Impact Lab – Page 414 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

Fetch’s warehouse robot is poised to replace forklifts

February 2, 2021

Anyone that’s ever been in a warehouse knows that forklifts are an essential piece of equipment. Even so, they aren’t perfect. Estimates suggest that there are nearly 35,000 forklift-related accidents every year that result in serious injury and nearly 62,000 resulting in minor injuries. There are also around 85 forklift-related deaths annually.

Recently, companies have turned to automated solutions to keep employees out of harm’s way. These take a number of different forms. A new robot from San Jose-based startup Fetch Robotics is one of them.

TechCrunch notes that the company’s PalletTransport1500 is designed to replace forklifts in warehouses. The bot could usher in a safer and more efficient future for the logistics industry.

Driverless vehicles, Science & Technology News

Driverless robotaxis are now available for public rides in China

February 2, 2021

By Jon Fingas

AutoX is the first in the country to offer rides without safety drivers.

After lots of tests, it’s now possible to hail a truly driverless robotaxi in China. AutoX has become the first in the country to offer public rides in autonomous vehicles without safety drivers. You’ll need to sign up for a pilot program in Shenzhen and use membership credits, but after that you can hop in a modified Chrysler Pacifica to travel across town without seeing another human being.

As with Waymo One, there is help if you need it. You can talk to customer support reps if you have questions or need help.

AutoX is eager to tout its robotaxis’ ability to handle real-world conditions after several months of stress testing. In a demo video (below), the driverless van knows how to safely “nudge” past a parked vehicle and deal with a scooter running a red light. The vehicles use a combination of LiDAR, radar and blind spot sensing to get a feel for their environment.

Fully driverless robotaxis are still very rare anywhere in the world, and it’ll take a combination of refined technology and updated regulation before they’re relatively commonplace. This is an important step in that direction, though. They might get a boost in the current climate, though. The COVID-19 pandemic has added risk to conventional ride hailing for both drivers and passengers, and removing drivers could make this one of the safest travel options for people without cars of their own.

AI, Science & Technology News

DALL·E: Creating Images from Text

February 1, 2021

We’ve trained a neural network called DALL·E that creates images from text captions for a wide range of concepts expressible in natural language.

DALL·E^[1] is a 12-billion parameter version of GPT-3 trained to generate images from text descriptions, using a dataset of text–image pairs. We’ve found that it has a diverse set of capabilities, including creating anthropomorphized versions of animals and objects, combining unrelated concepts in plausible ways, rendering text, and applying transformations to existing images.

2021 Predictions, Science & Technology News

2 Trends You Can’t Afford To Miss In 2021

February 1, 2021

By Bruno Aziza

The 2020 prediction year is one like no other. This year has been a financial and emotional disaster for many and 2020 has tested us in ways we hope no year ever will.

Even as a recent Deloitte survey showed that 77% of CEOs reported that the COVID-19 crisis accelerated their digital transformation plans, attempting to predict anything at the moment seems almost unconscionable.

The 2020 prediction year is one like no other. This year has been a financial and emotional disaster for many and 2020 has tested us in ways we hope no year ever will.

Even as a recent Deloitte survey showed that 77% of CEOs reported that the COVID-19 crisis accelerated their digital transformation plans, attempting to predict anything at the moment seems almost unconscionable.

There are still too many questions: “how will we all recover from 2020?”, “how quickly will we return to normal?” and “what will “normal” even look like?”

This is why in this post, I try to look at 2 trends that I think are worth stepping back for and taking a long range approach to: “Augmented Intelligence” & “Composable and Intelligent Applications.”

Automation, Science & Technology News

Robot delivery firm Starship Technologies hits 1 million autonomous deliveries milestone

January 31, 2021

by Paul Skeldon

Starhip has already expanded its UK operations with Co-op

Robot delivery company Starship has made its 1millionth delivery using an autonomous vehicle, a world first

Starship Technologies, provider of autonomous delivery services to. Among others the Co-op, has hit he milestone of making 1 million autonomous deliveries with its robots. It has also secured an additional $17m in finding to continue to expand.

Investors include TDK Ventures and Goodyear Ventures, and the new investment brings Starship’s total funding to $102m to date. The additional funding comes at a time of increasing interest in the autonomous delivery industry. Contactless delivery has proved to be one of the most reliable ways to protect vulnerable populations and enable social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Science & Technology News, SpaceX

SpaceX’s Newest Starlink Satellites Have Space Lasers

January 31, 2021

By Ryan Whitwam

SpaceX made history recently when it launched a record 143 satellites on a single rocket. Among the plethora of spacecraft were ten new Starlink internet satellites. According to CEO Elon Musk, these are the first nodes in SpaceX’s network that have fully operational laser communication systems, allowing the satellites to talk to each other without ground stations for faster, more expansive coverage.

Last weekend’s launch was also notable because it deployed its payload in a polar orbit, which uses more fuel than placing things in an equatorial orbit. Objects in a polar orbit will eventually pass over the entire surface of the planet because their movement is perpendicular to the Earth’s rotation. That’s why most mapping satellites are in polar orbits. Starlink satellites in polar orbits can also help boost coverage, but this also means they’ll pass over areas with no ground station coverage.

The solution, apparently, is lasers. It’s always fun when the solution is lasers.

The batch of ten Starlink satellites includes a finished version of the laser intersatellite links the company tested on a few other nodes last year. As these satellites pass over the poles, there will be no visible ground stations to relay data. However, the lasers can transfer directly between satellites, keeping them connected to the rest of the constellation.

3D Printer, Science & Technology News

3D bioprinting technology to detect drugs’ toxicity

February 1, 2021

Hepnalysis is creating 3D bio-printed human liver models to detect the toxicity of drugs and reduce costs in the development of medicines.

To create liver human models bio-printed in 3D to detect the toxicity of drugs and reduce costs in the development of medicines is the objective of the Hepnalysis project, promoted by Cytes Biotechnologies, a spin-off by the UB with its base in the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), and the French company CTIBiotech.

The liver damage caused by medicines is a medical, scientific and public health-problem which is becoming more important every day. The hepatic injury induced by idiosyncratic drugs, known as drug-induced liver injury (DILI), is an usually under-diagnosed pathology that affects between one and two million patients per year worldwide. Also, it is the most common cause of acute liver failure –more than 50% of the cases– and the primary reason why the drugs are removed from the market –about 30%– and hospitalizations related to medicines.

Coronavirus, Science & Technology News

Disinfection robot developed to halt COVID-19 spread

January 30, 2021

LASER-D, developed by USC Viterbi researchers, is an animal-like robot that can crawl, crouch and disinfect surfaces and objects to fight COVID-19.

BY AVNI SHAH

A TEAM OF USC MASTER’S STUDENTS CREATED A DISINFECTION ROBOT CALLED LASER-D TO USE ON COVID-19 PREVENTION.

There are so many things robots can do on wheels, but in narrower, shallower spaces—like between desks in a classroom or on a stairwell—wheels can be limiting. Enter LASER-D (Legged Agile Smart Efficient Robot for Disinfection ) a four-legged robot created by a team of USC researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. The animal-like LASER-D combines—for the first time—locomotive agility and chemical disinfection to fight COVID-19, among other applications.

Led by USC Viterbi professors SK Gupta and Quan Nguyen, the team worked to create LASER-D—built on an earlier project, a UV disinfection robot, and adapted Nguyen’s legged robot platform.

Electric Vehicles, Science & Technology News

Volta Trucks set to launch urban electric lorry

January 30, 2021

Volta Trucks aims to begin producing its electric truck this year

by Jean-Baptiste Oubrier

Anglo-Swedish startup Volta Trucks will launch its urban electric lorry this year, the group said Wednesday, tapping into keen demand for electrified transport—and increasing bans against high-polluting vehicles.

Volta Trucks has developed what it bills as the world’s first purpose-built fully-electric 16-tonne commercial vehicle which is designed to criss-cross cities for short journeys.

The young firm, which was founded in Sweden in 2019, this week sealed a $20-million (16.5-million-euro) investment to help boost production of the Volta Zero which has a driving range of 150-200 kilometres (93-124 miles).

And despite humble plans so far, the truck already has an order book worth $260 million—regardless of ongoing turmoil surrounding Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are a Scandinavian company with a UK operating base and we have presence in France as well,” Volta Trucks chief executive Rob Fowler told AFP.

Employment, Science & Technology News

20 jobs that will start to disappear in the next 5 years

January 30, 2021

Angela Priestley,

We’re set for some massive jobs and skills displacement over the coming years, thanks to the adoption of various technologies, particularly AI and automation.

The World Economic Forum runs extensive research across the changing job requirements and skills demands of employers in order to determine where some of the major shifts will be.

In 2018, this research led them to make a bold prediction that they reiterated again in 2020: that is that by 2025 “the average estimated time spent by humans and machines at work will be on parity based on today’s tasks.”

In 2020, they predict that 85 million jobs may be displaced by massive shifts in how labour is divided between humans and machines by 2025.

But it’s not all doom and gloom.

Farming, Science & Technology News

This stunning light display could make crops more sustainable

January 29, 2021

The display highlights the surprising science behind how light design can help plants grow.

BY LILLY SMITH

When you think of twinkling lights at night, you probably imagine sparkling cityscapes rather than fields of rural farms.

Not so with Studio Roosegaarde’s latest project, Grow. Founder Daan Roosegaarde and his team swathed over 215,000 square feet of leek crops in undulating red, blue, and UV LED light. They activate the lights at night, giving the field the appearance of glowing creatures at the bottom of the ocean instead of a farm. The agency calls it an “homage to the beauty of agriculture,” but it also highlights the surprising science behind how light design can help plants grow

Science & Technology News, SpaceX

ELON MUSK’S SPACEX IS CONVERTING OIL RIGS INTO SPACEPORTS FOR MARS-BOUND STARSHIP

January 29, 2021

SpaceX has acquired two oil rigs stationed in the Gulf of Mexico (Getty Images)

By Anthony Cuthbertson

Private space firm previously said it is ‘actively developing the technologies…with the ultimate goal of enabling human life or mars’.

SpaceX has acquired two offshore oil rigs that it is in the process of converting into spaceports for its Mars-bound Starship spacecraft, according to reports.

The rigs, renamed Deimos and Phoibos after the two moons of Mars, cost $3.5 million (£2.6m) each after the previous owner filed for bankruptcy, Spaceflight’s Michael Baylor reported.u

The oil rigs were confirmed by aerospace and launch photographer Jack Beyer, who posted photos of their transformation to Twitter on Tuesday.

Work on the rigs is taking place in the Port of Brownsville near SpaceX’s Boca Chica facility in Texas where the Starship craft is being developed.