Archive for the ‘robotics/AI’ category: Page 1545
Oct 3, 2018
Angus the robot could soon be cultivating your salads in a robo-farm
Posted by Carse Peel in categories: food, robotics/AI, sustainability
Angus, a 1,000lb robot, rolls about the indoor farm on omnidirectional wheels.
Its main job is to shuttle maturing produce to another, as-yet unnamed robot, which transfers plants from smaller growing pods to larger ones.
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Oct 3, 2018
Jeff Bezos plans to build and launch a ‘large lunar lander’ in his quest to colonize space
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: economics, robotics/AI, space travel
Jeff Bezos, the richest person on Earth, is designing a spacecraft to land on the moon with his rocket company, Blue Origin. The “Blue Moon” robot is expected to deliver several metric tons of supplies to the surface, though Blue Origin is working with others to establish a larger lunar economy.
Oct 3, 2018
Scientists develop smart technology for synchronized 3D printing of concrete
Posted by Bill Kemp in categories: 3D printing, robotics/AI, space
Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a technology whereby two robots can work in unison to 3D-print a concrete structure. This method of concurrent 3D printing, known as swarm printing, paves the way for a team of mobile robots to print even bigger structures in the future. Developed by Assistant Professor Pham Quang Cuong and his team at NTU’s Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, this new multi-robot technology is reported in Automation in Construction. The NTU scientist was also behind the Ikea Bot project earlier this year, in which two robots assembled an Ikea chair in about nine minutes.
Using a specially formulated cement mix suitable for 3D printing, this new development will allow for unique concrete designs currently impossible with conventional casting. Structures can also be produced on demand and in a much shorter period.
Currently, 3D-printing of large concrete structures requires huge printers that are larger in size than the printed objects, which is unfeasible since most construction sites have space constraints. Using multiple mobile robots that can 3D print in sync means large structures and specially designed facades can be printed anywhere, as long as there is enough space for the robots to move around the work site.
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Oct 3, 2018
The Cipher of Intelligence
Posted by Marcos Than Esponda in categories: information science, robotics/AI
If simulating the brain is proving tricky, why don’t we try decoding it?
“There’s a good reason the first flying machines weren’t mechanical bats: people tried that, and they were terrible.” — Dan Robitzski
In the current AI Spring, many people and corporations are betting big that the capabilities of deep learning algorithms will continue to improve as the algorithms are fed more data. Their faith is backed by the miracles performed by such algorithms: they can see, listen and do a thousand other things that were previously considered too difficult for AI.
Oct 2, 2018
Safe, efficient self-driving cars could block walkable, livable communities
Posted by Bill Kemp in categories: robotics/AI, sustainability, transportation
Almost exactly a decade ago, I was cycling in a bike lane when a car hit me from behind. Luckily, I suffered only a couple bruised ribs and some road rash. But ever since, I have felt my pulse rise when I hear a car coming up behind my bike.
As self-driving cars roll out, they’re already being billed as making me – and millions of American cyclists, pedestrians and vehicle passengers – safer.
As a driver and a cyclist, I initially welcomed the idea of self-driving cars that could detect nearby people and be programmed not to hit them, making the streets safer for everyone. Autonomous vehicles also seemed to provide attractive ways to use roads more efficiently and reduce the need for parking in our communities. People are certainly talking about how self-driving cars could help build more sustainable, livable, walkable and bikable communities.
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Oct 1, 2018
Fully driverless Waymo taxis are due out this year, alarming critics
Posted by Bill Kemp in categories: robotics/AI, transportation
Oct 1, 2018
Watch this humanoid robot install drywall
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: robotics/AI, transportation
The HRP-5P is a humanoid robot from Japan’s Advanced Industrial Science and Technology institute that can perform common construction tasks including — as we see above — install drywall.
HRP-5P — maybe we can call it Herb? — uses environmental measurement, object detection and motion planning to perform various tasks. In this video we see it use small hooks to grab the wallboard and slide it off onto the floor. Then, with a bit of maneuvering, it’s able to place the board against the joists and drill them in place.
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Sep 30, 2018
Virtual and augmented reality will change our sense of a shared reality
Posted by Marco Monfils in categories: augmented reality, robotics/AI, singularity
As the artificial brain races towards the singularity, what we often forget is the boost to human brainpower that will accompany it. As we increase our senses and perceptions, humans have a choice what to do with these new superpowers, that can be used to reinforce one’s tunnel vision of life or to ignore it.
This story is part of What Happens Next, our complete guide to understanding the future. Read more predictions about the Future of Fact.
Not everyone experiences the world in the same way. Whether it’s how you react to the results of an election or what tones you hear in a sound clip, observable reality is often not as objective as you think it is.
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Sep 30, 2018
The World Bank and tech companies want to use AI to predict famine
Posted by Bill Kemp in categories: food, robotics/AI
A new tool using data and AI is hoping to better predict famine and help millions experiencing food insecurity.