robots
-
Tend.ai trains your robot to operate dozens of 3D printers and laser cutters at a time
If you’ve got more than a handful of 3D printers or other devices running at a time, it’s a full-time job keeping them going — removing and packaging products, tweaking settings, pushing “OK” after minor errors, that sort of thing. Why not have a robot do it for you? Read More
-
Airobotics raises $28.5M to pursue autonomous drone platforms for heavy industry
Drones have numerous applications in security, inspection, and other major roles at industrial facilities, but in many cases manual control is still the standard. Tel Aviv-based Airobotics aims to automate the process as an alternative to costly and involved human pilots, and has raised $28.5 million to do so. Read More
-
Crunch Network
Flipping the office telepresence model
What if I told you that you could visit three continents in one day without leaving your office and truly feel like you were there in person? That you could move down a hallway or across a stage, make eye contact and feel, well, more like a human being than just a face on a screen? Read More
-
‘Solar Voyager’ autonomous boat looks to make history in sun-powered journey across the Atlantic
About 200 miles due east of Boston, a robotic boat is putting along at a walking pace on what could be an historic journey across the entire Atlantic. “Solar Voyager,” built by two friends in their spare time, would be the first autonomous vessel to cross that ocean — and the first one to cross any ocean using solar power alone. Read More
-
Stanford’s ‘Jackrabbot’ robot will attempt to learn the arcane and unspoken rules of pedestrians
It’s hard enough for a grown human to figure out how to navigate a crowd sometimes — so what chance does a clumsy and naive robot have? To prevent future collisions and awkward “do I go left or right” situations, Stanford researchers are hoping their “Jackrabbot” robot can learn the rules of the road. Read More
-
Robots date, mate, and procreate 3D printed offspring in ‘Robot Baby’ project
Researchers in the Netherlands claim to have created the world’s first “robots that procreate.” What does that mean exactly? Well, child, when two robots’ fitness evaluation algorithms come to a successful conclusion, something beautiful happens. You’ll know when you’re older — or if you scroll down. “This breakthrough is a significant first step… Read More
-
Crunch Network
Robots add real value when working with humans, not replacing them
In the popular media, we talk a lot about robots stealing jobs. But when we stop speculating and actually look at the real world of work, the impact of advanced robotics is far more nuanced and complicated. Issues of jobs and income inequality fade away, for example — there aren’t remotely enough robots to affect more than a handful of us in the practical sense. Read More
-
Crunch Network
Human obsolescence: Are we ready for an artificially intelligent future?
“Enjoy your com-FORT-able stay,” says a robot front-desk clerk at Japan’s Robot Hotel. Do you thank the robot for its awkward salutation? Or maybe you hesitate for a moment before shuffling off in silence. If our digital screens are separating us from human interaction, you better believe AI will further tear that tenuous social fabric. Read More
-
Crunch Network
Robots won’t just take jobs, they’ll create them
Robots and artificial intelligence have come a long way since a Roomba entered your home to vacuum your floor and Siri gave you advice on the best Italian restaurants in your parents’ neighborhood. Cars drive themselves. Robots deliver pizza. A revolution is underway. Robots in the workforce present an opportunity to stimulate job growth and create new types of work. Robots will not… Read More
Latest Crunch Report
-
MegaBots raises $2.4 million to create league of human-piloted, giant fighting robots
Oakland, Calif. startup MegaBots Inc. has raised $2.4 million in seed funding to bring the robot-fighting stuff of manga and anime to a venue near you. According to MegaBots cofounders, Gui Cavalcanti, Matt Oehrlein, and Brinkley Warren, the startup aspires to follow in the footsteps of major sports associations like Formula 1 or UFC. With the seed funding, Warren said, MegaBots will be… Read More
-
Crunch Network
Meet the robot that pretends to listen
We’ve all done it. Cornered at a party by some bore talking about his unimaginative app that will “change the world.” All seemingly convincing excuses to leave have already been used by the rest of the group. The last refuge of the rude scoundrel — the smartphone — is in your jacket pocket in the cloakroom all the way across the room. So you just have to suck it… Read More
-
Robot surgeon outperforms human colleagues doing same procedure
It’s another victory for the machines: a robotic surgical system outperformed humans and robot-assisted human operators in a soft-tissue procedure, bringing us that much closer to automated medical care (and the robocalypse). Read More
-
Crunch Network
Be kind to artificial intelligence
Big innovations come in unexpected bursts. We grow accustomed to life and work as we know it, until something apparently simple brings about bold change. For example, we used phones for 100 years, but making them mobile transformed the world. When individual creativity is enhanced by technical ingenuity, new behaviors and capabilities emerge. Read More
-
Alphabet’s secretive Schaft Inc. shows off new bipedal robot in Tokyo
There’s a new bot in town (Tokyo, specifically), and while it might not be as cute as Nao, as creepy as Spot and BigDog, or as anthropomorphic as Atlas, it might be more practical than all of them. It walks on two legs, but not like a man, or even a bear. This one, designed by Alphabet-owned Schaft Inc, has its own uniquely robotic form of locomotion. Read More
-
People feel weird about touching robot butts, researchers find
How would you feel if a robot asked you to touch its butt? Maybe it sounds like a silly question (actually, there’s no maybe about it), but as robots proliferate and anthropomorphize, it’s actually something that needs to be considered. So scientists at Stanford considered it. Read More
-
Crunch Network
Will capitalism survive the robot revolution?
Economic experts are trying to figure out a question that just two decades ago seemed ridiculous: If 90 percent of human jobs are replaced by robots in the next 50 years — something now considered plausible — is capitalism still the ideal economic system to champion? No one is certain about the answer, but the question is making everyone nervous — and forcing people to dig… Read More
-
Crunch Network
The real cost of robotics
Before we begin, I feel compelled to make an important disclosure: I love robots! Robots are cool. To me, robots are cooler than people, who are only cool occasionally. I especially love industrial robots: They help us “make” things. Now please allow me to make an obvious observation: Like me, many folks think robots in general, and industrial robots in particular, are very cool. Read More
-
Crunch Network
How robots will reshape the U.S. economy
Few doubt that our future — both immediate and long term — will be heavily impacted by robots. With flashy AI technology like IBM’s Watson and Google’s driverless cars stealing headlines and outperforming their human competitors, it’s clear that our economy is bracing for a fundamental shift in how we perform work. What’s less obvious, however, is exactly… Read More
-
Crunch Network
In pursuit of empathetic machines
The universal reaction to Atlas, the newly upgraded next-generation humanoid robot from Boston Dynamics (a company owned by Alphabet), was lots of empathy. Unmindful of being punched, pushed and teased, it focused on finishing tasks in a demo video. People who watched the video responded with comments like “stop bullying” and “say no to bullying.” Read More
-
SoftBank Plans To Open A Store Staffed (Almost) Entirely By Pepper, Its Humanoid Robot
SoftBank announced today that it will launch an app store to create a software ecosystem for Pepper, its humanoid robot. Perhaps more intriguingly, the company, one of Japan’s largest telecom and Internet firms, also revealed plans for a phone store staffed mainly by Peppers. Read More
Message Us