Category Archives: Robotics

The school year may have ended on May 23, however teaching never stops. Throughout the summer, the doors of Crestline Elementary were opened for learning.

Teams of Crestline teachers offered camps. Third grade teachers Tara Davis and Laura Rives offered a week long TechCamp for rising third, fourth and fifth graders. This camp provided students an opportunity to learn more about Google Classroom and work within the framework to create, format and share documents and presentations. Most importantly, the curriculum focused on Digital Citizenship, meaning teaching children how to safely research information and pictures.

Fourth grade science teacher Amy Anderson provided two opportunities for Coding and Robotics Camp open to rising first through sixth graders. The children were introduced to and worked with Ozobot, Dash and Dot, 3D Printing, and Osmo. Ozobot and Dash and Dot are interactive robots that allow children to practice coding skills. Osmo is a tool that transforms your iPad into a hands-on learning tool. The basic features focus on math, spelling and drawing. The 3D printer is used to create three-dimensional objects in which layers of material are formed under computer control. All aspects of this camp fostered creativity and problem solving through hands on play.

-Submitted by Caroline Springfield

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Technology, robotics, coding and more - Village Living

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Carnegie Mellon University's Advanced Robotics Manufacturing Institute will be the first anchor tenant to set up shop in a former Hazelwood steel mill, officials said Monday.

Donald Smith, president of the Regional Industrial Development Corp., said the institute would occupy about two-thirds of the first of three buildings planned for Mill 19, a former LTV rolling mill.

Gov. Tom Wolf visited the site Monday to examine the mill property owned by the Almono partnership, which includes the Heinz Endowments and Richard King Mellon and Claude Worthington Benedum foundations. RIDC has managed the site.

From the commonwealth's point of view it's a way to renovate, rehabilitate an area that's been not under utilized, (but) unutilized for the last how-many' years, Wolf said. Aesthetically, think of what it means for the appearances in this area, but then it also reconnects the area of Hazelwood. I think what they're trying to do here is an audacious thing: to try to re-establish that connection in a way that pays tribute to Pittsburgh's current incarnation as a high-tech capital.

Almono is planning a $120 million development including light manufacturing, about 2,000 apartments, shops and restaurants on the 178-acre property bordering the Monongahela River.

Plans call for the removal of Mill 19's siding and construction of three separate buildings under the 1,500-foot-long building's steel skeleton.

Solar panels on the western side of the roof should be enough to completely power the first two buildings.

Gary Fedder, CEO of the robotics institute, said ARM and Almono are finalizing lease details.

It's going to happen, but we need to work through a few details, he said. I want this thing built by the end of March. You can do the math and figure out how challenging this is going to be.

CMU in January won more than $253 million in funding to set up the institute. It includes $80 million from the U.S. Defense Department and $173 million from some 200 partner organizations.

The institute will work on integrating robotics and autonomy into manufacturing.

Smith said the Mill 19 design was chosen to maintain Pittsburgh's history as a steel producer and its future as a hub for high-tech manufacturing.

Ride-share giant Uber Technologies has developed a test track for self-driving cars on the Almono site, although Smith said the San Francisco-based company is no longer leasing a railroad roundhouse on the property. Smith said Almono plans to keep the roundhouse.

He said RIDC has scrapped plans to move its offices into Mill 19 because private companies are lining up as potential tenants. He said Almono is negotiating with an international technology company, which he would not name, as a major tenant in the second building.

It doesn't help the world much to have us here, Smith said. It really helps a lot more to have a technology company with a presence.

Wolf, who also toured the Hazelwood business district, said he supports a state Senate proposal to help plug a $3.2 billion gap in the state's $32 billion budget.

The Senate voted for a mix of new taxes and tax increases, including a levy on natural gas extraction.

What I like in the Senate proposal: There is real, recurring revenue, Wolf said. No one likes any taxes, but we're looking for something that has recurring revenue. It's real, it's not smoke and mirrors and it passes that test.

Bob Bauder is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-765-2312, bbauder@tribweb.com or via twitter @bobbauder.

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Robotics institute set to anchor Pittsburgh's mammoth Almono ... - Tribune-Review

Auris Surgical Robotics just raised $280 million in a Series D round, bringing its total funding to date to $530 million.

Never heard of Auris? You're not alone. The startup--which was founded in 2007 by Federic Moll, co-founder of Intuitive Surgical, which makes the da Vinci robot--has made an art of keeping its R&D, and even its basic ambitions, under wraps. It has yet to release a product to market.

Last year, Auris got FDA approval for its first medical robot, an endoscope to help treat lung conditions. That bot is part of a class of flexible robots that avoid cutting patients by using the body's natural openings--the mouth, in the case of the FDA-cleared bot.

The company has chosen lung cancer as its first surgical target, according to a vague statement on its website.

So why did 39 investors help pad Auris' latest round? A big part of the reason is the incredible success of Intuitive, which saw $2.7 billion in revenue last year.

Intuitive received FDA clearance for the da Vinci in 2000, though at that time it wasn't clear how readily surgeons would adopt the new technology or how patients would react to it. But the robot quickly demonstrated reduced complications associated with, among other things, prostate removal.

Because of the position of the prostate, surgeons have to enter through the abdomen and then tunnel down to reach it. The invasiveness of the procedure carries high risks, and two common complications are incontinence and impotence. The da Vinci uses long pencil-like rods in place of a surgeon's hands, meaning surgeries performed with it are less invasive, reducing complications and recovery times.

Last year, Auris spent $80 million acquiring another Moll company, Hansen Medical, which has a trove of valuable patents relevant to robotic surgery.

According to Auris' website: "With our technology, physicians will be able to access early stage lung cancer without incisions, allowing accurate diagnosis and targeted treatment."

Cancers of the lungs and airways kill more than 150,000 people each year, in part because diagnosis often comes late. Current surgical treatments are invasive and risky. Auris clearly sees an opportunity to do better.

The company is based in San Carlos, California. I'll be following this one closely in the months ahead as Auris moves to market with its FDA-cleared device.

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Secretive surgical robotics company raises $280 million | ZDNet - ZDNet

by: Steve Gehlbach Updated: Aug 7, 2017 - 7:17 AM

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - Students in the state's largest district will have new tools and new programs when they go Back 2 School Monday morning, and it includes robots.

All elementary, middle and high school students in Gwinnett County will get their hands on robots.

It is part of the districts STEM Science, technology, engineering and math approach for all grades.

Channel 2s Steve Gehlbach visited Puckett Mill Elementary School to see how the program works and how students build the robots.

Every child at our school has an opportunity to program robots, to build robots, to learn about coding, said instructional coach and robotics mentor Mandy Collins.

I think its a fun learning experience, fun to have hands-on learning, how to build stuff, make stuff, said student Nick Perdue.

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Students at Meadowcreek High School also get to do just that at their new makerspace that opened at end of last school year.

The new labs let students use real-life materials to solve real problems, beyond just sitting in a classroom and taking notes.

Gwinnett County's STEM program

So coming into school the first day the students will have the opportunity to actually do what they learn, to solve real life problems, said Meadowcreek principal Tommy Welch. This space provides that opportunity and encourages innovation in our students.

The goal with the robotics and all the STEM education is to get students more engaged, using teamwork, and make learning more relevant to the problems students face outside of the schools in their own communities.

Well have teams of reporters and photographers, as well asNewsChopper2 and Triple Team Traffic guiding you through the first days of the school year, every weekday on

Channel 2 Action News This Morning from 4:30 to 7 a.m.

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Robotics class expands to more Gwinnett County students | WSB-TV - WSB Atlanta

Patch.com

Toms River East Robotics Team Wins $1000 Staples Grant Patch.com East's Robotics Club is dubbed the Raiders Shortcircuits. In addition to competing at events throughout the year, the Shortcircuits perform outreach to elementary schools, using their robot to encourage interest in STEM skills and careers. The funds ...

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Toms River East Robotics Team Wins $1000 Staples Grant - Patch.com

Pittsburgh Business Times

Robotics pioneer and former CMU Provost Jordan dies at 86 Pittsburgh Business Times It was in the latter role, in 1979, when he joined with Raj Reddy, a computer science professor, and Thomas Murrin, a top executive at Westinghouse Electric Corp., to create the Robotics Institute, which was the first to establish a Ph.D. program in ...

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Robotics pioneer and former CMU Provost Jordan dies at 86 - Pittsburgh Business Times

What happened

Shares of robot-assisted surgery start-upMazor Robotics Ltd. (NASDAQ:MZOR)gained 20% in July, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The market boosted the stock in response to news that its most recent spinal surgery system continues to gain traction.

The company began taking orders for its new Mazor X surgical system last October and ended 2016 with an 18-system backlog for the new product. News of just six Mazor X orders in the first quarter this year raised concern that interest in the new system had fizzled, plus a state agency investigation disclosed in June also hit the stock hard.

Image source: Getty Images.

While the company still hasn't shed much light on the reason for the investigation, announcing 16 Mazor X orders during the second quarter, and 19 total system orders, went a long way toward assuring investors that the Mazor X system is indeed gaining popularity.

The pre-earnings order announcement predicted record second-quarter revenue, which the company delivered earlier this month. Second-quarter revenue rose 87% higher from the same period last year to $15.5 million. While placing more systems into more hospitals is important, investors will want to keep an eye on recurring revenue from consumables that must be replaced after each surgery performed. In the second quarter, revenue from kit sales and services rose a healthy 50% to $6.3 million.

Compared with industry giantIntuitive Surgical, Mazor Robotics is still small potatoes. As my Foolish colleague Brian Feroldi pointed out recently, Mazor's focus on spinal surgeries has kept the two from crossing paths. The robotic-surgery space is changing rapidly, but for now, it looks as if Mazor will remain at the top of the nice little niche it's carved out for itself.

Cory Renauer has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Intuitive Surgical. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Here's Why Mazor Robotics Ltd. Gained 20% in July -- The Motley Fool - Motley Fool

The United Kingdom has published a set of Key principles of vehicle cyber security for connected and automated vehicles outlining how auto-makers need to behave if they want computerised cars to hit Blighty's byways and highways.

Penned by the UK's Department for Transport, with help from the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure, and launched by transport minister Lord Callanan, the principles suggest all participants in the auto industry's long supply chains must work together on security both in the design process and for years after vehicles hit the roads.

The eight principles follow:

Each principle has sub-principles and that's where the detail gets interesting. Principle 1.2, for example, suggests Personal accountability is held at the board level for product and system security (physical, personnel and cyber) and delegated appropriately and clearly throughout the organisation.

Principle 2.4 expects Security risks specific to, and/or encompassing, supply chains, sub-contractors and service providers are identified and managed through design, specification and procurement practices.

Principle 3.4 may raise eyebrows as it suggests Organisations ensure their systems are able to support data forensics and the recovery of forensically robust, uniquely identifiable data. This may be used to identify the cause of any cyber, or other, incident. The combination of uniquely identifiable and other incident isn't spelled out, but suggests all manner of avenues to investigate driver behaviour, although those efforts could founder on Principle 7.3's insistence that Users are able to delete sensitive data held on systems and connected systems.

There's some sound OpSec suggestions under Principle 5, with 5.3 calling for Design controls to mediate transactions across trust boundaries, must be in place throughout the system. These include the least access principle, one-way data controls, full disk encryption and minimising shared data storage. Principle 5.4 suggests Remote and back-end systems, including cloud based servers, which might provide access to a system have appropriate levels of protection and monitoring in place to prevent unauthorised access.

Principle 8.1 sets out how a car should respond to malicious hacking attempts, by stating The system must be able to withstand receiving corrupt, invalid or malicious data or commands via its external and internal interfaces while remaining available for primary use. This includes sensor jamming or spoofing.

To The Register's mind, the Principles are largely sound and could handily be applied to other Internet of Things devices.

Lord Callanan's announcement suggests the Principles will be included in future legislation governing self-driving cars on British tarmac.

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UK publishes Laws of Robotics for self-driving cars - The Register

A team of seven students, who represented Nigeria in the maiden edition of the FIRST Global Robotics Olympiad (GRO) in Washington DC, U.S. have been commended for their impressive performance.

The team came third out of 41 African countries that participated in the competition and ranked 25th out of 162 countries. They also got two other awards.

Faysal Jarmakani, sponsor of the Nigeria team, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Lagos that some international organisations had indicated interest to partner with the organisers of the event as a result of the feat.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia defines Robot competition as an event where robots have to accomplish a task. Usually they have to beat other robots in order to become the best one.

NAN reports that FIRST is the acronym of For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology and the goal of the competition is to expose students to collaborate on techniques to solve global problems.

Mr. Jarmakani said: The seven Nigerian students that participated in the Robotics Olympiad performed very well; they were ranked as number three in Africa and 25 among 162 countries that took part in the competition.

The team also got two other awards including the Sofia Kovalevskaya Gold Medal for International Journey.

The other award, the Al-Khwarizmi Award, Silver Medal for Outstanding Supporter, was given to Omar and Faysal Jarmakani for their support and dedication in achieving the journey of Team Nigeria.

As a result, some organisations have shown interest to partner with Dean Kamen, the organisers of the event, by providing robotics tools.

According to Mr. Jarmakani, the organisations also indicated interest to support Team Nigeria, especially as we were not given adequate support by the government.

The organisation, Sr. Technology Policy Specialist of the World Bank, expressed interest in working with the mentors and sponsors of Team Nigeria to provide Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Grants.

Also, a leading New York-based Academy reaching out for collaboration in providing tools of change through technological innovation have requested for collaboration with a U.S-sponsored, Nigeria-based organisation, he said.

In her response, the mentor of Team Nigeria, Remi Willoughby, commended the students for performing well during the competition.

Mrs. Willoughby called on the federal government to give necessary support to the team as it did not receive enough support for the outing.

For example, we were expected to see the Nigerian Ambassador to the U.S at the opening of the event to cheer the team, but he was not there.

Rather, it was the U.S Ambassador to Nigeria that was there to welcome the team and cheer them during the event; it was an encouragement to the team.

Our government should be more involved in robotics as it will help to promote science and technology, which is the footstool for the countrys development, she said.

Mr. Willoughby urged students of 15 to 18 years, who are interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, STEM, to participate in the competition.

(NAN)

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Despite inadequate govt support, Team Nigeria shines in global robotics competition - Premium Times

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (NEWSPLEX) -- The Cavalier Robotics team is looking for new members.

They held an open house on Grounds on Sunday.

Team 619 is a high school robotics team in Central Virginia that celebrates science and technology by letting high school students get hands-on experience with robots.

There are about 20 members on the team now, and some say the hardest part is communicating as a team.

"Making sure all of the projects are done, we make the right decisions in the games so we perform the best on the field," said Micah Mutseheller, team member.

"A lot of school teams are a lot bigger than we are," said Seth Kilmer, team member. "If you have a huge team and not coordinated at all, you're not going to have a functioning robot at the end of six weeks."

The team recently won a district championship in robotics.

If you missed out on Sunday's recruitment, we have information on how you can sign up in the Related Links box.

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Cavalier Robotics recruiting new team members - The Charlottesville Newsplex