Posts Categorized: robotics

The House the Robots Built

Posted by & filed under robotics.

Why are walls always straight? Why does it cost so much to build them? And why do big construction projects so often run late? Construction has always been a conservative industry, used to doing things how they have always been done. But a new wave of innovation is coming, which will change what buildings look… Read more »

Helping children overcome their mobility challenges, Trexo Robotics gets a Y Combinator boost

Posted by & filed under Consumer Technology, robotics.

Manmeet Maggu and Rahul Udasi didn’t know it when they met at the University of Waterloo  eleven years ago, but the bond that the two forged in late night study sessions as roommates in the UW Place dorm has helped power their work building an exoskeleton that allows children with disabilities to walk. The fruit of that… Read more »

Crop picking robot

Posted by & filed under Artificial intelligence, IT Trends, robotics.

The SWEEPER robot is the first sweet pepper harvesting robot in the world demonstrated in a commercial greenhouse. It is designed to operate in a single stem row cropping system, with a crop having non-clustered fruits and little leaf occlusion. Source: YouTube Date: November 9th, 2018 Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUgjFaYyecE Discussion 1) Who looses their job because of this robot,… Read more »

Robot dogs are coming, but they may be destined for the unemployment line

Posted by & filed under Automation, robotics.

SpotMini, the robotic dog and social media sensation, is looking for a job. Boston Dynamics, the company behind the cybernetic canine, excels at two things: designing cool robots, and making viral videos of them in action. SpotMini has racked up an impressive 30 million YouTube views in just a few years, and a photo of the robot strolling… Read more »

A Swiss weedkiller robot could curb our dependence on herbicides

Posted by & filed under Automation, Autonomous Vehicles, robotics, Uncategorized.

  Some $26 billion is spent on herbicides each year. These chemicals are often indiscriminately sprayed over entire fields of crops that have been genetically modified to resist the chemical onslaught. And it’s agrochemical giants like Bayer, DowDuPont, and Syngenta that usually create both the genetically modified seeds and the chemicals that are sprayed on them.  The… Read more »

Stanford researchers develop a new type of soft, growing robot

Posted by & filed under disruptive technology, robotics.

A newly developed vine-like robot can grow across long distances without moving its whole body. It could prove useful in search and rescue operations and medical applications. Source: Stanford University News Date: April 20th, 2018 Link: https://news.stanford.edu/2017/07/19/stanford-researchers-develop-new-type-soft-growing-robot/ Discussion 1) Another day, another type of robot!  What sorts of things could you use this robot for? 2) Imagine you… Read more »

Meet the robo-farmers that pick and plant

Posted by & filed under robotics.

It seems there are few jobs robots can’t do these days, even the most delicate jobs, like picking asparagus or potting plant seedlings.  But they’re only needed because humans can’t – or won’t – do the work, farmers say. Source: BBC Business Date: April 20th, 2018 Link to video: http://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-43824607/meet-the-robots-that-can-pick-and-plant-better-than-we-can Discussion 1) Robots that can pick and plant seeds… Read more »

Does Saudi robot citizen have more rights than women?

Posted by & filed under Artificial intelligence, robotics.

Meet Sophia, a robot who made her first public appearance in the Saudi Arabian city of Riyadh on Monday. Sophia was such a hit she was immediately given Saudi citizenship in front of hundreds of delegates at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh on 25 October.  Sophia, created by Hong Kong company Hanson Robotics, addressed the audience in English… Read more »