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Sarcos Robotics supplies exoskeleton to Delta Air Lines

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Delta Air Lines is partnering with Sarcos Robotics to test a mobile and dexterous exoskeleton designed to boost employees’ physical capabilities and bolster their safety.

Sarcos, a maker of exoskeletons, has developed the Sarcos Guardian XO, a battery-powered, full-body exoskeleton designed to boost human performance and endurance while helping to prevent injury.

This robotic suit, designed for employees to wear, does the heavy lifting. By bearing the weight of the suit and the payload, the exoskeleton may enable an employee to lift up to 200 pounds repeatedly for up to eight hours at a time without strain or fatigue. [Read more…] about Sarcos Robotics supplies exoskeleton to Delta Air Lines

Sarcos Robotics says it has overcome ‘major obstacle’ to commercial deployment of its exoskeletons

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Sarcos Robotics says it has overcome a “major obstacle” to the commercial deployment of its exoskeletons.

Sarcos says a number of significant technology advancements for its highly anticipated Guardianä XO Max full-body, powered industrial exoskeleton robotic system.

The company, which plans to start shipping the Guardian XO Max to customers in early 2020, has completed the assembly of the world’s first all-electric, battery-powered, full-body industrial exoskeleton capable of enabling a human operator to safely lift and manipulate up to 200 pounds for extended work sessions.  [Read more…] about Sarcos Robotics says it has overcome ‘major obstacle’ to commercial deployment of its exoskeletons

Robots being employed as receptionists and office managers

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betty robot strands project
Some robot to watch over the workers

Japanese people may have become somewhat accustomed to the sight of a robot greeting them when they enter a store or some such place since robots have been employed as receptionists in Japan for some time now. 

However, Europe is catching up, with new reports of two separate instances of robots being employed as receptionists.

In one report, the Guardian highlights the employment of Pepper, the SoftBank robot, now greeting visitors and patients at hospitals in Liege and Ostend, in Belgium.

In another report, the Telegraph showcases Betty the robot, who is employed managing an office in Milton Keynes, UK. Developed by the Strands Project, Betty may not be as aesthetically pleasing as Pepper, but she has more responsibilities, such as checking to see if staff are working late and if doors are closed and so on.

Stop praying to the gods of the free market and roll out the red carpet to robots, urges Labour

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The UK Labour Party is urging the government to turn away from “the gods of the free market” and instead roll out the red carpet to our new robot overlords.

Or at least that’s what could be inferred from an opinion piece written by the Labour Party’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, who made it clear that he favours mechatronics over abstract notions of free markets.

“A robot driving a lorry may sound daunting, just as a horseless carriage did in 1890. But a driverless car doesn’t get tired, or drink alcohol, or have blind spots,” writes Watson in praise of the machines.

Watson calls for a royal commission into the issue of robotics and automation in the UK, claiming that the chancellor, George Osborne, is leaving to fate to decide whether technological change becomes “out ally not our foe”.

Full story at The Guardian.

 

 

DeepMind boss developing special AI to solve all of humanity’s problems

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Demis Hassabis. Photograph: David Ellis for Google
Demis Hassabis. Photograph: David Ellis for Google

The founder of one of the most interesting startups in recent years says he is working on a special kind of artificial intelligence that will potentially solve all of humanity’s problems, according to an interview on The Guardian website. 

Demis Hassabis, whose DeepMind company was bought by Google a couple of years ago for $625 million, refers to his version of AI as artificial general intelligence, or AGI.

He says AGI can potentially find solutions to “cancer, climate change, energy, genomics, macroeconomics, financial systems, physics”, and many of the systems which are getting too complex for humans to master.

Hassabis says: “There’s such an information overload that it’s becoming difficult for even the smartest humans to master it in their lifetimes. How do we sift through this deluge of data to find the right insights? One way of thinking of AGI is as a process that will automatically convert unstructured information into actionable knowledge. What we’re working on is potentially a meta-solution to any problem.”

DeepMind recently beat a grandmaster in the ancient Chinese game Go, a feat that was previously thought beyond the abilities of computers. Hassibis himself is a former chess master and video games designer.

Full story at The Guardian website