Tag: robotics

Impact Lab > robotics
Drone, drones, New Inventions, new technology, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News

The PowerRay drone is an aquatic spyglass for playboy fishermen

Who needs fishing prowess when you have a remote-controlled, sonar-equipped, bait-dropping, mini-submersible at your disposal? Because with the new PowerRay underwater drone, that’s exactly what you get.

The PowerRay UUV comes from Beijing-based drone manufacturer PowerVision, makers of the PowerEgg UAV that we saw last August. While the Ray officially debuted back at CES in January, a technical issue with their display (read: their tank sprung a leak) prevented the company from showing off the device in its natural environment.

Continue reading… “The PowerRay drone is an aquatic spyglass for playboy fishermen”

Engineering, Healthcare, Inventions, Robotics, Science & Technology News

Toyota’s new robot leg brace can help those with partial paralysis walk again

Toyota is introducing a new robotic leg brace called the Welwalk WW-1000 that can help patients with partial paralysis affecting one side of their body walk again. The robotic exoframe is worn on the affected leg, with a large motor component at the knee joint that provides just enough assistance to the patient, letting them recover their own walking ability therapeutically over time.
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Agriculture, Ecological Products, Engineering, Green Friendly, Plant Life, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News

Tarzan the swinging robot could be the future of farming

tarzan-sloth-robot-1

Some farmers already use drones to monitor their crops, but a team of researchers from Georgia Tech have created a far more interesting alternative. Instead of designing yet another drone, they created a robot inspired by Kristen Bell’s favorite animal: the sloth. However, they named it “Tarzan” after the most recognizable character who moves by swinging from vine to vine.

Their machine was designed to move like the fictional jungle dweller. Tarzan will be able to swing over crops using its 3D-printed claws and parallel guy-wires stretched over fields. It will then take measurements and pictures of each plant with its built-in camera while suspended.
Continue reading… “Tarzan the swinging robot could be the future of farming”

Architecture, Artificial Intelligence, Engineering, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News

This bricklaying bot could be the architect of the future

If you want curves like this, you’ll need a robot. Designed by architects Archi-Union, the undulating exterior of the Chi She Gallery in Shanghai was made using an adapted car-manufacturing robot. “We used digital tools to transform geometry data to digital-fabrication data,” says Li Han, chief architectural designer at Archi-Union, who spent five years making the cyborg helper.

Continue reading… “This bricklaying bot could be the architect of the future”

Energy, Engineering, Nanotechnology, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News, Solar Energy, Solar Power

Scientists just made electronic skin that’s better than human skin

Scientists at the University of Glasgow have invented a robot skin that surpasses human flesh.

Professor Ravinder Dahiya and his team created a silicone and graphine skin which provides haptic feedback to the user. The thin layer of graphine acts as a sensor, making the electronic skin (e-skin) very sensitive to touch. It’s also flexible and cheap to manufacture.

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AI, Artificial Intelligence, Future, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News, Technological Unemployment

Stephen Hawking calls for creation of world government to meet AI challenges

In a book that’s become the darling of many a Silicon Valley billionaire — Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind — the historian Yuval Harari paints a picture of humanity’s inexorable march towards ever greater forms of collectivization. From the tribal clans of pre-history, people gathered to create city-states, then nations, and finally empires. While certain recent political trends, namely Brexit and the nativism of Donald Trump would seem to belie this trend, now another luminary of academia has added his voice to the chorus calling for stronger forms of world government. Far from citing some ancient historical trends though, Stephen Hawking points to artificial intelligence as a defining reason for needing stronger forms of globally enforced cooperation.

Continue reading… “Stephen Hawking calls for creation of world government to meet AI challenges”

AI, Artificial Intelligence, Big Problems, Economy, Employment, Hot Issues, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News

Robots won’t just take our jobs – they’ll make the rich even richer

Should robots pay taxes?

It may sound strange, but a number of prominent people have been asking this question lately. As fears about the impact of automation grow, calls for a “robot tax” are gaining momentum. Earlier this month, the European parliament considered one for the EU. Benoît Hamon, the French Socialist party presidential candidate who is often described as his country’s Bernie Sanders, has put a robot tax in his platform. Even Bill Gates recently endorsed the idea.

Continue reading… “Robots won’t just take our jobs – they’ll make the rich even richer”

Business, Drone, drones, Future, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News

Robots and drones: Coming soon to a construction site near you

Advancements in the robotics field are helping to transform a number of industries, construction being one of them. Companies that build things can expect to see a host of new machines that perform a variety of tasks — adding efficiency to construction projects as well as reducing injuries to human workers.

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AI, Artificial Intelligence, Big Problems, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News

Why we must teach morality to robots

Every week comes a new warning that robots are taking over our jobs. People have become troubled by the question of how robots will learn ethics, if they do take over our work and our planet.

As early on as the 1960s Isaac Asimov came up with the ‘Three Laws of Robotics’ outlining moral rules they should abide by. More recently there has been official guidance from the British Standards Institute advising designers how to create ethical robots, which is meant to avoid them taking over the world.

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AI, Artificial Intelligence, Hot Issues, Human Behavior, Intelligence, Legal Issues, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News

Do Robots and AI Deserve Rights?

When it comes to robot-human relations, the conversation typically centers on the welfare of the sentient. Science fiction paints us as petrified by our own creations; fears of a bot planet have influenced everything from Asimov’s “Laws of Robotics” to HAL 9000’s homicidal impulses to Skynet’s global genocide.

These human-centric anxieties are understandable. However, as our assorted bots and bits gain skills and personalities, should they be afforded some form of protection from us? It’s a question people are starting to seriously ponder.

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Clothing, Economy, Employment, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News, Textiles

Sewbo is getting closer to disrupting the sweatshop

Jon Zornow, the founder of Sewbo, made waves in September after announcing that he had built the first robot to sew a t-shirt without human intervention. Using a robot arm and an automatic sewing machine, Zornow took some carefully prepared material and ran it through a pre-programmed series of moves.

It worked. Out popped a t-shirt.

Continue reading… “Sewbo is getting closer to disrupting the sweatshop”

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