Monthly Archives: August 2022

As the world emerges from the global pandemic, retail is growing at levels not seen in the last two decades. Retail sales grew by 7 percent in 2020 and by over 14 percent in 2021, which is in stark contrast to the 3.7 percent annual growth between 2010 and 2019.

The increased demand for retail has put a strain on supply chains and retail operations worldwide. As a result, retailers and stakeholders are turning to automation solutions such as mobile robotics for operational ease.

According to global technology intelligence firm ABI Research, worldwide commercial robot revenue in retail stores will have a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of over 25 percent from 2022 to 2030 and exceed $8.4 billion by 2030.

Adhish Luitel, senior analyst, supply chain management and logistics at ABI Research, says: There is the continued adoption of diverse technologies in the retail space.

We can see incoming retail solutions within various points of the retail value chain, such as order fulfillment, in-store inventory check, coordination between store associates, or last-mile delivery. These solutions can directly or indirectly impact the wider supply chain management to retailers for the better.

Technologies such as contactless checkout, in-store mobile robotics, wearables, and smart carts are getting a lot of traction, with major retailers adopting these incoming solutions to enhance operations and contribute to a more streamlined supply chain management.

Companies like Zebra Technologies, Simbe Robotics, and Seoul Robotics have been providing various automation solutions such as wearable computers, handheld devices, LiDAR devices, and in-store robots that can be used for inventory scanning, floor care, or security purposes.

While companies such as Mashgin and Cloudpick offer frictionless checkout in stores by combining proprietary computer vision, deep learning, sensor fusion, and edge computing technologies.

Luitel says: Given their obvious operational benefits of enhanced customer experience, streamlined task/employee management, price management, or automated item monitoring, the impact of these technologies on the wider supply chain management for retailers cant be understated.

Beyond enabling rapid fulfillment/restocking or automated inventory management, these technologies also provide additional data points for precise demand and procurement planning.

This can also lead to an enhanced omnichannel presence for retailers and stronger partnerships with suppliers, shippers, distribution center operators, and other supply chain stakeholders through enhanced communication and synergy.

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Revenues from robotics implemented in retail stores to cross $8.4 billion by 2030 - Robotics and Automation News

Aug 29 (Reuters) - North American companies snapped up a record number of robots in the first half of this year as they struggled to keep factories and warehouses humming in the face of an extremely tight labor market and soaring compensation costs.

Companies ordered a record 12,305 machines in the second quarter valued at $585 million, 25% more units than during the same period a year ago, according to data compiled by the industry group the Association for Advancing Automation. Combined with a strong first quarter, the North American robotics market notched its best first half ever, the group said.

"Companies need to get product out the door and so they need" new automation, said Jeff Burnstein, president of the Association for Advancing Automation, known as A3.

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Eaton Corporation PLC (ETN.N), for example, is working on 150 different robot installations over the next year and a half in its electrical equipment factories in North America.

The incentives for companies to pursue a robot-enhanced workforce are obvious in the current tight labor market. With nearly two open jobs for every unemployed worker, employers are bidding up wages: Total U.S. labor costs - covering wages and benefits - surged 5.1% year over year in the second quarter, the most since the Labor Department began tracking it in 2001.

Yet if robots are designed to make workers more productive, that is not evident so far: Those thick order books come as U.S. productivity fell in the second quarter at its steepest pace on an annualized basis since the government began reporting it in 1948.

One possible explanation is the distortions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The crisis saw huge shifts in the workforce, including an exodus of workers during the darkest days of the crisis who are only slowly filtering back into jobs. It is normal for workers to be less productive if they are moving into new careers or changing jobs in their existing fields.

Moreover, much of the latest employment gains have come in lower-productivity service sectors like leisure and hospitality, which also may mask the improvements robots may be making elsewhere.

A3s Burnstein said it also takes time for companies to fully implement new machinery to maximize its potential. "Theres a learning curve," he said.

This is especially true in sectors adopting entirely new technologies, such as the auto industry's turn toward electric vehicles. A3 found nearly 60% of the robots ordered in the second quarter went to automotive companies.

Mike Cicco, CEO of FANUC America, the U.S. division of the Japanese robotics manufacturer, estimates half of his industrys sales to carmakers are currently earmarked for new electric-vehicle factories.

"This is all investment for plants that wont be up and running for several years now," he said, so it is not surprising that those robots are not yet contributing to higher productivity.

The rush to add robots is part of a larger upswing in investment as companies seek to keep up with strong demand, which remains elevated even as the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates to rein in inflation.

Knapheide Manufacturing Co is among companies investing in new robots including a new production line for flatbed truck bodies slated to go into its Quincy, Illinois, factory this year. The new line will use robots to feed steel parts through an automated welding process.

Mike Bovee, the engineer overseeing the installation, said the new robots should help ease a chronic shortage of welders. Knapheide currently recruits those workers from as far away as Texas.

"Well always need as many welders as we can find," he said, but they can be redeployed to other parts of production at the 1,500-worker plant.

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Reporting by Timothy AeppelEditing by Nick Zieminski

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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North American companies send in the robots, even as productivity slumps - Reuters

Discover what tomorrow may hold for the future of robots, drones and droids of all kinds

Look to your favorite sci-fi movie and youll get a good sense of how Hollywood sees robots of the future: Most communicate with us. Some even look like us. But the future of robots doesnt just lie in more lifelike, human and helpful drones, droids and automatons, which well increasingly encounter at every turn. It also lies in smaller, smarter and more self-aware high-tech helpers that will aid and assist with nearly every facet of everyday life.

Alone, robots designed for industrial purposes are projected to be a $35.68 billion market by 2029, per Fortune Business Insights. The market for medical robots is anticipated to trail closely behind. And other areas of robotics, such as self-driving delivery robots, aerospace robotics and hospitality robots, are poised to be billion-dollar sectors.

Like the metaverse (essentially a digital world), real robots will play a bigger role in our lives in the coming years, thanks to continuing advancements in robotics. Likewise, theyll also continue to provide technological and productivity gains in an ever-growing assortment of industries. Artificial intelligence (AI) and the deep learning technology that powers robotswhich attempts to mimic the human brains thought processes (hence AIs ability to be biased)will be ongoing game changers, says Martin Ford, author of Rule of the Robots: How Artificial Intelligence Will Transform Everything.

As he describes it, these advancements are poised to transform virtually every facet of the global economy. In fact, the main argument in my book is that AI will eventually become so ubiquitous that it will evolve into a utility not unlike electricity, Ford points out. [It will be] a resource that can be easily and inexpensively deployed to solve almost any problem.

Before we take a closer look at what the future of robots holds, lets start with a definition of robot. Any automatically operated machine that replaces human effort is a robot.

Robots can resemble human beings, but dont necessarily have to, and are capable of taking on any appearance and performing all types of functions. Humans or computers can program them, but they can also possess their own AI software routines that allow them to ingest and process information, and make decisions, as a living creature might. Some are even capable of self-learning through machine learning, a type of technology that allows robots (or computers of any kind, really) to get smarter with and learn from each interaction.

While classic TV shows like The Jetsons and movies like Star Wars often conjure images of helpful robot maids and bleeping droids, real robots come in all shapes and sizes. In fact, you may already have adopted some in the form of interactive pets that you can play with or robot vacuums capable of self-navigating through your home.

Lest you think youll escape the robot revolution, experts suggest the machines will be ubiquitous in the coming years. Findings by Pew Research Center indicate that by 2025, AI and robotics will be integrated into nearly every aspect of most peoples daily lives. Marc Prensky, director of the Global Future Education Foundation and Institute, posits that within just a few years, the future of robotics and AI will include a world where robots are as omnipresent as cell phones. Nilofer Merchant, co-founder of The Intangible Labs, further suggests that most fundamentals of daily life, from grocery shopping to driving, will also be automated by this time.

As you might imagine, the future of robots holds potential upsides and downsides. Like many tools of technology, what we get out of robots will be a direct reflection of how we choose to use them. The following are just a few benefits and drawbacks of a reliance on robots.

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Experts expect robot technology to grow by leaps and bounds. Well see advances in robots ability to use natural language processing solutions, allowing them to process and interpret conversations more accurately. Well see major gains in AI and machine learning, with experts anticipating that more self-aware and self-learning devices will hit the market.

Computer vision, which empowers high-tech devices to spot, recognize and process still and video images as the human eye would, should also improve robotic performance. Droids of all kinds are also steadily enjoying access to better-performing self-navigation capabilities, requiring less input and guidance from humans to get around. Many companies, in fact, now offer the ability to train robots on digital simulations, allowing them to process millions of data points and improve their artificial intelligence and machine learning with each passing instance.

In other words, tomorrows robots wont just think, act and respond more naturally. Theyll also enjoy quicker response times and better fine-motor skills.

Come 2050, interacting with robots of all kinds will feel like second nature, and well increasingly encounter them at every turn. Theyll take on the role of bartenders, valets, chauffeurs and countless other professions. Thats before you consider their growing presence in the workplace as well, with warehouses and shipping centers increasingly being staffed by helpful droids.

Devices like robots that use AI and machine learning to boost productivity and performance are crucial to the workplace of the future, according to Ford. Looking ahead, their importance to organizations [of any and all kinds] will only grow, he says.

Those that are slow to adopt these new technologies and make the most of them are almost certain to fall behind competitively and decline in relevancy in coming years, Ford suggests. In contrast, he says, those organizations that act now have an opportunity to enjoy a significant first-mover advantage.

Its an almost certain bet that youll see more smart home technologythink robot vacuums, robot mops and automated lawnmowersappearing in the next several years. You can expect to see more robots popping up around offices, on factory floors, in industrial centers and at retail outlets across the nation. Thats because robots are increasingly capable of helping lighten humans workload, dont need lunch or rest breaks and are often capable of producing more predictable results with less downtime and error.

Mind you: This may mean that certain elements of todays workforce, such as factory line workers who perform the same task repeatedly throughout the day, may find themselves in danger of being replaced by drones and droids. But that doesnt mean humans are looking at a future of fewer jobs. Instead, the workforce will experience a shift.

Well need more skilled workers to program, maintain and operate all these robots, and well need data scientists and researchers to help them process, analyze and interpret information. Overall, robots will take over for humans in performing dangerous, burdensome or redundant tasks. At the same time, theyll also create new opportunities for those interested in making the most of this exciting new technology.

And dont forget the many new and exciting applications for robotics: allowing a surgeon to use a remotely controlled arm to operate on a patient from thousands of miles away in real time, or helping an art teacher, using a similar device, instruct students in the art of drawing or painting using distance-learning solutions.

In effect, the future of robots will encompass all sorts of forward-looking developments, such as surgical robots and telehealth technologies, and all manner of innovations that help support companies in every field. Havent yet had a package delivered to your mailbox by a drone or a self-driving truck? The day is rapidly approaching when you will.

As exciting as AI-powered helpers like robots are, according to Citrixs Work 2035 study, the answer is a resounding no. Robots and advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning will not replace humans. And AI isnt poised to take over your job.

Rather, robots will serve as everyday partners in crime, making working with these high-tech solutions more of a collaboration than a takeover. In fact, robots are expected to make us smarter, more productive and increasingly efficient.

Moreover, robots can help make the work of myriad professionals and industries simpler, faster and more cost-efficient. In fact, todays most advanced robots can do everything from sprint through rugged terrain, capturing data and information, to patrol for criminals like police dogs made of metal. (If you live in Massachusetts, you might also spot Boston Dynamicss robot patrol dogs keeping police company.) Robots may soon play very prominent roles as household helpers, co-workers and even public security and education providers.

At the moment, the worlds most advanced robot appears to be a realistic humanoid known as Ameca, which can blink its eyes, smile and mimic human expression and interaction. Going forward, humans will continue to deploy humanlike robots in increasing numbers and with increasingly realistic stylings, though were still many years away from those that will be indistinguishable from real people.

Put simply: While the future of robots may not look exactly like R2-D2 or WALL-E, odds are that youll soon be welcoming them with open arms.

Robots, and the rise of the AI and machine-learning technologies that power them, represent the dawning of the next Industrial revolution, suggests Oren Etzioni, CEO of the Allen Institute for AI. As he points out, The speed, power and breadth of [this] technologys impact across society will be unprecedented.

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The Future of Robots: How Robots Could Change the World - Reader's Digest

Saturday's Dow Red Stick Rumble pitted 20 FIRST Robotics competition teams from Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi against each other as they showed off their 120-pound robots in a bid to win the Red Stick Rumble Trophy.

The event included 14 teams from Louisiana.

FIRST is a global robotics community preparing young people for the future and the world's leading youth-serving nonprofit advancing STEM education.

The competition, sponsored by Dow Chemical, has been held annually since 2013 and has brought in thousands of students from across the South, inspiring them to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and robotics. Attendees can watch the competition and tour the Red Stick Rumble pits where all the teams work to prepare and repair their robots.

Theres nothing like seeing students excited about STEM. Classroom learning is important, but students who are part of a robotics team are learning real world skills like design, manufacturing, and programming that cant be taught through a textbook or a lecture, said Michael Simmons, director of the Denham Springs High School STEM and Robotics Center.

The event is free and open to the public. Food will be sold at the Denham Springs High School Snack Bar. More information can be found at http://www.dsstem.org/rsr.

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20 teams compete with 120-pound robots in 9th Dow Red Stick Rumble at Denham Springs High - The Advocate

BRISTOL At the office of MOVIA Robotics, a white robot the size of a small kitchen appliance with perfectly spherical neon blue eyes and an upturned mouth guides me through a series of activities.

We start with a game the robot, named Kebbi, which looks like it could have come out of the film Wall-E, directs me to tap the falling snowflakes on an iPad screen and melt them with my fingers. Good job, Emilia! said Kebbi.

Then we move to a lesson on numbers. I am to count by fives, dragging each little circle with the number 5, 10, 15, 20 to the center of the screen in the right order.

Kebbi is one of four robots the company has programmed to work with children with special education needs and, in particular, children with autism. The robots are used in schools, group homes and therapists offices to help children with their social skills and encourage them through school lessons.

Tim Gifford, founder, president and chief scientist of the company, said that the company came out of his research into how human behavior and human interaction with the world can be used to inform the way that people program artificial intelligence.

Gifford said that his interest in using psychology to program the behavior of robots goes back to his time at Syracuse University, when he was a student in the computer science department with a minor in psychology. At UConn, he ran a robotics lab in the psychology department. Gifford said he began thinking about the use of robots in teaching neurodiverse children after speaking with his wife, a teacher.

She was telling me about the large numbers of kids that were presenting with autism and how there wasnt really a tool other than one-on-one interactions and its just not possible, particularly in the public schools, he said. And so I thought if we can get this out of the lab and into the classroom, that could really make a difference.

Gifford gathered researchers at UConn and began working on the idea in 2008 after receiving a grant from the National Institutes of Health. He launched MoviaRobotics in 2010. He works with a team of software engineers and specialists in special education, and experts in early childhood, to develop the software. He said they studied learning techniques like Applied Behavior Analysis a type of one-on-one therapy that helps autistic children with social skills and embodied cognition, which examines the role of the bodys interactions with the world and how that contributes to thought processes.

Gifford said it was important that their robots constantly drew children in and made them want to engage.

Its really important that it not only works one time and the child enjoys it, but that it continues to be effective, said Gifford.

In addition to academic help Kebbi can guide students through lessons on counting, days of the week, colors and letters of the alphabet it also teaches these social skills. For example, one lesson about staying focused on work presents children with a drawing of a student who is studying at a desk and another of a student holding a paper airplane. Kebbi asks the child to point out which student is staying focused and which isnt.

The software also allows teachers to create individualized plans for each student based on their abilities, and collects data on each student and produces a report on how the student is performing. According to Gifford, children who have worked with the robots have improved their skills

Gifford said the robots are currently being used in more than 70 schools including Bristol, Wallingford, Hartford, Middletown and Suffield public schools as well as with families, in therapy offices and in organizations for people with intellectual disabilities.

In addition to pre-programmed lessons, Gifford said that a teacher or a therapist can also program the robot to say specific things or engage in a dialogue with a child. Gifford said the robot can also be used to guide a child through de-escalation techniques, like taking deep breaths and counting to ten.

The therapist can actually use the robot to lead the child through different discussions and interactions in a dynamic way.

Movia doesnt build robots the company buys them from manufacturers in China, Taiwan and Japan, and then programs them with their software. The important thing for the robots, Gifford said, is that they are sturdy enough to withstand being handled by a child at an affordable cost for parents or school districts. He said that they also prefer robots that have some human features, like faces and movable limbs.

Muniba Masood, the CEO of Movia, said that children tend to respond to the robot with tenderness and to form relationships with the robot quickly.

They tend to be gentler. They tend to be kinder because of the physicality and because the robot can say their name and they know the robot by name, she said. A lot of times what we hear and see is, individuals with autism have difficulty with human interaction and eye contact. With the robot being so consistent and nonjudgmental and repetitive and almost calming in its tone and effect, that really lends itself to being a great intervention.

The cost of a Kebbi with software is about $2,400 for the first year for a family, or $5,000 for an institution. After that, the cost drops to about $1,000 per year for a family. Gifford said that the company also provides an hour to an hour and a half of training for the teachers or the parents who will use it.

Gifford said the company is working on developing a Spanish-speaking version of the software, something they have received requests for. He said they also wanted to create more programs for older users and adults, along with lessons that have kids engage with more tools than just a tablet.

Masood said that the robot doesnt replace a therapist or a teacher it works in tandem with them, giving them more time to focus on assessing the childs progress and cutting down the time a teacher would normally have to spend refocusing the child on task.

Were wanting to meet the individual where they are, and we know how technology-centric we are, said Masood. So this is a great example of using technology for good and using technology in a way thats powerful and impactful improving lives.

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Bristol-based MOVIA Robotics Develops Tools for Special Education and Children with Autism - CT Examiner

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pilot Company, the largest operator of travel centers in North America, announced today a strategic partnership with Kodiak Robotics, Inc., a leading self-driving trucking company. Through this partnership, Pilot Company and Kodiak are collaborating to develop autonomous truck services at Pilot and Flying J travel centers.

Pilot Company and Kodiak are in the process of creating an autonomous truckport in the Atlanta area to evaluate potential service offerings and explore scalable solutions. These services will include spaces to pick-up and drop-off autonomous trucking loads; conduct inspections; maintain and refuel trucks; and the ability to transfer data for processing, such as feature development and mapping. To strengthen the ability to work together to develop a solution that works best for its customers, Pilot Company has made a strategic investment in Kodiak and will join the company's Board of Directors.

"Pilot Company is committed to providing best in class service to its customers today and going forward," said John Tully, Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Pilot Company. "In making this strategic investment, we understand that our customers have a need for real solutions that help address the growing demand to move goods and Kodiak is a strong leader in the autonomous trucking space. As we explore the future of autonomous trucks and how we can best support these customers, we will continue to be the travel center network that the trucking industry and professional drivers can count on for the services and care they need."

Combining Pilot Company's nationwide network of travel centers and services with Kodiak's technology will play a crucial role in the deployment of autonomous trucks. Kodiak will lend its expertise as Pilot Company looks to integrate autonomous truck services into its operations. The partnership will further define service and maintenance requirements, operational necessities, facilities planning, and more to meet the needs of autonomous trucks.

"Pilot Company's industry-leading network of highway-adjacent travel centers provides unprecedented geographic reach for the launch and scale of Kodiak's fast-growing network of autonomous trucking lanes," said Don Burnette, Founder and CEO of Kodiak Robotics. "Their customer first approach, with a focus on technology, scale, and infrastructure, makes Pilot Company an ideal partner to support the service and maintenance of self-driving trucks nationwide. We are honored to have Pilot Company as an investor, strategic partner, and supporter of our continued commercial footprint growth."

Kodiak entered a hyper-growth phase in 2022, significantly expanding its service footprint and partner network. In July, the company announced a partnership with 10 Roads Express, a provider of time sensitive surface transportation for the U.S. Postal Service, expanding the company's service to Florida. Earlier this year, Kodiak announced a new route between Dallas and Oklahoma City with CEVA Logisticsand a route between Dallas and Atlanta with U.S. Xpress. The company has been delivering freight commercially since 2019 and currently has six routes that run regularly between Dallasand Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Atlanta, Oklahoma City and Jacksonville, Florida.

About Kodiak Robotics, Inc.Kodiak Robotics, Inc. was founded in 2018 to develop autonomous technology that carries freight forward so people, partners, and the planet thrive. The company is developing an industry-leading technology stack purpose-built specifically for long-haul trucks, making the freight industry safer and more efficient. Kodiak's unique modular hardware approach integrates sensors into a streamlined sensor-pod structure that optimizes for perception, scalability, and maintainability.The company delivers freight daily for its customers along six routes in Texas and Oklahoma, operating autonomously on the highway portions of the routes. Learn more about Kodiak on the web at kodiak.ai, and on LinkedInand Twitter. You can find the company press kit HERE.

About Pilot CompanyPilot Travel Centers LLC ("Pilot Company") keeps North America's drivers moving as one of the leading suppliers of fuel and the largest operator of travel centers. Founded in 1958 and headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, Pilot Company has grown its network to more than 800 retail and fueling locations and supplies more than 14 billion gallons of fuel per year to the market. Pilot Company has the fourth largest tanker fleet with more than 1,600 trucks that supply DEF, bio and renewable fuels, and provides hauling and disposal services to the oil field sector. Pilot Company serves 1.3 million guests per day and provides over 70,000 fleet customers with solutions for fuel, credit, factoring, services and rewards. ItsPilot and Flying Jtravel center network includes over 750 locations in 44 states and six Canadian provinces with more than 790 restaurants, 75,000 truck parking spaces, 5,300 deluxe showers, 6,200 diesel lanes and offers truck maintenance and tire service with Southern Tire Mart at Pilot Flying J. TheOne9 Fuel Network connects a variety of fueling locations to provide smaller fleets and independent professional drivers with everyday value, convenience, credit and perks. More information on locations and rewards are available in the myRewards Plusapp.

Pilot Company is currently ranked No. 7 on Forbes' list of America's Largest Private Companies. For additional information about Pilot Company, its 30,000 team members and commitment to giving back, visitwww.pilotcompany.com.

SOURCE Pilot Company

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Pilot Company and Kodiak Robotics Partner to Bring Self-Driving Truck Services to Pilot and Flying J Travel Centers - PR Newswire

Travellers flying into the Bolivian capital of La Paz land in El Alto: a working-class, Indigenous city of countless terracotta houses. Most visitors pay it little attention as the taxi whisks them down to La Paz.

But this one-time satellite city has now outgrown the political capital and many see it as a symbol of the countrys future.

One version of that future has taken shape in Altopa, a graphic novel that depicts El Alto in 2053, with todays Indigenous traditions and cutthroat commerce combined with a flare for robotics and close ties to China.

Alejandro Barrientos and Joaqun Cuevas, the two artists behind the comic, first had the idea back in 2003, shortly after the gas war, when Alteos blockaded La Paz to protest against the governments plan to export natural gas by pipeline through Chile. Security forces were sent in and killed 58 people.

The government fell, ultimately paving the way for Evo Morales and his Movement Towards Socialism to enter power two years later.

The gas war was still very fresh in our minds, and El Alto had been its protagonist, said Cuevas. El Alto had a slogan back then: the City of the Future. They went around asking people how they imagined the city would be in 50 years in 2053. And that was the origin of the idea.

Plans to make an animation fell through, and Barrientos wrote a short story instead. Then the idea lay dormant for 20 years until the pandemic provided the chance to revive it.

Meanwhile, El Alto has boomed. Its population has risen from about 650,000 to more than 1.1 million, fuelled by migration from the western highlands of Bolivia. The city is overwhelmingly Indigenous, especially Aymara, and young: more than half the population is under 25.

It is famous for its commerce and the vast sums of money supposedly flowing through its informal economy, which sees goods of every kind shipped from China and smuggled into Bolivia to be sold in one of the biggest open-air markets in the world.

The sheer speed of growth, and the way it has sucked in migrants from rural towns and thrown them into a metropolis, has created a city full of contrasts and fusions, with the hi-tech, lo-tech and traditional side-by-side.

Thats what got our attention, said Barrientos. The velocity and the youth; the dynamism of politics and commerce.

These elements play out in their imagining of El Alto in 2053, where Abel Plata, an orphan with a gift for robotics, works for the new Aymara elite who in turn work for a giant Chinese conglomerate.

The minibuses that once clogged the streets have sprouted mechanical legs, and pick their way through crowds of people selling, dancing and protesting.

The self-taught tinkerers who made once rudimentary prosthetics now work on coca-chewing cyborgs.

And El Altos famous cholets the flamboyant houses combining Andean elements with pop-culture fixations have gone from being three or four storeys to skyscrapers towering over the city. The parties within them count on holograms and robotic dancers.

But even if its plainly bigger and richer than the El Alto of today, the city depicted in Altopa has a distinctly post-apocalyptic feel to it.

Barrientos and Cuevas turn coy on the subject of the storys wider world and the fate of La Paz not wanting to spoil the future volumes.

Lets just say El Alto has often been seen as in the shadow of La Paz, said Barrientos. But something radical has happened and El Alto has risen.

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El Alto: graphic novel depicts Bolivia citys future as Indigenous and robotic - The Guardian

I think India is a supermarket of problems, but we also have the potential to solve all these problems, Mr. Umakant Soni, CEO, AI & Robotics Technology Park (ARTPARK), said when asked about Indias ability to become a leader in AI.

We have all kinds of problems, if we look at transportation there is a problem, if we look at the weather, there is a problem. We look at roads, there is a problem, So, for AI, the problem data is actually very critical.

Mr. Umakant Soni, who is an alumni of IIT Kanpur, with his numerous years of experience in the industry behind him, is working towards making India a leader in the field of AI.

Besides developing some cool robots, ARTPARK has also undertaken various other projects. In an exclusive interview with Analytics India Magazine, Mr. Umakant Soni shares the vision for ARTPARKand some of the different projects they have undertaken.

We created ARTPARK to create breakthrough AI and robotics technology companies, which can impact 2 billion plus population by 2030.

ARTPARK, which Mr. Umakant Soni, also co-founded, is a non-profit backed Govt of Karnataka and Dept of Science & Technology, Govt of India, under the Indian Institute of Science (IISc)

With seed funding of INR 170 crores from the Department of Science Technology, Govt. of India, under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) and INR 60 crore grant from Govt. of Karnataka, ARTPARK wants to create and boost the university research ecosystem in India.

Mr. Umakant Soni, who is also an advisor for NITI Aayog, believes there is good enough research happening in universities in India; however, they often find it difficult to actually translate that research into useful products or companies that can scale.

When I was at IIT Kanpur, we were trying to start a startup based on my research but we couldnt do that, because there was no ecosystem at all.

However, a lot has changed since then.

With each IITs and IIITs, weve created hubs and connected them together. So this is a massive research ecosystem that India has created.

So we feel if the talent can be made to work on the research thats coming out, combined with the entrepreneurial talent, you know, we could actually have great companies coming out.

We want to support this university ecosystem through enough grant money from the government of India and combine it with entrepreneurial talent and the VC ecosystem. Now weve recently created a USD 100 million venture fund to support the ecosystem.

Robots developed by ARTPARK

We see that if we really want to enable health care at scale, people have to be kept really healthy outside of the hospitals. This is very critical.

By 2030, it is estimated that 80 per cent of the healthcare is going to be outside of the hospital.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, researchers at ARTPARK developed XraySetu, which is an AI model developed in collaboration with HealthTech startup Niramai Health Analytix.

How it works is you take a picture of an X-ray on your phone, send it across through a chatbot on WhatsApp, and you will get a report about your lung health in less than five minutes.

(Source: xraysetu.com)

When we first released it, it was being used by a few doctors in Uttar Karnataka. But what surprised us was that soon more than 10,000 doctors and technicians were using XraySety across India. Not only that, when we looked at the logs, we realised that 20 plus countries actually used it outside of India.

Now, ARTPARk is in the process of turning it into a company.

Then another thing that were trying to do in healthcare is creating gold standard datasets.

Most AI companies use the funding to create good datasets to train their AI algorithms, and this absorbs a lot of the funds they have raised.

But what if you could actually create these gold standard datasets and offer it to people to use right so that they dont have to do everything from scratch.

To create these gold standard datasets, ARTPARK is working closely with the Government of India and also with the private sector.

First of all, we are starting with cancer. Oral cancer is a big challenge in the northern side of India. Cervical cancer, too among women, is a concern. We feel that if we can start there and progressively go into more and more diseases, it could be a big, big game changer.

Another area where ARTPARK is trying to create gold standard datasets is in Indic languages.

We feel that the biggest beauty of India is the diversity in languages. We are working across more than 20 Indic languages.

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Project Bhashini to help deliver web content in different Indic languages. The language datasets developed by ARTPARK will be significant in achieving the goals of Project Bhashini.

We need to figure out a way to make the local dialect more appreciable to the machine that youre just trying to understand. And maybe that is where the true AI will actually come out.

By leveraging AI and robotics, we can unlock human potential to the next level, Mr. Umakant Soni said.

Another big area that we are focusing on is education and learning because when we have spent billions of dollars in machine learning, we havent really looked at it with that same care and concern around human learning.

Today, AI algorithms are learning to beat the Grandmasters in chess in just seven to eight hours. That is scary because if youre not elevating human learning to the next level, then we potentially are setting up a very tricky situation where humans will not be able to differentiate themselves with respect to machines.

Taking the example of Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, Mr. Umakant Soni said that he was mesmerised by the way he moved to head a goal in a football match.

And here we are, were trying to work on this robotic dog, and, of course, its working, but the fluidity with which these athletes move is actually remarkable, and that makes you realise the extent of human intelligence.

So in some sense, in trying to create artificial intelligence, we are learning to appreciate human intelligence.

However, one of the biggest challenges today is that our education system does not appreciate human intelligence.

Weve been working on this experiential learning and looking at how we can change our schools. How can we change our colleges? How can we create the best environment for these human brains to reach their potential, which is unlimited.

In this regard, ARTPARK is working with the Government of Karnataka and Aalto University, Finland, among other parties.

Last year, when former NITI Aayog CEO Amit Kant said that India is well-positioned to become a global leader in AI, it made us wonder if India can compete with the likes of China and the US when it comes to AI.

Mr. Umakant Soni thinks we can. India possesses the right resources to achieve these goals. We have the right source of talent who can propel India towards becoming a leader in AI.

I think we are there in terms of talent as well. I completely agree. Around 11 per cent of top AI researchers are actually, you know, either born in India, or they are Indian-origin people, so we do have cutting-edge talent. Now with this whole NMI CPS mission, I think weve been producing more talent, Mr. Umakant Soni said.

Now, the challenge is to use these resources to their full potential and develop an ecosystem where AI development can progress flawlessly.

I think with the NMI-CPS mission, we are halfway there with the national AI mission also coming into play. Its a billion dollars of investment in AI research and innovation, and this could really propel AI development in India.

So if you ask me by 2030, I see that few of these societal scale AI systems will be in play, and most of the governments will be trying to leverage AI to run the complex governing mechanism. So would India be playing your role in that problem? As a leader, I would say theres a very high probability that we could be a potential leader.

In fact, India is the best possible place to try out new technology, according to Mr. Umakant Soni.

If we can get self-driving cars to work on Silk Board in Bengaluru, it will work in the US, it will work in Europe, it will work in the backyard of Elon Musk as well, he joked.

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Behind Indian Government Supported AI & Robotics Innovation Firm - Analytics India Magazine

New York, US, Aug. 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to a comprehensive research report by Market Research Future (MRFR), Cognitive Robotics Market Analysis by Learning Type and By Application Forecast 2030 valuation is poised to register an 11.12% CAGR throughout the forecast period (20222030).

Cognitive Robotics Market Overview

The human-machine partnership can bridge the gap between productivity and performance. Major industries have already embraced Industry 4.0, which introduces new concepts of integrating cognitive science and artificial intelligence.

Cognitive Robotics Market Report Scope:

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The cognitive robotics market is demonstrating rapid revenue growth. The increasing use of AI-driven robots and cognitive intelligence boosts the market size. Besides, the rising demand for cognitive intelligence and cognitive automation driven by Industry 4.0 supports the market growth. Cognitive intelligence can help humans boost the decision-making process and drive customer engagement within a short time span.

Efficiency and process optimization are critical in manufacturing, and labor shortages can hamper business growth. Cognitive robotic solutions can optimize human workforces and collectively optimize them in a highly productive and efficient manner. Efficient operations always allow a significant amount of time-saving for workers, which they can utilize in learning new skills needed to uplift production capacities.

Cognitive Robotics Market Segments

The cognitive robotics market is segmented into learning types, applications, and regions. The learning type segment comprises motor Babble, imitation, knowledge acquisition, and others. The application segment comprises automotive, aerospace & defense, healthcare, consumer electronics, commercial, and others. The region segment comprises the MEA Asia Pacific, Americas, Europe, and rest-of-the-world.

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Cognitive Robotics Market Regional Analysis

North America heads the global cognitive robotics market, witnessing the vast demand from defense, healthcare, and security. Besides, rising developments and automation across production units substantiate the market demand in this region. The rising focus on enhancing communication capabilities that are required by the defense sector in this region boosts the cognitive robotics market size.

Europe is another lucrative market for cognitive robotics globally. Increasing implementations of robotic solutions in a large number of industries escalate the region's market value. Additionally, the well-established automotive and aerospace & defense sector and the steadily growing need for automated auto manufacturing processes in this region influence market revenues. Furthermore, increasing R&D activities and investments in developing robotics impact the market dynamics.

The APAC cognitive robotics market is growing rapidly. The presence of the growing number of key technology providers and increasing development centers in the region boost the region's market share, allowing the early uptake of advanced robotics. Moreover, the growing industrialization and manufacturing sectors drive the regional market growth.

Industry Trends

Digitalization and Industry 4.0 have started transforming the tech space with cutting-edge technologies. Innovations through cutting-edge technologies such as AI, robotics, and IoT have already started accelerating the productivity rate in various industries. These constant innovations have a huge impact on industrial scenarios. Industry 4.0 has pushed the boundaries to embrace digital transformation efficiently and effectively.

Over recent years, the cognitive robotics market has been making significant strides, mainly due to the integration of artificial intelligence technology in robotics. The rising use of cognitive robotics in growing numbers of manufacturing, distribution, and fulfillment centers for various industrial tasks offers enormous opportunities to market players.

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Increasing industrialization and automation across industrial sectors worldwide create significant market demand. With many organizations increasingly adopting cognitive infrastructure for rapid operation processes, the demand for cognitive robotics systems is growing rapidly. Moreover, improving internet connectivity heading with vast deployments of cognitive networks positively impact the market landscape.

Developments in software structures and wireless technologies define the growing market landscape, increasing the dependence of industries on robotic cognitive systems. Cognitive robotics platforms provide on-demand automation solutions for material handling and inventory management in warehousing applications. The rising demand for cognitive robotics is a major driving force behind the market growth.

Healthcare providers that use in-network face a large increase in patient appointments and have limited available staff & physicians need cognitive robots to manage their day-to-day operations. Bots with cognitive process automation (CPA) that can read and interpret medical claim forms and match medical notes are available to aid medical staff.

Also, machine learning is transforming the field of healthcare process management. Advanced optical character recognition (OCR) and natural language processing (NLP) let these bots understand and respond to claim applications. Implementing bots in the system can automate most healthcare services, incorporating cognitive automation into daily processes.

CPA has been increasing productivity, efficiency, and accuracy for healthcare providers. CPA-enabled bots can take healthcare processes like general administration and data entry to a new level. In addition to standard robotic process automation, these CPA-enabled bots can help make informed decisions, just like humans. Resultantly, ordering, obtaining, and processing labs becomes easy to delegate.

Cognitive Robotics Market Competitive Analysis

The well-established cognitive robotics market appears fragmented, with several key companies forming a competitive landscape. Technology providers incorporate strategic approaches such as collaborations, mergers & acquisitions, expansions, and product & technology launches to gain a larger competitive advantage. They focus on developing new solutions which fuel the already intensified market competition.

For Instance, on March 2, 2022, Sanctuary Cognitive Systems Corporation, a developer of human-like intelligence for robots, announced that it has raised US$58.5 MN in an oversubscribed Series A funding. The cognitive architecture of the company's humanoid robots can mimic the subsystems in a person's brain. Sanctuary's cognitive robots can be used to respond to labor shortage issues, helping people explore, settle, and prosper in outer space.

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Dominant Key Players on Cognitive Robotics Market Covered are:

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Market Research Future (MRFR) is a global market research company that takes pride in its services, offering a complete and accurate analysis regarding diverse markets and consumers worldwide. Market Research Future has the distinguished objective of providing the optimal quality research and granular research to clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help answer your most important questions.

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Cognitive Robotics Market Size To Reach USD 2.65 Billion by 2030 - Report by Market Research Future (MRFR) - GlobeNewswire

Padbot

Telepresence robots were marketed as the ultimate way a remote person could be present somewhere miles away. Yet, during the pandemic-driven work-from-home revolution, we didnt see mass adoption of these quirky iPad-on-a-stick robotic devices.

A telepresence robot is a device that can move around using remote control. It has onboard cameras and microphones so that the operator can feel like they are present in the place where the robot is. Telepresence robots are generally mobile as well, using self-balancing board technology.

Basically, if you attached an IPad to a selfie stick and glued that to a Segway, youd have something close to a telepresence robot.

Even if you work for a large company, youve probably never seen anyone use a telepresence robot. So you may think that its a dead product category, but youd be very wrong. Several companies are actively working on these robots, updating them, and selling them to businesses and individuals.

At the budget end of the market, there are telepresence robots such as the PadBot U1. This allows you to use any tablet computer that fits in the integrated holder, cutting down on the cost of the U1 itself, which comes in at around $800.

At the high-end of the market, you get the Ava Robotics telepresence robot, which has a price of if you have to ask, you cant afford it. The Ava has high levels of autonomy, so the user doesnt really have to control every fine motion of the device.

The short answer is that telepresence robots havent caught in a big way because theres almost always a cheaper and even better way of achieving the same thing. After all, if you can simply ask someone to press a button in their chat app to switch cameras, youre 99% of the way there.

Telepresence robots make sense only when only one person is remoting into a physical space such as a board room. However, in that case, the mobility of a telepresence robot is of questionable value.

We also live in an age of wide-angle cameras, allowing for features like Apple Center Stage where machine vision and image processing software lets a stationary camera look around the scene, focusing on whats important. Virtual Reality allows us to have embodied meetings using platforms such as VRChat. 360-degree cameras allow people to explore or view things like potential properties they want to buy.

The list of problems only these robots can solve is getting shorter by the day as other more practical gadgets take on more capabilities.

While telepresence robots dont make that much sense as remote work solutions, they still have quite a few use cases. For example, during the COVID 19 pandemic, these robots allowed people to visit their sick friends and relatives in hospital without exposing anyone to danger and without the need for the patient to do anything, like hold a phone.

These robots also have security use, allowing security personnel to monitor and communicate with the public without harming themselves.

Theres also a potential for technologies like VR and telerobotics to be combined. Imagine a telepresence robot with a 360-degree camera, controlled using a VR headset like the Meta Quest. So while telepresence robots arent likely to become the remote work hit they promised to be, theres still a place for them in the mix of remote presence technologies that exist today.

RELATED: VRChat Is a Universe of Virtual Worlds: Here's What It's Like

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What Happened to Telepresence Robots? - How-To Geek