Alphabet Shakes Up Its Robotics Division
From The New York Times:
Google’s robotics division has been plagued by low morale and a lack of leadership since the unit’s founder left abruptly in 2014. Now Alphabet is cleaning it up.
Over the last two months, Alphabet, the new holding company that separated Google from its collection of speculative projects, has reframed the robots effort, moving it from a stand-alone division inside Google to a piece of the X research division. The company has also hired Hans Peter Brondmo, a technology industry veteran who last worked at Nokia, to help with management...
... After starting the robotics division, Mr. Rubin quickly went on a buying spree, purchasing a number of promising companies, including Boston Dynamics, the of experimental military robots, and Schaft, an elite group of Japanese roboticists from the University of Tokyo...
... Google’s robotics effort stalled after his departure, going through a variety of leaders, including James Kuffner, a Carnegie Mellon roboticist who has since joined Toyota’s research and development laboratory in Palo Alto, and Jonathan Rosenberg, who is a troubleshooter for Larry Page, the Google co-founder who is Alphabet’s chief executive... ( full article )
Robotics at the Distributed Intelligent Systems Lab at GE Global Research
At GEs Global Research Center, were also looking at the next generation of robotics - drones for aerial-based surveillance and inspection, small scale crawlers for in-situ inspection, and mobile collaborative robotics for things like machine tending in our factories.
Toyota Invests $1 Billion in AI and Robots, Will Open R&D Lab in Silicon Valley
By Erico Guizzo and Evan Ackerman for IEEE Spectrum: Today in Tokyo, Toyota announced that it is investing US $1 billion over the next five years to establish a new R&D arm headquartered in Silicon Valley and focused on artificial intelligence and robotics. The Toyota Research Institute (TRI) plans to hire hundreds of engineers to staff a main facility in Palo Alto, Calif., near Stanford University, and a second facility located near MIT in Cambridge, Mass.
Former DARPA program manager Dr. Gill Pratt, an executive technical advisor at Toyota, was named CEO of TRI, which will begin operations in January. Toyota president Akio Toyoda said in a press conference that the company pursues innovation and new technologies “to make life better for our customers and society as a whole,” adding that he wanted to “work with Gill not just because he’s an amazing researcher and engineer, but because I believe his goals and motivations are the same as ours.” Cont'd...
Festo's R&D Timeline - Part 3 - 2010 & 2011
Part 3 includes more bionic robots like the smartbird and a handler modeled after an elephant trunk.
Festo's R&D Timeline - Part 2 - 2007-2009
More fascinating bionics projects from Festo.
Festo's R&D Timeline - Part 1
Since 2006 Festo has been developing and supporting projects and test objects whose basic technical principles are derived from a wide variety of principles found in nature.
Records 31 to 36 of 36
Featured Product
How cameras deliver sharp images despite changing distances
IDS Imaging Development Systems offers a range of models, from a webcam-like camera in industrial quality to a tiny autofocus camera that weighs just12 grams. The 13 MP autofocus camera uEye XC closes the market gap between industrial cameras and webcams. Setting up and operating only requires a cable connection. After that, the autofocus camera immediately delivers high-resolution, detailed images and videos. With the optionally available, quickly exchangeable macro lens, users can easily shorten the minimum object distance of the camera. This makes it also suitable for close-up applications. Focus from a distance of just 10 cm. The uEye XS is even more compact and fits into almost any application with its size of just 26.4 x 23 x 21.7 mm. Thanks to its autofocus and 5 MP CMOS sensor, it delivers consistently sharp images and videos from a distance of just 10 cm. When it comes to image quality, natural color reproduction and harmonious contrast are also decisive factors. IDS has therefore equipped the uEye XS with many other practical automatic features familiar from consumer technology. This includes white balance, exposure and gain. As a result, it delivers the best possible result in every situation.