Рубрика: Robotics

Butterfly robot mimics the biomechanics of Mantaray, a sea animal with higher energy efficiency

In yet another breakthrough in robotic biomimicry, scientists have released a Mantaray-inspired soft robot. It is a butterfly robot that can swim more than four times faster than its predecessors. A research paper, “Snapping for high-speed and high-efficient, butterfly swimming-like soft flapping-wing robot”, published by North Carolina State University reveals how the mechanism of the Butterfly robot is close to energy conserving biomechanics of Mantaray. They named it butterfly robot after the way the robot flaps its arms similar to that of a butterfly stroke in swimming. Jie Yin, one of the co-authors says the soft robots were so far able to have a maximum speed of one body per second but by designing a robot based on the energy-efficient system Mantaray has, he said they could make a swimming robot that can move faster than whale a or a shark. “We wanted to draw on the biomechanics of these animals to see if we could develop faster, more energy-efficient soft robots. The prototypes we’ve developed work exceptionally well”, said the scientist.

They developed two types of butterfly bots, one that can reach a speed of 3.74 body lengths per second, which is 4.8 times faster than the reported fastest flapping soft swimmer, and the other one with sideway maneuverability, one that can take sharp turns to the left or right with a high turning speed of 157 °/sec and move with a speed of 1.7 body lengths per second. The soft robotic swimmer can achieve a higher Strouhal number between 0.2 and 0.4 for efficient propulsion– which is used to assess the energy efficiency of flying and swimming animals relating to forward speed, amplitude, and flapping frequency – while its value varies between 0.25 and 0.35 for flapping foils. The swimming bots weigh only 2.8g.

The current design for faster swimming soft robots varies significantly from the one used for flapping robots, says Yin. He says they adopted a bistable wing mechanism instead of giving movement to wings with attached motors. The hair clip-modelled bistable wing mechanism essentially works by activating the wings passively with the movement of the central body, a mechanism that helped them reduce their weight drastically. The wings attached to the silicone-made body flap back and forth when the air chambers inflate and deflate bending the body up and down achieving two stable states.

The two variations are achieved with a different number of drive units attached to its wings. While the faster robot is attached to one drive unit to give it a better speed with restricted sideways movement, the maneuverable bot is equipped with two drive units so that only one of its wings can be activated for it to take a sideway turn. Yin opines, although the prototype provides a promising proof of concept, it is not without limitations. For butterfly bots, the central body is tethered with pumping tubes adding significant weight to the body. He said they are working to improvise it into an untethered and autonomous one.

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The universities are facing a huge challenge as students use AI for writing essays

Some claim that as AI develops, it will eventually be able to write academic articles. But when does the introduction of artificial intelligence amount to fraud? Students use AI for writing their essays and it is easy and time-saving, well professors are pissed at their students for such academic intrusion.

“As I wait for my next class to begin in front of the lecture hall, two students next to me are debating which AI software would write their essays the best. Am I marking this correctly? AI Essays? Carla Ionescu, a historian, captured the mounting worry about what artificial intelligence can mean for conventional university evaluation in a tweet she posted late last month. “No. Not possible, she tweeted. Tell me we haven’t arrived at AI for writing essays. Universities are facing an enormous challenge of this full-on robot writing and this is not going to end any time soon.

Ben Goertzel, a computer theorist, suggested the “robot university student test” in 2012, contending that an AI capable of earning a degree in the same manner as a person should be regarded as aware.

If it weren’t for the achievements of AIs using natural language processing (NLP), most notably GPT-3, the language model developed by the OpenAI research group, Goertzel’s idea—an alternative to the more well-known “Turing test”—might have remained a thought experiment.

Nassim Dehouche, a computer scientist, presented a paper two years ago proving that GPT-3 could create legitimate academic work that was imperceptible to standard anti-plagiarism tools.

He now believes that the period when students could produce full essays and other types of writing using algorithmic approaches has long since passed. Now, many people share his urgency. GPT-3 has written persuasively on whether it threatens mankind (it claims it doesn’t) and about animal cruelty in the manners of both William Shakespeare and Bob Dylan in news and opinion pieces.

A dramatic mic-drop occurred at the end of a 2021 Forbes article on using AI to write essays for school: “This post about utilizing an AI to write essays in school,” it said, “was created using an artificial intelligence content writing tool.” Of course, unjustified hype is the lifeblood of the IT sector.

1. Scott Graham wrote last month for Inside Higher Education on the conflicting results of encouraging students to use technology for their projects. The absolute finest, according to him, would have done little more than meet the standards. Weaker students found it difficult to give the system useful hints because doing so required advanced writing abilities, making the AI unnecessary.

Full-on robot writing will always and forever be “just around the corner,” he said in his conclusion.

That may be the case, but only a month prior, Aki Peritz of Slate came to the exact opposite conclusion, writing that “with a little bit of skill, a student may utilize AI to write his or her paper in a fraction of the time that it would typically take.”

However, the difficulty facing higher education cannot be reduced to “full-on robot writing.”

Universities must resolve a wide range of subtler issues in addition to essays and assignments that are created by algorithms. For instance, word processors powered by AI frequently provide solutions to our grammatical errors. But if a student’s phrase can be algorithmically rewritten by software, why shouldn’t a paragraph? And if a paragraph, why not a page?

Prof. Phillip Dawson, of Deakin University, is an expert in digital assessment security. He advises viewing AI as nothing more than a new application of the practice of cognitive offloading.

He defines cognitive offloading as “using a technology to lessen the mental weight of a task.” To avoid having to struggle to remember anything for later, it might be as easy as writing it down. Since Socrates’ complaint about individuals pretending to know something by writing it down through the first appearance of pocket calculators, there have been moral panics around technologies for cognitive dumping.

Dawson contends that, as AI is increasingly included in higher-level activities, colleges should make plain to students the types and degrees of cognitive offloading permissible for certain exams.

“I believe that we will instruct students on how to use these technologies. We won’t necessarily ban them, in my opinion.

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A team in the US developed soft robots that can pick up delicate droplets individually

A group of American scientists has created a soft robotic gripper that can pick up individual liquid droplets as though they were solids. Soft robots can gently manipulate objects because they are made of malleable materials, which allows them to perform tasks that people and even hard robots find difficult.

These little robotic grippers detailed in a research published in Materials Horizons, are equipped with an artificial electronic muscle that gives them 100 times the strength of human muscle and enables them to perform delicate operations. “A single gripper the size of my finger weighs one to two grams with the implanted artificial muscle. And it’s cheap—just one or two dollars,” adds Dr. Jiefeng Sun, co-first author and a postdoctoral scholar in the mechanical engineering department at Colorado State University in the US. Soft robots picking up delicate droplets are the first of their kind in the robots industry.

A “superomnicphobia” substance—one that deters practically all other substances—is applied to the grippers.

The grippers interact with practically any liquid as if it were a flexible solid since it is very difficult to get them wet. Droplets won’t fragment and scatter over the surface of the grippers.

These grippers might be used to mop up spillage of dangerous liquid, claim the researchers. Additionally, they could be helpful when handling potentially contagious materials like those found in hospitals.

The researchers show in their work that the grippers could control liquids, including blood. The researchers propose that the grippers might be discarded once they have collected the desired droplets because they are so tiny and inexpensive.

According to co-author Dr. Jianguo Zhao, associate professor of mechanical engineering and head of the Adaptive Robotics Laboratory at Colorado State University, “It’s a first, but it’s also a very uncommon example of a high-tech product that is not tremendously expensive.”

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A new soft robot has Jesus-like powers and can fly through the water which is inspired by the nature

Soft robots are frequently employed in a variety of fields like environmental clean-up, and others. Because they do not run the risk of breaking, these robots are thought to be safer. These robots must be useful and aesthetically pleasing, which makes their design difficult. A soft robot has Jesus-like powers.

The manta ray-inspired robot can fly through the water thanks to its wing-like fins. The soft-swimming butterfly bot, however, was the name given to the invention by the researchers because it resembled human arms making the butterfly stroke. The butterfly bot was created in two iterations by the researchers. The first was created to travel 3.74 body lengths per second since it was meant to be quick. The second, though, can move around 1.7 body lengths per second and be built for control. Soft swimming robots are now only capable of swimming one body length per second but that’ll change.

Soft robots with biological inspiration make a lot of sense in many different contexts, but they are not without drawbacks, just like any other category of technology. These flexible constructions, among other reasons, may find it difficult to move as quickly as their more rigid counterparts. A further source of inspiration from nature that helped researchers at North Carolina State University accelerate swimming was the manta ray.

It makes sense to look at the fish. These shark relatives can move through the water like birds because of their enormous, wing-like pectoral fins. But in the end, the scientists gave them a completely other animal’s name. The “butterfly bots” got their name because of how much their arms resemble those of people doing the butterfly stroke.

According to a press release from Jie Yin, the paper’s co-author, “swimming soft robots have not yet been able to swim faster than one body length per second, but marine animals — such as manta rays — can swim much faster, and much more efficiently.” “We wanted to investigate if we could create quicker, more energy-efficient soft robots by borrowing from the biomechanics of these creatures. The prototypes we’ve created function incredibly well.

A pneumatic air tube system is used to bend the body up and down. This causes the wings and fins to also flex, moving the system forward. According to Yin, the majority of prior attempts to create flapping robots have concentrated on employing motors to directly power the wings. Our method makes advantage of bistable wings that are moved passively by the core body. This is a significant distinction since it enables a more lightweight, streamlined design.

The butterfly bots have soft silicone bodies and bistable wings that are modeled like hair clips. Pumping air into chambers inside the soft body allows users to transition between the two stable states in the wings. The body bends up and down as those chambers inflate and deflate, which forces the wings to move back and forth as well.

The majority of prior attempts to create robots that can flap their wings have centered on employing motors to supply power directly to the wings, according to Yin. “In our method, bistable wings that are passively moved by the central body are used. This is a significant distinction since it enables a more lightweight, streamlined design.

The soft-swimming butterfly robot is being developed into an autonomous, untethered version, according to the team.

Complex robots constructed from flexible materials, such as rubber, are referred to as soft robotics. They are employed to simulate the traits and movements of both animals and people. Soft robots can be utilized in situations where hard robots cannot since they are constructed of flexible materials. This is so that soft robots can fit in spaces where regular robots would have trouble.

Additionally, they can perceive their surroundings because of their design. This facilitates maneuvering and avoiding obstructions. Additionally, they often have a low weight, which makes them simpler to transport.

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The top 10 robotics companies in Dubai have seen growth due to the advancements in the industry

As technology develops over time, robotics has emerged as one of the global sectors with the quickest growth rates. The robotics companies in Dubai have grown tremendously as new strategies and technological advancements spur a rise in new activities. Over 500 businesses produce goods in four areas in the congested robotics market.

A new analysis predicts that the value of global robotics companies would increase from $25 billion in 2021 to about $260 billion by 2030. To build a robot that can mimic human behavior, the top robotics companies combine science and technology. Robots are increasingly used to carry out risky tasks. Robotics is advantageous to the manufacturing sector. For instance, in a factory, a robot might be in charge of welding. The top 10 robotics companies in Dubai will be discussed in this article. It should be noted that the firms are not ranked based on the positions they are given.

1.Optimusrobo FZCO

Optimusrobo has raised the bar to a newer height by providing a Robotic solutions portfolio that includes a complete range of Humanoid Robots and Service Robots in many discrete applications apart from providing turnkey solutions for the product industry and service industry company also provides a plethora of engineering services including Mechanical Design, Simulation, Robot Programming, PLC Programming and Integration services onsite and offsite.

2.Unique World Robotics

Unique World Group is a diversified international establishment headquartered in Dubai, UAE, started in 1995. Since inception, the idea was to build a reputation for delivering the highest quality of services by maintaining the highest level of efficiency, efficacy, and integrity.

3.Seed Robotics

Seed Robotics is a European company, founded in 2015, specializing in Robotic Solutions for Research, mainly in the areas of artificial intelligence, neuroscience, psychology, and cognitive science. The company’s goal is to empower researchers with the tools that will allow us, one day, to truly live with robots in our lives.

4.DG World

Offers robotics, industrial automation, and advanced mobility. With 150+ employees, the company has left its footprints in various parts of the world. DGWorld develops products and solutions using the most advanced technology of Industry 4.0, IoT, and deploying AI-based solution robots, self-driving automobiles, and AI-powered server configurations.

5.Neo Robotics

Neo Robotics innovates customer experience by delivering interactive solutions to the retail industry and customer service. They develop unique applications through our
custom-designed robots in cooperation with Hease Robotics.

6.Reliable Robotics

Advanced automation will make aircraft safer, more available, more affordable, and fundamentally transformative to the way goods and people move around the planet. Starting with a certification-forward approach, Reliable Robotics first demonstrated the gate-to-gate fully automated operation of a Part 23 aircraft and is now working towards commercialization of technologies for Part 23 cargo and Part 25 passenger vehicles

7.RobotikWorld

Amro Kamel General Trading is part of Amro Kamel Group, one of the fast-growing companies in the Gulf. It is present in diverse domains such as General Trading and Entertainment Management & Organizing. Amro Kamel General Trading provides robotic innovative solutions for different industries in UAE, such as logistics, hospitality, entertainment, and security. Amro Kamel General Trading is an exclusive distributor of AMY Robotics, Cerevo Technologies, and Robot Security Systems.

8.GLITZ Robotics

Glitz Robotics & Technologies unleash advanced technology solutions to mankind. Glitz team believes in protecting humans from the pandemic and from other contingencies through advanced technologies & robotic solutions. They provide technology safety and security solutions all over the world. Glitz Team has more than 10 Years of Experience in the Robotics & Technology Industry. GLITZ Technologies operations mainly in UAE, Russia & Hong Kong to take your business to the next level without any hassle.

9.IQ Robotics

IQ Robotics was founded in Dubai in 2019 based on an essential need for cutting-edge technology in the supply chain and logistics industry in the region. Customers in the region have ever-increasing expectations, and we trust that technology is the solution. Their team came together from all over the world bringing their unique experience and expertise and most importantly their passion, to bring about essential progress and offer unlimited possibilities for customers who are ready to bring the future of technology here and now

10.Terminus

At Expo 2020 Dubai’s Official Premier Partner, Terminus Group will deploy more than 150 programmable robots. Fitted with features such as multi-touch displays, 5G network capability, AI-driven object mapping, and object detection, the robots will perform a variety of tasks such as greeting visitors, performing in special displays, and providing visitor assistance, as well as helping with food and beverage delivery and hospitality services

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The robots to be deployed by the US army can be mounted with machine guns and grenade launchers!

A policy released by San Francisco Police Department proposes to put weaponized robots to use in law and order operations. As per the document, the police department has proposed to bring 17 robots into operation out of which 12 are fully functional. The robots are remote-controlled devices that are generally used in bomb disposal missions. “The department wants to use them for training and simulations, criminal apprehensions, critical incidents, exigent circumstances, executing a warrant, or during suspicious device assessments”, says the proposal. The new robotic model, Remotec Andros, is equipped with additional optional weapons, as per The Verge report. The model F5A can efficiently load shotgun shells which are used in bomb detonation. The other robot QinetiQ Talon can also be weaponized. According to the site, a particular model used by the US army can be mounted with machine guns and grenade launchers.

SFPD, going by the draft proposal, only wants robots to get license to kill people “when the risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers is imminent and outweighs any other force option available to SFPD”. What is the most striking thing in the draft policy is the manner in which the draft has been manipulated to include ‘deadly force’ in it. According to the Verge report, the phrase was added after striking out the sentence “Robots shall not be used as a Use of Force against any person” and “provide ground support and situational awareness”. The new proposal is scheduled for discussion in the next week by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rules Committee and is expected to set rules and limits for using military-style weapons for local policing. In fact, in the US the practice of converting bomb disposal robots into fire support systems is nothing new. A few robots are already equipped with “Pan” systems that make bullet detonation possible. The technique of using robots to discharge explosives in the vicinity of armed and dangerous suspects has been tried in Dallas in 2016 and since has become a subject of study and experimentation by the US police department in general.

Even though the dangerous concept of using killer robots is a fiercely debated topic in the United States, there is not enough consensus among them to stop the practice right away giving a free hand to the Police force. For example, the model of “robot policemen” developed by the Knightscope company is guarding the roads with around 50 specimens at different locations. Last month, according to a report by The Intercept, Oakland police were considering deploying shotgun-equipped Remotec F5A robots, a decision that is responsible for major robot-making companies like Boston Dynamics, ANYbotics, Clearpath Robotics, Open Robotics, and Unitree Robotics pledging against the weaponization of robots. Even as Oakland police say the armed robots would be put to use in emergencies, the real question of “How and who can define the emergency as serious enough to let a mindless bot take a human life” remains.

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Measures that must be followed in order to Control Killer Robots while manufacturing them

The use of Killer Robots has increased in this era. It is important to make sure that they are not a danger to us and themselves. Thus, the concern about Control Killer Robots has increased as well. This is where Killer Robots manufacturing plays a vital role.

Control over the Killer Robot is brought by making sure that Robot is aware of its surroundings and has a sense of what it is doing. Especially in the case of Killer Robots which are fully autonomous weapons, would be able to select and engage targets without meaningful human control should be handled and taken care of. The manufacturer should be able to control killer robots while manufacturing them and make sure that the killer robot knows how to react in different scenarios and not cause any damage or harm to mankind.

What is the need of controlling Killer Robots?

The ethical dilemma of how to control killer Robots while manufacturing them is a real one. The Artificial Intelligence that powers these weapons is not going to just sit on a shelf waiting for the day when it will be used, it can be misled and control can be lost. This is why the UN has been pushing for an international treaty that would ban the use of killer Robots in warfare. The treaty, which was approved by 118 nations, does not have any enforcement mechanism and does not prevent countries from developing their killer Robots.

Thus, killer robot manufacturing should be given high priority and it is important to control Killer Robots while manufacturing them in the first place.

Here are a few measures that should be kept in mind while manufacturing killer robots:

To maintain strong and accurate control systems –

A malfunction in the control system which includes software, electromagnetic, and radio frequency interferences may result in unpredictable behavior or a rise in the machine’s potential for harmful energy. So, it is necessary to maintain accurate control systems.

Do not allow unauthorized entry –

Someone who is unfamiliar with the safety hardware can enter a secured location without authorization and run the Robot which can push the risk of suffering a significant injury.

Avoid Human errors –

This category of the significant event causes a wide range of problems, such as erroneous programming, interface design, upkeep, or control panel. Additionally, due to a failure to recognize line-of-fire risks brought on by the robot’s movements, operators or other workers may endanger themselves.

Make sure of no mechanical failures –

Mechanical problems may cause the Robot to operate incorrectly or unexpectedly. These kinds of failures can be hazardous and unpredictable. Thus, failures should be properly handled while manufacturing.

Need of Ambient sources –

Some issues, such as unexpected environmental sources of electromagnetic or radio-frequency interference that can affect the performance of the Robot, cannot always be predicted. When designing, it’s crucial to account for situations like power surges or power outages.

Check incorrect installations –

It is crucially vital to install Robots correctly. Incorrect installation can result in different hazards depending on the specific variance from the original design. For this reason, a robot or automation system’s design, installation specifications, and equipment and utility arrangement all need to be strictly rechecked.

Conclusion: –

The Experts say that Killer Robots could potentially provide the military with several operational advantages. They can cut back on a range of long-term medical costs, including the burden that war-related injuries place on the healthcare system. They can also replace people in extremely risky situations like exposure to radioactive materials and demining. However, some of them argue that saying that “If a machine is programmed to select its targets, there are real questions about who will be responsible if it kills civilians or violates international humanitarian law.”

All these scenarios prove the importance of controlling Killer Robots while manufacturing them.

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It is obvious that robots are playing an increasingly critical role in the lives of people. One finds robots in manufacturing, in serving people in restaurants, as receptionists, as nurses, as firefighters and even as soldiers. As we all know, not all robots look like humans (i.e. they are not humanoids). And hence we often tend to miss out the robots that have slowly but surely penetrated into almost every aspect of our lives.

There are a large number of areas where India would need help with robotics. For example, it will take us considerable time to have the large number of high-quality teachers, needed to educate the large number of the young population that we have, in order to leverage the demographic dividend. It will be too late if we develop teachers in the traditional manner.

They have been encroaching in manufacturing work for decades and now making literal inroads into tasks like driving, logistics, and inventory management. While there may be a negative effect on some labor segments, robots and automation increase productivity, lower production costs, and can create new jobs in the tech sector.

AI and robots to play a crucial role in achieving India’s Vision for 2025

Data and Artificial intelligence could add $450-500bn to India’s GDP by 2025. Close to 45% of this value is likely to be delivered by 3 sectors: consumer goods and retail, agriculture and banking and finance. In the agricultural sector, Artificial Intelligence can help double farmers’ income through improved production planning and yield. While in the BFSI sector, AI can assist in financial risk modeling and credit underwriting, in the consumer goods and retail sector, it can provide personalized campaigns and targeted marketing.

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Researchers at MIT’s Centre for Bits and Atoms are putting their hard efforts into an ambitious project, designing robots that effectively self-assemble. The team feels that the goal of an autonomous self-building robot is not much easy to achieve but the work in this field, thus far, demonstrated positive results. At the system’s centre are voxels (a term borrowed from computer graphics), which carry power and data that can be shared between pieces. The pieces form the foundation of the robot, grabbing and attaching additional voxels before moving across the grid for further assembly.

The researchers note in an associated paper published in Nature, mentions “Our approach challenges the convention that larger constructions need larger machines to build them, and could be applied in areas that today either require substantial capital investments for fixed infrastructure or are altogether unfeasible.” Coming up with the proper level of intelligence for these Self-Building Robotic systems is a big hurdle. Among other things, the robots need to determine how and where to build, when to begin building a new robot, and just generally how to avoid bumping into each other in the process.

Along with there are many hardware issues. The team is currently working on building stronger connectors to keep the voxels together. Researchers say soon they will come up with the solution to these problems and will successfully develop robots that Effectively Self-Assemble.

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MIT researchers are using FUTEK’s sensors to make robotic leg

Developed by Matthew Carney of MIT Media Lab’s Biomechatronics group, the revolutionary TF8 actuator is a powered prosthesis. Rather than employing a one-size-fits-all design, it is able to replicate the kinetic and kinematic functionality of the human ankle—moving and responding to force in a lifelike way. The robotic ankle is driven by an MIT-developed reaction-force, series elastic actuator (FRSEA). In conjunction with FUTEK’s LCM300 load cell, the actuator allows for the wearer’s weight and gait to handle varied terrains such as stairs and inclines. The prosthetic ankle is neurally controlled thanks to a new MIT-developed amputation technique. This relocates the muscles and some nerves to above the amputation zone, instead of removing them. Sensors in the prosthetic read the signals from these muscles and can transmit sensations to the nerves.

These preserved muscles and nerves, which once controlled the leg, now allow neuromuscular bi-directional communication between the prosthesis and its wearer. As a result, the wearer experiences an artificial lower leg that feels real, as they can sense the ankle’s movements. Robotic prostheses integrate cutting-edge biomechanics, mechanical, electrical and software engineering.

The prosthetic ankle relies on FUTEK’s LCM300 strain gauge load cell for its force measurement. It was chosen due to its small footprint, lightweight, high accuracy and easy installation. A load cell is a transducer that converts force into measurable electrical output. Precision CNC machining allows FUTEK to consistently produce sensors with the very tight tolerances required for robotic and biomechanical applications. Its sensors can measure force, pressure and torque directly, plus they can also indirectly measure aspects like flow, viscosity and occlusion.

The medical and medtech market is an expanding field for FUTEK, accounting for around 30 percent of its business and growing each year. Beyond powered prostheses, FUTEK’s sensors are also found in exoskeletons and robotic arms including surgery robots. Other important sectors include aerospace and defense, manufacturing and automotive.

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