robots

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Robots Can Be Companions, Caregivers, Collaborators — And Social Influencers

In the mid-1990s, there was research going on at Stanford University that would change the way we think about computers. The Media Equation experiments were simple: participants were asked to interact with a computer that acted socially for a few minutes after which, they were asked to give feedback about the interaction. Participants would provide this feedback either on the same computer (No. 1) they had just been working on or on another computer (No. 2) across the room. The study found that participants responding on computer No. 2 were far more critical of computer No. 1 than those responding on the same machine they’d worked on. People responding on the first computer seemed to not want to hurt the computer’s feelings to its face, but had no problem talking about it behind its back...

Without Human Help – Artisan Robots With AI Smarts Will Juggle Tasks, Choose Tools, Mix And Match Recipes And Even Order Materials

16Jun

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

WORK

Without Human Help – Artisan Robots With AI Smarts Will Juggle Tasks, Choose Tools, Mix And Match Recipes And Even Order Materials

Glenn S. Daehn, The Ohio State University Failure of a machine in a factory can shut it down. Lost production can cost millions of dollars per day. Component failures can devastate factories, power plants and battlefield equipment. To return to operation, skilled technicians use all the tools in their kit - machining, bending, welding and surface treating, making just the right part as quickly and as accurately as possible. But there’s a declining number of technicians with the right skills, and the quality of things made by hand is subject to the skills and mood of the artisan on the day the part is made. Both problems could soon be solved by artificially intelligent robotic technicians. These systems can take measurements; shape, cut or weld parts using varied tools; pass parts to spe...

A Creative Route To Making Robots And Other Mechanical Devices – Curved Origami

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

TECHNOLOGY, VIDEO REELS

A Creative Route To Making Robots And Other Mechanical Devices – Curved Origami

Building robotic grippers that can firmly grasp heavy objects and also gently grasp delicate ones usually requires complicated sets of gears, hinges and motors. But it turns out that it’s also possible to make grippers out of simple sheets of flexible material with the right creases in them. Our lab at Arizona State University has designed curved fold patterns that can change stiffness and flexibility. Flexible materials shaped with these patterns can be used to make simple, inexpensive robotic grippers, swimming robots and other mechanical devices. People naturally vary the amount of stiffness needed to handle fragile and sturdy objects appropriately. Robots interact with the environment in the same way. Curved folding is a simple way to give robots the ability to vary the amount of sti...

Robots are playing many roles in the coronavirus crisis – and offering lessons for future disasters

22Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19

Robots are playing many roles in the coronavirus crisis – and offering lessons for future disasters

A cylindrical robot rolls into a treatment room to allow health care workers to remotely take temperatures and measure blood pressure and oxygen saturation from patients hooked up to a ventilator. Another robot that looks like a pair of large fluorescent lights rotated vertically travels throughout a hospital disinfecting with ultraviolet light. Meanwhile a cart-like robot brings food to people quarantined in a 16-story hotel. Outside, quadcopter drones ferry test samples to laboratories and watch for violations of stay-at-home restrictions. These are just a few of the two dozen ways robots have been used during the COVID-19 pandemic, from health care in and out of hospitals, automation of testing, supporting public safety and public works, to continuing daily work and life. The lessons ...

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

EDUCATION, TECHNOLOGY

Robots in the classroom: Could robots replace tutors, teachers?

Robots have been shown to be effective at increasing cognitive and affective outcomes In “Social Robots for Education,” a study published last August in Science Robotics, the abstract conveyed: “Social robots can be used in education as tutors or peer learners. They have been shown to be effective at increasing cognitive and affective outcomes and have achieved outcomes similar to those of human tutoring on restricted tasks. This is largely because of their physical presence, which traditional learning technologies lack.” The study indicated a few reasons why educational robots are emerging as a teaching trend: ‒ Shrinking school budgets ‒ Growing numbers of students per classroom ‒ Demand for greater personal-ization of curricula for children with diverse needs Instead of just seati...

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

TECHNOLOGY

IBM: 120 million workers need retraining as robots displace jobs

Employers are now emphasising soft skills training, which take more time to develop, says IBM More than 120 million workers globally will need retraining in the next three years due to artificial intelligence’s impact on jobs, according to an IBM survey. That’s a top concern for many employers who say talent shortage is one of the greatest threats to their organizations today. And the training required these days is longer than it used to be -- workers need 36 days of training to close a skills gap versus three days in 2014, IBM notes in the survey. Soft Skills Some skills take longer to develop because they are either more behavioral in nature like teamwork and communication or highly technical, such as data science capabilities. "Reskilling for technical skil...