So Boston Dynamics has possibly created the robo warehouse worker of the future. đ
Boston Dynamicsâ Handle could be the warehouse worker of the future đ€ đŠ.
Handle: The Logistics Robot
Posted in futurism, robotics/AI
Category: robotics/AI – Page 1,762
Neural networks are some of the most important tools in artificial intelligence (AI): they mimic the operation of the human brain and can reliably recognize texts, language and images, to name but a few. So far, they run on traditional processors in the form of adaptive software, but experts are working on an alternative concept, the âneuromorphic computer.â In this case, the brainâs switching pointsâthe neuronsâare not simulated by software but reconstructed in hardware components. A team of researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) has now demonstrated a new approach to such hardwareâtargeted magnetic waves that are generated and divided in micrometer-sized wafers. Looking to the future, this could mean that optimization tasks and pattern recognition could be completed faster and more energy efficiently. The researchers have presented their results in the journal Physical Review Letters.
The team based its investigations on a tiny disc of the magnetic material iron nickel, with a diameter just a few micrometers wide. A gold ring is placed around this disc: When an alternating current in the gigahertz range flows through it, it emits microwaves that excite so-called spin waves in the disc. âThe electrons in the iron nickel exhibit a spin, a sort of whirling on the spot rather like a spinning top,â Helmut SchultheiĂ, head of the Emmy Noether Group âMagnonicsâ at HZDR, explains. âWe use the microwave impulses to throw the electron top slightly off course.â The electrons then pass on this disturbance to their respective neighborsâwhich causes a spin wave to shoot through the material. Information can be transported highly efficiently in this way without having to move the electrons themselves, which is what occurs in todayâs computer chips.
Back in 2019, the SchultheiĂ group discovered something remarkable: under certain circumstances, the spin wave generated in the magnetic vortex can be split into two waves, each with a reduced frequency. âSo-called non-linear effects are responsible for this,â explains SchultheiĂâs colleague Lukas Körber. âThey are only activated when the irradiated microwave power crosses a certain threshold.â Such behavior suggests spin waves as promising candidates for artificial neurons because there is an amazing parallel with the workings of the brain: these neurons also only fire when a certain stimulus threshold has been crossed.
Researchers at Oregon State University are making key advances with a new type of optical sensor that more closely mimics the human eyeâs ability to perceive changes in its visual field.
The sensor is a major breakthrough for fields such as image recognition, robotics and artificial intelligence. Findings by OSU College of Engineering researcher John Labram and graduate student Cinthya Trujillo Herrera were published today in Applied Physics Letters.
Previous attempts to build a human-eye type of device, called a retinomorphic sensor, have relied on software or complex hardware, said Labram, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science. But the new sensorâs operation is part of its fundamental design, using ultrathin layers of perovskite semiconductorsâwidely studied in recent years for their solar energy potentialâthat change from strong electrical insulators to strong conductors when placed in light.
Scientists from around the world are developing robotic skin that helps machines gain the sense of touch. Itâs estimated that robots will displace 20 million human workers by 2030.
At least humans can still say they are better at something⊠for now. đ
What happens if you let a neural network loose on inventing names for monsters in Dungeons and Dragons? Well, it turns out it comes up with some rather ridiculous suggestions.
Research scientist Janelle Shane from Boulder, Colorado previously used a recurrent neural network to come up with some odd spell names for D&D, but this time around she turned her powers of hilarity towards creating new names for monsters.
âIt turns out that in addition to spellbooks, Dungeons and Dragons also has monster manuals â books full of the names and descriptions of creatures that adventurers can encounter,â she wrote on her blog AI Weirdness.
âWe are allocating serious resources, both financial and administrative ones, on creation and development of technologies. It is not about spending these funds, purchasing high-status gadgets and other household appliances. Artificial intelligence is not about a so-called fashion hype or a prestigious trend, that will fade away, vanish tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. No, this will not happen,â the president noted.
He recalled that âglobal history knows many cases when large, global corporations and even countries literally slept through a technological breakthrough and were swept off the historical stage overnight.â
âWe must remember this. I want my colleagues in ministries, departments, regions of the Russian Federation, in state companies, research centers and universities to hear me now: we have to tackle issues of a fundamentally new level of complexity,â the head of state said.
ââ Martyr Fakhrizadeh was driving when a weapon, using an advanced camera, zoomed in on him,â Fadavi said, according to Reuters.
âSome 13 shots were fired at martyr Fakhrizadeh with a machine gun controlled by satellite⊠During the operation artificial intelligence and face recognition were used,â he said. âHis wife, sitting 25 centimeters away from him in the same car, was not injured.â
âThe machine gun was placed on a pick-up truck and was controlled by a satellite,â he added.â
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An Iranian senior commander was quoted as saying that a satellite-controlled machine gun and artificial intelligence were used to kill the countryâs top nuclear scientist.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Ali Fadavi, the deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards, saying on Sunday that scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was hit with âsome 13 shotsâ in an attack that resulted in his death, Reuters reported.
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iranâs top nuclear scientist, was killed on November 27 by a âsmart satellite-controlled machine gunâ that used AI, the countryâs Revolutionary Guards commander Brig-Gen Ali Fadavi told local media, as the BBC reports.
The scientist was allegedly killed by a weapon mounted to a pickup truck, which shot Fakhrizadeh inside a vehicle from a distance â but spared his wife sitting right next to him.
The weapon âfocused only on martyr Fakhrizadehâs face in a way that his wife, despite being only 25cm [10 inches] away, was not shot,â Gen Fadavi, Revolutionary Guards deputy commander, told a ceremony on Sunday, as quoted by the BBC.
For now, it looks like our best bet for going interstellar is to rely on robotic spacecraft that are optimized for speed.
For countless generations, the idea of traveling to an extrasolar planet has been the stuff of dreams. In the current era of renewed space exploration, interest in interstellar travel has understandably been rekindled. However, beyond the realm of science fiction, interstellar space travel remains a largely theoretical matter.
Between the sheer expense involved, the need for technological developments to happen first, and the nature of spacetime itself, sending people to another star system is something that is not likely to happen for a long time â if ever. But in spite of the challenges, the hope remains.
So will humanity ever go interstellar? Letâs break it down categorically and see how hard it might be. First up, there are the laws of physics, which arenât too accomodating on this front.
Its SpaceXâs first-ever autonomous Dragon docking.
A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station today (Dec. 7) to deliver vital supplies for NASA and try something brand-new: park itself without the help of astronauts.
The private spaceflight company used a Falcon 9 rocket to launch CRS-21, the first flight to use the upgraded version of its Dragon cargo spacecraft, to the space station Sunday (Dec. 6) from NASAâs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The vehicle autonomously docked with the orbiting laboratory today at 1:40 p.m. EST (1840 GMT), parking at the zenith, or space-facing, side of the stationâs Harmony module.