robots
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Four robot demos you missed at TC Sessions: Robotics
TC Sessions: Robotics featured robots for as far as the eye could see, and several took the stage for special demonstrations. We were honored to play host as these innovative companies and teams showed off their latest creations. The videos are below are well worth your time. The latest version of MIT’s Cheetah robot made its stage debut at TC Sessions: Robotics. It’s a… Read More
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MIT’s Cheetah 3 robot is built to save lives
The latest version of MIT’s Cheetah robot made its stage debut today at TC Sessions: Robotics in Cambridge, Mass. It’s a familiar project to anyone who follows the industry with any sort of regularity, as one of the most impressive demos to come out of one of the world’s foremost robotics schools in recent years. Earlier versions of the four-legged robot have been able to run… Read More
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Crunch Network
Does Silicon Valley have a moral responsibility to stop developing robots?
Should Silicon Valley exercise its moral authority to stop developing this job-killing technology? Andrew McAfee, author of “The Second Machine Age” and the just published “Machine, Platform, Crowd” says absolutely not. Over the next fifty years the economy will become “massively automated”, but at the same time society will have had half a century to… Read More
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I watched two robots chat together on stage at a tech event
I got a glimpse into the future world of our robot overlords today. It was nervy at times. I watched two robots go on stage at a tech event to “debate” the future of humanity with each other. The robots in question are Sophia and Han, and they belong to Hanson Robotics, a Hong Kong-based company that is developing and deploying artificial intelligence in humanoids. The duo took to… Read More
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RE2 is making bomb-defusing robots as intuitive to control as your own hands
Within a few minutes, I’ve got one hand grasped gingerly on the zipper. The other is holding the bag’s handle in place. I unzip it slowly, as if performing surgery. There’s none of the pressure of a real life battlefield, but the potential humiliation of having to start all over again in front of the film crew is enough motivation to it right this time. RE2… Read More
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Crunch Report | SoftBank Buys Boston Dynamics
SoftBank is buying Boston Dynamics, Pandora sells 16% of company to SiriusXM and Taylor Swift is coming back to music streaming. All this on Crunch Report. Read More
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Draper’s DragonflEye cyber-bug takes flight
Back in January we heard about Draper’s efforts to outfit a living dragonfly with a sort of solar-powered mind control backpack. This project, known as DragonflEye, is cruising right along, and the R&D firm just released a video of the modified insect taking flight. Read More
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All hail this autonomous stone-stacking robot
Robots are good at a few simple things. They can lift and carry huge objects, fly around like dragonflies, and murder our families while we watch, their cold circuits flitting with nascent feelings of remorse and anger. But they can’t stack rocks very well. This is because rocks are all different. However, imagine a situation when a robotic arm needs to move rubble or build a foundation… Read More
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Nike-backed Grabit has quietly raised $25 million for robots that handle what others can’t grasp
Robot arms have come a long way since the 1960’s when George C. Devol and Joseph Engelberger created the earliest industrial models. Those had two-finger grippers that, in retrospect, look fit to pluck a rubber ducky out of a bin in a carnival game, but nothing too sophisticated. By now, robots in factories and warehouses can adjust their grip like human hands, or use suction and… Read More
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These flat-pack turtlebots will crawl across minefields for safety’s sake
The threat of minefields is an ongoing and horrifying one, and the duty of clearing them is as difficult as it is dangerous. All the more reason, then, that it should be done by robots! A new type of inexpensive, versatile bot modeled after turtles could be a great tool for this and other jobs. Read More
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Postmates CEO will testify before Congress about the promise of robots and drones
Postmates CEO Bastian Lehmann is testifying before Congress tomorrow in a hearing called “Disrupter Series: Delivering to Consumers.” The emergence of deliveries via robots and drones has sparked regulatory concerns around safety, as well as fears around the displacement of human workers. In his written testimony, Lehman makes a case for delivery via robots and drones. Read More
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Watch Judah Friedlander explore the future of AI in Judah vs. The Machines
Today at TechCrunch Disrupt NY actor Judah Friedlander, maybe best known for playing Frank Rossitano on 30 Rock, took the stage to announce a new show that will air right here on TechCrunch. Titled Judah vs. The Machines, the show follows Judah Friedlander as he meets the “world’s smartest AI robots”. This trip takes him to places like Facebook HQ and the University of… Read More
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Crunch Network
Is a “robot tax” really an “innovation penalty”?
When Bill Gates recently suggested robots should pay income tax like any other employee, I didn’t immediately disagree. I applaud Gates’ bold thinking to help solve one of society’s biggest upcoming challenges: embracing automation in a way that “lifts all boats” instead of leaving large swaths of society behind. A robot tax would help offset the reduced… Read More
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Former White House economic advisor Jason Furman discusses how automation will impact jobs
When it arrived in December, the White House’s report, “Artificial Intelligence, Automation, and the Economy” felt like both a parting shot and warning to the incoming administration. That it was perfectly dovetailed with heated election rhetoric around domestic job loss was simply a bit of serendipity, however. The subject matter had been at the forefront of the… Read More
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Robot tutor Musio makes its retail debut in Japan
A cute, robotic language tutor called Musio, has made it from crowdfunding campaign to full-fledged product with a debut in stores this week in Japan. Priced at JPY 98,000 (about US $900), Musio is now sold online through SoftBank’s marketplace and Amazon Japan, and through a handful of brick-and-mortars stores. Read More
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About this stabbing machine
Thank you for joining me, ladies, gentlemen. Researchers have created a “stabbing machine,” with which they intend to “simulate stabbing events,” with the further intention of getting to the heart of knife-related crimes. Now, I don’t have a problem with teaching robots knifeplay per se, but we must be circumspect. We must be careful. We must not teach them poorly. Read More
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Seriously, this skull-drilling robot is good news for humanity
When someone invents a robot specifically made to drill into the skulls of unconscious, immobile humans, you’d be forgiven for feeling a natural reaction along the lines of “for the love of God, why?” But trust me, this particular robotic trepanation station is a good idea. Read More
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Crunch Report | Jay Z Has Arrived
More news about Jay Z’s new venture (Arrive), robots that fix their mistakes and Y Combinator launches its MOOC. All this on Crunch Report. Read More
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MIT programs a robot to self-correct when a human detects a mistake
In a new video from MIT’s CSAIL department, a smirking industrial robot from Rethink picks up spray paint cans and spools of wire, dropping them in the properly labeled bin. The robot hesitates briefly, before accidentally making the wrong choice, only to self-correct and drop the can of paint where it belongs. The correction comes courtesy of an observer in an EEG cap, who… Read More
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Teaching robots to adjust their grip the way humans do
Pick up that can. Now say you had to put it down on its side rather than its base, how would you go about doing it? Very easily and without thinking about it, no doubt. But simple manipulations like that, which allow us to interact fluidly with objects and environments, are actually incredibly hard for robots to pull off. Researchers at MIT are working to make it a little bit easier. Read More
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