publically dashed when Tallinn expressed its disappointment that Estonian citizens working in Finland were not afforded special treatment and allowed to cross the border for employment purposes. Helsinki restricted international entry until late spring 2020, despite a long-standing tradition of employment mobility from Estonia. With these disappointments and controversies in mind, contrary to an ambitious special relationship in foreign policy based on ever-closer national friendship, some propose that a new realism focused on mutual strategic and economic calculations should instead be the platform to develop Estonia-Finland relations.

As a NATO member fulfilling the alliance obligation to spend 2% of GDP on defense, Estonia had consistently been referred to as a model NATO ally before EKREs entry to the countrys governing coalition in 2019. Until recently, there was little serious discussion on any alternative to Estonias long-term NATO policy, which routinely emphasizes a shared commitment to liberal values as a crucial basis for alliance solidarity. Estonia perceives this liberal values-based system as differentiating NATO members from Vladimir Putins authoritarian politics in Russia. Explaining some recent and surprising deviations from this narrative, political sociologist Tnis Saarts interprets EKREs rise as at least a partial revolt against the [liberal] West. Some Western societies have lately favored enhanced social liberalization, embracing multiculturalism, gender equality and legalized same-sex marriage. Saarts argues that significant conservative sections in East European societies within the EU and NATO are not yet willing to accept the same liberal transformation.

Perceiving ideological convergence, some among Eastern Europes nationalist leaders view the Trump administration as an ally more likely than Western European partners to accommodate their security concerns. During Estonias 2019 general election, EKRE included the audacious campaign promise that it would seek to secure billions in additional defense funding from Washington for Estonia. This fanciful claim came from Leo Kunnas, EKREs unsuccessful candidate for the minister of defense position, and offers some indication of EKREs preference for exclusive bilateral US-Estonia defense cooperation, perhaps envisaging that more engagement with Washington might marginalize some more liberal NATO governments. This worldview contrasts with Estonias long-term security policy consensus perceiving relations with Washington as vital, but still always encouraging support for NATOs collective action. As a far-right party in a governing coalition with the more moderate Centre and Isamaa Parties, EKREs inconsistent outlook risks provoking unnecessary friction with those already supporting Estonias security. As NATO has evolved its Readiness Action Plan (RAP) to the enhanced Forward Presence (eFP), US military rotations stationed in Poland have been reinforced by European and Canada contributions to NATO battlegroups in the Baltic states. European allies dominate the rotations for NATOs Baltic Air Policing.

Estonia is a recipient of security produced in NATOs multinational context, thus some contributing European allies might react with disappointment should they perceive EKRE criticism as directed at them. With Germany as the most prominent target, EKREs leadership has repeatedly criticized European NATO allies on immigration policy in particular. Some of this has also found its way into Mart Helmes remarks casting doubt on Estonias NATO engagement strategy. Before entering government, in 2018 Helme boasted that once Estonia improves its own independent defense capability, Tallinn will be in a better position to ignore the advice of its allies. He added that: A state that hangs all its defense-related hopes on allies is also a toy in their allies hands. Referencing political challenges largely beyond NATOs remit, Helme justified these remarks with the dubious claim that right-wing governments in Hungary and Poland are in a stronger position to refuse EU refugee quotas because both are less dependent on NATO allies for security assistance. The 2015 European immigration crisis started a tense legacy in Estonian politics, but these comments surprisingly contradict the never again alone principle that has dominated Estonias security policy since the restoration of independence in 1991. Weak military alliances are blamed for the countrys loss of sovereignty during World War II and the Soviet period.

Responding to French President Emmanuel Macrons comments on NATO becoming brain dead in late 2019, Helme astonished many when he elaborated that a Plan B for regional collective defense was being prepared by Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland as an alternative to NATO provisions. This provoked surprise in Helsinki, with Finlands Ministry of Defense publishing an official statement outlining that it was unaware of any such plan. Helme later claimed that his comments were misinterpreted, nevertheless the mea culpa that his ministry issued was far from a ringing NATO endorsement, containing the line that an independent people and state [Estonia] must also be capable of defending themselves in a situation in which international security guarantees for some reason dont function. Inside Estonias government, Prime Minister Jri Ratas (Centre Party) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Reinsalu (Isamaa) reacted to these remarks by affirming Estonias unwavering support for NATO.

Before EKREs rise, Estonia was the model ally among the Baltic countries. Latvia and Lithuania have not been rocked by the same far-right populist influence. While maintaining consistent approval for strong EU-US relations and NATO, Riga and Vilnius perceive the unpredictable and confused security discourses coming from the Estonian government with concern. Were further loose statements from EKRE to risk increased friction with some NATO members, strategic proximity would inevitably lead Latvian and Lithuanian policymakers to grow more anxious that they might also be affected by any resulting controversy. As EKRE has surged in popularity and entered government, populist statements from within the partys ranks have created a series of unnecessary risks for Estonias security relations with other Baltic states, with Finland and within NATO. Recent experience certainty gives weight to Ambassador Tiidos parting claim that the far-right party has indeed reduced Estonias room to maneuver.

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a non-partisan organization that seeks to publish well-argued, policy-oriented articles on American foreign policy and national security priorities.

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New Royal Navy patrol ship hit by engine woe on first voyage rises to the task on first Nato mission – Portsmouth News

Posted: at 11:22 am

Patrol ship HMS Trent suffered an engine malfunction after leaving Portsmouth last month and needed to head to Gibraltar for repair, national newspapers claimed.

But the 295ft warship soon left the port and joined Operation Sea Guardian, a Nato task group in the Mediterranean tasked with deterring, detecting and disrupting illegal activity.

As well as scanning the horizon for possible threats, the ships company also played a key role in detecting criminal and terrorist activity in the region.

Lieutenant Oliver Bekier, Trent's e xecutive officer currently in command of the ship, said: The immediate success seen during our first period of operational tasking, and the way in which Trent has quickly integrated within the broader Nato construct, demonstrates the utility of the Batch 2 offshore patrol vessel in serving Britains interests in this area of the world.

Following the end of the exercise, Trent returned to Gibraltar to resupply.

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Virtual RIA Robotics Show and Conference Takes Place This Week – Novus Light Technologies Today

Posted: at 11:20 am

RIA Robotics Week, the worlds largest virtual robotics show and conference, opens on Tuesday morning, September 8 and continues through Friday afternoon, September 11. The event features more than 75 leading industry experts talking about how to successfully apply robotics, the latest industry trends, promising technology breakthroughs and more.

The accompanying exhibitor showcase features80 world-class companiesincluding robot manufacturers, accessory equipment suppliers, and system integrators. The platform allows attendees to learn about leading products, engage in one to one discussions with company leaders and connect in live Zoom groups with exhibitors.

Among the highlights of the week are:

Registration for Robotics Week is free. All live presentations will be archived for later viewing until September 30, 2020. For complete details visit theRobotics Week website.

Platinum Sponsors of Robotics Week include ABB Inc., ATI Industrial Automation, AutoGuide Mobile Robots, Calvary Robotics, FANUC America, Fictiv, Harmonic Drive, Honeywell Intelligrated, JR Automation, Kawasaki Robotics USA, KUKA, Miller Resource Group, OnRobot, SCHUNK, and Universal Robots.

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The Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation Receives a Nearly $750K Grant from Texas Workforce Commission to Expand Robotics Throughout…

Posted: at 11:20 am

Thousands of Texas students will now have access to robotics, skill-based learning

The Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation announced today that it is partnering with the Texas Workforce Commissions Texas Youth Robotics Initiative to expand access of competitive robotics to traditionally underrepresented high school students for the 2020/2021 academic year.

The REC Foundation has been awarded a nearly $750,000 grant to bring competitive robotics to rural and Title 1 schools around the state which will impact up to 4,800 high school students who wouldnt otherwise have access to evidence-based STEM programming.

The grant will assist rural and Title 1 schools in the development of 150 new robotics teams, comprised of students who have not participated in competitive robotics previously, and to sustain 50 existing teams. Additionally, this grant will focus on inclusion for deaf and hard of hearing students across Texas. The REC Foundation is partnering with the Texas School for the Deaf to expand robotics by creating 25 new teams and holding a signature competition event for the deaf community, next spring in Austin.

"Were thrilled to receive a grant from the Texas Workforce Commission to increase participation in competitive robotics in our home state of Texas," said Dan Mantz, CEO of the REC Foundation. "This investment will offer the opportunity for thousands of students to access science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills. It will also help prepare the next generation of innovators to have a rewarding career which will ultimately help enhance Texass workforce."

Through the creative process of designing, building, and programming robots for competition, students gain a wealth of technical knowledge and develop communication and teamwork skills that will serve them well throughout their lives. To learn more about the REC Foundation and how your high school can apply for this grant, visit https://www.roboticseducation.org/grant/twc-grant/.

About the Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation

The Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundations mission is to increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by engaging students in hands-on, affordable, and sustainable robotics engineering programs.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200909005256/en/

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iotaMotion Awarded $1.65M NIH Grant To Further Development Of Its Robotics-assisted Surgical Technology For Cochlear Implantation – Yahoo Finance

Posted: at 11:20 am

IOWA CITY, Iowa, Sept. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --iotaMotion Inc., an early-stage medical technology startup spun out of the University of Iowa's Otolaryngology Department, announced today that the company has been awarded a $1.65M grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Company is applying this grant towards the continued development of real time tissue trauma sensing capabilities in the iotaSOFT robotic surgical system, which is intended to assist surgeons with cochlear implantation surgery.

iotaMotion, Inc. Logo. (PRNewsfoto/iotaMotion, Inc.)

In recognition of the Company's continued success, iotaMotionhas additionally received the inaugural Iowa Biosciences Med-tech Award. The first award of its kind, iotaMotion received $20,000 in recognition for significant progress and investor support over the past year. These funds will be used to support the Company's continued regulatory and pre-commercialization efforts.

"This grant award is incredibly exciting as the Company makes significant progress developing truly novel robotic-assisted technologies," said iotaMotion Medical Director and Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology at University of Iowa Marlan Hansen, MD, FACS. "We expect the iotaSOFT system to deliver a marked clinical impact on how we perform cochlear implantation surgery upon commercialization."

The iotaSOFT system is a robotic-assisted insertion device, which will allow surgeons to advance cochlear implant electrodes with control and precision. iotaMotion anticipates that controlled insertion will allow for less surgical variability in outcomes and results. Given the growing development of hearing preservation implant solutions, assistive technologies like iotaSOFT become critical in achieving surgical goals while navigating the patient's retained residual hearing capacity.

"These NIH funds will be used to advance technology development to support real-time feedback and monitoring during cochlear implant electrode insertion," said co-founder and President of iotaMotion, Chris Kaufmann. "We appreciate the support of the NIH as well as the local investor community as we make meaningful progress towards commercialization of our first suite of solutions."

IOTAMOTION, INC.

A privately-held Iowa based company, iotaMotion is developing robotic technologies with the goal of focused, individualized, hearing loss treatment. The company's solutions aim to standardize cochlear implant insertion, and to provide unprecedented control in the surgical and post-surgical care settings with the goal of expanding access to cochlear interventions for both surgeons and patients. For more information, visit http://www.iotamotion.com or contact Christopher Kaufmann at pr@iotamotion.com.

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Healthcare Robotics Market Projected to Deliver Greater Revenues during the Forecast Period until 2025 | Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic – StartupNG

Posted: at 11:20 am

The global healthcare market size was estimated USD 3.76 Billion in 2014 and is expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period. Healthcare robots are used in various applications which include drug manufacturing, dispensing drugs to patients and moving inventory in medical supply facilities.Growing demand for the surgical robots such as da Vinci surgical systems is projected to enhance the market growth over the forecast period. These robots offers 3D HD vision systems for a clear ad magnified view of patients body and also assist surgeons in various complex procedures with high precision and flexibility.The healthcare centers are investing enormously in the robotics industry for minimizing the high cost manual label of surgery and for greater flexibility functioning of the healthcare. The centers are investing in automatic guided vehicles (AGV) for transporting the patient needs which include linens, delivering meals, packages, nursing supplies, sterile items, oxygen and gases and pick-up trash.

The Final Report will cover the impact analysis of COVID-19 on this industry.

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Rising government subsidiaries for installing and implementing the healthcare robots in the countries such as India and China is further projected to fuel the market growth. Furthermore, shortage in workforce in the sector is also driving the industry growth. According to World Health Organization (WHO) report, 83 countries fall below the threshold of 22.8 skilled healthcare professionals per 10,000 population and 100 countries fall below the threshold of 34.5 skilled healthcare professionals per 10,000 population.The market is segregated into two major segments which include rehabilitation robots and robotics surgery market. Further, the rehabilitation robotics consists of prosthetic robotics, exoskeleton robotic system, orthotic robotics, and therapeutic robotics.

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The robotics surgery market is segregated based on the components and services which include robotic surgical systems, instruments and accessories, and services.The robotic surgery segment holds the significant share in the market owing to the comprehensive scale improvements in patient monitoring, and the ability to deliver better medical results with high accuracy and precision while replacement and component implantation in orthopedics is projected to enhance the market growth over the forecast period. Gynecology, Urology and general surgery are few applications of the robotic surgery.

Moreover, the high cost associated with healthcare robotics encourages the patients to go for normal treatment. However, emerging trends which include implementation of robotic in-patient rehabilitation programs and replacement of manual surgical assistance indicate the immense growth over the forecast period.

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North America region is estimated to dominate the industry owing to the increasing government spending in the healthcare infrastructure sector. Densely increasing aging population in metropolitan cities of U.S. has led to the huge investments in healthcare sector. According to the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery report in 2014, a total of 1,764,956 procedures have been carried out in cosmetic procedures.Asia Pacific region is expected to grow enormously as the industries in China, South Korea and India has been adopting healthcare robots in hospitals and rehabilitation centers. Furthermore, Japan is expected to lead the healthcare robotics industry owing to increase need for reduced lead time for addressing the patients and for aging population.

The key vendors dominating the market include Elekta, Mazor Robotics, Intuitive Surgical, Tecan Group, Qiagen, and Varian Medical System. Other companies include Titan Medicals, Curexo Technology, THINK Surgical, Hansen Medical, and Health Robotics. Latin America: Brazil and Rest of Latin America

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How Robotics and AI will Change Agriculture – Electropages

Posted: at 11:20 am

Robotics and AI have already begun to shape humanity, and even one of mans oldest industries, agriculture, is now being affected. What problems do farmers typically face, what robotic and AI solutions are currently under development, and how will they change agriculture in the future?

Of all the inventions and discoveries by man, agriculture was the most important of all. The invention of agriculture, whereby crops are planned, and animals are domesticated, meant that people could settle into strong communities, with well-defined borders that kept predators at bay. The creation of settlements also saw humans move away from their nomadic days, and this allowed for proper planning of food and supplies. The ability to store food also provided people with free time, and free time lead to thinking. Thinking lead to other discoveries, including metalworking, astronomy, and mathematics, and from there, the modern world was created. Agriculture is so vital for society to grow that most technological revolutions are as a result of a surplus of food. For example, the industrial revolution (which brought steam power), was only possible thanks to improvements in agriculture as well as ideal weather conditions in the UK.

The agriculture industry is faced with a wide range of problems, and yet it is amazing that the public never face most of these issues. To start, price volatility can cause issues with regards to profit margins, something that many farmers already struggle with to stay competitive. Secondly, agriculture practices are heavily dependent on weather conditions (a particularly dry season can kill off an entire crop). Thirdly, pests and disease can quickly rampage across whole lands, requiring the culling of crop and livestock.

While price volatility is more of an economic issue, environmental factors are a result of mother Earths mood and something that can be difficult to fight against. The mass use of pesticides can ensure that a crop remains undamaged by pests, but can also cause ecological harm by killing off useful insects such as bees, wasps, and spiders. Droughts can be fought off by watering, but the quantity of water used can be astronomical, and large portions of water can go into growing unwanted plants (such as weeds). Weeds can be removed using herbicides, but these again come with their faults. Some can be carcinogenic to life, while others may cause damage to the environment as they are washed into rivers and streams.

To make matters worse, increasing wages and living standards is increasingly making it harder to find workers for farms at profitable rates. While many argue that those working on farms should be paid decent wages, those same individuals would be upset to pay three times the amount on food than they already do. While one solution to ensuring fair practices is to accept that food should be more expensive than it currently is, another lies in the form of technology.

By removing the human element in farming, agriculture businesses can not only improve their yields, but they can also do it at a reduced cost. Despite large advances in robotics, the use of automated robotic systems in farming is far and few between. Reasons for this include the difficulty in penetrating the agriculture market (which itself may see resistance against modern technology) and the low-profit margins that make it difficult to invest in new technology. Robotic systems can be used to replace a wide range of tedious tasks that require manual work, including tiling of land, planting, watering, and harvesting. While not entirely robotic, a combine harvester is an example of machinery that can automatically cut wheat, and separate the grain from the stems.

The Ecorobotix is an example of a robotic system that is designed to minimise the usage of herbicides used by farmers. The drone is automated, solar-powered, and uses visual technology to identify individual weeds. Once identified, herbicides are directed towards the weed, instead of dusting the entire crop, and not only does this improve environmental safety, it also uses up to 90% less herbicide, thus making it 30% cheaper than traditional treatments.

The LettuceBot2 is a robotic attachment to a traditional tractor that utilises weed identification systems to minimise herbicides. The system also can thin out lettuce crop to ensure that each plant has the space needed to grow, and selective watering ensures that only lettuce plants are watered, leaving surrounding land difficult for weeds to establish themselves.

AI technology is often used hand-in-hand with robotic technologies as it allows for visual tasks to spot and catalogue plants. The ability to learn allows for such robotic systems to improve their performance over time, and eventually become entirely independent from human interaction. Not only can they learn about identifying plants, but they also can gather large amounts of data regarding water to yield ratios, temperature logging, precipitation rates, and soil nutrition. From there, AI systems could improve farm yield over time and help to reduce dependencies on fertilisers, herbicides, and pesticides. The two previous examples, Ecorobotic and LettuceBot2, both integrate AI technologies to help identify weeds for precise farming methods. Thus, AI solutions often coincide with robotic developments as opposed to being stand-alone products.

There is no doubt that AI-driven robotic systems will become mainstream in the agricultural industry, and its introduction will significantly help to improve yields while also helping the environment. Climate change will bring about unpredictable weather patterns, including long droughts and extreme rain, thus potentially harming global food production. History tells us that an army marches on its stomach, and the same appears to be true for technology; after all, even engineers need to eat sometimes.

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How Robotics and AI will Change Agriculture - Electropages

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New Universal OS Transforms Robots into Intelligent Collaborators that Interact and Learn from Humans, Other Robots – Business Wire

Posted: at 11:20 am

VENTURA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Qobotix announced today the introduction of its new universal AI operating system to transform collaborative robots (cobots) into intelligent coworkers on the manufacturing floor. After two years of R&D, including active installations of the OS industrial appliance at major auto manufacturers, Qobotix officially unveiled its technology to make existing robots smarter and self-learning.

Click to see the media kit including a video on how Qobotix works.

Just as Android OS and Apple iOS offer application platforms that run on smartphones, the Qobotix OS platform coordinates industrial automation between manufacturers robotic capabilities. Powered by proprietary AI, machine vision, and kinematics, the Qobotix OSs agnostic plug and play technology enables intelligent factory applications to perform complex tasks that were considered only possible by humans. The company also offers complete robot stations, which are ready for immediate deployment on manufacturing lines with the flexibility to be deployed rapidly for different tasks.

With Qobotix OS, manufacturers can boost their manufacturing productivity, reduce costs and simplify manufacturing processes, such as precision inspection, picking, packing and assembly tasks. Qobotix Cloud provides a factory management platform with a centralized repository of work intelligence that can be shared between machines to manage production analytics and provide managers with deep analysis of robotic performance. Qobotix already has active OS installations in major auto manufacturing operations. The company is seeking early adopters of their technology and aims to distribute 20-50 robot stations in the first year with deployment, training and testing that can be done on the same day.

One of Qobotixs central innovations is that it enables robots to learn independently - humans can train robots by interacting with them and robots can learn from other robots, unlike existing industrial robots that are pre-programmed to perform only one task. This capacity enables robots to be programmed in hours or days rather than weeks. Companies can deploy their robots faster with greater flexibility to perform functions with accelerated human-machine collaboration, enabling humans to take on other roles.

Qobotixs introduction comes right as the Covid-19 pandemic is shaking up supply chains to their core. Companies are re-examining their reliance on massive repetitive production offshore, and seeking more flexible, localized manufacturing options. Qobotix helps companies meet the challenge of becoming better equipped to meet these new conditions and move away from inflexible factory designs and manufacturing processes. With Qobotix, factories can use cobots to more easily switch between projects quickly, produce at a high volume for a shorter time, while keeping workers safe through social distancing.

Qobotix is the brainchild of Avi Reichental, a 3D printing pioneer and long-time industry veteran; Egor Korneev, a serial entrepreneur and a pioneer in the field of machine learning and vision systems; and George Votis, the Chairman, CEO and founder of Galt Industries, Inc.

During our many years involved in industrial manufacturing, we experienced robots that were meant to be collaborative and quickly concluded they were not like that at all - they couldnt see or hear, and they were very inflexible, said Reichental.

The team recognized a major gap in the market and decided to develop their own technology with the aim of bringing vision and intelligence to collaborative robots, freeing humans from repetitive tasks to enable them to achieve more complex and strategic roles.

Our aim is to take robotics out of the late 1990s with the Qobotix operating system, said Qobotix Co-founder and CEO Egor Korneev. In the early 2000s, hardware companies dominated the mobile phone and device markets and the mobile applications ecosystem was weak with no common OS options. The advent of iOS and Android led to an explosion in mobile software applications based on open OS platforms. We are now in a similar place with cobots with Qobotix offering a universal operating system for industrial robots driven by AI as a platform for automation applications.

Qobotix marks a milestone in the manufacturing and services industries, said Reichental. Qobotix changes the game for manufacturing and services by eliminating time-consuming processes such as programming to significantly lower costs and increase output. This presents a huge opportunity for all manufacturers in their everyday operations.

Qobotix offers a strong return on investment by freeing up people for higher level tasks, said Qobotics co-founder George Votis. With Qobotix, robots can more easily collaborate with each other, and allow manufacturers to deploy production stations within different production lines each day, saving time and costs while boosting productivity.

About QobotixQobotix delivers the most intuitive and cost effective industrial-grade factory automation solutions for manufacturers of all sizes. The companys integrated and collaborative robotics solutions are powered by a proprietary machine vision and intelligence technology and patented kinematics that together deliver manufacturing floor adaptability, utility and human and machine collaboration at a fraction of the cost and complexity of traditional factory automation. The companys solutions reduce the time and cost required to commission and run demanding multitasking manufacturing operations that include precision inspection, picking, packing and assembly tasks compressing the time, cost and complexity of manufactures final products. To learn more, visit http://www.qobotix.com.

About the Qobotix FoundersAvi Reichental, Co-founder and ChairmanReichental founded XponentialWorks in 2015, after serving as president and CEO of 3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) for 12 years. Under his leadership, 3D Systems became a global leader, ranking second in Fortune Magazines list of the fastest growing tech companies in 2013, and 13th on Forbes Worlds Most Innovative Growth Companies in 2014. Reichental is a recognized Additive Manufacturing pioneer and a leading authority on tech convergence. He also served on the board of Harman (NYSE:HAR) till its successful acquisition by Samsung.

Egor Korneev, Co-founder & CEOKorneev is a serial entrepreneur and a pioneer in the field of machine learning and vision systems. He works to merge applied Artificial Intelligence research with practical needs to deliver effective industrial solutions to customers around the world. Korneev brings two decades of proven track record in successfully commercializing technologies at the edge of innovation. He is also founder and CEO of Ordinal Science, a company that is focused on developing impactful AI solutions that advance the capabilities of the industry.

George Votis, Co-founder and Board MemberVotis is the Chairman and founder of Galt Industries, a private family office with expertise in the consolidation of fragmented industries and, through Galt Ventures, is an active technology investor, incubator and founder of businesses focused primarily on industrial transformation. Votis is also the founder and former owner of Techniplas, a global tier 1 supplier to the automotive industry which was exited in the first half of 2020. He is a Global Leader for Tomorrow as nominated by the World Economic Forum and was an Innovation Board member of the XPrize Foundation. He has an MBA from The Wharton School and a BA from Tufts University.

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New Universal OS Transforms Robots into Intelligent Collaborators that Interact and Learn from Humans, Other Robots - Business Wire

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Walk-through cancer diagnoses and robotics muscles among groundbreaking projects backed by government – GOV.UK

Posted: at 11:20 am

Debilitating diseases such as cancer and osteoarthritis could be identified and treated faster and more effectively, thanks to 1 of 6 projects benefiting from 32 million government funding.

As part of a keynote speech on research and development at London Tech Week 2020, the Science Minister Amanda Solloway will today (Monday 7 September) announce 6 new projects aimed at developing revolutionary new technological approaches that aim to transform care and treatments in the NHS by 2050, helping to improve peoples quality of life as they age.

InlightenUs, led by the University of Edinburgh, will receive 5.4 million to use a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and infra-red lasers to produce fast, high resolution 3D medical images, helping to identify diseases in patients more quickly.

Working with the universities of Nottingham and Southampton, the new research will initially be developed for use on hospital wards and GP surgeries, and by 2050 aims to scale up to walk through airport style X-Ray scanners, which will be able to pick up detailed images of structures often hidden within the human body that can reveal tumours.

Another of the 6 projects, emPOWER, will be led by researchers at the University of Bristol, and will receive 6 million to develop artificial robotic muscular assistance to help restore strength in people who have lost muscle capability. This could include patients who have suffered a stroke or are living with degenerative diseases such as sarcopenia and muscular dystrophy.

Using these highly targeted robotics will help overcome the limitations of current wearable assistive technology of regenerative medicine. Often, these technologies can be bulky and uncomfortable to wear, and can require 2 people to put on and take off. Users can also find the movements too slow. Through using robots, emPOWER will provide life changing benefits for sufferers, restoring their confidence, independence and quality of life, all while reducing the cost to the NHS.

Ahead of her keynote speech on R&D at London Tech Week, Science Minister Amanda Solloway said:

The pioneering projects we are backing today will help modernise healthcare, improving all of our lives now and into the future.

Todays announcement is part of our ambitious R&D Roadmap and underlines our commitment to back our incredible scientists and researchers and invest in ground-breaking research to keep the UK ahead in cutting-edge discoveries.

The funding is being delivered through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, through the Transformative Healthcare Technologies for 2050 call.

As part of her speech, Minister Solloway will set out the governments ambitions for research to address significant issues such as advancing healthcare outcomes for patients and ensuring the UK is at the forefront of transformational technologies like artificial intelligence.

It follows the launch of the governments R&D Roadmap in July 2020 which detailed plans to make the UK the best place in the world for scientists and researchers to live and work, building on the governments commitment to increase R&D public spending to 22 billion per year by 2024 to 2025.

Innovation minister Lord Bethell said:

Throughout this global pandemic, the NHS has continued to be there for us all and to treat cancer patients and those living with chronic illness as a priority.

These pioneering new projects will help us further improve care for patients and make life easier for NHS staff, cementing the UKs status as a world leader in research and technology and ultimately saving thousands of lives.

EPSRC Executive Chair, Processor Dame Lynn Gladden, said:

The projects announced today will develop new approaches which could become routine in the NHS and community and home care in the coming decades.

Harnessing the latest technologies and the UKs world-leading expertise will allow us to deliver a step-change in how healthcare is delivered and benefit millions of people, emphasising the critical role the UKs R&D sector plays in improving the health of the nation.

Led by Imperial College London, it will receive 5.5 million to develop a Non-Invasive Single Neuron Electrical Monitoring technology, which when combined with AI will allow researchers to monitor the brain in a way never achieved before. This will help scientists gain a better understanding of neurological diseases such as Parkinsons and Alzheimers. Currently approaches to monitoring the brain are invasive and so this new method would enable new pharmacological and neurotechnology-based treatments to be developed which are far more effective than any current treatments.

Led by Edinburgh Napier University, it will receive 3.2 million, to develop hearing aids designed to autonomously adapt to the nature and quality of their surroundings. Currently only 40% of people who could benefit from hearing aids have them, while most current devices make only limited use of speech enhancement. These hearing aids would be able to adapt to the nature and quality of the visual and acoustic environment around them, resulting in greater intelligibility of noise and potentially reduced listening effort for the listener.

Led by the University of Glasgow, it will receive 5.5 million to develop a project which aims to create a home of the future, providing homeowners with feedback on their health and wellbeing. Bringing clinically approved sensors into the living environment will enable individuals, carers or healthcare professional to monitor blood flow, heart rate and even brain function, in the home. Monitoring physical and emotional well-being in the home will enable tailored programmes to be built for lifestyles improvement, as well as rehabilitation.

Led by Heriot-Watt University, in partnership with the universities of Bath and Edinburgh, it will receive 6.1 million to exploit new laser, optical fibre and imaging technologies, delivering therapy for bacterial diseases and viruses in confined regions of the body such as the lungs, catheters inserted into the body for prolonged periods and areas of the body that have been subject to surgical procedures. The platform will be able to cut out single cells leaving the cells around it undamaged in cancer surgery, aiming to offer a cure for currently unresectable tumours tumours that are too close to critical structures and cannot be cut away safely with current approaches.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), in collaboration with the Medical Research Council, will shortly be inviting proposals for adventurous projects as part of the second phase of the Transformative Healthcare Technologies for 2050 call.

This call will target projects that that are guided by a longer-term vision to pursue new, high risk high reward ideas and develop thinking and approaches supported by the next generation of underpinning science, engineering and emerging technologies in the healthcare space. We seek and encourage adventurous ideas, new thinking and collaborations that have the potential to significantly improve healthcare delivery by 2050. Read further details.

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Walk-through cancer diagnoses and robotics muscles among groundbreaking projects backed by government - GOV.UK

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