Things are changing so fast’: the benefits and dangers of robots in the UK workplace
By: Richard Partington June 30, 2019 “We are under the threat of closure all the time,” says Andrew Peters without a hint of fear in his voice. As though repeating himself for the hundredth time, the managing director of Siemens’ Congleton factory in Cheshire explains his workers are battling for survival. Competition in this historic […]
New Robots Can Safely Decommission Nuclear Reactors
By: Dan Robitzski June 14, 2019 Going In A new semi-autonomous robot is capable of traveling into a decommissioned nuclear reactor and safely dismantling it, piece by piece. Typically, the robots that handle nuclear waste, like the one sent into the Fukushima reactor after it was destroyed by a tsunami, need to be remote-controlled every […]
Uber Air announces Melbourne as trial city for flying taxi service
By: Lisa Martin June 11, 2019 Melbourne will be the first city outside the US to host trials of Uber Air, a service the company describes as “aerial ridesharing” that will shuttle people from rooftop to rooftop for the price of an UberX. The company has flagged test flights will begin next year, with commercial […]
This Tank-Like Machine Gun Robot Is Straight out Of “Terminator”
By: Dan Robitzski may 31, 2019 KillBot A new robotic tank called THeMIS could bring the remote-control capabilities of aerial drone warfare down to ground combat. The robot, which C4ISRNET reports was equipped with a 12.7mm machine gun and a 40mm automatic grenade launcher during a demo in Estonia last month, is reminiscent of those […]
Is technology key to improving global health and education, or just an expensive distraction?
By: Stefan Dercon Forum May 31, 2019 After decades of attempting to improve failing health and education systems in developing countries, the situation in many areas is still dire. In some sub-Saharan African countries, children achieve as little as 2.3 to 5 years of learning, despite typically spending 8 years in school. More than five […]
Unsettling Sex Robot Looks Almost Exactly Like a Real Person
By: Futurism May 29, 2019 Some sex experts predict we’re headed toward a future in which “virtual” lovers replace human ones — and based on advances happening in the field of sex robots, it could eventually be hard to tell the difference. One company in particular, DS Doll Robotics, has cooked up incredibly lifelike robotic […]
‘Spider-like senses’ could help autonomous machines see better
By: Purdue University May 29, 2019 What if drones and self-driving cars had the tingling “spidey senses” of Spider-Man? They might actually detect and avoid objects better, says Andres Arrieta, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University, because they would process sensory information faster. Better sensing capabilities would make it possible for drones […]
Robocrop: world’s first raspberry-picking robot set to work
By: Julia Kollewe and Rob Davies May 26, 2019 Quivering and hesitant, like a spoon-wielding toddler trying to eat soup without spilling it, the world’s first raspberry-picking robot is attempting to harvest one of the fruits. After sizing it up for an age, the robot plucks the fruit with its gripping arm and gingerly deposits […]
MobiKa: A low-cost mobile robot that can assist people in a variety of settings
By: Ingrid Fadelli May 23, 2019 Researchers at Fraunhofer IPA, in Stuttgart, Germany, have recently developed MobiKa, a low-cost, mobile robot capable of two-modal (voice and text) interactions with humans. Their robot, presented in a paper pre-published on arXiv, could be particularly useful for assisting elderly people. Recent advances in robotics have enabled the development […]