Robotics & Automation News

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Did Someone Say Co-Bots? How Human-Robot Teamwork Will Upend Manufacturing

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Matthew Cherewka, director of business development and strategy, Vecna Robotics

Advances in sensor and camera technologies have made robots more intelligent, allowing them to collaborate more with human workers instead of being isolated in cages or separate areas.

Known as co-bots (collaborative robots), this new form of robot can slow down or stop completely to prevent humans from getting injured, but they also enable companies to develop new human-robot workflows that automate previously manual methods.

In essence, they aim to focus on the “collaborative” aspect of the term, rather than the “robot”. [Read more…] about Did Someone Say Co-Bots? How Human-Robot Teamwork Will Upend Manufacturing

Skyline Robotics unveils ‘world’s first high-rise window-cleaning robot’ Ozmo

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Skyline Robotics has unveiled “the future of window cleaning” with Ozmo, describing it as the “world’s first high-rise window-cleaning robot”, and investors are taking notice. (See video below.)

The company has closed a successful pre-Series A funding round led by Standard Industries with contributions from Karcher New Venture and Gefen Capital.

Skyline will use the funding across a variety of business operations including expanding its New York City team, as well as continued product development and new capabilities to own the facade operations of the future. [Read more…] about Skyline Robotics unveils ‘world’s first high-rise window-cleaning robot’ Ozmo

New sensor that mimics automatic human reaction to heat could pave the way for ‘soft robots of the future’

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A new robotic sensor that mimics the automatic human reaction to heat is being hailed as a world first.

The device has been built by a team of experts from Liverpool Hope University, who say it’s the first sensor that can trigger this “sensory impulse” that the robotics community has yet seen.

The findings have been published in IEEE Xplore last December 15, 2021 as an early-access article and published this month in the IEEE Sensors Journal. [Read more…] about New sensor that mimics automatic human reaction to heat could pave the way for ‘soft robots of the future’

Robot performs laparoscopic surgery without guiding hand of a human

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By Catherine Graham, Johns Hopkins University

In four experiments on pig tissues, the robot excelled at suturing two ends of intestine – one of the most intricate and delicate tasks in abdominal surgery

A robot has performed laparoscopic surgery – also known as keyhole surgery or minimally invasive surgery – on the soft tissue of a pig without the guiding hand of a human.

The people responsible say this is “a significant step toward fully automated surgery on humans”.

Designed by a team of Johns Hopkins University researchers, the Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot, or STAR, is described today in Science Robotics.

Senior author Axel Krieger, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Johns Hopkins’ Whiting School of Engineering, says: “Our findings show that we can automate one of the most intricate and delicate tasks in surgery: the reconnection of two ends of an intestine. [Read more…] about Robot performs laparoscopic surgery without guiding hand of a human

Motion capture is guiding the next generation of extraterrestrial robots

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“How do we build robots that can optimally explore space?” is the core question behind Dr Frances Zhu’s research at the University of Hawai’i. One part of the answer is, “with motion capture”.

“It is my hope that my research contributes to the way extraterrestrial robots move and make decisions on other planets,” explains Zhu (main image), an assistant researcher and deputy director at the University’s Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology.

That research is in its early stages, but NASA has seen the value in it and awarded Zhu an EPSCoR grant by the name “Autonomous Rover Operations for Planetary Surface Exploration using Machine Learning Algorithms”. [Read more…] about Motion capture is guiding the next generation of extraterrestrial robots

Opinion: What does the future of robot-human interaction look like?

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Michel Spruijt, GM and VP of BrainCorp Europe, looks at how robots are being integrated into the working environment and how these intelligent machines will operate alongside the human workforce

Technology has seen significant progress over the last half a century, with artificial intelligence playing an important role.

Robots are now no longer a thing of fantasy but instead are being integrated into businesses across multiple industries.

They are making inroads across facilities as the need for greater efficiency in operations becomes a priority. [Read more…] about Opinion: What does the future of robot-human interaction look like?

How robots learn to hike: ETH researchers look to improve four-legged ANYmal’s mobility

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By Christoph Elhardt

ETH Zurich researchers led by Marco Hutter have developed a new control approach that enables a legged robot, called ANYmal, to move quickly and robustly over difficult terrain.

Thanks to machine learning, the robot can combine its visual perception of the environment with its sense of touch for the first time.

Steep sections on slippery ground, high steps, scree and forest trails full of roots: the path up the 1,098-​metre-high Mount Etzel at the southern end of Lake Zurich is peppered with numerous obstacles. [Read more…] about How robots learn to hike: ETH researchers look to improve four-legged ANYmal’s mobility

Social robots deserve our appreciation, bioethicist says

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If you have sex with an android doll and then knock it around the room, are you being abusive? If you’re in a foul mood and boot your robotic pet down the stairs, are you being a jerk? In either scenario, is the device’s owner culpable of bad behavior?

The questions may sound insincere, but a US bioethicist submits that they raise concerns that societies should address as humans increasingly rely on social robots for companionship and emotional support.

Nancy Jecker, a bioethicist at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine, authored a newly published paper in the journal AI & Society. It asks a provocative question – “Can we wrong robots?” – and argues that the answer is “yes”. [Read more…] about Social robots deserve our appreciation, bioethicist says

Driving will be outlawed for humans by 2050, says IDTechEx

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Autonomous cars will match or exceed human safety by 2024, after which they will grow rapidly at aan annual rate of 30 percent, according to IDTechEx’s new report Autonomous Cars, Robotaxis & Sensors 2022–2042.

By the 2040s, they will be capable of fulfilling the world’s mobility needs without a single collision. So why should humans be allowed to continue driving?

For a long time, the parameters around how we can drive our vehicles have been restricted. Speed limits exist to increase safety, seatbelts are mandated to increase safety, and city centers are becoming pedestrianized to increase safety for pedestrians. [Read more…] about Driving will be outlawed for humans by 2050, says IDTechEx

Robots who goof: Can we trust them again?

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When robots make mistakes – and they do from time to time – re-establishing trust with human co-workers depends on how the machines own up to the errors and how human-like they appear, according to University of Michigan research.

In a study that examined multiple trust repair strategies – apologies, denials, explanations or promises – the researchers found that certain approaches directed at human co-workers are better than others and often are impacted by how the robots look.

Lionel Robert (main picture), associate professor at the U-M School of Information, says: “Robots are definitely a technology but their interactions with humans are social and we must account for these social interactions if we hope to have humans comfortably trust and rely on their robot co-workers. [Read more…] about Robots who goof: Can we trust them again?