TC Sessions: Robotics takes place on Monday, July 17 at MIT, and the agenda is stacked with the best minds, engineers and founders in the robotic industry. And many are bringing some mechanical friends.
Throughout the event, a bunch of robotic demos will take place. Some will happen during fireside chats, others in workshops, and there’s even a pitch-off event where three robotic companies will compete for exhibit space this September at TC Disrupt SF.
There are a handful of general admission tickets still available for purchase. Here’s are just some of the amazing robots you’ll be able to see at the event.
On stage
- MIT’s Cheetah: Drawing its inspiration from nature, MIT’s Biomimetics lab will be showing off Cheetah — a four-legged robot capable of running and jumping at impressively high speeds.
- Soft Robotics industrial gripper: Soft Robotics CEO Carl Vause will be showing off his company’s latest industrial robot hand. Unlike more traditional rigid grippers, the startup’s products are soft and compliant, drawing inspiration from sea creatures like octopi and squid to pick up a wide range of objects with complex geometries.
- Harvard Labs exosuit: The team at Harvard Labs will be showing off a soft and lightweight solution that fits over a wearer’s legs to make walking easier for people with mobility problems.
- LocusBot: LocusBot will be showing off a group of its industrial robots working in tandem. According to the company, the machines are able to increase worker productivity by up to 500-percent by moving products and collaborating with human workers and one another.
Ingestible, microwavable, 3D printed and soft robots from the minds at MIT: CSAIL head Daniela Rus will be showing off a wide cross-section of her team’s groundbreaking work in robotics. CSAIL is working toward a world in which robots are pervasive in every aspect of our lives, and her demos will cover some of that breadth, including:
- An ingestible robot made of pig parts: This meat-based robot is designed to be swallowed, to help medical professionals remove harmful objects like batteries from the digestive tract.
- 3D printed, preassembled robot: A fluid-powered robot that can be created on a 3D printer in one go.
- Origami robot: This tiny, flat robot forms into complex, pre-determined shapes when heated.
In the pitch-off
- Tertill: Tertill is a small, solar-powered robot that roams the garden in search of weeds to whack, all while avoiding useful plants and other obstacles.
- Hand4Help robotic hand: Hand4Help develops robotic hands that can be manufactured on a 3D printer, making them more accessible to those with income constraints. The hand is also dextrous enough to perform complex tasks like playing piano.
- Tangible Media Group: This MIT team will be showing off a moving pedestal robot that brings feeling to virtual objects through a series of moving pins.
On the floor
- Atlas: Boston Dynamics is best known for four-legged ‘bots like Big Dog and Spot, but the company has also created one of the most impressive bipedal robots around. MIT will be bringing the Atlas robot it used to compete in DARPA’s big Robotics Challenge.
- YuMi: Industrial robotics powerhouse ABB will be demoing YuMi, a dexterous dual-arm collaborative robot that can be programmed to perform tasks in real time, using a tablet.
- iRobot: The Roomba creator will have its latest household objects on display at the event.
- A Robotics Demo from Disney Research