Category Archives: Robotics

Science Museum / Heritage Lottery Fund

Roboticists have designed soft robots that can heal themselves.

Cutting your hand or tearing a muscle are both injuries that heal over time for living organisms. But what if robots could heal too? New research published in the Science Robotics Journal suggests this may be the case in our near future.

Researchers at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) have extended this self-healing property specifically to soft robots. These are robots constructed from flexible materials that enable them to be used to grab delicate objects in the food industry or in minimally invasive surgery. They play an important role in rehabilitation and arm prostheses.

Bram Vanderborght

"A robot is very complex and difficult to repair. And the soft robots are particularly susceptible to sharp objects and high pressure" explains professor Bram Vanderborght of VUB, one of the five researchers behind the project. "This research is the first step in introducing self-healing materials in soft robotics, which we think will start a whole new research field of self-healing robotics," Vanderborght continues.

During their experiments, the team built soft robots made entirely from rubbery polymers. When damaged, these materials first recovered their original shape and then healed completely. "This principle was tested on three self-healing robotic components: a gripper used for robots to pick up items, a robot hand, and an artificial muscle," he continues. "Realistic damage could be healed completely without leaving any weak spot. The prototypes were able to fully resume their tasks."

Once a soft robot is damaged, the material is able to heal after being heated for 40 minutes at 80C. After 24 hours at 25C, the damaged robot's strength and flexibility would also be restored.

The polymer material used does this because it consists of a network of cross links that allow the Diels-Alder reaction to take place. This reaction allows new bonds to be made by the molecules. "By applying heat, those cross-links will break, which gives the polymer material more mobility. This mobility allows the molecules to close the gap made by the damage. When healed the material has to be cooled down, during which the initial properties are almost completely regained," explains Vanderborght.

The team, which has backing from the European Research Council, also has big hopes for the impact of this research. Collaborator Seppe Terryn, who has worked on the project since 2014, says: "We hope that humans will develop a new kind of trust in robots, knowing that their functional performance is not depending on the human detection and repair of damages."

Indeed, the gap in this field of industry makes this research particularly exciting. "The inability to heal is one of the major shortcomings of our mechanical systems versus their biological counterparts," confirms electrical engineering expert, professor Russell Tedrake of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Suitable progress in this direction could substantially improve the robustness of our machines."

Soft robotic researcher at the University of Cambridge, Fumiya Lida, adds that, "self-healing soft robot technology is a significant breakthrough. Self-recovery makes the entire mechanical system cheaper and safer in a human-oriented environment".

Tedrake also questions the extent to which this technology could be extended to other objects in the future, "such as self-repairing tyres for cars".

However, more immediately, the VUB team is hoping to work towards adding a sensor network to detect the health status of robots and even new materials.

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Robots can now heal themselves - Wired.co.uk

REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

When Jay Jacobs, director of research at Global X, and his team were looking to start new theme-based exchange-traded funds last year, a robotics and artificial intelligence ETFjust made sense.

"Ithink a lot of times the finance world gets lost in its own jargon of risk adjusted returns and Sharpe ratios and risk factors," Jacobs told Markets Insider. "The story behind robotics and AI is very straightforward to everybody."

Jacobs is a chief mind behind the BOTZ, anexchange-traded fund from Global X which launched in September of 2016. BOTZ invests in companies that gain a majority of their revenue from robotics and artificial intelligence. The fund's market capitalization recently crossed over the $300 million mark.

The explosivegrowth of BOTZ makes sense. It combines the red-hot ETF market with skyrocketing tech stocks. Jacobs says it's the fastest growing funds he's been involved with in his fourplus years with Global X. With returns of around 39.1% since the fund's inception last year, the growth is hardly surprising.

BOTZ is comprised of 29 companies spread across four sub categories: industrial automation, non-industrial robotics, unmanned vehicles and artificial intelligence. It's weighted by market cap, with no single company comprising more than 8% of the fund, and no less than 0.3%, according to Jacobs.

The largest holding is currently Mitsubishi, followed by Nvidiaand Keyence Corp, each making up about 7.5% of the fund. Those top three holdings areup an average of 77.4% since the inception of BOTZ.

Global X has positioned BOTZ to be popular among a younger investing crowd. A strong majority of millennials, about 83%, are interested in thematic investing, compared to only 31% of the general population, according to a study done by the firm. When creating BOTZ, Jacobs said the team had millennial investors in mind.

"We see that younger generations are the trendsetters, so if we see that millennials are the ones saying [AI] is real ... that's meaningful and it's going to start working its way up the chain," Jacobs said.

Patrick Fallon/Reuters

Formatting the fund as an ETF made sense as well. The ETF market for stocks has grown by 500% in the last eight years, in part because it allows for easy access tothemes like AI and robotics. Investing in the fund is as easy as buying a stock.

"You get international exposure, which is critical for robotics," Jacobs said. "You get diversified exposure."

There are drawbacks to the Global X approach. Almost halfof the fund's holdings are based in Japan, meaning events in the country could have an outsized effect on the fund. The fund is also missing some major players in AI, like Facebook and Google, whichare leaders in artificial intelligence technology but excluded from the fund because they don't derive most of their revenue from the theme.

Still, a thematic fund like BOTZ allows investorsto bet on a general idea instead of a specific company, which investors seem to like.

After all, "tech is only going to get better," Jacobs said.

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A fund betting on robots and AI is crushing it and it's targeting millennial investors (BOTZ) - Business Insider

Tech in Asia

The inside story of the crisis at Infinium Robotics Tech in Asia I made some mistakes as an entrepreneur and I have learned a lot from them, he told us. Not all is lost. Woon expressed relief that the decision has finally brought closure to the matter. I am happy that my team and I can now move on to deliver our ...

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The inside story of the crisis at Infinium Robotics - Tech in Asia

The Pittsburgh Tech Report for August 15, 2017.

The national robotics education nonprofit Best Robotics is moving its headquarters to Pittsburgh.

Thousands of students participate in Best Robotics competitions annually, spending six weeks building robots with real world potential.

Every year there's an industry theme for the competition, said executive director Rosemary Mendel. Last year, it was agriculture; this year, it's fire and rescue.

The idea is to train the future tech workforce and get more kids excited about pursuing careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

Best Robotics was founded in Texas in 1993 and has since spread to 17 states so far. Since then, the organization has manned "virtual headquarters," said Mendel, but the two Pittsburgh-based employees Mendel and Director of Strategic Engagement Deb Elliott are currently looking for a co-working space in the city.

In total, Best Robotics has just five full-time staff members and more than 5,000 volunteers across the country.

Nonprofit organizations, colleges and universities partner with the program to create local hubs, which bring the curriculum to middle and high school students for free.

Mendel said that approach improves accessibility for under-represented groups.

Our national demographics run ahead of what you normally see in the participation of minorities, rural and urban students. We also run higher on the participation of girls, she said.

Pennsylvanias two hubs are located at Grove City College and Penn State DuBois, but Mendel said she hopes to expand the programs footprint in the state.

She said she even envisions a regional competition based in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania students currently have to travel to Fargo, N.D. for regional competitions.

Pittsburgh is the technology city of the future, Mendel said. It just made sense to align ourselves in a community that has the same goals that we do.

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Robotics Education Nonprofit To Expand Footprint In PA - 90.5 WESA

If you are involved in the UK Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) sector, wed love to hear from you. Please fill in this survey.

In January this year, the UK Government published a Green Paper on Building our Industrial Strategy (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/611705/building-our-industrial-strategy-green-paper.pdf). In it is set an open door challenge to industry to come to the Government with proposals to transform and upgrade their sector through Sector Deals. Businesses rather than the Government are being encouraged to identify what companies need in order to enhance their competitiveness as a sector.

This is not about the Government providing additional funding; rather, it is an open call to business to organise behind strong leadership, like the automotive and aerospace sectors, to address shared challenges and opportunities.

Government is looking for businesses to collaborate with other stakeholders, such as universities and local leaders to produce a clear proposal for boosting the productivity of their sector, setting out detailed plans to address challenges such as:

To help provide evidence for the proposed Robotics Sector Deal, we would like to understand what activities are taking place in the UK that are in alignment with the existing RAS Strategy, and what new ones could be enabled by Government action. To this end we are reaching out to the UK RAS Community to collect this information. All you need to do is fill in this short survey.

When answering the questions, please endeavour to be specific and thorough. Your answers will not be publicly published, and will only be used to inform the proposed Sector Deal (and will therefore remain confidential between the RAS Special Interested Group Advisory Board and the Government).

Please feel free to give us more than one set of answers to this questionnaire. We will collate the answers and provide a high-level synthesis of them, rather than providing the details, so please dont worry about overwhelming Government with detail!

If you are not familiar with the way we use the terms Asset, Skills, Coordination, Clusters and Challenges, then please have a quick look at the RAS UK Strategy here.

Thanks very much for your help. Your input is greatly valued and will contribute to something that will be of huge benefit to our sector, as well as the wider community.

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UK robotics sector deal consultation your input needed - Robohub

BSMA News:

Regional school robotics teams, and others, will demonstrate their robots to the public 5-8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25 at Robotics Night at the Bradbury Science Museum, 1350 Central Ave.

This free event is brought to you by the Bradbury Science Museum Association (BSMA) and generously supported by New Mexico Bank & Trust. Visitors will have an opportunity to see the robots used by organizations such as Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos County Police Department and University of New Mexico Los Alamos.

Ann Ollila, who works on the Mars Rover, also will be on hand to show a short movie on that planet-exploring bot. Have a question about Anns work? You could get an opportunity to ask it.

In addition to having an occasion to interact with some of the robots, those interested in starting a robotics teams at their schools will have a chance to learn more about what it takes to make that happen. Its not too early to start even at the elementary school level.

Participating student teams will be eligible for fun prizes and small cash awards to support their involvement in this activity.

A special Thanks goes out to Susannah Rousculp, and her sixth and seventh grade LEGO robotics team called the Quadrumaniacs, for helping pull this event together!

The BSMA is the nonprofit partner to the museum with the mission of providing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education opportunities to the communities of northern New Mexico. The BSMA is not part of the museum or the Lab and does not receive funding from the museum or the Lab. The BSMA relies on grants, memberships, donations and proceeds from merchandise sales through the Gadgets Gift Shop located inside the museum. The gift shop is a 100 percent volunteer operation, so store hours vary depending on the availability of volunteers.

Visitwww.BradburyAssociation.orgfor store hours, to become a member, make a donation and find information about volunteering in the Gadgets Gift Shop.

Stop by Robotics Night at the Bradbury Science Museum before the Friday Summer Concert at Ashley Pond Park for fun with robotics teams of all kinds and their programmable friends.

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Robotics Night Returns To Bradbury Science Museum! - Los Alamos Daily Post

Blue Ocean Robotics Posted 08/14/2017

Blue Ocean Robotics opens Joint Venture office in Singapore and brings its We Create and Commercialize Robots business to the fast-moving and rapidly growing Asian market.

ODENSE, DENMARK - AUGUST 14 2017 - Blue Ocean Robotics announces the opening of Blue Ocean Robotics SEA (Southeast Asia) with base in Singapore, where the needs of a rapidly ageing society and a focused political initiative on market development, are driving demand for robotics. The establishment is motivated by the governments earmarked budget of SGD 450 million (USD 330 million) as part of The National Robotics Programme, to support the societal robotic scaleup and industry-level transformation from 2016 to 2019. From Singapore, the company will target the surrounding countries of Southeast Asia , whose 662 million population makes it the worlds third largest market (after China and India).

The Joint Venture will also be the vehicle for Blue Ocean Robotics to work with users and partners in China, the worlds second largest economy (annual growth rate ranging from 6 to 7%) which is fast shaping up to become a future leader in innovative technology and business models.

- Blue Ocean Robotics SEA is excited to bring not just new technology but a new partnership model to the market. We co-create robots in close partnership with end-users and market leading companies. Thus, we bring developers, researchers and businesses together, to bring innovative robot solutions to the market by utilizing living labs as test beds. Asia offers a large pool of investors looking for new growth businesses. It is key to these investors that the technology has been verified by the end user to solve a scalable need in the market. By bringing everyone together in the development process, we can contribute to better quality-of-life, productivity and work environment for users and workers alike in healthcare, education, manufacturing, agriculture, construction, offshore and logistics, says Peter Tan, CEO and Partner of Blue Ocean Robotics SEA.

Peter Tan will take the seat as CEO. Peter has more than 30 years of management and operations experience in automation and robotics from the manufacturing, telecommunications, transportation and healthcare sectors. In the position he brings in-depth knowledge of international business, having set up green-field operations in Suzhou (China) and managing markets in China, the rest of Asia, Europe and USA.

The second partner is C. L. Goh, who is the founder of MMI Systems, a leader in industrial test equipment and robotics automation in data storage. He is also investor and board member in several start-ups in robotics and life sciences. Chee Bin Tay, co-founder of AI4U, also joins Blue Ocean Robotics SEA as Director. Chee Bin Tay brings a proven track record and expertise in defence technology, an influential leadership role in future advanced material systems technologies, advanced ICT technologies and innovative transportation platforms. Chee Bin Tay is also investor and advisor to technology start-up companies in nano-materials, robotics and artificial intelligence.

- We are experiencing a great deal of interest in our RoBi-X partnership program from both private and public partners from the Southeast Asian region. On top of that we find it appealing that the Singaporean government funds a growth program, that will increase the development rate and demand in robotics over the coming years. Therefore, our mission in Singapore and Southeast Asia is first and foremost to team up with new partners from various markets and then together design, develop and commercialize a range of new generations of robots which will eventually lead to a portfolio of robotic spin-out companies to be located within the Singaporean tech community and to be on a steep growth curve for the benefit of the region and our business. We are also excited about having C.L. Goh, Peter Tan and Chee Bin Tay as our partners in Blue Ocean Robotics SEA. With this team to lead our activities in Southeast Asia we are well positioned to be successful, says Claus Risager, Rune K. Larsen and John Erland stergaard, Co-CEOs and Partners of the Blue Ocean Robotics Group and based in Denmark.

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Blue Ocean Robotics - Robotics Online (press release)

Monongahela resident Rich Pantaleo, 30, is a modern-day Renaissance man. Rich Pantaleos photo of the old Donora-Webster Bridge A photo of Weirton Steel by Rich Pantaleo

Photo courtesy of Rich Pantaleo

Courtesy of Rich Pantaleo

While Rich Pantaleo studied mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, one of the electives he chose was a class in photography. He also joined the robotics club.

Together, the class and club paved the way for his current dual career owner of a photography enterprise and a robotics engineer for National Robotics Engineering Center, a research facility in Pittsburghs Lawrenceville neighborhood owned by CMU.

Hired shortly after graduating, Pantaleo, 30, has worked on some interesting robotics projects. One took him to South Africa for three weeks, where he was part of a team trying to develop a robotics system for mapping an underground platinum mining operation. Part of that effort also took him to Croatia, where he worked with a mining company to turn a remote-controlled dozer into a fully automated one.

Another trip, this time to California, had him work in the strawberry fields designing a robotic plant sorting system. Another project had him design a sensor pod for the remote measurement of steel slabs for a steel mill in Illinois.

Rich Pantaleos photo of the old Donora-Webster Bridge

For the military, he worked on a team that created a robotic wheel that enables vehicles to move through a wide variety of terrain swamp, desert, and dirt and paved roads. Currently, hes engrossed in a project for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to improve the survivability of military vehicles.

Traditionally, the answer to improved survivability was to add more armor, but in this age of advanced weaponry that is not always practical, he said. Instead, were working on a robotic shield that can move in front of an incoming ordnance.

Pantaleo said he always loved making things with his hands, which is why he likes robotics for its hands-on attributes. As a child, his maternal grandfather, George Karabin, a master carpenter for Donora Lumber Co., taught him how to use hand tools. This eventually led to his woodworking interests, which initially saw him making serving trays for family as Christmas gifts.

A photo of Weirton Steel by Rich Pantaleo

For the last 10 years, hes been turning out furniture (end and coffee tables, lamps, a clock case and serving trays) at his Monongahela home workshop that he gives to friends as wedding presents.

In addition to his work and furniture-making, he is now focusing on photography.

I started taking photos in high school with a digital camera at a time when I was an avid rail fan, he said. I saw awesome rail photos on the internet, wondered if I could do the same and drove around taking photos of locomotives.

A breakthrough moment came about when he enrolled in a black-and-white photo class at CMU.

There, I performed the rites of passage of photography: shooting on an SLR, developing my own film, making my own prints from negatives and working long nights in the darkroom, he writes on his photography website, http://www.monvalleyphotoworks.com. It let me see that photography could be an art form.

Pantaleo put his photographic endeavors on hold after the end of the photography class, partly because he no longer had access to the darkroom, partly because he was too involved with his engineering studies. But in 2012, with his student loans paid off, he invested in a new digital camera and resumed his picture-taking passion with a focus on the old industrial sites of the Mon Valley.

A rocking cat crafted by Rich Pantaleo

Photo courtesy of Rich Pantaleo

On his website, which he promotes through social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and Flickr, he sells prints of images hes taken from Greene County north to Pittsburgh. At the moment, he has between 800 and 900 photos for sale and also publishes an annual Mon Valley-themed calendar.

In the last couple of years, hes gone back to shooting on film rather than digitally and said hes fallen in love with the work he gets on medium format film.

I now take fewer photos, but the results are better, he said.

Theres yet another side to Pantaleos multifaceted interests, one he attributes to his father, Rich, a retired instrumental music teacher for Ringgold School District. His father encouraged all three of his children to play an instrument, and his childhood home was full of music.

Kate plays the flute, Regina plays the clarinet and I play trumpet and piano, Pantaleo said. In two annual concerts at Ringgold Middle School, Regina and I play in the Greater Monongahela Area Community Band, which my dad directs. I also play trumpet during the summer for Too Many Tubas at nursing homes and church festivals.

A wine rack built by Rich Pantaleo

Courtesy of Rich Pantaleo

Putting his piano talents to the test, he also plays electric keyboard for the Indie rock band, Good Ship Gibraltar, at gigs in and around Pittsburgh. As if all his interests arent enough to fill up his appointment book to the max, he has another project he hopes to start on soon.

Ive been thinking of publishing a photo coffee table book on the coal mines of our region, he said. But I havent yet been able to work out the publication details.

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Monongahela robotics engineer finds time for trio of diverse pursuits - Observer-Reporter

The battle lines were drawn and robots were ready to fight

GREAT DAY: Harry Thorpe, Archie Williams, Declan Prior, Caleb Cunning and Majd Elkheir, from Stannies, and Jade Turner, Taylor Kleinschafer and Katherine Blackburn.

THE battle lines were drawn androbots were ready to fight.

This was just part of the fun of a robotics tour currently underway at primary schools in Bathurst.

Year 10 students at St Stanislaus College were at Holy Family School on Friday, working with students in Years 5 and 6and introducing them to robotics.

Shane Thurston, head teacher of TAS and computers at Stannies, said it was the first time the workshops had been held at a primary school level.

He said the idea was to introduce robotics at an earlier level, and garner an interest in the students. He said learning robotics was great for problem solving as the students learn about making programs and coding.

During the workshops, which were led by the Year 10 Stannies boys,students were able to programrobots to dance, battle and also complete a line following where they had tofollow a track.

Mr Thurston said Stannies hope to take the the roboticstourto other Catholic primary school in the city including the Assumption, Cathedral and St Phil's.

He said the primary school students really loved the workshops.

You can hear them yelling and laughing, and pulling their hair out in frustration when the robot isnt doing what it should, he laughed.

But they are really enjoying it.

Katherine Blackburnfrom Holy Family School said it was fun getting the robots to try and destroy one another.

They could do really cool tricks, she said.

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Primary school kids learn about robotics and love it - Western Advocate

High school students develop tech skills in summer robotics internship

By Brian Zahn, bzahn@newhavenregister.com @brizahn on Twitter

Photo: Brian Zahn / Hearst Connecticut Media

ESUMS student George Shelton demonstrates driving the Yo(unity) Bot 3.0 from an app on his phone.

ESUMS student George Shelton demonstrates driving the Yo(unity) Bot 3.0 from an app on his phone.

New Haven high schoolers develop tech skills in summer robotics internship

NEW HAVEN >> Following five grueling weeks of developing a cost-effective robotics kit, 15 aspiring entrepreneurs presented and defended their product before investors.

Later this month, they return to high school.

Fifteen New Haven Public Schools students with an interest in engineering got this chance to be entrepreneurs as they were selected to partake in a paid internship program sponsored by the Connecticut Pre-Engineering Program, with financial backing by Liberty Bank. The interns, challenged to develop inexpensive robotics kits for middle school students, were compensated with $1,000 for the five weeks.

Each of the kits had to be acquirable for less than $55, the interns were told, with all the mechanical structures and electrical components needed to build a robot. One of the four teams, a public relations team, was also tasked with developing a manual for middle school students on how to use the kit.

What we want to see is an excitement and passion for STEM, said Sade Owoye, a project manager for CPEP.

Mikayla Osumah, a rising senior at Engineering and Science University Magnet School, said it was indeed her passion for STEM that led her to the internship. She said things clicked into place for her when she built a drone for a class project, and she began to realize several possibilities that could be explored through manufacturing and engineering.

Didacus Oparaocha, a teacher who leads and coaches the interns through the program, said he sees a direct benefit for the students, most of whom come from low-income families.

One of the main goals is poverty elevation, he said. I believe STEM is an answer to solving poverty.

As an employee at Sikorsky Aircraft, Oparaocha said he wants the students to have an even higher quality of life than he has, after moving from Nigeria to Italy and then to Michigan and Connecticut.

The CPEP staff said the program is meant to give students relevant work experience to prepare for careers.

We believe if you give students an opportunity for a real work opportunity, showing up every day on time and dressed professionally, it gives them chances to succeed as entrepreneurs, said Kathy Ciullo, CPEP chief financial officer and director of operations. Were trying to give them provable hands-on opportunities.

One of those opportunities was preparing a presentation during which they would ask CPEP Executive Director David Beam for the funding to carry out the robotics kit project.

Further, in addition to developing a prototype for an affordable robotics kit and considering the costs of materials and labor, students were made to practice communicating and explaining their work.

Were taking the proper steps to be professional, said ESUMS rising senior Donavon Chisolm.

Rising ESUMS senior George Shelton called it an internship you can take further in life.

Shelton said he would like to pursue electrical engineering and automation after he graduates from high school.

District officials said they believe the program offers practical applications for lessons taught in the classroom.

Kenneth Mathews, the school districts math curriculum supervisor, said he believes the interest in the program among students is tenfold its capacity.

The skills theyve learned will serve them throughout their lives, Mathews said. Many have shaped what they want to pursue in college.

After asking the interns approximately a dozen questions on the skills theyve learned from five weeks of work such as about whether any challenge is too difficult for them to overcome, about the value of teamwork or about whether a career can be fun were a few examples Beam said he has worked with engineers at all different levels, and he is certain all of them could have benefited from the type of early job training offered by the program CPEP has to offer.

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New Haven high schoolers develop tech skills in summer robotics internship - New Haven Register