Category Archives: Robotics

Nineteen innovative projects developing automation and robotic technologies will receive a share of 12.5 million in government funding to boost productivity, food security and sustainable farming practices, the Farming Minister Mark Spencer has announced today (28 September). This brings the total government funding announced to fund industry-led research and development in agriculture and horticulture to 120 million since 2021.

The projects - funded through the Farming Futures Automation and Robotics competition - include developing a system to accurately predict and enhance quality of strawberry yields, reduce waste and optimise labour and harvesting schedules; a new system to digitally map and monitor vineyards using drones, robots and sensors; and a navigation system for field-based robotic vehicles to improve accuracy and reliability and enable safe navigation in farmyard and field operations.

The funding comes through the Farming Futures Automation and Robotics competition, which is part of Defras 270 million Farming Innovation Programme (FIP) and is delivered by Innovate UK. The FIP has funded 17 competitions since opening in October 2021 which has already seen the development of new approaches to help farms be more sustainable and productive, from new ways to reduce or eliminate pesticide use through to projects to reduce emissions from livestock, and will help meet our commitment at the Farm to Fork Summit in Downing Street in May to continue to produce at least 60% of the food we eat here in the UK.

Speaking at the World Agri-Tech Summit in London, Farming Minister Mark Spencer said:

Farmers are always forward-looking, and innovation is key to driving a resilient, productive and sustainable agriculture sector that puts food on our tables.

The government stands firmly behind agri-tech innovation as the cornerstone of modern farming practices. By providing opportunities, funding and a supportive ecosystem within the sector, we aim to empower farmers, drive innovation and create a sustainable and prosperous future for agriculture across the UK.

Since 2021, the government has announced over 120 million to fund industry-led research and development in agriculture and horticulture, and the Farming Minister Mark Spencer reiterated this commitment to oversee the transformation of the UK into a world-leading agri-tech hub at the World Agri-tech Innovation Summit this week.

At the summit, the Farming Minister outlined the range of competitions under the Farming Innovation Programme that are supporting the sector to invest in new technology that will help grow their businesses, boost productivity and benefit the environment. This includes 10 million currently on offer through the third round of the Small R&D Partnerships competition to help businesses develop a new farming product and service and take it to commercialisation on the open market, and a further 4.5 million through the Feasibility Studies Competition to support businesses and researchers through the testing phase of an idea that will improve the productivity, sustainability and resilience of farming.

In addition the Farming Investment Fund is investing in equipment, technology and infrastructure and the recently launched Investor Partnership competition combines government grant funding with private investment to help smaller agri-tech business to grow and scale.

Florian Richter, CEO of Muddy Machines LTD, said:

Obtaining funding to research and develop such a key component of our technologyis essential to our progression toward commercial operations.

We count ourselves truly privileged to be located in the UK and be able to benefit from this level of government funding support.

Oli Hilbourne, CEO and Co-Founder at Outfield Technologies, said:

The VISTA Project is a great example of the strength of UK innovation funding, bringing together technology companies, growers and academicpartners to solve specific industrychallenges.

The UKs wine industry is growing rapidly, learning best practice from other wine growing regions. With VISTA, the UK wine industry has an opportunity to set the international standard and export our knowledge to the rest of the wine growing world. We are really excited to get started on the project and work with UK vineyards to drive productivity increases.

Dr Katrina Hayter, Challenge Director - Transforming Food Production Challenge at Innovate UK, said:

Robotics and automation are crucial drivers in addressing the challenges posed by a growing global population and the need for sustainable practices in various sectors, including agriculture.

By fostering innovation and research, we empower our farmers, growers, foresters and businesses to not only enhance productivity and economic growth but also to lead the way in sustainable practices. These projects are a testament to our commitment to improving environmental outcomes and reducing carbon emissions, ensuring a brighter and more sustainable future for our agricultural and horticultural communities.

Building on commitments at the Farm to Fork Summit at Downing Street earlier this year, the Farming Minister also pointed to opportunities such as the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act to unlock technologies to improve the productivity and resilience of crops, and support for farmers to attract investment and generate revenue through access to nature markets.

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12.5m for robotics and automation to boost sustainable farming - GOV.UK

NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The robotics as a service (RaaS) market size is expected to grow by USD 1. 50 billion between 2022 and 2027. However, the growth momentum of the market will progress at a CAGR of 18.29% during the forecast period.The market is segmented by Type (Professional and Personal), Application (Intralogistics, Medical applications, Surveillance and security, Field robotics, and Others), and Geography (APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa). Increased remote servicesand the adoption of IoT aremajor market drivers. Providerschangethe way they provide customer serviceas the use of the internet increases. They do so byincluding more online options that rely on using the Internet to interact with customers and solve the problems they face. remote players are informed in real-time about the status of robots and deviceswith the help of IoTby monitoring parameters such as temperature, CPU load, and hours the robot has been active, thereby ensuring effective predictive maintenance planning.Hence, such factors drive the growth of the RaaS market during the forecast period.Technavioprovides detailed market analysis.View a Free PDF Sample

Key Highlights:

Market Dynamics:

Trend

Challenge

The report also covers information on upcoming trends and challenges. Explore detailed information by purchasing thereport

Keg Segments:

Theprofessionalsegmentis significantduring the forecast period.Companiesgrowingly useRaaS to access advanced automation technologies without incurring significant upfront costs. The capabilities of RaaSare extended with theevolution of cloud-based platforms and AI-driven analytics. This further allowsbusinesses to optimize operations and increase productivity.Hence, such factors fuel the professional segment of the RaaS market during the forecast period.Get a glance at the market contribution of the segments, Request a free Sample

Related Reports:

Theplatform-as-a-service (PaaS) market size is estimated to growat aCAGR of 26.42%between 2022 and 2027. Themarket size is forecast to increase byUSD80.82 billion.

The Car-as-a-Service (CaaS) Marketsizeis estimated to growbyUSD 306.31 billionbetween 2022 and 2027 accelerating at aCAGR of 18.09%.

Robotics As A Service (RaaS) Market Scope

Report Coverage

Details

Base year

2022

Historic period

2017-2021

Forecast period

2023-2027

Growth momentum & CAGR

Accelerate at a CAGR of 18.29%

Market growth 2023-2027

USD 1.50 billion

Market structure

Fragmented

YoY growth 2022-2023 (%)

17.09

Regional analysis

APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa

Performing market contribution

APAC at 37%

Key countries

US, China, Japan, South Korea, and Germany

Competitive landscape

Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks

Key companies profiled

Ademco Security Group Pte Ltd., Caja Elastic Dynamic Solutions Ltd., Cobalt Robotics Inc., Exotec SAS, Field Group AS, HAHN Group GmbH, Harvest Automation, inVia Robotics Inc., Irobot Corp., Knightscope Inc., Kraken Robotics Inc., Locus Robotics Corp., Marks and Spencer Group plc, OhmniLabs Inc., Rapyuta Robotics Co. Ltd., RedZone Robotics Inc., Relay Robotics Inc., Sarcos Technology and Robotics Corp., Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd., and Zebra Technologies Corp.

Market dynamics

Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, Market condition analysis for the forecast period.

Customization purview

If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

ToC:

Executive Summary

Market Landscape

Market Sizing

Historic Market Sizes

Five Forces Analysis

Market Segmentation by Type

Market Segmentation by Application

Market Segmentation by Geography

Customer Landscape

Geographic Landscape

Drivers,Challenges, &Trends

Company Landscape

Company Analysis

Appendix

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.

With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contacts

Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email:[emailprotected] Website:www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio

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Robotics As A Service (RaaS) Market size to increase by USD 1.50 ... - PR Newswire

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Socially and emotionally intelligent robots pose an incredible opportunity not only for the market but for our loved ones young and old. Embodied has built an advanced social interface that enables human-like interaction: changes in the intonation of voice, smiling, reading body language and eye contact, and more without long, awkward pauses or the need for the use of constant wake words.

Moxie the robot has helped neurodivergent and neurotypical children with social, emotional, and cognitive development. This includes specific content modules and conversations around making mistakes, reading, emotional regulation and recognition, making friends, and more. It has the ability to recognize progress and understanding of topics and can prompt children when it detects the child could benefit from further development in an area. Moxie is also able to respond with eye contact and gesticulate with its arms, making for a more believable, personal experience.

This framework is being applied to service additional populations, including senior citizens, adults with mental illnesses, neurodivergent adults, people experiencing loneliness, and more. During his talk at RoboBusiness, which takes place in Santa Clara, CA, on October 18-19, Dr. Paolo Pirjanian, the CEO and Founder of Embodied, will explain the considerations and developments going into this new iteration and offer an onstage demonstration.

Pirjanian is the former CTO of iRobot and an early leader in the field of consumer robotics with 16+ years of experience developing and commercializing cutting-edge home robots. He worked at NASA JPL and led world-class teams and companies at iRobot, Evolution Robotics and others. In 2016, Paolo founded Embodied with the vision to build socially and emotionally intelligent companions that improve care and wellness and enhance our daily lives.

RoboBusiness is the leading event focused on developing commercial robots. There will be 60-plus speakers, 100-plus exhibitors and demos on the expo floor, networking receptions, thePitchfire Robotics Startup Competitionand more. You can check out thecurrent list of speakers, to which more will be added.

RoboBusiness will be co-located with theField Robotics Engineering Forum, an event focused on successfully developing robots that operate in wide-ranging, outdoor, dynamic environments.

Also co-located with RoboBusiness is DeviceTalks West, the premier industry event for medical technology professionals, currently in its ninth year. Both events attract engineering and business professionals from a broad range of healthcare and medical technology backgrounds.

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Learn how to create socially intelligent robots at RoboBusiness - Robot Report

RAPID CITY, S.D.-Breanna Connett, D.O., board-certified general surgeon, and Marcus Tjeerdsma, M.D., board-certified general surgeon, joined Monument Healths General Surgery team earlier this month. The addition of these two robotics-trained surgeons expands the ability to providethe most advanced minimally invasive, general surgery services to the region.

Both Dr. Connett and Dr. Tjeerdsma are trained in da Vinci Robotic Surgical Assist System. For patients, the benefits of robotic surgery include smaller incisions, which can alleviate blood loss and reduce risk of infection, among other things.

The General Surgery Team is dedicated to not only bringing the most advanced surgical systems and techniques to the region but also the best physicians, said Jacob Weasel, M.D., medical director of general surgery for Monument Health Rapid City Market. Our surgical teamcontinues to grow to meet the needs of our communities.

At Monument Health, our surgical care teams in Rapid City and Spearfish include skilled, experienced surgeons and specialists equipped with the latest diagnostic and surgical technology.Patients will now have easy access to a full spectrum of board-certified surgical experts.

The expansion of the robotics-trained surgical team allows our physicians to care for more patients, close to home, said Robert Santa-Cruz, M.D., executive medical director of robotics for Monument Health. Growing and expanding our team also allows patients to have shorter wait times to see a physician and get the care they need.

Visit with your primary care physician for a referral.

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Monument Health Welcomes Two New Robotics-Trained General ... - Newscenter1.tv

Researchers have successfully 3D-printed a soft robotic gripper that can function immediately after fabrication without any electronics technology, allowing it to function both mounted or untethered for more flexibility of application. Roboticists at the University of California San Diego developed the devicewhich functions right off the printerin collaboration with researchers at BASF Corp.

The device is equipped with built-in gravity and touch sensors that allow it to pick up, hold, and release objects, using fluid logic to remember when it has grasped an object and is holding on to it, the researchers said. When it detects the weight of the object pushing to the side as it rotates horizontally, it releases the object.

Its the first time such a gripper can both grip and release," explained Yichen Zhai, a postdoctoral researcher in the Bioinspired Robotics and Design Lab at the University of California San Diego. "All you have to do is turn the gripper horizontally."

Researchers designed the functions of the device so that a series of valves would allow the gripper to both grip on contact and release at the right time, he explained. Turning it, then, triggers a change in the airflow in the valves, making the two fingers of the gripper release.

To reach their design goals for the device, researchers had to overcome some drawbacks of current 3D-printed soft robots, including a certain level of stiffness, a large number of leaks when they come off the printer,and the need for a fair amount of processing and assembly after printing to function properly.

To do this, the team developed a new 3D printing methodin which a printer nozzle traces a continuous path through the entire pattern of each layer printed. The researchers compared it to drawing a picture without ever lifting a pencil off the page, and the method reduces the likelihood of defects in the final printed device, they said.

The new method also allowed researchers to print thin walls down to 0.5 millimeters in thickness which, when paired with complex, curved shapes, allow for a higher range of deformation. This resulted in a software structure for the gripper overall, a departure from more previously rigid printed devices, they said.

Researchers published a paper on their work in the journal, Science Robotics. The gripper is part of a larger design aim to develop soft robotics machines that can more safely interact with humans and handle delicate objects than their rigid counterparts.

The researchers envision the gripper mounted on a robotic arm for industrial manufacturing applications, food production, and the handling of fruits and vegetables. It also could be mounted onto a robot for research and exploration tasks, or function untethered, as it requires only a bottle of high-pressure gas to provide the energy it needs to function, the researchers said.

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3D-Printed Robotic Gripper Works Without Electronics - Design News

Retreating ice has exposed the rocky shoreline of Cape Rasmussen on the Antarctic Peninsula. Xi Yu, a West Virginia University engineer, is leading robotics research that could help a nationwide consortium of researchers learn more about glacial melt and changing levels of ocean ice. (Derek Ford/University of Hawaii, Manoa)

Research from West Virginia University mechanical and aerospace engineer Xi Yu could help scientists reach ocean waters hidden away beneath ice shelves.The inaccessible waters underocean ice contain information critical to understanding the impact of climate change, and Yu said she believes multiple marine robots, carried and coordinated by an intelligent mothership, can reach those depths and communicate what they learn.

An assistant professor at the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources and a member of WVU Robotics, Yu has received National Science Foundation support for a three-year project developing technologies to control swarms of passenger robots, intended for release by their autonomous mothership into an icy subaquatic world.

She is part of a coast-to-coast network of oceanographers and engineers who have come together to collaborate on the increasingly urgent problem of how to access oceanic ice cavities. The community of partners working together toward the proof-of-concept mothership-and-passenger system originated at Oregon State University and has expanded outward to include computer engineers, roboticists, oceanographers and glaciologists from Brigham Young, Temple, Purdue and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, in addition to WVU.

Hundreds of millions of peoples hometowns are threatened by rising global sea levels and the mass loss of glaciers is driving that rise, Yu said. What I have learned from the oceanographers and scientists is that glacier melts usually take place in under-ice cavities the ice melts in those cavities, turning into fresh water. Then it flows out, driving ocean water into the cavities, which speeds up the melting of the ice shelves that stabilize the glacier.

Thats why we want to observe what is going on in those cavities and help scientists better understand and predict glacier loss and sea level rise. With limited surface access to the cavities and a huge risk of losing any submarine that goes down to explore, we turned to this idea of an autonomous vessel carrying a robot crew.

An exploration mission might require anywhere from 10 to 100 passenger robots to work as a coordinated communication network, Yu said. The robot swarm could sample the ocean within ice shelf cavities, capturing data that could be key to predicting melting of ice shelves, stability of glaciers and the flow of ice into the ocean.

Oceanographers really need to get measurements from beneath the ice and its extremely difficult, she explained. Ive heard stories about scientists drilling through kilometers of ice to try to reach these cavities. I want to help provide better options. When we came up with this idea, I was very excited from Day One.

While under-ice observation is the goal for this research, Yu said she believes the system being developed isnt limited to ocean ice and should have the ability to detect and monitor underwater algal blooms and conditions after disasters like oil spills.

Yu specializes in making robots work together, so the research she leads focuses on controlling the passenger robots and on coordination between the robots in the swarm.

The passenger robots share information about their positions and about the data they have collected. That information gets aggregated on the mothership to make sure no data is lost, that we can retrieve the robots, and that we have optimized the configuration of the swarm and the sampling the robots are doing, she said.

Were also working on swarm coordination algorithms that use the positions of the passenger robots relative to one another to optimize their navigation and their power consumption.

Yu said the spirit of collaboration and information sharing that brought together scholars across disciplines and institutions to plumb the icy waters was responsible for the collective decision to make the hardware, software and communication algorithms open source, so other researchers can adapt our system to their own mothership and swarm.

-WVU-

mm/09/26/23

MEDIA CONTACT: Micaela Morrissette Research Writer WVU Research Communications 304-709-6667; Micaela.Morrissette@mail.wvu.edu

Call 1-855-WVU-NEWS for the latest West Virginia University news and information from WVUToday.

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WVU Today | WVU researcher to help send swarm of marine robots ... - WVU Today

SmartTerra and Solinas Integrity won the Ashirvad Water Challenge, a competition organised by The/Nudge Centre for Social Innovation and Ashirvad by Aliaxis, in partnership with the office of the principal scientific adviser to the Indian government. The competition, which began in February 2022, aimed to address the critical issue of clean drinking water for all. SmartTerra won 1 crore, Solinas 75 lakh SmartTerra founders (L-R) Gokul Krishna Govindu, Giridharan Sengaiah, and Navaneethan Santhanam Bengaluru-based SmartTerra has developed an AI-powered data analytics platform to monitor leakage, bursts, low pressure and other issues in urban waterways/ water networks and faulty meters. During the pilot phase of the challenge, they identified 11 invisible leaks and exhibited 77% accuracy in localising losses. The platform is operational in Coimbatore, Kolkata, Pune, Bengaluru, the Philippines, and Cambodia. Solinas Integrity founders Moinak Banerjee, Bhavesh Narayani and Divanshu Kumar, with a teammate Chennai-based Solinas Integrity has created a robotic solution called Endobot to detect leaks and contamination in pipelines. This solution addresses water wastage and contamination in pipeline distribution, a problem that affects over 70% of treated water in India. During the pilot phase of the challenge, they identified over 40 contamination points that helped in saving 600,000 litres of water per day. The platform is operational in a number of Indian cities.

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Using robotics & AI to reduce water - Times of India

Excerpted from The Datapreneurs courtesy of Peakpoint Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing.

When artificial general intelligence (AGI), the ability of machines to match or even surpass human intelligence, seems to be within our grasp, we must encode ethics models within our future intelligent machines to ensure they contribute to the betterment of humanity and fulfill the new social contract we need.

While growing up in suburban Michigan, I was the nerdy sort of kid who loved math and science and, not surprisingly, became the AV guy who ran the projector at school. I loved tinkering with electronic gadgets. My other great love as a teenager was science fiction, particularly the work of Isaac Asimov. I read hundreds of his novels and short stories during my teens and twenties. It was not until recently that I began thinking more deeply about intelligent machines ethical and moral implications. I looked back at what Asimov had written about the relationship between people and robots. In addition to featuring robots prominently in his novels and stories, he wrote dozens of essays about them. Asimov concluded they should be respected, not feared or controlled. He developed rules for how they should interact with humanity. Asimov was an optimist and a realist.

I am an optimist and a realist, too. To achieve a future where artificial intelligence benefits humanity, we need a new social contract that governs the relationship between people and the emerging generation of AGI machines.

The concept of a social contract emerged in the Age of Enlightenment, the period of rigorous scientific, political, and philosophical questing that spanned the 18th century in Europe. Traditionally, a social contract is an implicit or explicit deal between the government and the people in a country where individuals surrender some of their freedoms and follow the rules laid out by governments in exchange for other benefits and maintenance of the social order. Because social orders are under constant stress, the values, laws, and regulations that embody social contracts require reexamination and modification when new factors come into play.

The new social contract I have in mind would govern the relationship between people and smart machines assuring that people are safe and the newly emerging AGI entities align with our values and interests. It would consist of a set of rules agreed to by the worlds governments, businesses, and other institutions defining what intelligent machines can and cannot do and how people can and cannot use them.

When I look ahead, I see amazing things coming. We are at the beginning of an intelligence revolution similar to our world in the 1850s during the Industrial Revolution.

This computer science journey began in earnest in the 1940s and 1950s. It was not until the 1960s that universities began offering computer science degrees. Then, the PC, the web, the smartphone, big data, the cloud, foundation models, and tremendous advances in artificial intelligence came in rapid succession. The science and industry that emerged from the IT revolution are still changing rapidly but are also maturing. Technology transforms our world, businesses, and our personal lives.

Now we are on the verge of another great lift. By harnessing AI and other techniques to master the explosion of data we see today, we can understand how the world works much more accurately and comprehensively. We can make better decisions and use Earths resources more responsibly. Throughout my career, I have focused on bringing technology to bear to help businesses succeed. As computer technology developed, its potential impact for good or potential harm increased. I am hopeful these coming technological advances will improve the well-being of our species and the sustainability of life on this planet.

Over the past 80 years of the computing revolution, intelligent machines matched or bested one human capability after another. First, we created machines with expertise in a single domain. With the arrival of foundation models, the depth of AI systems knowledge, the speed with which they react or predict, and the accuracy of their predictions are pretty darned impressive. They already demonstrate a recall of knowledge far beyond human capabilities. Now, we create machines with expertise in multiple domains. These large-scale machine learning models will dramatically lower the cost of intelligence, enabling new smarts and capabilities in applications and services of all types.

I believe machines will possess artificial general intelligence within the next decade.

I see the 2030s and beyond as the golden era of robotics. Todays robots that make cars on assembly lines and clean up nuclear power plants after meltdowns are impressive. But the robots of the future will impress on another order of magnitude. They will be largely autonomous because they cannot always take orders from computing systems located in the cloud. To make machines capable of autonomy, we will have to provide them with AI capabilities that are miniaturized and localized. Initially, these machines will serve single purposes like cleaning our floors, delivering packages, driving vehicles, and flying us around. Over time, more general purpose robots that take on human characteristics and form will emerge.

I believe machines will possess artificial general intelligence within the next decade. It is only a matter of when. These prospects do not frighten me, but they do concern me. What is the societal impact in a world where smart machines are general purpose, matching the capabilities of people and exceeding them in many ways? What ethics and rules will control these machines? In the future, it seems likely that robots will be capable of performing most physical tasks, and intelligent models within them will be capable of performing most intellectual tasks. What will people do if machines and AI systems do all that work?

I am not an expert in AI, and I am not an ethicist. I am an engineer and a businessman. I do not have a clear answer to these issues. These questions will likely be among societys most critical policy issues in the decades ahead. Computer scientists, business leaders, government officials, academics, ethicists, and theologians must work together.

I believe people will develop solutions to the profound ethical issues raised by tomorrows robots and intelligent machines, but I think the process will be messy. In history, every major technological advance has been used, for good and bad. Ultimately, though, common sense prevails, and society establishes laws and regulations that oversee the use of technology. This governance applies to everything from electricity to nuclear technology, and I believe the same will happen with intelligent machines.

We can and will overcome these challenges, and the rising tide can lift all boats. But these issues will not solve themselves. We must think deeply about them and design solutions before the disruptions take full force.

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We need a new social contract for the coming golden age of robotics - Big Think

The global transition to renewable energy sources is rapidly gaining momentum, with solar power playing a crucial role in the shift towards a more sustainable future. As the adoption of solar panels continues to grow, the need for efficient and cost-effective maintenance of these installations has become increasingly important. One of the most promising solutions to this challenge lies at the intersection of autonomous robotics and solar panel cleaning technologies.

Solar panels are highly dependent on their ability to absorb sunlight, and even a thin layer of dust or dirt can significantly reduce their efficiency. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, dirty solar panels can lose up to 25% of their energy output, which translates to a considerable loss in potential revenue for solar farm operators. To maintain optimal performance, solar panels need to be cleaned regularly, which can be a labor-intensive and costly process, especially for large-scale installations.

This is where autonomous robotics come into play. By combining advanced robotics with innovative cleaning technologies, it is now possible to create automated systems that can efficiently clean solar panels without the need for human intervention. These robotic solutions not only save time and labor costs but also minimize the risk of damage to the panels and reduce water consumption, making them an environmentally friendly option.

One of the key factors driving the synergy between autonomous robotics and solar panel cleaning technologies is the rapid advancement in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. These technologies enable robots to navigate complex environments, recognize patterns, and make decisions based on real-time data. In the context of solar panel cleaning, AI-powered robots can analyze the level of dirt on the panels, determine the most efficient cleaning method, and adapt their movements to the specific layout of the solar farm.

Another important aspect of this synergy is the development of specialized cleaning tools and techniques designed specifically for solar panels. Traditional cleaning methods, such as pressure washing or manual scrubbing, can cause damage to the delicate solar cells and are not always effective in removing stubborn dirt and grime. Robotic cleaning systems, on the other hand, can be equipped with advanced technologies such as electrostatic cleaning, ultrasonic cleaning, or even laser cleaning, which can remove dirt and dust without causing any harm to the panels.

The integration of autonomous robotics and solar panel cleaning technologies is already showing promising results in the field. Companies like Ecoppia, a leading provider of robotic solar panel cleaning solutions, have developed fully autonomous systems that can clean large-scale solar installations with minimal water usage and without the need for human intervention. These systems have been deployed in solar farms around the world, demonstrating their effectiveness in maintaining the performance of solar panels and reducing operational costs.

As the demand for clean energy continues to grow, the need for efficient and sustainable maintenance solutions for solar installations will become even more critical. The intersection of autonomous robotics and solar panel cleaning technologies offers a promising path forward, enabling solar farm operators to maximize the performance of their assets while minimizing environmental impact and operational costs.

In conclusion, the synergy between autonomous robotics and solar panel cleaning technologies is poised to revolutionize the way solar installations are maintained, ensuring that they continue to deliver clean, renewable energy for years to come. As AI and machine learning continue to advance, we can expect even more sophisticated robotic solutions to emerge, further enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of solar power generation.

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The Intersection of Autonomous Robotics and Solar Panel Cleaning ... - EnergyPortal.eu

In a significant advancement in robotics, Google DeepMind has introduced a new AI agent named RoboCat. This agent is designed to learn a variety of tasks across different robotic arms, showcasing the ability to self-generate new training data to improve its techniques, marking a crucial step towards the creation of general-purpose robots.

RoboCat, a Transformer model with a VQ-GAN encoder, was released in June 2023. It is primarily intended for research into learning to accomplish a wide variety of tasks from expert demonstrations or multiple real robot embodiments for manipulation.

The primary intended users are Google DeepMind researchers, and it's not intended for commercial or production use.

RoboCat's standout feature is its learning speed. It can master a new task with as few as 100 demonstrations, leveraging a large and diverse dataset. This capability reduces the need for human-supervised training, potentially accelerating the pace of robotics research.

RoboCat's training involves a comprehensive five-step self-improvement process. It starts with collecting 100-1000 demonstrations of a new task or robot, using a robotic arm controlled by a human. This new task or arm data is used to fine-tune RoboCat, creating a specialized spin-off agent. This agent practices the new task or arm an average of 10,000 times, generating more training data.

The demonstration data and self-generated data are then incorporated into RoboCats existing training dataset, and a new version of RoboCat is trained on the updated dataset.

This process enables RoboCat to learn from a wide range of tasks and diverse training data types. Having been trained on millions of trajectories from both real and simulated robotic arms, RoboCat handles a variety of tasks involving different objects and variations, sourced from Reinforcement Learning (RL), Teleoperation (Teleop), and RoboCat itself.

These tasks include stacking RGB objects, tower and pyramid building with RGB objects, and lifting NIST-i gears, among others. The training involved four different types of robots and many robotic arms to collect vision-based data representing the tasks RoboCat would be trained to perform.

RoboCat demonstrates impressive adaptability by quickly learning to operate different robotic arms. For example, after observing 1000 demonstrations controlled by humans, RoboCat could successfully direct a new arm with a three-fingered gripper and twice as many controllable inputs, achieving an 86% success rate in picking up gears.

Moreover, the more new tasks RoboCat learns, the better it gets at learning additional new tasks. The initial version of RoboCat achieved a 36% success rate on previously unseen tasks after learning from 500 demonstrations per task. However, the latest version, trained on a more diverse set of tasks, more than doubled this success rate on the same tasks.

RoboCat's performance was evaluated through various tasks, such as inserting and removing objects from a bowl and lifting large gears. These evaluations were conducted in both simulated and real-world environments and compared to the performance of human teleoperators.

During the training process, RoboCat uses different observations to understand the robot's position and grip. These observations include joint angles, TCP position, gripper joint angle, and gripper grasp status. The specific observations depend on the robot and objects being used.

In the development of RoboCat, an interesting comparison was made between the VQ-GAN tokenizer and the patch ResNet used in Gato. The patch ResNet tokenizer performed better during training tasks but performed worse on tasks that were not included during training.

It's important to note that RoboCat is currently an early research model and has not been evaluated for deployment and safety outside of research environments. As RoboCat's capabilities expand, potential ethical and safety risks need to be carefully addressed. Therefore, caution should be exercised when considering the use of RoboCat outside of research settings. Nonetheless, the development of RoboCat represents a significant milestone in the field of robotics and AI, bringing us closer to a future where robots are an integral part of our everyday lives.

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RoboCat: Google DeepMind's innovative leap into AI-powered ... - The Jerusalem Post