Category Archives: Robotics

Snakebot takes a dive to go where other robots cant

A snake-like robot can now slither its way through water, allowing it to inspect ships, submarines, and underwater infrastructure for damage.

Researchers from the Biorobotics Lab in the School of Computer Sciences Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University tested the hardened underwater modular robot snake (HUMRS) last month in the pool, diving the robot through underwater hoops, showing off its precise and smooth swimming, and demonstrating its ease of control.

We can go places that other robots cannot, says Howie Choset, professor of computer science. It can snake around and squeeze into hard-to-reach underwater spaces. Choset and Matt Travers, co-directors of the Biorobotics Lab, led the work.

Thesubmersiblerobot snake project aims to assist the Department of Defense with inspecting ships, submarines, and other underwater infrastructure for damage or as part of routine maintenance, says Matt Fischer, the program manager at the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute.

Snakebot could save time and money

The military has limited options for inspecting areas like a ships hull. To do so, theNavymust either send a team of divers to the ships location, wait until it returns to port to deploy the divers, or pull it into a dry dock -- all options that take time and money.

A submersible robot snake could allow the Navy to inspect the ship at sea, immediately alerting the crew to critical damage or sending information about issues that need attention back to port for use when the ship docks.

If they can get that information before the ship comes into a home port or a dry dock, that saves weeks or months of time in a maintenance schedule, says Fischer, who served in the Navy for three years. And in turn, that saves money.

Fischer, who crawled into the ballast tanks of asubmarineduring his service, says many sailors would gladly pass that difficult and tight duty to a robot.

Steve McKee, a co-lead of the Joint Robotics Organization for Building Organic Technologies (JROBOT), a Department of Defense task force interested in technology like the submersible robot snake, says the project will improve the readiness of equipment in the armed services.

The advancements being made hold great promise for helping not only the Department of Defense but also various industries around the world, McKee says.

Snake in the pool!

Outside the military, therobotscould inspect underwater pipes for damage or blockages, assess offshore oil rigs, or check the integrity of a tank while it is filled with liquid. The robot could be used to inspect and maintain any fluid-filled systems, says Nate Shoemaker-Trejo, a mechanical and mechatronics engineer in the Biorobotics Lab working on the submersible snakebot.

The distinguishing feature is the robots form factor and flexibility. The smallest versions of regular submersibles are usually blocky, one-piece arrangements. The robot snake is narrow and jointed, Shoemaker-Trejo says. The end result is that an underwater robot snake can squeeze around corners and into small spaces where regular submersibles cant go.

Versions of therobot snakeshave already proven useful in difficult situations. Travers led a team to Mexico City in 2017 to use robot snakes in a search-and-rescue mission after an earthquake. And a robot snake made a lasting impression on Jimmy Fallon when it climbed up his leg as a guest on NBCsThe Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

The robots modular design allows it to adapt to different tasks, whether squeezing through tight spaces under rubble, climbing up a tree, or slithering around a corner underwater. For the underwater robot snake, the team used existing watertight modules that allow the robot to operate in bad conditions. They then added new modules containing the turbines and thrusters needed to maneuver the robot underwater.

Development progressed rapidly. The team started working on the underwater robot snake in July 2020 and by March 2021, had it swimming in the pool.

Im surprised that we made this robot work as fast as we did, Choset says.

A grant from the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute funded the work.

This article was posted from Futurity.

About the Author

Jason Maderer is the interim managing director of communications at Carnegie Mellon University.

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'Snakebot' takes a dive to go where other robots can't - GCN.com

Robot vision systems are commonly referred to as machine vision. This vision tool is used in several industrial processes, including material inspection, object recognition, and pattern recognition. Each industry applies its particular values to machine vision. In healthcare, pattern recognition is critical. In electronics production component inspection is important. In banking, the recognition of signatures, optical characters, and currency matter.

We talked with machine vision company, Cognex to get an understanding of how vision systems work with robotics. There are two main applications for robot guidance. You take an image of the scene and you find something and input that things coordinates. This is the angle for 2D and 3D systems. The robot can see an object and will do something with it, Brian Benoit, senior manager of product marketing for Cognex, told Design News. Another application is inspecting an object. A robot holds a camera and the robot moves the camera around the part to get certain images.

Related: How Mobile Robots Deliver Efficiency to Your Packaging Line

KUKA offers a flexible 2D vision solution for its robots by integrating with Cognex VisionPro software. The vision tools locate, inspect and read codes on stationary or moving parts.

For Cognex, the vision system often goes to integrators who cobble together automation systems.Sometimes our customer is an integrator who is building a system with robots that need vision, said Benoit. The types of robots we work with are manipulating robots. They may lift a large payload in a cage. Those are fast and unsafe to be around.

Related: Artificial Brain Gives Robots Unprecedented Sensing Capabilities

In other cases, the customer is the end-user working with smaller, safer robots, We also work with collaborative robots that are designed to work side-by-side with people. Theyre not going to use as much force, said Benoit. They often do pick-and-place. He noted that the vision systems from Cognex are not the same as the guided systems used by mobile robots. We havent seen much traction with vision on warehouse robots. They use sensors that are integrated into their system, so they dont need an outside camera.

While the large caged robots have a decades-long history, collaborative robots are a relatively new addition to the automation world. The cage robot market is stable. The most common customer is in automotive. The need for a vision system with caged robots isnt great because there isnt as much variability, said Benoit With collaborative robots, you have a more unstructured environment so there are a lot more vision applications. Its a developing market, so our strategy is to work well with any robot manufacturer. We develop software interfaces for the robot manufacturer so they can easily work with our system. With each robot, we have to develop an interface.

ABB Integrated Vision interfaces with Cognex.

The human eye is a sensor. Its our brain that understands the visual feed from our eyes. Same with robots. The robots software interprets the visual data. Software is the brain behind everything. We have two types of vision. One set of algorithms is rules-based. It looks for patterns and edges. The other algorithm is in the deep-learning space where the software is trained by example. Were seeing traction in both, said Benoit. The goal of the software is a good handshake between the robot and the vision system. We train the robot and the vision system to know where they are together. When the camera sees something, the robot knows where to go in response.

The vision software includes a plug-and-play connection for each robot maker. We try to make the integration as simple as possible. We have the right hooks in our software to send signals back and forth, said Benoit. We also rely on integrators for help on that. We work directly with some robot companies, such as Universal Robots. They have vision software thats maintained by Cognex and works directly on their robots.

Part of what sets collaborative robots apart from traditional, caged robots is they are designed to be trained by users rather than programmed by integrators. Universal Robots business model is to skip the integrators. They have a point-and-click driver, said Benoit. Its important that when they work with peripherals, they can just plug it in. They do it with our vision system and with different end effectors.

The vision system that allows the robot to identify a part and pick it up is not different from the vision system that allows the robot to check to do a quality check on a part. When the robot has a vision system whether its on a conveyor or the end of a robot arm it works the same. The vision system is mounted on a robot arm, and the arm moves around, said Benoit. The software analyzes the feed from the vision. In many cases, the software engages in deep learning. We integrated a system, all of the analysis exists inside the vision platform. We use a neural network inside the camera.

The software for the vision system may be programmed to identify a specific object, or it may be designed to learn about what its seeing. The deep-earning is different from conventional programming. Its like teaching a child what a house is. You dont normally tell the child the coordinates of a house. You say. Thats a house, thats a house, and thats an office building. Our software is designed to do that in manufacturing.

Rob Spiegel has covered manufacturing for 19 years, 17 of them for Design News. Other topics he has covered include automation, supply chain technology, alternative energy, and cybersecurity. For 10 years, he was the owner and publisher of the food magazine Chile Pepper.

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How Vision Systems Work in Robotics - DesignNews

Carbon Robotics Autonomous Weeder uses artificial intelligence to identify and zap weeds growing in fields of vegetables. (Carbon Robotics Photo)

Carbon Robotics, a Seattle company led by Isilon Systems co-founder Paul Mikesell, is unveiling its self-driving robot that uses artificial intelligence to identify weeds growing in fields of vegetables, then zaps them with precision thermal bursts from lasers.

The startup, previously known as Maka Autonomous Robots, was in stealth mode since 2018. Mikesell sold Isilon for $2.25 billion in 2010, helped Uber open its Seattle engineering office in 2015, then moved to Facebooks Seattle Oculus lab before taking the startup plunge again.

Carbons tech holds the promise of reducing the cost of growing organic vegetables so that they no longer cost a whole paycheck.

We have all of this technology that allows, for the first time, computers to see things and understand what theyre looking at, Mikesell said. For him, the question was: how do we apply this to real physical world work? He turned to food production.

Scientists have been experimenting with laser weed-control for more than a decade after finding that the heat of lasers vaporizes water inside plant cells, destroying the cells and killing the plant. In 2013, a German company announced plans to use a laser-armed drone to zap weeds from the air.

But what farmers need is less a revolution in farming methods than a revolutionary tool that fits into their current farming patterns, Mikesell said.

Carbon worked closely with farmers in eastern Oregon and southern Idaho, he said. As a result, Carbons robot system the Autonomous Weeder was built about the size of a medium tractor so it would fit in the furrows between rows of common crops like onions and sweet potatoes.

It can cover up to 16 acres of cropland a day, zapping as many as 100,000 weeds an hour, Mikesell said. And since its self-driving, all a farmer has to do is take it to the field in the morning and turn it on.

Were really intent on not making farmers have to change how theyre doing things, Mikesell said. Thats been a key to our success. We fit right into their operations.

Weed control is an essential part of successful farming and is perhaps the essential factor for organic farmers, said Doug Collins, a soils scientist with Washington State Universitys Cooperative Extension research center in Puyallup, Wash., who serves on the Organic Advisory Board for the states Agriculture Department.

Its frequently the No. 1-cited problem, he said. Weeds can get out of hand and you can lose a crop pretty easily. The competition from the weeds can make it so the crop is not worth harvesting.

For organic farmers in particular, the cost of weed control can be high. Collins said his research on larger organic farms in the Columbia Basin showed that farmers can spend $1,200 to $1,600 an acre hiring workers to eradicate weeds by hand with hoes. Even non-organic farmers will hire hand crews to supplement the weed-killing sprays they use.

Its hard, physically demanding work, Collins said. Its not fun.

There are other alternatives for weed control like covering the space between rows with tarps or black plastic, to block weeds from getting the sunlight they need but theyre not always practical for large operations, Collins said.

One key for Carbon has been its Northwest location, Mikesell said. The region is unique in that it has a deep depth of knowledge in AI and computer visioning; an established advanced manufacturing sector; a diverse agricultural industry; and a strong venture capital community all in close proximity.

Theres not a lot of places in the world where you have all those things coming together, he said.

The 21-person startup has raised $8.9 million to date from Fuse and Bolt.

Carbon has sold out all the robots it built for the 2021 planting season, and is looking for an industrial partner who could help it build more units for 2022, Mikesell said.

The company is looking to get into the hundreds of units built and shipped for next year, he said. Theres a demand for a lot more than that, tens or hundreds of thousands of them.

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Isilon founder lifts the hood on farming startup Carbon Robotics and its weed zapping machine - GeekWire

High-tech supermarket and logistics group Ocado is pushing toward a future where, from warehouse to doorstep, groceries will be handled by robots.

The British group, a grocery delivery rival to online retail giant Amazon AMZN, +0.60% in the U.K. and joined with grocer Kroger KR, -0.22% in the U.S., will invest 10 million ($13.8 million) in a commercial partnership with Oxbotica, an autonomous vehicle software company, the company said on Friday.

Shares in Ocado OCDO, +1.87% climbed near 2% on the day, helping Londons blue-chip FTSE 100 UKX, +0.52% index top 7,000 for the first time in more than a year.

The partnership will involve collaborating on hardware and software interfaces for autonomous vehicles, Ocado said, integrating Oxford, U.K.-based Oxboticas software platform on Ocados vehicles.

Plus: Tesla self-driving truck rival TuSimple raises $1 billion in IPO valuing it at $8.5 billion

The next steps are for Ocado to fit out its delivery vans and warehouse vehicles with data capture capabilities to help Oxbotica to test its technologies. The vision is to automate the entire grocery delivery process: from vehicles that operate inside and out of Ocado warehouses, to last-mile delivery vehicles and curb-to-kitchen robots.

We are excited about the opportunity to work with Oxbotica to develop a wide range of autonomous solutions that truly have the potential to transform both our and our partners [customer fulfillment center] and service delivery operations, while also giving all end customers the widest range of options and flexibility, said Alex Harvey, Ocados head of advanced technology.

Founded by former Goldman Sachs GS, +1.11% bankers in 2000, Ocados business is built on its roots as a high-tech grocery delivery company and it is a competitive player in the cutthroat British supermarket sector. But one of its key areas for growth is creating custom logistics and warehousing solutions using its proprietary robotics technology.

Read more: Kroger and Ocado bring bots to new high-tech facility as digital competition among grocers heats up

In that vein, it has a partnership with U.S. retail giant Kroger dating back to 2018. Earlier this week, Kroger launched its first Ocado warehouse combining robotics and machine learning for fast fresh food delivery located in Monroe, Ohio, north of Cincinnati.

Ocado said the ultimate ambition of its multiyear collaboration with Oxbotica is to enable partners like Kroger to reduce the costs of both last-mile delivery and logistics operations.

The 10 million investment in Oxbotica came as part of the companys Series B equity funding round, led by the venture arm of energy giant BP BP, -0.18%, which has tested autonomous vehicles using Oxboticas technology at a refinery in Germany. Chinese tech giant Tencent 700, +1.94% and safety equipment group Halma HLMA, +0.16% were among the other investors.

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Kroger partner Ocado is on the road to robotic grocery delivery with autonomous-vehicle investment - MarketWatch

Collaborative Robots Combined with Mechanical and Industrial IoT Expertise Creates Solution to Severe Labor Shortages & Health & Safety Concerns in Post-Pandemic World While Increasing Production.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced manufacturers to stop or reduce production. This disruption was in full display last year as seen on empty grocery and store shelves, not to mention the loss of lives and jobs. elliTeks engineers have been working tirelessly to find cost-effective solutions to help manufacturers safely reopen their facilities and also address severe labor shortages. Hanwhas team vigorously developed advanced cobots that combined Hanwhas AI technology with its mobility capabilities.

Adding automated robotic systems to a factory is an investment that has a quick return, said Brandon Ellis, president of elliTek. Additionally, collaborative robots can limit the number of people on a production line to ensure appropriate distancing requirements are being met and may also provide relief for those experiencing labor shortage situations.

Cobots can perform multiple tasks, so employees can focus on value-added duties. Cobots can help manufacturers improve quality through process automation, cut operational costs with easily controllable equipment, offer flexible switch-over between processes for small-batch production, and improve dangerous work conditions. elliTeks pre-engineered, turn-key robotic workcells are engineered to allow the robots to operate at their full capacity and speed. Plus, they are ready for quick installation.

Hanwhas HCR Advanced Collaborative Robot Series consists of three six-axis articulated robot models that can be used to collaborate with workers. Hanwhas HCR Advanced Series is unique in that two HCR Cobots can run off a single control unit resulting in a 10% reduction in operating costs. The HCR Advanced Cobots can be applied immediately without changing the existing workspace. They are easy to control and flexible in reacting to changes in the production layout. Hanwhas cobots not only automate manual work, but the HCR Advanced Series also provides a safer work environment.

Furthermore, Hanwhas new advanced cobot models allow users the ability to easily attach torque sensors and grippers without the need to attach additional cables. The improved speed, consistency, and accuracy of the HCR Advanced Series offer increased productivity for industries such as automotive, electronics, food, and pharmaceutical to name a few.

Hanwhas R&D team developed five additional Advanced Solutions Vision and Mobility modules from which users can choose to customize their cobot according to the type of work and production processes.

Learn more about Hanwhas HCR Advanced Collaborative Robots, http://www.elliTek.com/Hanwha-Robots. Speak with one of elliTeks automation experts, 865-409-1555, to find out if a collaborative robot is the best automation solution for your production line.

About Hanwha Corporation

Hanwha, founded in 1952, is one of South Koreas top-ten business enterprises and a Fortune Global 500 company. Hanwha has 76 domestic affiliates and more than 350 locations around the world spanning four business areas: chemicals & energy, aerospace & mechatronics, finance, and constructions & leisure/lifestyle services. Hanwhas impressive growth over the past seven decades stems from its ability to anticipate change and embrace new challenges. Learn more about Hanwha Robotics at http://www.hanwharobotics.com/En.

About elliTek, Inc.

elliTek, Inc. is an East Tennessee-based industrial automation company with a mission of empowerment. Founded in 2009, elliTeks focus on the user experience and proficiency in industrial IoT led to the development of their award-winning MES products. elliTek also offers distribution services, engineering services, and robotic solutions to clients through strategic partnerships with global technological companies. elliTeks expertise in motion control, robotics, automated machined design, and industrial IoT has led to innovative solutions that increase business responsiveness, boost productivity, and accomplish sustainability objectives all while lowering the total cost of ownership. Listen to elliTeks podcast Industrial Automation It Doesnt Have To to find out what makes elliTek different. Learn more at http://www.elliTek.com or call (865) 409-1555.

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Hanwha Robotics and elliTek, Inc. Partnership to Help United States Manufacturers Safely Reopen - PR.com

Yesterday,Day 1 of ProMatDX, I focused on trends some of the industrys leading system integrators were following. Today, Ill look at robotics.

One of the presenters at last yearsNextGen Supply Chain Conference, the annual technology conference I produce, was Adrian Kumar, the global head of operations science & analytics atDHL Supply Chain. The topic was robotics: When it comes to putting robotics to work in the warehouse and distribution center, few organizations have worked with as many solution providers as Kumars team at DHL. Yet most of his presentation was about software.

When I asked him why, Kumar said simply that after more than three years of working with autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) in DHLs operations, one of the most important learnings was that the software optimizing the robots and coordinating the rest of the fulfillment operations was more important to achieving results than the robots themselves. Essentially, the hardware is becoming a commodity.

That anecdote came as no surprise to Lior Elazary, the founder and CEO ofinVia Robotics. He joked that at some point, someone will mass produce robots at such a cheap price that hell be able toconcentrate on software. In fact, he described inVia as a software company. He is putting his money where his mouth is:inVia just announceda new project that utilizes the companys warehouse execution system in a conventional distribution center with limited automation; robots will come later. He explained that the software can now route a lift truck driver to get a pallet for the pallet area; route a cart runner who is delivering carts to the picking or packing areas; or direct a person in the pallet pick area.

inVia isnt the only company leading with software. Developing a solution to quickly and efficiently integrate the myriad automation platforms available today, including those from robotics suppliers, was the strategy behindSVT Robotics, co-founded by A.K. Schultz,SVTsCEO. Despite its name, SVT doesnt sell robots. Schultz and his partner Michael Howes are former Swisslog executives who were frustrated by the challenges of integrating software to create a holistic solution when they were working on projects for customers. They set out to build a better mousetrap a Cloud-based platform where automation operating systems can be accessed and then integrated to create a solution. That includes robotics, as the name implies, but also more traditional automated equipment like conveyors, sorters and AS/RS systems. Our goal was to take the typical 12 to 18 month integration cycle down to 12 to 18 weeks for deployment, especially for companies that are new to automation, Schultz said. We realize that its no longer about the machine, but the software.

The ability for all those systems to play nice together is leading to another trend in robotics, one well call convergence. Or, as I wrote yesterday, the transition from a point product to a holistic solution. Tom Galluzzo, the CEO of Pittsburgh-basedIAM Robotics, noted that customers are looking at how to use AMRs, one of the products IAM produces, for conveyance over long distances in place of traditional conveyor, and as a sortation device to deliver totes to the different lanes for shipping. IAM is also one of the suppliers working with a systems integrator to create an highly-automated, end-to-end fulfillment engine that includes a piece picking robots, a robotic sorter and a high-density goods-to-person storage and retrieval system. I think were on the verge of seeing more big and complex systems being designed, Galluzzo said, and were seeing a lot of new entrants to the market, addressing more applications.

Without questions, AMRs are more widely adopted than piece-picking robots. To some degree thats because AMRs are point solutions that require little in the way of infrastructure changes to get them up and running. Item-handling robots on the other hand have to work with other systems, requiring more software and hardware integration as well as infrastructure. But, that might be starting to change, noted Vince Martinelli, head of production and marketing atRightHand Robotics, one of the early movers in this space. One reason is that there are more reference systems up and running, and the deployments are getting larger. Early on, companies were just installing one or two robots, Martinelli said. If you look at the project we just did withApologistics in Germany, youll see that there are a lot of robots working. You cant underestimate the value of real case studies, he added. Look closely, and youll also see that the robots have been integrated with an AutoStore goods-to-robot storage and retrieval system an example of convergence. In addition to experience and more reference case studies, the robot software, and integration of that software, is getting better. APIs arent sexy, Martinelli said. But in our latest product, we emphasize more than ever how we can work with a system integrator.

Robotics is a crowded field, one that is becoming more crowded every day as new startups throw their hats in the ring. At some point, Im sure, there is going to be a shakeout. So, what may determine who survives? Thats a question that may be answered by data and experience. Robots, after all, rely on Artificial Intelligence to improve their performance, and AI needs data, the more the better. The guy who gets 1,000 robots in there and operational first will learn a lot of things, Martinelli said.

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Day 2 of ProMatDX has a heavy focus on robots - Logistics Management

San Francisco, CA, April 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sheryl Seitz, VP of Marketing and Communications at Plus One Robotics, a leading software company making 3D and AI-powered vision for logistics robots, has been accepted into Forbes Communications Council, an invitation-only community for executives in communications, marketing, and public relations.

Sheryl was vetted and selected by a review committee based on the depth and diversity of her experience. Criteria for acceptance include a track record of successfully impacting business growth metrics, as well as personal and professional achievements and honors.

We are honored to welcome Sheryl into the community, said Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, the collective that includes Forbes Communications Council. Our mission with Forbes Councils is to bring together proven leaders from every industry, creating a curated, social capital-driven network that helps every member grow professionally and make an even greater impact on the business world.

As an accepted member of the Council, Sheryl has access to a variety of exclusive opportunities designed to help her reach peak professional influence. She will connect and collaborate with other respected local leaders in a private forum. Sheryl will also be invited to work with a professional editorial team to share her expert insights in original business articles on Forbes.com, and to contribute to published Q&A panels alongside other experts.

Im delighted to join the Forbes Communication Council. With the surge in demand for ecommerce globally, its an exciting time to work with cutting-edge robotics and innovative customers that are transforming the supply chain. I look forward to exchanging knowledge with the Council members, and sharing my career learnings on Forbes.com, Sheryl commented.

ABOUT FORBES COUNCILS

Forbes Councils is a collective of invitation-only communities created in partnership with Forbes and the expert community builders who founded Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). In Forbes Councils, exceptional business owners and leaders come together with the people and resources that can help them thrive.

For more information about Forbes Communications Council, visit forbescommcouncil.com. To learn more about Forbes Councils, visit forbescouncils.com.

ABOUT PLUS ONE ROBOTICS INC

PlusOne Robotics was founded in 2016 with a mission to bring industrial robotics to the warehouse. The company was founded by computer vision and robotics industry veterans to provide leading-edge 3D and AI vision capabilities for logistics robots.PlusOnes novel approach to human/robot collaboration and supervised autonomy ensures that systems arefast, reliable andscalable, allowing one person to manage many robotssimultaneously.PlusOnescustomers include logistics and ecommerce leaders in the Fortune 100.PlusOne Robotics is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. The company was recognized as The Best Place to Work in San Antonio for the past two years, named theBestVisionSoftware companyfor Customer Value Leadership by Frost and Sullivan, and ranked #7th top AI company in The Informations 50 Most Promising Startups 2020.Visitplusonerobotics.com, and follow on LinkedIn(linkedin.com/company/plusonerobotics), Twitter(twitter.com/PlusOneRobotics)Instagram (instagram.com/plusonerobotics) and Facebook (facebook.com/plusonerobotics) for more information.

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Sheryl Seitz, VP of Marketing and Communications at Plus One Robotics, accepted into Forbes Communications Council - GlobeNewswire

The Army will have 12 robotic ground vehicles at Project Convergence 21, Maj. Gen. Ross Coffman, director of the Next Generation Combat Vehicle Cross-Functional Team, said April 15.

This is an increase from the less than five that were at last years demonstration, he said.

The robots will be equipped with a variety of sensors, including low-wattage lidar, visual, nuclear, chemical and thermal sensors, as well as tethered and untethered unmanned aerial vehicles, Coffman said during a talk at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.

This will provide the Army an opportunity to observe how soldiers can most effectively interact with robots on the battlefield.

Theres a lot of effort out there to determine whats the best way to use robots, Coffman said. Should they be additive? Or substitute what humans do on the battlefield?

Key technological issues for robotics that the Army will examine during the demonstration include autonomous resupply, computer vision and aided target recognition, he said.

Coffman spoke with Inside Defense last month about the Next Generation Independent Fire Control, a program to detect and locate targets for combat vehicles that will be demonstrated at PC 21.

All of the robots will be payload-agnostic, he said. One of the key tasks for their sensors will be constantly mapping the battlefield to give soldiers better information.

As the Army moves forward with robotics, it will be important to determine what needs to be standardized across platforms, Coffman said. He said there have been discussions about making a common physical controller, but that common software might be more important.

Do you need the same controller for a small UAV that you do for a large robot? We dont think so, Coffman said. But what we do know is that the software must be consistent.

Common software platforms could make it easier to integrate new robots into the Army, and it would be more cost-effective than having to make entirely new code for each robot, he said.

The Armys future robots will not necessarily need to reach the same extremely high standards that manned combat vehicles are currently held to, Coffman said. He added it will be most important that they work well enough to get the job done.

We need the minimum viable product, Coffman said. It doesnt need to be gold-plated.

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Army to have 12 robotic ground vehicles at PC 21 - Inside Defense

The constant evolutions of technology have played an ongoing role in developing the education system and upgrading new learnings. Necessary for enhancing practical learning skills in Indian students. What was earlier limited to computer classes has now further moved to an integrated part of the curriculum.

Tech development has been embedded with education as it imparts real problem-solving skills & critical approach along with out-of-the-box thinking, which ensures the creative horizon ultimately expands in the minds of young students.

The rapid developing technology in a country like India is at the pinnacle of the economic and social fabric. Thus, introducing tech at an early age improves their technological fluency and helps them become a future-ready Indian workforce based on tech.

Technology within the education system allows children to broaden their perspective of the increasing interconnectedness and interdependence in the world smartly. It has enabled digital classrooms and interactive e-learning solutions which have now become the core of the education culture/system in India. With advancements like AI, STEM education, machine learning, etc., enhance their decision-making ability and empower them to become independent decision-makers.

Parents with increasing awareness, now understand the importance of early development and adopting subjects like robotics and coding early in life. If adopted from a young age coding and robotics will help in the overall development of children.

Programming and designing are very vast fields, it is neither limited nor fixed, therefore, students are encouraged to think of various possibilities, analyze and use logic and reasoning to come up with the method best suited to their skills. The trend of techies in demand in India has only been going up, and no doubt that the future very much lies in the merit of the technology.

A plethora of career opportunities for children has opened up since the inception of STEM education as it involves various principles of mechanical and electrical engineering. Technology as space is so vast that it possibly touches every small segment of our lives, from our phones to the light in the room, everything is technology.

Thus, including coding and robotics in the K12 curriculum empowers students to think differently, understand the STEM subjects and concepts better, thereby laying a strong foundation for learning and making students future-ready.

There is no fixed method of designing and programming a robot. Therefore, students should be encouraged to think of various possibilities, analyze and use logic and reasoning to come up with the method best suited to their skills. This, in turn, will enhance their decision-making ability and empower them to become independent decision-makers.

What most people at times forget is technology let alone cannot always be sufficient for the development of mankind. In the words of Steve Jobs, technology alone is not enough. It is technology married with liberal arts, married to the humanities, that yields us the results that make our hearts sing. Hence, it automatically becomes important that we focus on all the aspects of life and correlate it with technology, but at the same time understanding the value of those other things go hand in hand.

21st-century skills are the new focus of education, to inculcate habits and develop these skills is not at all an easy task. Schools and parents, understanding the need of the hour of overall development have become more aware of coding and robotics importance.

The problems of today and the unforeseen complex world of tomorrow need to be viewed from multiple lenses of the past and the future. And now that the technology is shaping what the future would look like, it will definitely be impacted by yesterday and today.

Therefore, we can say that technology in education has further created an up-to-date platform filling the need gap between the required skill for employment. It is not only shaping the future of students in India but making it secure for future demands, allowing children an opportunity to prove themselves in a world full of competition and excellence.

Article by Sneha Priya, Co-founder, SP Robotic Works.

Read: Trends that will influence the study abroad market in 2021

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How robotics and coding are shaping the future of Indian students - India Today

Yahoo Finances Brian Sozzi and Myles Udland speak with Vicarious Surgical Co-founder & CEO Adam Sachs about the companys SPAC deal, and outlook for the surgical robotic space.

BRIAN SOZZI: Surgical robotics company Vicarious Surgical said today it will merge with SPAC D8 Holdings for vowing to help their play at $1.1 billion. Company's robot has arms that help replicate human motion during surgery. And it has some well-known backers, including Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Joining us now is Vicarious Surgical's co-founder and CEO, Adam Sachs. Adam, congratulations on the deal. So let's start with this. You have what is called FDA breakthrough designation. What does that allow you to do? And when do you anticipate full FDA approval for your robot?

ADAM SACHS: Yeah, so first, thank you guys so much for making the time. So the-- yeah, we're incredibly excited about this transaction today, of course. And the breakthrough designation specifically was granted to us after careful review from the agency. And it essentially means that they've looked at the details of what we're doing. And they're confident that our core technology is different in a fundamental way that will actually provide better outcomes for patients, right? This means that the things that we've done from an engineering perspective, the things that we've invented will actually enable better outcomes.

So, from a regulatory standpoint, the agency has created this program in order to work closely with us in order to ensure that our device is safe, effective, and gets to the market as quickly as possible. And we're going to work with them to do exactly that. We anticipate filing to the FDA in late 2023.

MYLES UDLAND: So, Adam, we see the road map in the presentation of when this is going to maybe be actually carrying out some surgeries. But maybe we can take a step back. And if you could just outline for us what the state of robotics in surgery rooms is like today, what's available, what's not, what are people working on, and how do you guys see, I guess, the future of surgery if we want to think about it that way. How do you see that evolving over the coming decades?

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ADAM SACHS: Yeah, it's a really good question. So if it's OK with you, I'd like to actually even take a step back before robotics and talk about the history of surgery here. Because it really starts with open surgery, where surgeons would actually take a scalpel, make a large incision across a patient's abdominal wall, and quite literally open up the patient. And of course, this allows the surgeon to do the procedure. But the incision itself causes most of the injury to the patient.

So that's what minimally invasive surgery is all about, laparoscopy-- three to five small incisions 1.5 centimeters across where you can insert these long, slender instruments into the abdominal cavity and pivot about the abdominal wall. But because the motion pivots about the abdominal wall, it's really hard to do surgery. So that's where legacy surgical robots come in. These systems are $2 million and require dedicated operating rooms. And they-- but on top of all of that, they still pivot about the abdominal wall. So they add a wrist which helps with suturing, but the surgeon needs to still learn how to create the motion, the kinematic profile of the robot for every procedure that they perform.

That's why it's so important to us to have taken a step back. Spent the last seven years reinventing the way surgical robotics works and actually designed these decoupled actuators that allow us to insert all of the robotic motion, 9 degrees of freedom per arm, plus 3 degrees of freedom in the camera, wrists, elbows, and shoulders of the surgeon all inside the abdomen through this single incision that's a normal minimally invasive surgical sized incision. It's a tremendous difference for the patient, but also for the surgeon and the hospital, where now they don't need to learn how to set up such a complex system.

BRIAN SOZZI: Adam, to be fair, I was watching some of the images on the screen. I'm like, I'm not so sure if I want a robot trying to fix my broken finger or leg. Is that one of the biggest-- that perception, is that one of the biggest roadblocks you have to overcome in your journey as a public company?

ADAM SACHS: Yeah, so I would say it's been one of the things that has to be overcome for surgical robots. But, you know, we're fortunate to have some competitors in the field that have already paved this pathway, already proven that, the capability and safety of surgical robots, but due to a number of constraints and limitations, have failed to gain over 20 years more than about 30% market adoption. So we have this incredible opportunity. The pathway has already been paved. And surgical robots already have a place in the operating room today and have proved that they can be safe.

MYLES UDLAND: And Adam, just finally, you guys flagged a couple of procedures, you know, hernias, gall bladder procedures that are kind of the initial entry point for your markets. How much are you thinking about just getting those handful of procedures down before you move into other areas? And I guess, another way of asking, like, I'm assuming if I ever go in for brain surgery, it's going to be a long time before a robot is kind of working inside my head.

ADAM SACHS: Yeah, we're-- I mean, we are starting with those handful of procedures that are outlined in the presentation, ventral hernia being the first procedure. It's one of the reasons that we're so excited to have BD, the world leader in hernia repair products, joining in the pipe in this investment and partnering with us long term for the future of our both of our companies. But these are just stepping stones to the rest of the market. I mean, they were both incredible multibillion dollar markets that we're incredibly excited to have an actual clinical benefit for, really, the first time in surgical robotics history around this large segment of the market.

But at the same time, within a year, we'll be launching tool after tool and indication after indication and greatly expanding our market outside of that, targeting essentially all other abdominal procedures within a few years, including gynecology, urology, and general surgery. I mean, you are right to assume that the brain surgery is further away on our path today.

BRIAN SOZZI: Interesting stuff. Looking forward to following your journey. Vicarious Surgical's co-founder and CEO Adam Sachs, thanks for joining us today.

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