So, true story. Over the weekend I was talking to someone about restaurant robotics. It's a concept people often have trouble visualizing — and understandably so. Among other things, there's really no commonly accepted form factor in a category that sometimes is literally a robot arm flipping hamburgers.
My short response was, "they're large kiosks that make pizza." And honestly, that's not really far from the truth. These sorts of self-contained assembly line robots are probably about as close as we have to a consensus design in the category — and for good reason. They're designed to operate with minimal interaction — largely the employee's involvement is limited to order input, restocking ingredients and cleaning.
New robots can clean virus-laden surfaces so people won't have to | Science News for Students
A robot prances on four slender legs. It almost appears to be dancing. Then it stops in front of a chair in an empty auditorium. Suddenly, a mist spews from a nozzle atop its head. The sci-fi-like machine now twists itself to the left, then to the right, then up and down. That mist is a poison — at least if you're a germ. And the robot is using it to disinfect the entire chair. When done, the nimble robot will move on to the next one.
Named LASER-D, "It's basically a robot dog," explains Yiyu Chen, one of its designers. He's a graduate student in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering. There, his team has tested LASER-D in classrooms, laboratories — even outdoors. Their mission: to one day rid spaces of nasty germs, including the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Construction's 'perfect storm' is a boon for ABB's robots | Reuters
ZURICH(Reuters) - ABB is looking to tap into a skilled labour shortage in the fast-growing construction sector to help drive the post-pandemic recovery of its robotics business and diversification from the automotive industry, the head of the division said.
Construction offers new opportunities, especially with massive infrastructure programmes planned to revive the global economy after the coronavirus pandemic.
"The construction industry is facing the perfect storm," said Sami Atiya, president of Robotics & Discrete Automation at ABB. "There is huge demand for affordable housing and more sustainable solutions, and a shortage of skilled labour.
LET'S REMINISCE: The rise of robots
On Jan. 25, 1921, Karel Capek's play "R.U.R."—short for "Rossum's Universal Robots"—premiered in Prague. It was a sensation. Within two years it had been translated into 30 languages, including English, to which it introduced the word "robot." Capek's vision of unwilling slaves of humanity destined to rise up and destroy their makers went on to influence our view of both automation and ourselves.
This greatly increased visibility of robots—now in stores, hotels and health-care facilities, as well as on our streets and above our heads—is an indicator of their evolving nature. It's also the outward sign of a watershed moment.
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Swarms of Robots Could Dig Underground Cities on Mars - Universe Today
The idea stems from a grant opportunity posted by the European Space Agency. Students at the Robotic Building lab (RB) at TU Delft, led by Dr. Henriette Bier , were enthusiastic to participate in the challenge that focuses on in-situ resource utilization for off-Earth construction. The RB team, together with experts in material science, robotics, and aerospace engineering submitted an idea that was granted €100k to develop a preliminary proof of concept.
The proposed approach focuses on the lab's specialty – robotic building – and has four main components – digging out the regolith, printing a new habitat using an additive manufacturing process, coordinating the work between all the robots that would be needed to complete the tasks, and powering them as well as the habitat.
Rheinmetall delivers combat robots to Britain, tank defenses to Hungary
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COLOGNE, Germany — Germany's Rheinmetall has announced two new deals for high-tech weaponry, featuring ground robots and active protection systems, with the U.K. and Hungary.
The company announced May 19 it will deliver four additional ground robots to British forces by the summer, this time in a fire-support configuration. The order follows a batch a year ago of four Mission Master unmanned ground vehicles in a cargo-carrying variant.
The Mission Masters are Rheinmetall's flagship product in the emerging market for military ground robots. The company's Canadian subsidiary markets the vehicles worldwide. Joint venture company Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land will support the latest sale in the U.K.
Surgical Robots Benefit Patients & Their Medical Team
Amanda Burns of Lebanon has had different types of minimally invasive surgery — she had her gallbladder removed laparoscopically, as well as robotic-assisted weight loss surgery.
The Xi is the most current robotic system, with advanced aspects of robotic technology to improve efficiency in the operating room, expanded application of robotic surgery and improved outcomes for patients.
FIRST Robotics teams provided with mini robots to assist with virtual competitions | Education |
Every FIRST Robotics high school team in New England received a surprise gift from BAE Systems aimed to keep them engaged during this year's virtual competition format.
School board members this week supported Superintendent John Goldhardt's proposal to replace Manchester's three traditional high schools with a newly constructed building.
School officials in Bedford say they anticipate next school year will be as close to pre-pandemic conditions as possible for students and teachers.
Happening on Twitter
Slicing up pizza robots https://t.co/f9JEUFgPtr by @bheater TechCrunch (from San Francisco, CA) Thu May 20 15:35:47 +0000 2021
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