Elected officials and local authorities across the United States and around the world should consider replicating an innovative legislative proposal that would prohibit police from arming robots used in their law enforcement operations.
The proposed law comes after a social media outcry over the use of an unarmed 70-pound ground robot manufactured by Boston Dynamics in a policing operation last month in the Bronx. US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized its deployment "for testing on low-income communities of color with under-resourced schools" and suggested the city should invest instead in education.
Quite a lot has been going on:
Researchers' algorithm designs soft robots that sense | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of
There are some tasks that traditional robots — the rigid and metallic kind — simply aren't cut out for. Soft-bodied robots, on the other hand, may be able to interact with people more safely or slip into tight spaces with ease. But for robots to reliably complete their programmed duties, they need to know the whereabouts of all their body parts. That's a tall task for a soft robot that can deform in a virtually infinite number of ways.
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MIT researchers have developed an algorithm to help engineers design soft robots that collect more useful information about their surroundings. The deep-learning algorithm suggests an optimized placement of sensors within the robot's body, allowing it to better interact with its environment and complete assigned tasks. The advance is a step toward the automation of robot design.
Körber enters partnership with Libiao Robotics
Autonomous mobile sorting robots from Libiao Robotics enhance Körber's Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) portfolio to conquer supply chain complexities
The core business of Libiao Robotics is focused on parcel sorting after order picking. The company leads the way in research and innovation in artificial intelligence and automation for logistics. It has successfully developed a range of sorting robots, especially for tabletop sortation, and designed a variety of intelligent sorting solutions to meet the unique needs of different industries and businesses across the globe.
The robots are coming for your office - The Verge
As the editor-in-chief of The Verge , I can theoretically assign whatever I want. However, there is one topic I have failed to get people at The Verge to write about for years: robotic process automation, or RPA.
Admittedly, it's not that exciting, but it's an increasingly important kind of workplace automation. RPA isn't robots in factories, which is often what we think of when it comes to automation. This is different: RPA is software. Software that uses other software, like Excel or an Oracle database.
Other things to check out:
Are robots inevitable in orthopedic and spine ASCs? 3 surgeons on robotic technology
During the Becker's Orthopedic, Spine + ASC virtual event on March 18, three surgeons discussed the inevitability and necessity of robotics in the ASC setting.
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Frank Phillips, MD. Director of Spine Surgery at Rush University Medical Center (Chicago): I have quite a different view of the field and where it is today than Rich. I think no one would disagree that robotics today are basically image guidance with an aiming arm. That's really all they do. I can see how in certain instances when people may not be comfortable putting in screws percutaneously, it maybe gives some advantage, but really it doesn't move the needle.
Tiny swimming robots heal back together when sliced in half
We've been hearing a lot lately about micro-robots, that could one day perform tasks such as capturing pollutants from the environment. Scientists have now created a sturdy batch of such bots, that heal back together when cut in two.
Prof. Joseph Wang, along with his colleagues at the University of California-San Diego, designed the experimental new self-healing robots with that limitation in mind. Each fish-shaped unit is 2 cm long (0.8 in) and consists of a layer of conductive material on the bottom, a layer of stiff hydrophobic (water-repelling) material in the middle, a top strip of aligned magnetic microparticles, and a platinum tail.
Rare access inside Boston Dynamics' robotics workshop - 60 Minutes - CBS
Robots have been moving like humans on screen since cinema began, their behavior becoming even more fluid over the last decades thanks to computer animation. But in some ways, fantasy has become reality at Boston Dynamics, a cutting-edge company where Anderson Cooper finds robots that walk with a human gait, run gracefully, do back flips and can spin themselves around in midair.
"Some people look at me and say, 'Oh, Raibert, you've been stuck on this problem for 40 years,'" says Marc Raibert, Boston Dynamic's founder and Chairman who's spent most of his career trying to make more capable robots. "Animals are amazingly good, and people, at what they do. You know, we're so agile. We're so versatile. Right?" he asks Cooper. "We really haven't achieved what humans can do yet. But… I think we can."
Soft robotic dragonfly signals environmental disruptions | EurekAlert! Science News
VIDEO: With the ability to sense changes in pH, temperature and oil, this completely soft, electronics-free robot dubbed "DraBot " could be the prototype for future environmental sentinels. view more
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DURHAM, N.C. - Engineers at Duke University have developed an electronics-free, entirely soft robot shaped like a dragonfly that can skim across water and react to environmental conditions such as pH, temperature or the presence of oil. The proof-of-principle demonstration could be the precursor to more advanced, autonomous, long-range environmental sentinels for monitoring a wide range of potential telltale signs of problems.
Happening on Twitter
Trust us, you don't want to see something like this armed, ever. https://t.co/wLyfHSN8Co https://t.co/8JneO81ERG snorthfield45 (from Toronto, Ontario) Thu Mar 25 11:14:15 +0000 2021
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