Robotics

Drones have the potential to become a multi-billion dollar business, whether they are used commercially for industrial inspections, aerial photography, border patrol, emergency deliveries and crop surveys or recreationally by millions. However, a number of safety concerns are rising as more and more drones enter the skies.

One in six people will suffer a stroke in their lifetime. In Switzerland alone, stroke affects 16,000 people every year. Two thirds of those affected suffer from paralysis of the arm. Intensive training can – depending on the extent of damage to the brain – help patients regain a certain degree of control over their arms and hands. This may take the form of classic physio- and occupational therapy, or it may also involve robots.

The University of Nottingham is developing an artificially-intelligent sensor system to clean food manufacturing equipment more precisely, which could save £100m a year for the UK industry alone. This revolutionary AI-driven monitoring system could lead to greater production capacity and therefore cheaper food prices for consumers. Food and drink production is the largest manufacturing sector in Britain and the highest industrial ...

Two Cornell experts in AI have joined a nationwide team setting out to ensure that when computers are running the world, they will make decisions compatible with human values. "We are in a period in history when we start using these machines to make judgments," said Bart Selman, professor of computer science. "If decisions are properly structured, the horrors we've seen in the movies won't happen."

When roboticists create behaviors for teams of robots, they first build algorithms that focus on the intended task. Then they wrap safety behaviors around those primary algorithms to keep the machines from running into each other. Each robot is essentially given an invisible bubble that other robots must stay away from. As long as nothing touches the bubble, the robots move around without any issues. But that's where the problems begin.

The interactive robotic installation known as ‘Threebots’ by Mitsubishi Electric, has received several coveted awards since its installation at the new German branch, in Ratingen. They include the ‘Cutting Edge Award’ presented by Adobe, and ‘FWA’ the latter of which was awarded by a jury of more than 200 experts in recognition of projects that use cutting-edge technology to communicate knowledge.

PEWATRON has launched the PS20A kit encoder with an astonishingly small 20 mm diameter. This extraordinarily compact unit leverages the latest optical reflective technology to deliver resolutions of up to 2046 cycles per revolution. The PS20A is ideal when size is critical and is extremely easy to install thanks to the convenient kit system. 

Hitachi and Hitachi Building Systems have announced that on 2nd September, they will begin Proof of Concept (PoC) tests of passenger services using the "EMIEW3" humanoid robot, which was developed by Hitachi. The tests will be conducted at Haneda Airport Passenger Terminal 2 (Domestic Flights) in collaboration with Japan Airport Terminal.

The small robot family from Comau is extending for quick applications in restricted spaces, including handling, assembly and pick&place. The introduction of the two new robots, Racer5-0.63 and Racer5-0.80 are both controlled by the R1C 19" rack-mounted controller, which can be integrated into a single cabinet to control an entire line.

Police have intercepted two drones loaded with drugs and mobile phones that were being flown towards Pentonville in north London, in an attempt to smuggle contraband into the Islington prison.