Where Innovation Meets Imagination
Emerging robotics startups now have a space to call their own in Massachusetts.
MassRobotics, an independent, non-profit hub serving to inspire and bring robotics startups, initiatives and investments to life, is opening its initial office, laboratory and test space.
The collaborative workspace includes the labs and equipment needed to help young robotics companies develop and scale their concepts and prototypes. [Read more…] about MassRobotics opens shared robotics innovation space
Woodside Energy and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have launched a new collaboration program under which the Australian independent oil and gas company will develop applications for Nasa’s Robonaut in its own operations.
Under the partnership Nasa will loan Woodside an Anthropomorphic Robonaut System for a 60-month deployment in Perth. Together the two organisations will explore how the robotic technology could be used to improve safety, reliability and efficiency in the high-risk and remote environments where Woodside operates.
Woodside will contribute its advanced cognitive science technology, being developed in its Western Australian operations, and Nasa will share its expertise in Robonauts that are already being used for simple, repetitive, or especially dangerous tasks in places such as the International Space Station. [Read more…] about Woodside Energy to train Nasa’s Robonaut to work in oil and gas industry
The daily economic cost to the USA from solar storm-induced electricity blackouts could be in the tens of billions of dollars, with more than half the loss from indirect costs outside the blackout zone, according to a new study led by University of Cambridge researchers.
Previous studies have focused on direct economic costs within the blackout zone, failing to take account of indirect domestic and international supply chain loss from extreme space weather.
According to the study, published in the journal Space Weather, on average the direct economic cost incurred from disruption to electricity represents just under a half of the total potential macroeconomic cost. [Read more…] about Solar storms could cost USA tens of billions of dollars
New craft will be used to service satellites out in space
Nasa has placed an order with Space Systems Loral for a robotic spacecraft which will go and fix satellites while in orbit.
Nasa calls it the Restore-L servicing mission, and it is designed to demonstrate the ability to extend the life of a satellite in Low Earth Orbit. Scheduled launch is in 2020.
The Restore-L spacecraft will use robotics to grasp, refuel and relocate an existing US government satellite already in LEO orbit with the goal of demonstrating tools, technologies and techniques that can be implemented on future government and commercial missions. [Read more…] about Nasa places order with SSL for robotic spacecraft which will fix satellites in orbit
“Additive manufacturing” is increasingly used interchangeably with “3D printing”, so they essentially mean the same thing. The only difference seems to be that “3D printing” is used more by maker communities – hobbyists and inventors – and still retains some sort of novelty value, whereas “additive manufacturing” – despite being the newer term – is more likely to be preferred in industry circles, perhaps because it has the sound of an established technology.
But it’s not really an “established” technology in the sense that it’s only been around for a relatively short time.
According to 3DPrintingIndustry.com, it was only in 2007 that a 3D printer was available for less than $10,000 – from a company called 3D Systems, which is today one of the most well-known providers of the technology.
The most advanced 3D printers still cost quite a lot of money, especially those used by high-end manufacturers, but there are good-quality, entry-level machines available today for as little as a few hundred dollars. [Read more…] about Additive manufacturing or 3D printing? What’s the difference?
An escaped space robot has been found holed up inside a cave on a comet after going on the run for more than a year.
Philae, a tiny robotic spacecraft, was sent by the European Space Agency as part of the Rosetta mission.
Philae was designed to autonomously explore and send back data to the main Rosetta spacecraft, but it apparently ran off and scientists have not been able to find it until now.
Matt Taylor, ESA’s Rosetta project scientist, is quoted by CNN as saying: “This wonderful news means that we now have the missing ‘ground-truth’ information needed to put Philae’s three days of science into proper context, now that we know where that ground actually is.”
Nasa has selected 21 research and technology proposals from American small businesses and research institutions that will enable Nasa’s future missions into the solar system and alien worlds further out in space.
The agency says its selections also consider America’s technology-driven economy here on Earth.
The Phase II selectees of Nasa’s Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program are permitted to enter negotiations for possible contract awards worth a combined total of approximately $15.8 million.
The program selected 21 innovative technology and projects from 41 US firms and research institutions in 20 different states. [Read more…] about Nasa selects ideas for space robotics, 3D printing and alien technologies
