Category Archives: Robotics

"Everyone will have an ID card. At the games in Rio De Janeiro and London, the security guards checked the ID pass and the photo and let people in," he said.

"This time our venues are all over Tokyo and some are in other prefectures of Japan, like Sapporo.

"One of our challenges is how to make a secure entry system. This solution is one of the new technologies we will introduce to Japan through the Tokyo Olympics."

Autonomous patrolling surveillancerobots, already roaming Tokyo's Narita airport, will also be used at games sites, taking 360-degree video through omnidirectional cameras and l as metal detectors and thermal imaging sensors.

The robots can extend robotic arms to check suspicious objectsaround them. Another autonomous security robot, the REBORG-Z model, will provide multilingual information to spectators and officials and display emergency evacuation instructions in the event of a security threat or natural disaster.

Toyota's Human Support Robot will assist spectators at the Tokyo games.Supplied

Motoring giant Toyota has announced a Tokyo 2020 robot collaboration project with the games, designed to support the mobility of people at event venues.

Nobuhiko Koga, the chief officer of Toyota's research centre, said the company was using expanded robotics programs as part of its efforts to transition to a mobility company.

Its human support robot will guide as many as 1000 guests to their seats in at Olympic stadium events, as well as delivering food and drinks ordered from dedicated tablet computers.

Special-use robots equipped with autonomous functions will also assist the competition, including retrievingequipment in field events such as javelin.

"At Tokyo 2020, we want to capture the imagination of spectators by providing support robots as we do our part to make the games a success," he said.

Toyota is preparing to supply a fleet of more than 3700 cars to the games, 90 per cent of which will be electrified, part of efforts to achieve the lowest emissions target level possible.

More than 500 medals are being made with metals from recycled electronic devices and smartphones donated by the Japanese public.

After two years of collection, nearly 80,000 tonnes of gold, silver and bronze have been recycled from schools and businesses.

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How robots will keep the 2020 Olympics safe - The Australian Financial Review

A booth at the 2019 Hannover Messe industrial technology trade fair in Lower Saxony, Hannover, on March 31. (AP / Christophe Gateau)

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Weve been warned: The robots are coming. While we might not have robot overlords anytime soon, changing technology is already making many of our workplaces increasingly dystopian. And as factories incorporate robots and automation, there will likely be job losses. Some studies estimate that up to half of the current workforce will soon see their jobs threatened by automation, and that more than four in five jobs paying less than $20 per hour could be destabilized. Yet for many the immediate concern is not replacement but repressionworkplaces controlled by algorithms and surveillance.Ad Policy

For workers hauling and packing boxes on the outskirts of Chicago, robots are making terrible bosses: People think of automation [as if its] going to replace all the jobswhich I think is a real concern in the future, said Roberto Clack, associate director of the Chicago-based grassroots labor organization Warehouse Workers for Justice (WWJ). But I think part of the story is: How is it affecting job quality currently?

Amazon workers in Chicago, where the company is one of the largest local employers, anticipate a grim future for labor in the age of e-commerce. Workers are pushed in a way thats never been done before, Clack said. I think one of the results of automation that people need to think about is that its really forcing workers to work harder at each job.

The warehousing and logistics industry that fuels retail markets has eclipsed the auto factory as todays emblematic blue-collar job: hazard-prone, physically punishing work done by overworked and underpaid laborers with irregular schedules, many of them immigrants and people of color. Logistics is still a labor-intensive sectoremployment in warehousing has soared by more than 400,000 since 2009, to well over a million jobs today. But Amazons production system shows how technology is ramping up efficiency not by substituting robots for workers but by making workers behave more like machines, with invasive performance-tracking systems. MORE FROM Michelle Chen

In a survey of Amazon workers by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, one interviewee, Ian (name withheld to conceal identity), at a Staten Island Amazon warehouse recounted being strained to a breaking point, They basically have a quota system that has you handle at least 2,000 units throughout the day. Four items per minute. Just the quota system pushes you to really not work at a pace thats normal but at a pace where youre almost running for the entire 10 hours.

Another worker at the facility complained about the nearly impossible-to-reach targets: From day one that I started working there, it was like you have to give your all and then some more. Youre not being compensated for it.

Although Amazon is at the forefront of technological advancement in logistics, a new study by the University of CaliforniaBerkeley Labor Center reveals that retailers and logistics firms across the country are exploiting technology to make people work harder and produce more.Current Issue

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Beth Gutelius, co-author of the Berkeley report, said, If you can take out some of the most arduous activity, [employers] have the potential to make the jobs better. The problem is that in the most likely scenario, those kinds of improvements are going to be counteracted by work speed-ups.

Warehouse jobs, meanwhile, will become increasingly precarious and unstable as work is deskilled into repetitive subtasks, and the supply chain becomes fissured through subcontracting across multiple third-party firms. Health and safety risks on the job will likely rise, including heightened psychological strain.

Roughly two-thirds of the surveyed workers in the NYCOSH study reported experiencing pain at work; about 40 percent said they felt pain even outside work. The largest share of reported injuries, nearly a quarter, involved being caught in, hit, or injured by machinery while performing their work duties.

Amazon wants to be able to[deliver orders] within hours of when you click online to buy it, said Clack. Theres a real cost to that, and right now, these algorithms and systems pushing people to go faster and faster and faster in order to be able to meet that demand. Theres a real human cost to this system.

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While robotic machinery and surveillance squeeze workers at Amazon, technology has had more uneven impacts across the rest of the economy. The Century Foundation examined the macroeconomic impact of robotics over the past decadewhen the recovery from the 2008 economic crisis coincided with a surge in automation in some labor-intensive workplacesand found that robots did not pose a universal threat to workers, and in fact could yield gains in productivity and create new jobs. But the introduction of robots did undermine those in vulnerable occupations and communities. Manufacturing workers in the Rust Belt are the most vulnerable to loss of jobs and income as automation on the assembly line renders them redundant. The jobs most likely to be disrupted by roboticization are those involving repetition and high-volume production.

In Rust Belt manufacturing industries, the robot-human ratio more than doubled in a decade, from about 0.8 robots per thousand workers to nearly two robots per thousand workers. That might not sound significant, but an increase of merely one robot per thousand workers translated to a 3.5 percent drop in the employment rate, and a 4 to 5 percent decline in wages. Even though there was net growth post-recession, the impact of robots partially offset the recovery. In contrast to the Rust Belt stereotype of the downtrodden white working-class male, the hardest hit workers tended to be young black men and women with less formal educationa demographic that already lags behind whites in income and employment.

Technological advancement may also spell trouble for many working women. The Institute for Womens Policy Research (IWPR) recently analyzed the jobs where technological disruption might compound the effects of gender segregation. It found that women are disproportionately employed in professions that are most threatened by technological change (those where people have 90 percent or higher likelihood of being replaced by technology)jobs like bookkeeping and secretarial work. Across the workforce, women make up less than half the workforce but nearly six in 10 of those at highest risk of technological displacement, and Latinx women are the most at-risk group.

Even in computer-based and digital media professions, jobs are still segregated by race and gender, and the gender pay gap is vast. When working at roughly the same education level, the economic gain based on digital skills is 41 percent less for women than for men. At the same time, the female-dominated jobs that are likely to be little changed by automationlike home health care aidesare also among the lowest paid. According to IWPR, that leaves women workers with the worst of both worldsoverrepresented in jobs that are at both the highest and lowest risk of automation, and always at the bottom of the pay scale.

Some labor advocates see the future of work not in terms of robots and displacement but in terms of redefining fairness and equity at work.

Jobs with Justice (JWJ) argues that the most urgent crisis that technology poses to workers is dehumanization. Employers are increasingly turning to tracking devices, surveillance systems, and algorithmic models that seek to analyze a workers every move and predict future behavior. Companies are tethering workers to algorithms and tracking systems that relentlessly pressure them to ramp up production.

Its not just an efficiency problem, said Adam Shah, senior policy analyst with JWJ. Its also a worker dignity and rights problem. You dont have as many rights as weve come to expect [in union or] even in non-unionized workplacesif you dont have the ability to interrogate what is effectively your new boss, which is the algorithm.

JWJ has also urged lawmakers to develop legislative safeguards for digital privacy and data transparency in the workplace, including banning or sharply restricting forced dataficationor the companys ability to render into data many aspects of the world that have never been quantified before. Workers have been datafied in increasingly elaborate ways: UPS drivers hand-held scanning devices feed data on their driving behavior to supervisors in real time. Target has managed the speed of its checkout lines by monitoring cashiers with color-coded speed scores.

Demanding algorithmic transparency could help workers at least understand what data is being collected and how it is being processed by employers. JWJ argues that data rules for workers should go beyond the informed-consent laws that consumers mindlessly check off when purchasing an app or service; employers should establish guidelines for keeping data private, protecting peoples personal information from data breaches, and, most importantly, ensuring that workers retain ownership of their data, so that corporations are not given the ability to profit off biometric records or job-performance statistics.

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Historically, the governments usual response to mass job losses has revolved around education and training to help dislocated workers upskill and transition to new jobs. But such programs are often under-resourced and ineffective in boosting workers earnings. Livia Lam, director of Workforce Development at the Center for American Progress, told me that in the face of structural economic shifts, the problem is that policy-makers turn to closing the skills gap. [But] the storytelling doesnt quite match up to actually whats happening in the world. Lam said that current programs for helping retrain dislocated workers are not targeted toward linking people to better careers.

Lam says that to deal with major economic disruptionsnot just technology but also trade fluctuations and the climate crisisthe workforce development system should go beyond just training and create a more comprehensive set of commitments between employers and workers, including health care and child care for workers in transition.

Another way to defend jobs from robots is to seek a more traditional labor protection: a union. Gutelius pointed out that unions can play a key role in negotiating before and during a process of technological change. And if there are layoffs or plant closures, unions could help either negotiate with the employer to help those displaced workers, or, through union dues, they can actually provide other supports to that worker, whether its retraining [or] giving them time to figure out what their next move is.

Union contracts can place safeguards around the introduction of new technology, forcing a company to consult with the union before making technological changes that could change labor conditions. UNITE HERE Marriott workers recently negotiated contract language to require consultation with the union before the company introduces any new technology. Meanwhile, the union has also pushed hotels to implement a technology that protects workers: a panic button for housekeepers to call for help if they are assaulted on the job.

Even in industries where automation drives job loss, unionization can help offset the impact: The Century Foundation found that states with higher unionizationabove 17 percentwere more protected from the impact of robots. Tech-driven disruption will be subject to collective bargaining, and unions can campaign against automation and other changes that could lead to layoffs.

William Rodgers III, co-author of the Century Foundation study, said that to ensure that the gains from technology are fairly distributed, we need Americans to be more assertive and demanding of our public policy-makers [to] create the kinds of programs that will help families in our communities be able to withstand these kinds of changes. People will be more willing to accept change when they realize that Social Security will be there for them, when they know that unemployment insurance benefits will be there for them.

If bosses continue to exploit technology to dehumanize and displace workers, the future of work looks bleakfirst for the already vulnerable and then for us all. But when workers organize to assert their economic rights and bodily autonomy, they can chart their own course toward ensuring that technology works for, not against, them.

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The Robots Are Coming for Our Jobs - The Nation

BEIJING, Nov. 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Industry experts INNFOS recently launched an advanced smart and compliant robotic arm that brings precision to the desktop and provides human-like flexibility for applications in prototyping, production, STEM and maker tasks. Their new product is available now on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1383636492/the-smallest-servomotor-robotic-arm.

Desktop robot arms are growing in popularity due to the wide variety of applications they can be applied to, from education to assembly and automated tasks. Until now, these smaller desktop robots were limited by the performance of the stepper motors that drive them. Now, INNFOS Gluon has created an advanced desktop robot arm that is built around its industry-leading, self-developed SCA smart compliant actuator that provides the highest possible level of performance for precise control of position, velocity, and torque.

"Most desktop robotic arms are built for hobbyists and useastepper or hobby servos motor that can only perform simple actions, thereby limiting their usability. Our goal was to bring the high performance of industrial-grade servo systems and compliant control to the desktop at an affordable price, allowing greater precision and the ability to perform more complex tasks. INNFOS Gluon is the most advanced robotic arm of its type and can perform virtually any task,"said David Yan, CEO, INNFOS.

As the world's first desktop robotic arm with compliant control, INNFOS Gluon can handle multiple tasks with human-like flexibility and suppleness and includes safety features such as an advanced algorithm to stop the arm in the event of a collision with a person or object.

In addition to outstanding precision and load capacity, the arm features a wide range of different swappable end effectors, such as suction cup, universal ball gripper, micro servo gripper, electromagnet head and others. By simply changing the end effectors, the robot arm is capable of virtually any task, including pick and place, assembly, drawing and writing, and games.

INNFOS offers SDK, IAS and IRS for users. SDK offers APIs for various programming languages as well as logging tools for developers to control INNFOS SCA in different environments and the robot is compatible with MAC, Linux, Raspberry pi and Windows operating systems.

The INNFOS R&D team was founded in 2011 and is made up of a group of robotics experts that has been focusing on the development of intelligent compliant actuators for high-performance robots for many years. This latest release puts high performance on the desktop and makes robotics easy and affordable for anyone.

INNFOS Gluon is available now via Kickstarter campaign with special deals and discounts for early adopters. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1383636492/the-smallest-servomotor-robotic-arm

Media Contact:hello.innfos@gmail.com

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INNFOS Announces the Launch of the Modular Desktop Collaborative Robotic Arm by SCA - PRNewswire

CES Unveiled With Sony's AIBO

The Consumer Electronics Show aka CES is nearly upon us and for the 180,000 trade professionals expected to descend upon the worlds largest technology show, preparation is key. With 2.9 million net square feet of flying taxis, talking refrigerators and super cute robots sprawled across nearly a dozen venues on the Las Vegas Strip, youre going to need a plan.

To make the most of your adventure, below is what you need to know right now and Ill be updating as more news gets announced.

Badge Pickup

CES will be piloting the use of facial recognition to speed attendees through badge pickup. For those not yet comfortable with Face ID, there will also be the regular queue. Details on locations and times will be posting here soon.

Lay Of The Land

The show runs January 7 through January 10 with media days on January 5 through January 6. There are three main areas to explore: Tech East, Tech West and Tech South. A good tactic is to try to focus on just one area per day. This map provides an overview of where everything is located and this interactive map helps you drill down to specific exhibitors by name, booth number and product category. If you get lost, the CES 2020 app is expected to have a bot that you can chat with when it goes live in December. Watch for details here. For those who prefer to be guided, Shelly Palmer and the Female Quotient offer show floor tours that have the added bonus of industry insights.

TechEast is home to the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) which just underwent a $1 billion makeover. Westgate and Renaissance are located here as well. This the main part of the show with the biggest exhibitors in the North Hall. Hours are Tuesday, January 7, 106pm, Wednesday, January 8, 96pm, Thursday, January 9, 96pm, and Friday, January 10, 94pm.

North Hall features autonomous cars (Booths 30009999) and conference rooms (Upper Level N250-N264, Lower Level N101120, N201249).

Central Hall (Booths 1000018999) is where youll find LG and Samsungs Home of the Future. Grand Lobby (G1-GL15) and Central Plaza for cars (CP1-CP45) are located here as well.

South Hall Connector (Upper Level S219-S233) is a way to get from North to South Hall without going outside - its typically located near the massive 5G exhibit. If youre press, this is where youll find the media room (S229).

Central Plaza (CP1-CP45) and the Platinum Lot have autonomous vehicles. South Plaza (6000064999) is located here as well.

South Hall has smaller exhibitors. Hall 1 (2000022999 AR VR Gaming), Hall 2 (2500027999, S101-S118 AI, robotics, drones), Hall 3 (3000032999) and Hall 4 (35000037999) features 3D printing, computers, mobile apps, high tech retailing, lifestyle and security.

TechWest is home to the Venetian, Sands Expo, Wynn and Encore, This is where youll find health tech, fitness, lifestyle, sleep, family tech, digital money, and the startups of Eureka Park. It is located in Halls A-D (4000046999). Hours are Tuesday, January 7, 106pm, Wednesday, January 8, 96pm, Thursday, January 9, 96pm and Friday, January 10, 94pm.

Tech South is home to Aria, Park MGM and Vdara and is focused on Hollywood and gaming content, brand engagement, advertising, marketing and monetizing communities. Many great panels are featured here. C Space hours are Tuesday, January 7, 9-5pm, Wednesday, January 8, 9-5pm and Thursday, January 9, 9-5pm.

There is a free shuttle bus between the venues. Those details can be found here.

Who To Follow

CES 2020 Media Trailblazers

At CES Unveiled in New York City earlier this month, the CES 2020 Media Trailblazers were announced, of which I am one. Nominated by industry peers and selected by a panel of judges, this cohort of journalists will be providing special coverage of CES which can be followed on Twitter here:

The Conference

Theres an abundance of AI programming in the conference schedule woven throughout over 300 sessions on smart home, autonomous vehicles, drones, entertainment, privacy, security, 5G, climate and resilence and more. Notable speakers include Jeffrey Katzenberg, Meg Whitman, Dr Oz., Paramounts Ted Schilowitz, UC Berkeley roboticst Ken Goldberg, and me.

Below are highlights from the program. For the complete listing, check the schedule here.

Sunday, January 5

Su 1/5 1-2pm

Living in Digital Times, Mandalay Bay L2, Reef D/E/F

Su 1/5 2-3pm

P&G Press Conference, Mandalay Bay L2, Lagoon J/K/L

UHD Alliance Press Conference, Mandalay Bay, L2, Mandalay A

Su 1/5 3-4pm

BYTON Press Conference, Mandalay Bay, L2, Oceanside C

Su 1/5 4-5pm

2020 Tech Trends to Watch, Mandalay Bay, L2, Oceanside D

Su 1/5 5-8:30pm

CES Unveiled Las Vegas, Mandalay Bay, L2, Shorelines Exhibit Hall showcases CES 2020 Innovation Awards honorees.

Monday, January 6

M 1/6 8-9am

LG Electronics Press Conference, Mandalay Bay, Level 3, South Seas A/B/E

ZF Press Conference, Mandalay Bay, Level 2, Lagoon E-F

M 1/6 9-10am

AI Assistants and Everyday Life, LVCC, North Hall, N256, LIVESTREAM

AI and VR in Travel, LVCC, North Hall, N258

AR/VR/XR: Top Companies, ARIA, Level 3, Juniper 4

Power of YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, ARIA, Level 3, Juniper 1

CES 2020 Trends to Watch, LVCC, North Hall, N257, LIVESTREAM

When Will Automotive Tech Pay Off?, LVCC, North Hall, N262

Bosch Press Conference, Mandalay Bay, Level 2, Mandalay B/C/D

M 1/6 10-10:45am

Panasonic Press Conference, Mandalay Bay, L3, Jasmine

Continental Automotive Press Conference, Mandalay Bay, L2, Surf D/E/F

M 1/6 10:15 11:15am

The Global Economic Impact of AI, LVCC North Hall, N256, LIVESTREAM

AR/VR/XR Live Events, Arcades and Theme Parks, ARIA Level 3, Juniper 4

Future of Brand Partnerships, ARIA Level 3, Juniper 1

Smart Tourism, LVCC North Hall, N258

Building the Smart City of the Future, LVCC North Hall, N257

Digital Health in Smart Cities, LVCC North Hall, N253

Scaling Mobility Ecosystems, LVCC North Hall, N262

M 1/6 11-11:45am

Hisense Press Conference, Mandalay Bay Level 2, Mandalay K-L

Qualcomm Press Conference, Mandalay Bay Level 2, Lagoon G/H/I

M 1/6 11:30-12:30pm

Myth and Reality in Todays AI, LVCC North Hall, N256, LIVESTREAM

Age of Personalization, LVCC North Hall, N257, LIVESTREAM

Travel Experience of the Future, LVCC North Hall, N258

Podcast Visionaries, ARIA Level 3, Juniper 4

Future of Mobility, LVCC North Hall, N253

Transforming Contextual Advertising, ARIA Level 3, Juniper 1

Ground or Aerial: Who Will Win Autonomy?, LVCC North Hall, N262

M 1/6 12-12:45pm

TCL Corporation Press Conference, Mandalay Bay Level 2, Oceanside D

Valeo Press Conference, Mandalay Bay Level 2, Reef A/B/C

M 1/6 1-2pm

AI - All Industry Integration LVCC North Hall, N256, LIVESTREAM

Future of TV: Primetime to Multi-Platform, ARIA Level 3, Juniper 1

AR/VR/XR as a Branding Strategy, ARIA Level 3, Juniper 4

How XR Is Training the Modern Workforce, LVCC North Hall, N258

Innovations in Last-Mile, LVCC North Hall, N262

Putting the "C" in CMO, Aria Level 3, Ironwood Stage, LIVESTREAM

Toyota Press Conference, Mandalay Bay Level 2, Oceanside A

M 1/6 2-2:45pm

CNET Health Tech Brands, ARIA L3, Ironwood Stage, LIVESTREAM

AMD Press Conference, Mandalay Bay Level 2, Mandalay G

Faurecia Press Conference, Mandalay Bay Level 2, Surf A/B/C

M 1/6 2:15-3:15 PM

Natural Language and Facial Recognition Processing, LVCC N258

Bias in AI, LVCC North Hall, N256, LIVESTREAM

Immersive Think Tank: AR/VR/XR, ARIA Level 3, Juniper 4

Internet TV and OTT, ARIA Level 3, Juniper 1

Gen Z to Boomers: Smart Tech, LVCC North Hall, N257, LIVESTREAM

Human Experience in the Future of Mobility, LVCC North Hall, N262

M 1/6 2:30-4:30pm

ShowStoppers LaunchIt, Mandalay Bay Level 3, Palm A

M 1/6 3-3:45pm

Hyundai Press Conference, Mandalay Bay Level 2, Oceanside B

Taiwan Excellence Press Conference, Mandalay Bay L2, Oceanside F

M 1/6 3:30-4:30pm

Augmented/Mixed Reality Experience, ARIA Level 3, Juniper 4

Podcasting in Hollywood, ARIA Level 3, Juniper 1

Cloud is Revolutionizing Business, LVCC North Hall, N258

Building a Foundation for AI Safety, LVCC, N256, LIVESTREAM

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CES 2020 Guide: All The Robots You Can Handle - Forbes

November 11, 2019Bryan Hellman

The modern production floor is changing rapidly as robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence converge to enhance productivity in the manufacturing sector. One of the key drivers of convergence is the combination of technological advancements in robotics and communication technologies, which has led to an expansion in applications including wireless interfaces in industrial robotics.

The first industrial robot was a robotic arm called Unimate #001, which relied on hydraulic actuators for control. Industrial robotics advanced further in the 1970s with the invention of programmable logic controllers (PLCs). During this period, Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) was one-directional, where controllers pressed buttons, and the robots responded.

In the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s progressed, the introduction of wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 3G and 4G (and soon, 5G) wide-area wireless networks transformed HRI into a two-way communications system. In addition, different ways for humans to interact with robots also evolved.

A graphic user interface enables the user to control the robot using pictures or images displayed on the screen of the device. The images are captured by a camera mounted on the robot and transmitted to the user. The advantages of the graphic user interface include its ability to make human-robot interaction more intuitive and engaging. GUI devices provide data from sensors, which is vital for decision-making. It also restricts users input to valid ranges or units, which enhances accuracy in execution. The only disadvantage of the GUI is that it can contain complex and contradicting graphical interfaces that require a user to learn both the complicated commands and the robots hardware and software to operate.

Yaskawa Motomans Smart Pendant, seen here with a GP8 robot, aims to ease robot control functions. Source: Yaskawa Motomon

A perfect example of the application of GUI is the Flexible Graphic User Interface (FlexGUI), developed by PPM AS and NACHI of Norway and Japan. This interface bridges the gap between humans and robots by enhancing the learning process of the robot to elevate it to the level of its human controller. Another successful application of GUI similar to FlexGUI is the FlexPendant developed by ABB under its Robot Application Builder (RAB). Both FlexPendant and FlexGUI offer users the option to customize their own graphics interfaces, and they can be developed as a personal computer or a teach pendant.

An in-depth analysis of both applications of GUI highlights that FlexGUI is more flexible, user-friendly, and advanced than FlexPendant. This is because FlexGUI provides an easily accessible interface for learners with the option to upgrade to advanced functionality. This is a major advantage over FlexPendant, particularly for trainees and recruits who need time to learn basic operations of industrial robots before attempting advanced functionality. Also, FlexGUIs interface grants users a custom-created screen for every industrial cell, as well as action buttons and monitoring tools that can easily be customized by the user based on task and priority.

Command language interface requires the user to use existing programming languages to control the robot. The first advantage of CLI is that it is easy to execute commands once users learn the programming language. Second, unlike other interfaces that require controllers to understand and remember several steps, CLI requires the user to understand only the programming language.

Disadvantages of this command interface include the fact that some CLI devices contain complex command interfaces that require the user to learn both the complicated commands as well as detailed information about the robots hardware and software. In addition, a mix-up in the command language can be disastrous for the system.

This type of interface, where a human uses something similar to a video game controller (and in some cases, an actual video game controller), offers an accurate and real-time view of the environment, as the user is maneuvering the robot through obstacles to accomplish the tasks.

The Monarch Platform controller by Auris Health directs doctors to use the robot via a controller. Image: Auris Health

One recent example is the successful trial of BVLOS drones using 4G cellular connectivity to deliver medical supplies. The trial displayed the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) installed with an onboard Internet of Things (IoT) router. The router enabled LTE cellular connectivity for video and control data between the UAV and its pilot. The trial provided an insight into potential future applications of the user interfaces in industrial robotics. It showed that the wireless interfaces can be modified to ensure robots learn from users, which will allow the increase of the intelligence of robots and reduce the need for controllers. Devices that use this type of interface require highly skilled workers to accomplish tasks, which is a major disadvantage. For example, the user flying the BVLOS drone during the trial required skills comparable to that of a pilot for the users to complete the tasks, and this prevents untrained professionals from using the robots.

A gesture-based interface enables users to operate industrial robots using hand gestures, where arm direction commands a specific movement on the robot. This is the most straight-forward and the easiest of all the other interfaces. The gesture interface requires that both the robot and the human are in the same place when the robot undertakes the tasks, which can limit its usage in situations where the robot is in a dangerous location. In addition, gesturing continuously can become tiring for humans after some time.

In this video example, MIT CSAIL researchers show how a robot can be supervised through brain and muscle signals:

Automatic speech recognition (ASR) has enabled expedient control of industrial robots using voice by allowing the conversion of speech into text. Voice control uses a graphic user interface (GUI) with a microphone to communicate commands and a display to view feedback. The speech signal is captured, filtered, converted into text, and matched with preprogrammed text commands by the processor.

Voice control procedure for industrial robots uses the defined syntax of commands starting with a trigger word such as Robot One, which activates speech recognition. The robot replies by sending the text Yes Master. Subsequently, the user utters preprogrammed command words, for example, Move to Origin which commands the robot to move back to the start of the assembly-line.

Future applications of interfaces in industrial robotics will rely heavily on data processing technologies with IoT and cyber-physical system (CPS) serving as neural networks for smart factories and manufacturing. Technological advancements in the future will facilitate total interconnection, where interfaces consist of smart control systems, sensors, communication systems, embedded terminals, and CPS, which will ensure interconnection between robots and all other equipment in the factory.

Wireless interfaces may also be applied in the future to attain total integration, using smart networks established under CPS to achieve total connectivity between humans and industrial robots, as well as between other robots and equipment.

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How Humans Tell Robots What to Do - Robotics Business Review

The use of robotics in business continues to grow at a steady pace. Tom Merritt explains five things you should know about the robots market.

Automation is used as a scare word, but just being scared of it can lead to just as much of a problem as not being prepared for it. How strong are robots? Let's find out five things to know about the robots market.

SEE: Special report: A guide to data center automation (Free PDF) (ZDNet) | Download the free PDF (TechRepublic)

As with all stories on automation and robots, we should take seriously the displacement caused and find serious solutions for people who will lose their jobs, while still maintaining the benefits that can provide the resources to help them.

Be in the know about smart cities, AI, Internet of Things, VR, autonomous driving, drones, robotics, and more of the coolest tech innovations. Delivered Wednesdays and Fridays

Image: iStockphoto/ipopba

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Top 5 things to know about the robots market - TechRepublic

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Leading vendors covered in the report are:GE Inspection Robotics, ECA Group, International Submarine Engineering Ltd, Inuktun Services Ltd, Flyability SA, IKM Subsea AS, ING Robotic Aviation, MISTRAS Group Inc., Helix ESG, OC Robotics

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The industry experts have used various mathematical and analytical tools and techniques to collect and process the raw data. Type and application insightful utilization tables and figures ofInspection Robotics in Oil and Gasmarket are likewise given. Industry advancement and perceptive examination were used to explore macroeconomic factor and administrative procedures. It also offers the performance of all the related key players, vendors, and suppliers.

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Global Inspection Robotics in Oil and Gas Market 2019 Development Status and Future Statistics by 2024 - Eastlake Times

An expensive experiment in global distribution has been abandoned by Adidas, which has announced that will close its robotic Speedfactories in Atlanta and Ansbach, Germany, within 6 months. The company sugar-coated the news with a promise to repurpose the technology used at its existing human-powered factories in Asia.

The factories were established in 2016 (Ansbach) and 2017 (Atlanta) as part of a strategy to decentralize its manufacturing processes. The existing model, like so many other industries, is to produce the product in eastern Asia, where labor and overhead is less expensive, then ship it as needed. But this is a slow and clumsy model for an industry that moves as quickly as fashion and athletics.

Right now, most of our products are made out of Asia and we put them on a boat or on a plane so they end up on Fifth Avenue, said Adidas CMO Eric Liedtke in an interview last year at Disrupt SF about new manufacturing techniques. The Speedfactories were intended to change that: Instead of having some sort of micro-distribution center in Jersey, we can have a micro-factory in Jersey.

Ultimately this seems to have proven more difficult than expected. As other industries have found in the rush to automation, its easy to overshoot the mark and overcommit when the technology just isnt ready.

Robotic factories are a powerful tool but difficult to quickly reconfigure or repurpose, since it takes specialty knowledge to set up racks of robotic arms, computer vision systems, and so on. Robotics manufacturers are making advances in this field, but for now its a whole lot harder than training a human workforce to use standard tools on a different pattern.

In a press release, Adidas global operations head Martin Shankland explained that The Speedfactories have been instrumental in furthering our manufacturing innovation and capabilities, and that for a short time they even brought products to market in a hurry. That was our goal from the start, he says, though presumably things played out a bit differently in the pitch decks from 2016.

We very much regret that our collaboration in Ansbach and Atlanta has come to an end, Shankland said. Oechsler, the high-tech manufacturing partner that Adidas worked with, feels the same. Whilst we understand adidas reasons for discontinuing Speedfactory production at Oechsler, we regret this decision, said the companys CEO, Claudius Kozlik, in the press release. The factories will shut down by April, presumably eliminating or shifting the 160 or so jobs they provided, but the two companies will continue to work together.

The release says that Adidas will use its Speedfactory technologies to produce athletic footwear at two of its suppliers in Asia starting next year. Its not really clear what that means, and Ive asked the company for further information.

See the rest here:

Adidas backpedals on robotic shoe production with Speedfactory closures - TechCrunch

Robots used to be restricted to heavy lifting or fine detail work in factories. Now Boston Dynamics nimble four-legged robot, Spot, is available for companies to lease to carry out various real-world jobs, a sign of just how common interactions between humans and machines have become in recent years.

And while Spot is versatile and robust, its what society thinks of as a traditional robot, a mix of metal and hard plastic. Many researchers are convinced that soft robots capable of safe physical interaction with people for example, providing in-home assistance by gripping and moving objects will join hard robots to populate the future.

Soft robotics and wearable computers, both technologies that are safe for human interaction, will demand new types of materials that are soft and stretchable and perform a wide variety of functions. My colleagues and I at the Soft Machines Lab at Carnegie Mellon University develop these multifunctional materials. Along with collaborators, weve recently developed one such material that uniquely combines the properties of metals, soft rubbers and shape memory materials.

These soft multifunctional materials, as we call them, conduct electricity, detect damage and heal themselves. They also can sense touch and change their shape and stiffness in response to electrical stimulation, like an artificial muscle. In many ways, its what the pioneering researchers Kaushik Bhattacharya and Richard James described: the material is the machine.

Making Materials Intelligent

This idea that the material is the machine can be captured in the concept of embodied intelligence. This term is usually used to describe a system of materials that are interconnected, like tendons in the knee. When running, tendons can stretch and relax to adapt each time the foot strikes the ground, without the need for any neural control.

Its also possible to think of embodied intelligence in a single material one that can sense, process and respond to its environment without embedded electronic devices like sensors and processing units.

A simple example is rubber. At the molecular level, rubber contains strings of molecules that are coiled up and linked together. Stretching or compressing rubber moves and uncoils the strings, but their links force the rubber to bounce back to its original position without permanently deforming. The ability for rubber to know its original shape is contained within the material structure.

Since engineered materials of the future that are suitable for human-machine interaction will require multifunctionality, researchers have tried to build new levels of embodied intelligence beyond just stretching into materials like rubber. Recently, my coworkers created self-healing circuits embedded in rubber.

They started by dispersing micro-scale liquid metal droplets wrapped in an electrically insulating skin throughout silicone rubber. In its original state, the skins thin metal oxide layer prevents the metal droplets from conducting electricity.

However, if the metal-embedded rubber is subjected to enough force, the droplets will rupture and coalesce to form electrically conductive pathways. Any electrical lines printed in that rubber become self-healing. In a separate study, they showed that the mechanism for self-healing could also be used to detect damage. New electrical lines form in the areas that are damaged. If an electrical signal gets through, that indicates the damage.

The combination of liquid metal and rubber gave the material a new route to sense and process its environment that is, a new form of embodied intelligence. The rearrangement of the liquid metal allows the material to know when damage has occurred because of an electrical response.

Shape memory is another example of embodied intelligence in materials. It means materials can reversibly change to a prescribed form. Shape memory materials are good candidates for linear motion in soft robotics, able to move back and forth like your bicep muscle. But they also offer unique and complex shape-changing capabilities.

For example, two groups of materials scientists recently demonstrated how a class of materials could reversibly transform from a flat rubber-like sheet into a 3-D topographical map of a face. Its a feat that would be difficult with traditional motors and gears, but its simple for this class of materials due to the materials embodied intelligence. The researchers used a class of materials known as liquid crystal elastomers, which are sometimes described as artificial muscles because they can extend and contract with the application of a stimulus like heat, light, or electricity.

Putting It All Together

By drawing inspiration from the liquid metal composite and the shape-morphing material, my colleagues and I recently created a soft composite with unprecedented multifunctionality.

It is soft and stretchable, and it can conduct heat and electricity. It can actively change its shape, unlike regular rubber. Since our composite easily conducts electricity, the shape-morphing can be activated electrically. Since it is soft and deformable, it is also resilient to significant damage. Because it can conduct electricity, the composite can interface with traditional electronics and dynamically respond to touch.

Furthermore, our composite can heal itself and detect damage in a whole new way. Damage creates new electrically conductive lines that activate shape-morphing in the material. The composite responds by spontaneously contracting when punctured.

In the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the shape-shifting android T-1000 can liquify; can change shape, color, and texture; is immune to mechanical damage; and displays superhuman strength. Such a complex robot requires complex multifunctional materials. Now, materials that can sense, process and respond to their environment like these shape-morphing composites are starting to become a reality.

But unlike T-1000 these new materials arent a force for evil theyre paving the way for soft assistive devices like prosthetics, companion robots, remote exploration technologies, antennas that can change shape and plenty more applications that engineers havent even dreamed up yet.

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Michael Ford, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Materials Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Image: Reuters

Originally posted here:

Soft Robots of the Future May Depend on New Materials that Conduct Electricity, Sense Damage and Self-Heal - The National Interest Online

LAS CRUCES, NM (KTSM) A Las Cruces robotics team has the chance to represent their city for the first time ever in regionals this December.

The team is made up of students from Arrowhead Park Early College High School Academy, a recognized Blue Ribbon School in the City of the Crosses.

Being on this robotics team gives these students leading capabilities, problem-solving skills, and the chance to work together as a team, said Arrowhead Robotics coach, Julie Wojtko.

Unfortunately, money plays a big factor if these students get to compete in Frisco, Texas, about 30 miles north of Dallas, Texas.

The team must raise about $14,000 by the end of November and for some students, its a big accomplishment to get to do so,No one really knows about this little town of Las Cruces in New Mexico and going to Dallas we get to show who we are, said Arrowhead Robotics member, Bianka Boudreaux.

The team is working hard to perfect their robot and get it at its best for regionals, We can get there and show them that were ready to compete, said Arrowhead Robotics member, Joseph Vreeland.

If any local business would like to partner with Arrowhead Robotics or give any amount of donation to get these students to regionals contact Julie Wojtko through email atJwojtko@lcps.netor through phone at (575) 527-9540.

See the original post here:

Funding needed to help Las Cruces robotics team get to regional competition - KTSM 9 News