Your weekly selection of awesome robot videos

Teleoperated robots can help perform patient care tasks while keeping healthcare workers safe

Spot Release 2.0, launching today, includes improvements to navigation, autonomy, stair climbing, and more

Your weekly selection of awesome robot videos

Singapore has reported 20 deaths and 22,460 COVID-19 cases as of Saturday, according to data tracked by Johns Hopkins University.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoHjfCMKHjE&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR0SbUMEZcw5Fld7oT5dUzo-PcRtkutNmGZybPj2g8z8jINnu0ib3clKffw

Написал dimdim30 на loony_song.d3.ru / комментировать

In order to safeguard their competitiveness in an increasingly digitalised global economy, governments across OECD and emerging economies are implementing a range of policy measures/programmes to support investment in and use of robotics. This paper assesses the extent to which robotics impact the organisation of production through offshoring and backshoring.

Governments in OECD and emerging economies are betting heavily on robotics to safeguard the competitiveness of their manufacturing industries. This paper examines the importance of industrial robotics as a driver of production and trade quality.

The Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Aurangabad, received an indigeneously-prepared robot from a local industry for the convenience of medical staff in management of Covid-19. The device helps in delivering items to Covid-19 patients at their bedside.

Needing the ability to practice on his own, All-Pro tight end George Kittle has found a way to make it work.

They can take care of riskier duties of the staff, says the company’s CEO

Video of the B9 robot from "Lost In Space" and his most famous catchphrases.; Credit: timtomp (via YouTube)

Robert Kinoshita, the Los Angeles native who designed the iconic robots from "Lost in Space" and "Forbidden Planet," has passed away. He was 100 years old.

Konishita died Dec. 9 at a Torrance nursing home, according to the Hollywood Reporter, citing family friend Mike Clark. His creations included "Forbidden Planet's" Robby the Robot, the B9 robot from "Lost in Space," Tobor from "Tobor the Great" and more. Kinoshita also created "Lost in Space's" iconic flying-saucer-shaped Jupiter 2 spaceship.

Kinoshita built the original miniature prototype of Robby the Robot out of wood and plastic by combining several different concepts, according to the Reporter; the Rafu Shimpo reported that he struggled with the design.

"I thought, what the hell. We’re wasting so much time designing and drawing one sketch after another. I said to myself, I’m going to make a model," Kinoshita told the Rafu Shimpo in a 2004 interview. "Then one day, the art director sees the model. He says, ‘Give me that thing.’ He grabbed it and ran. ... Ten minutes later, he comes running back and puts the model back on my desk and says, ‘Draw it!’"

Watch Kinoshita and his colleagues talking about the construction of Robby the Robot:

Robby the Robot's construction

The 1956 classic sci-fi movie "Forbidden Planet" — based on Shakespeare's "The Tempest" — went on to be nominated for a special effects Oscar.

Kinoshita later served as art director on the 1960s sci-fi TV series "Lost in Space," creating the arm-flailing robot — named B9 — who delivered the classic line "Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!" That robot received as much fan mail as the actual humans on the show, according to the Reporter.

Watch the robot's feud with "Lost in Space's" Dr. Smith:

The robot vs. Dr. Smith

The "Lost in Space" robot even inspired a B9 Robot Builders Club, featured in Forbes. Kinoshita sent a message in 2000 to the club, thanking them for their support for the robot he originally nicknamed "Blinky."

"I'm truly flabbergasted and honored by your support for 'Blinky!' It's a well-designed little beauty," Kinoshita wrote. "Your thoughtful remembrance is something we designers seldom are lucky enough to receive."

Kinoshita described the thought process behind its design in a 1998 interview.

"You're laying in bed, and something comes to you," he said. "Until, finally, you get to a point where you say, 'This could work,' 'OK, let's see what the boss man says.' And you present it to him."

He told the Rafu Shimpo that he tried to create his robots to disguise the fact that there was a person inside. "I tried to camouflage it enough so you’d wonder where the hell the human was," he said.

Both the Japanese-American Kinoshita and his wife, Lillian, were sent to an Arizona internment camp during World War II, though they were able to get out before the end of the war and moved to Wisconsin, according to the Reporter.

While in Wisconsin, Kinoshita learned industrial design and plastic fabrication, designing washing machines for the Army and Air Force before returning to California, according to the Rafu Shimpo.

Kinoshita said that he had to overcome racial prejudice to break into working in Hollywood.

Kinoshita attributed his long life to clean living — along with daily doses of apple cider vinegar, family friend Clark told the Reporter.

Kinoshita also worked as a designer and art director on numerous classic TV shows, including "Kojak," "Barnaby Jones," "Hawaii Five-O," "Bat Masterson," "Sea Hunt," "Tombstone Territory," "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry's "Planet Earth" and more, according to his IMDB. His last TV show was 1984's "Cover Up."

Kinoshita grew up in Boyle Heights, according to the Reporter, attending Maryknoll Japanese Catholic School, Roosevelt High School and USC's School of Architecture. His career began with work on 1937's "100 Men and a Girl." Kinoshita graduated cum laude from USC, according to the Rafu Shimpo.

Watch Kinoshita speak at his 95th birthday gathering with the B9 Robot Builders Club. He said he hoped to make it to 100, and he ended up doing so.

Kinoshita's 95th birthday speech

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Full Text:

National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded researchers from North Carolina State and Elon universities have developed a technique that allows them to remotely control the movement of soft robots, lock them into position for as long as needed and later reconfigure the robots into new shapes. The technique relies on light and magnetic fields. "By engineering the properties of the material, we can control the soft robot's movement remotely; we can get it to hold a given shape; we can then return the robot to its original shape or further modify its movement; and we can do this repeatedly. All of those things are valuable, in terms of this technology's utility in biomedical or aerospace applications," says Joe Tracy, a professor of materials science and engineering at NC State and corresponding author of a paper on the work. In experimental testing, the researchers demonstrated that the soft robots could be used to form "grabbers" for lifting and transporting objects. The soft robots could also be used as cantilevers or folded into "flowers" with petals that bend in different directions. "We are not limited to binary configurations, such as a grabber being either open or closed," says Jessica Liu, first author of the paper and a Ph.D. student at NC State. "We can control the light to ensure that a robot will hold its shape at any point."

Image credit: Jessica A.C. Liu

Full Text:

National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded researchers from North Carolina State and Elon universities have developed a technique that allows them to remotely control the movement of soft robots, lock them into position for as long as needed and later reconfigure the robots into new shapes. The technique relies on light and magnetic fields. "By engineering the properties of the material, we can control the soft robot's movement remotely; we can get it to hold a given shape; we can then return the robot to its original shape or further modify its movement; and we can do this repeatedly. All of those things are valuable, in terms of this technology's utility in biomedical or aerospace applications," says Joe Tracy, a professor of materials science and engineering at NC State and corresponding author of a paper on the work. In experimental testing, the researchers demonstrated that the soft robots could be used to form "grabbers" for lifting and transporting objects. The soft robots could also be used as cantilevers or folded into "flowers" with petals that bend in different directions. "We are not limited to binary configurations, such as a grabber being either open or closed," says Jessica Liu, first author of the paper and a Ph.D. student at NC State. "We can control the light to ensure that a robot will hold its shape at any point."

Image credit: Jessica A.C. Liu

...

Researchers from NTU Singapore have developed a semi-autonomous robot that can disinfect large surfaces quickly. Named eXtreme Disinfection roBOT (XDBOT), it can be wirelessly controlled via a laptop or tablet, removing the need for cleaners to be in contact with surfaces, thereby reducing the risk of picking up the virus from potentially contaminated areas....

Rise of the robosexuals: What will it mean for our human relationships?

Video: Dennis Hong is living his dreams — literally — in a lab filled with wacky robots.

Video: Robots help surgeons transcend human limits.

Brian Zenowich will sometimes spend his workdays doing a little arm-in-arm dancing. His dance partners manage to stay in step, duplicating his every move almost

Video: Researchers are developing a robot language so 'bots' can cooperate with each other.

Robots need to be tailored made for their nuclear plants, and the Fukushima plant was built prior to the adoption of robots.

Scientists are developing robots to serve as companions to the elderly.

While they may lack a certain je ne sais quoi possessed by Rosie, there are machines out there wiling to clean your filthy windows and BBQ grill.

Human dreams of mining asteroids won't become a reality without space robots. The billionaire-backed company Planetary Resources has announced plans to do the d

Are the days of 'Star Wars'-type droids upon us? Israeli researchers host a tournament to see who can create a robot with the most human handshake.

Sweatshops filled with robots could bring manufacturing of smartphones, computers and TVs to the United States, as well.

Not if you're an artist, therapist, love counselor or yoga instructor.

Having conquered both the moon and Cupertino, Sir Norman Foster eyes the Red Planet.

Robots are taking jobs from tax-paying, product-consuming human beings and a lot of people are talking about it. How will these people live?

Miso Robotic's Flippy supposedly frees up fast food workers from 'high pain points' on the job. Could it free them of the job entirely, though?

Nationwide competition encourages kids to put their robot-building skills to the test.

Her application inspires Paris Summer Innovation Fellowship selection officials to look beyond age and take a chance on a kid with passion.

Meet Yeti, a faithful rover of the robotic kind that sniffs out dangerous crevasses for convoys crossing glaciers.

Don't miss the best original stories of the week from Mother Nature Network.

Researchers are developing robotic fish to swim our waterways and patrol for pollutants.

Although nanorobots made of DNA have been developed before, these spiders can move over greater distances and follow complex commands.

Metallic python is the latest in a series of robot snakes designed to inspect tight spaces, disarm bombs and locate disaster survivors.

The technology could be used to clean or inspect inaccessible places, such as nuclear power plants and collapsed buildings.

Russian tycoon Dmitry Itskov says the technology will be a reality by 2045.

These invasive species are wreaking havoc on reefs and the fish that live amongst the coral.

The rise of the robots appears to be carefully timed, because it's political, not technological.

The Kirobo Mini can recognize expressions and make conversation.

The San Francisco SPCA has been ordered by the city to fire a robotic rent-a-cop used to patrol the sidewalks outside of its campus.

Boston Dynamics releases video of new robot dog that can open doors.

Boston Dynamics robots imitate human and animal movements, making them impressive — and a little creepy.

MIT's Biomimetics department releases video of Mini Cheetah robots frolicking in the leaves.

New controller that covers functions and high-speed processing required for machine control and safety, reliability and maintainability that are the features of industrial controllers provides robot control function. In addition to robot control, general motion control with up to 64 axes can be also performed.(NJ501-4[][][])