Category Archives: Robotics

Gov. Paul LePage is pledging up to $25,000 in matching funds to benefit a charter schools robotics team, one of a handful of K-12 expenditures from the governors contingency fund.

The money is for the Outliers, a FIRST robotics team at Baxter Academy for Technology and Science. The team was a subdivision winner at the annual FIRST championship in St. Louis, Missouri, and the first Maine team to reach the finals round, school officials said.

The FIRST robotics challenge this year was to build a robot no taller than 3 feet, no heavier than 120 lbs and powered by a 12 volt battery that completes a series of complex tasks.

LePage invited the Outliers to Blaine House on Friday.

This is an incredible accomplishment and the Governor wants to celebrate it and ensure they have the resources to continue, spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett said in an email. Governor LePage supports charter schools and hes willing to put his money where his mouth is.

LePage hopes to encourage businesses to support the Outliers or any robotics team in the state, she said.

Of seven Maine FIRST robotics teams that qualified to go to the St. Louis championships, the Outliers were one of three that attended. Infinite Loop, from Messalonskee High School in Oakland, was eliminated in the quarterfinals, but won the Gracious Professionalism award. The Bucks Wrath, from Bucksport High School, was also eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Infinite Loop and Northern Force, a FIRST robotics team from Falmouth and Gorham, are two of only six U.S. robotics teams invited to China to participate in a cultural and technological exchange in June, where they will partner with local students on a robotics challenge.

Bennett said the governor has used the contingency fund on other education-related initiatives, including $7,000 for Regional School Unit 50 for two teachers to attend an out-of-state conference on dyslexia, $30,000 to the University of Maine School of Law Foundation for scholarships, $30,000 for the Challenger Learning Center in Bangor for math and science programs for middle school students, and $50,000 for My Place Teen Center, a nonprofit in Westbrook.

The governor can spend up to $350,000 a year from the contingency fund.

LePage has used the contingency fund for a broad range of causes, including paying to ship lobster care packages to other governors, making donations to charitable organizations and giving $50,000 to a drug treatment center in Ellsworth. In a May 2 radio interview, he said he planned to use the fund to pay for lawyers to sue Attorney General Janet Mills.

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LePage pledges to match donations for charter school robotics team - Press Herald

Pepper with QUT's roboticist Belinda Ward

The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has unveiled its plans to study social robotics, inviting SoftBank Robotics' Pepper onto its campus.

The university will be using Pepper as a social robotics research platform, which it said complements the Queensland government's strategy to explore the potential for humanoid robots.

The Japanese technology giant's Pepper is capable of recognising emotions and mimicking human behaviours such as following the conversation around it by looking at whoever is talking.

"Pepper is probably the most 'personable' robot on the market in terms of its perceived emotional intelligence, which makes it a fantastic platform to investigate the suitability of social robots, which is still a very new field," QUT roboticist Belinda Ward said.

"What we learn from human-computer interactions with Pepper will inform the next generation of service robots, building an effective social component into their task-oriented programming."

Ward is from QUT's Science and Engineering Faculty and is also a part of the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision, which recently received a two-year, AU$1.5 million research and development grant from the Queensland government to explore social robotics with SoftBank.

The AU$1.5 million comes courtesy of the state government's Advance Queensland initiative, which was launched by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in the 2015-16 Budget.

Ward said the funding would allow her team to explore the different applications of these robots across a range of settings and conditions, and their effectiveness in each.

"While a social robot in every home is probably a long way off for society, I see a place for social robots supporting human staff in every hospital, aged care facility and classroom, as companions and helpers -- and there are no doubt many more settings we haven't even considered yet," she added.

"Would a shy child in a classroom be more willing to ask a question of the robot rather than the class? Would a nursing home resident enjoy reminiscing about their past to a robot? Would a hospital patient feel comfortable chatting with a robot as it tidied their room?"

Ward's team will also work with ST Solutions Australia (STSA), a subsidiary of SoftBank Corp, to improve Pepper's vision and navigation systems.

QUT's use of Pepper will also have a strong student focus, expected to spend most of its time interacting with students and the public at The Cube, the university's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) engagement space.

QUT students and visiting high school students will also be able to experiment with Pepper, coding programs for it to run.

Last month, STSA signed a two-year proof of concept agreement with the Queensland government that will see it work on the development of humanoid robots, artificial intelligence, and other autonomous systems out of the state's innovation and startup centre located in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley.

The partnership will allow the government to explore the potential for humanoid robotics in education, health, and customer care.

STSA, the state government, and QUT's technology commercialisation company, qutbluebox, will also work in partnership to deliver a Robotics Accelerator program that will bring together entrepreneurial teams and innovative hardware technologies, as well as business mentorship.

"This program will fast-track the development of the next generation of startup founders to drive forward robotics and other hardware solutions across a range of industries," qutbluebox CEO Tim McLennan said on Thursday.

According to McLennan, the Robotics Accelerator is Australia's first accelerator dedicated to robotics.

When SoftBank offered 1,000 of its emotionally intelligent Pepper robots to the consumer market in 2015, the entire run sold out in under a minute.

Pepper was developed for SoftBank by Aldebaran, a French robotics company specialising in emotionally intelligent humanoids that can function in unstructured environments like homes, shops, and specialised care facilities.

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QUT to use SoftBank's Pepper for social robotics research - ZDNet

Ashtabula County Technical and Career Campus robotics squad, The Machinists,battled their way to a first place finish at the Alliance for Working Together Foundations seventh annual Robobot Competition at Lakeland Community College on April 29.

Amid flying sparks and metal crunching clashes, Arditi, a radio controlled robot designed by A-Techs Robotics squad defeatedthe Beaumonsters of Beaumont School in the championship round.

Teams from public, private and career technical schools from across Northeastern Ohio competed at the event.

It was exciting, team member Ayden Arendas said. Curtis (Beukeman) was the driver and Damian (Schoville) ran the weapon. I think the key to winning was building a well built and protected bot.

The Machinists are now preparing to enter the fray at a National Competition held at California University of Pennsylvania on May 20 which will feature robotics teams from across the United States.

We noticed that a lot of matches are lost because the robobots electronics would fail after being hit a couple of times. So, having reliable electronics, well-constructed parts and a titanium shell were more than enough to make sure our robobot was able to take a beating and still fight, Arendas said. Arditi is still in one piece and is completely functional. We did have to replace a bolt or two but no significant damage was done

The Machinists technical advisor, Short Run Machine products owner Scott Ray agreed.

Very minor damage to our bot after each round made for an easy day, Ray said. The key strategy was our driving: taking our time, driving with great skill and then making our move to attack. We cannot wait until the National Competition. We are ready to battle the big boys.

All of Arditis working components were machined in A-Techs learning laboratory.The robotics team includes Precision Engineering and Machining seniors Ayden Arendas, Curtis Beukeman, Damian Schoville and Justin Osborne.

It was a very exciting day, for sure, saidA-Tech Precision Engineering and Machining instructor RonMaurer. Im so proud of these students for their diligence over months of refining the bot and working so well as a team at the competition.

The A-Tech Machinists are under the guidance of Ray; Wecall, Inc., engineer Ben Chaffee; and instructor Ron Maurer.

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A-Tech's robotics team wins first in regional competition - The Star Beacon

Members of 7 Sigma FTC 10030 demonstrate the functionality of the robot used for last season's competition.(Photo: The Enquirer/Sheila Vilvens)Buy Photo

Austin Motz fondly remembers summer camps at iSpace in Sharonville.

There, as an elementary school and middle school student, he learned the art of LEGO engineering incorporating motors and computer coding. He also learned aboutvideo game design,robotics and more. These experiences fed his passion for the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).

It was there he was introduced to FIRST Tech Challenge(FTC) teams of students learning about real world applications of STEM through robotics competitions and expos. Motzs STEM interest and talents landed him a spot on a robotics competition team out of West Chester.

Before long his dad, Martin Motz, became a team coach and 7 Sigma Robotics FTC10030 was formed. Team members areAustin and Andrew Motz, John Mays, Jackson Todd, Zach Rana, Rohan Rindni, Tassos Manganaris, Lauren Perozek and Nick Norton all of Anderson Township.

Now a Turpin High School student and a robotics competition champion, Motz and his 7 Sigma teammates are focused on educating others about the activitythey love. Last season 7 Sigma earned the PresidentsSilver Volunteer Service Award in recognition of the 550 plus hours of community service.

Were the only team at state to win this recognition, team member Jackson Todd said.

It wasnt their only award that year. In fact, they brought home several prestigious titles and qualified for state competition at multiple contests. But the volunteer award was one they hold special.

The robot used by 7 Sigma FTC 10030 of Anderson Township for competition last season.(Photo: Provided)

Providing motivation and generating an interest in robotics, thats the driving force behind the teams mission, Todd said.

A lot of people have no idea about the FTC or that theres even such a thing as competitive robotics, Tassos Manganaris said.

Were trying to make it more widely known, he said. So when people hear robotics competition the first thing that comes to mind isnt BattleBots, he said.

Key to this is getting into the schools, especially the elementary schools, and talking to students, Todd said.

Most of their outreach and community service efforts last year were at iSpace, a popular field trip and summer camp destination with a focus on inspiring and expanding students STEM knowledge.

Individually and as a team, 7 Sigma members have many interests. The top interest, however, is the FTC competition. The competition season begins in the fall with teams receiving a problem to solve and a box of parts, motors, sensors and gears. From that, they are to design, build and program a robot to take on various tasks on a court or game table.

This is a perfect match to the iSpace mission of getting children interested in STEM and STEM careers at an early age, iSpace Executive Director Sue Williams said. The volunteer efforts of 7 Sigma are encouraged.As a nonprofit, volunteers are critical to controlling costs.

Plus, she said, I think the kids love learning from older kids. And they can articulate what they did with (their STEM learning)."

The 7 Sigma team members make it "cool" to be involved in STEM, Williams said.

This spring and summer, the members of 7 Sigma remain committed to iSpace but are also expanding efforts to introduce robotics competition to younger students. Look for them to return to Anderson Days this summer with their robot and a willingness to talk about their experiences. They are also partnering with several Forest Hills schools to introduce STEM and robotics competition to other students.

What theyre doing is right in line with the FTC expectations, FTC Ohio Affiliate Partner Lori McAlister.

They did admirably in competition this past year making it to the state tournament, she said. They made it to the finals. Its a very competitive sport. Last year there were 100 teams in Ohio and 32 go to state. Only five advance to nationals. In its first year of competition 7 Sigma was in the top 1 percent of teams going all the way to nationals - a feat they hope to repeat.

This season they are focusing on innovation and design skills that might help them to achieve this goal.Until then, the teams focus remains on outreach.

To learn more about 7 Sigma and robotics competition, email themat 7sigmarobotics@gmail.com

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Anderson robotics competition team: 'It's not BattleBots' - Cincinnati.com

By Catherine Graham

The player approaches the ball and prepares to score the goal. The crowd waits anxiously.

The player isn't David Beckham or Cristiano Ronaldoit's a small, blue EduMIP mobile robot. And it's not the final moments of the World Cup. Instead, it's a robotics demonstration in a lab on the campus of Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering.

While the stakes aren't quite as high, these demonstrations are still nerve-wracking for students in the graduate-level Robot Systems Programming course.

"Not all the demos work out perfectly, and that's OK. But you have to try," said Louis Whitcomb, chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering who created and has taught the course for the past four years. Despite many hours of planning, building, and testing the robots, students know that at any given moment, things may not go as planned.

Students in his course spent the last five weeks of the spring semester building and programming their own independent robotic projects. Whitcomb provides equipment and instruction but encourages students to experiment and set their own project goals. On Monday and Tuesday, 12 student teams demonstrated their robots in labs across the Homewood campus.

Students Andrew Dykman, Saurabh Singh, and Allen Jiang built a system that allows five separate EduMIP robots to communicate, move into a swarm formation, and work together to achieve complex tasks. During the demonstration, the team explained how, with some fine tuning, this technology could have many real-world applications.

"Take, for example, self-driving cars," Dykman said. "If every car on the road is running automated systems and communicating with cars around it, we could move cars at a higher speed without crashing, or reduce traffic jams by eliminating human errors."

For their project, students Kevin Yee and Nicole Ortega decided to take a favorite pastime to the next level.

"We know people already like to play chess against a computer, so we wanted to see what it'd be like to play chess against a robot," Yee said.

The pair created a platform that allows users to play chess against a chess engine on a physical board. They built a mobile robot, equipped with an end effector, that can make strategic moves and place chess pieces on target locations. According to Ortega, the robot usually wins.

Other demos included robots that can locate a soccer ball and score goals, a ball-catching robotic arm, a "self-standing" robot that can leap across obstacles, a team of robots that can map a location, and autonomous quadcoptors.

The Robot Systems Programming course gives students the tools to create their own unique vision of what a robot can do. Some will graduate next week and enter the field, and some will continue graduate work in robotics. Either way, Whitcomb said he hopes his students will use these skills to continue to explore what's possible in robotics.

"This course is intended to be a capstone experience for our advanced undergraduate and graduate robotics students," he said, "in which they use and apply the knowledge they have learned in the mathematics, engineering, and physics of robotics to develop real-world robots that can sense and interact with people and the world."

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See bots run - The Hub at Johns Hopkins

May 16, 2017 by Daniel Evans Pritchard "The new frontier is learning how to design the relationships between people, robots, and infrastructure," says David Mindell, the Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing, and a professor of aeronautics and astronautics. "We need new sensors, new software, new ways of architecting systems." Credit: Len Rubenstein

Science and technology are essential tools for innovation, and to reap their full potential, we also need to articulate and solve the many aspects of today's global issues that are rooted in the political, cultural, and economic realities of the human world. With that mission in mind, MIT's School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences has launched The Human Factoran ongoing series of stories and interviews that highlight research on the human dimensions of global challenges. Contributors to this series also share ideas for cultivating the multidisciplinary collaborations needed to solve the major civilizational issues of our time.

David Mindell, the Frances and David Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing and Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, researches the intersections of human behavior, technological innovation, and automation. Mindell is the author of five acclaimed books, most recently "Our Robots, Ourselves: Robotics and the Myths of Autonomy" (Viking, 2015). He is also the co-founder of Humatics Corporation, which develops technologies for human-centered automation. SHASS Communications recently asked him to share his thoughts on the relationship of robotics to human activities, and the role of multidisciplinary research in solving complex global issues.

Q: A major theme in recent political discourse has been the perceived impact of robots and automation on the United States labor economy. In your research into the relationship between human activity and robotics, what insights have you gained that inform the future of human jobs, and the direction of technological innovation?

A: In looking at how people have designed, used, and adopted robotics in extreme environments like the deep ocean, aviation, or space, my most recent work shows how robotics and automation carry with them human assumptions about how work gets done, and how technology alters those assumptions. For example, the U.S. Air Force's Predator drones were originally envisioned as fully autonomousable to fly without any human assistance. In the end, these drones require hundreds of people to operate.

The new success of robots will depend on how well they situate into human environments. As in chess, the strongest players are often the combinations of human and machine. I increasingly see that the three critical elements are people, robots, and infrastructureall interdependent.

Q: In your recent book "Our Robots, Ourselves," you describe the success of a human-centered robotics, and explain why it is the more promising research directionrather than research that aims for total robotic autonomy. How is your perspective being received by robotic engineers and other technologists, and do you see examples of research projects that are aiming at human-centered robotics?

A: One still hears researchers describe full autonom as the only way to go; often they overlook the multitude of human intentions built into even the most autonomous systems, and the infrastructure that surrounds them. My work describes situated autonomy, where autonomous systems can be highly functional within human environments such as factories or cities. Autonomy as a means of moving through physical environments has made enormous strides in the past ten years. As a means of moving through human environments, we are only just beginning. The new frontier is learning how to design the relationships between people, robots, and infrastructure. We need new sensors, new software, new ways of architecting systems.

Q: What can the study of the history of technology teach us about the future of robotics?

A: The history of technology does not predict the future, but it does offer rich examples of how people build and interact with technology, and how it evolves over time. Some problems just keep coming up over and over again, in new forms in each generation. When the historian notices such patterns, he can begin to ask: Is there some fundamental phenomenon here? If it is fundamental, how is it likely to appear in the next generation? Might the dynamics be altered in unexpected ways by human or technical innovations?

One such pattern is how autonomous systems have been rendered less autonomous when they make their way into real world human environments. Like the Predator drone, future military robots will likely be linked to human commanders and analysts in some ways as well. Rather than eliding those links, designing them to be as robust and effective as possible is a worthy focus for researchers' attention.

Q: MIT President L. Rafael Reif has said that the solutions to today's challenges depend on marrying advanced technical and scientific capabilities with a deep understanding of the world's political, cultural, and economic realities. What barriers do you see to multidisciplinary, sociotechnical collaborations, and how can we overcome them?

A: I fear that as our technical education and research continues to excel, we are building human perspectives into technologies in ways not visible to our students. All data, for example, is socially inflected, and we are building systems that learn from those data and act in the world. As a colleague from Stanford recently observed, go to Google image search and type in "Grandma" and you'll see the social bias that can leak into data setsthe top results all appear white and middle class.

Now think of those data sets as bases of decision making for vehicles like cars or trucks, and we become aware of the social and political dimensions that we need to build into systems to serve human needs. For example, should driverless cars adjust their expectations for pedestrian behavior according to the neighborhoods they're in?

Meanwhile, too much of the humanities has developed islands of specialized discourse that is inaccessible to outsiders. I used to be more optimistic about multidisciplinary collaborations to address these problems. Departments and schools are great for organizing undergraduate majors and graduate education, but the old two-cultures divides remain deeply embedded in the daily practices of how we do our work. I've long believed MIT needs a new school to address these synthetic, far-reaching questions and train students to think in entirely new ways.

Explore further: Should cars be fully driverless? No, says an engineer and historian

This story is republished courtesy of MIT News (web.mit.edu/newsoffice/), a popular site that covers news about MIT research, innovation and teaching.

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Expert discusses the future of human-centered robotics - Phys.Org

Forbes

How Robotics Will Change the Food Industry Forbes I think we'll see this across industries where basic tasks that can be easily automated eventually will be, and it will pave the way for a workforce that is more productive and efficient. Q: What interesting developments can we expect in robotics in ...

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How Robotics Will Change the Food Industry - Forbes

The robots are coming, the robots are coming! Everywhere you look, you see whitepapers and discussions about robotics and its use in AML and compliance generally. And rightfully so, this is definitely going to be a boon to the industry in allowing for more efficiency, consistency, and effectiveness. The problem with all the content and hype is that Robotics has been blown out of proportion. Promises are being made that cant be kept I left one presentation wondering if compliance departments would just become rooms full of servers. Compliance requirements are only increasing, creating more work for AML compliance departments. At the same time, banks are becoming leaner and less likely to throw more headcount to solve issues. Instead, AML Compliance Departments need to start finding ways to make their employees more efficient and effective, essentially take on more work with the same amount of people. This is where Robotics can help.

Especially if you are not a technology person, Robotics can be very daunting. You either avoid it because you dont understand it or you avoid it because you are overwhelmed by the volume of information in the market. Ignoring the obvious hypocrisy of this post adding to that volume, the goal here is to clarify what Robotics is and filter out the noise of how it can be used in your AML program.

RPA or RDA?

Robotics is a general term that can refer to a few different uses of digital robots to automate work. For the most part, when discussing Robotics most people refer to Robotic Process Automation (RPA). This is using Robotics to automate an entire process, from start to finish. This is the T-1000 Terminator, completing replacing a person in a process. The other type of Robotics, which is discussed less often, is Robotic Desktop Automation (RDA). This is the Robocop, combining human and robot. This involves automating parts of an overall process, to allow for the human to focus on the more complex and value add tasks.

At first glance, RPA sounds like the way to go its like adding more headcount, but in robot form. Great! The truth is, this is extremely hard to do. There are few processes, especially in the AML world that will not require some level of human review and decisioning think transaction monitoring and sanctions screening investigations or even due diligence reviews.

In comes RDA. Augment your analysts with robots, to help them work faster. Those robots can take on the manual and repetitive tasks like logging into multiple mainframe systems, collect information from the same internal systems repeatedly, running the same searches on external websites or data providers over and over again. While you arent adding headcount, you are enhancing your analysts and allowing them to focus on synthesizing information and making decisions making them more efficient.

You want Robocops, not Terminators.

Transaction Monitoring and Sanctions Screening Investigations

What are the tasks that take the most time for your investigators? From my days managing investigators, the tasks that took up most of their time were repeatedly logging into the various databases, mainframes, applications, and websites that they needed to use for their investigations; pulling customer and account information from various systems; and running negative news searches and internet searches on parties of interest. In essence, they spent most of their time collecting information. Instead, imagine them starting their investigation with all of the initial information at their fingertips? They could then start their investigation by using their brains, not mindlessly collecting data. Not only does this make them more efficient, it makes them happier. Happier investigators are better investigators and better investigators can work more cases.

Customer Due Diligence (CDD)

Collecting CDD for your Know Your Customer (KYC) information is no easy task. The regulations continue to increase the requirements, and with regulatory scrutiny increasing, internal policies are becoming more onerous as well. To make things worse, most banks dont have unified databases for customer information internally, rely on legacy systems, and use a multitude of external sources to collect information. As a result, analysts have to search multiple systems, have difficulty finding information, and conduct repetitive searches over and over.

Robotics can address these issues by creating strategic integrations between internal and legacy systems, collect information from websites where an API integration does not exist, and take over the repeated searches on external sites. Similar to the assistance provided in financial crime investigations, Robotics can help centralize and collect all the necessary information for due diligence, allowing the analysts to focus on reviewing/assessing customer information and conducting enhanced due diligence.

Robotics is a great tool to gain efficiency, but dont think of it as the silver bullet to save all your problems. It should be one of the tools in your automation tool bag, not the only one. Just like any tool, you need to understand the problems that it is meant to solve so it can be used correctly.

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Robotics and AML: Enhancing, Not Replacing, Your Analysts - Finextra (blog)

Cane Bay High Schools FIRST Robotics Team 3490 Viper Drive, the first in the schools history, has ended another productive season.

Following a regional competition in Myrtle Beach, the 40-member group contended at the Rocket City Regional Competition in Huntsville, Alabama on Mar. 22.

Team spokesperson Ogugua Nwaezeigwe said the group learned from past errors and made modifications to their robot, enabling them to place seventh out of about 50 teams. The team did not place high enough to qualify for the national championships, but Nwaezeigwe said Cane Bays engineering-group remained strong.

We had to really stick together when we lost, Nwaezeigwe said. That mentality made our robotics team a family and more tightly-knit than we were before.

Despite the setback, the group clinched an entrepreneurship award for their thorough business plan that outlines their funding resources and intentions to continue inspiring youth with STEM initiatives. And while they didnt qualify through the regional competition for a championship bid, patience on the FIRST championship waiting list and donations from generous sponsors afforded them a trip to the national competition in Houston.

There, they snagged $5,000 in a social media FedEx Innovation Challenge to cap off a successful season.

I accomplished my dream of holding a big check, Nwaezeigwe joked.

Perhaps one of the teams most notable achievements this season, though, was its very own spokeswoman capping the Deans List award at the earlier Palmetto Regional competition. The FIRST robotics founder, Dean Kamen, developed the award to celebrate students whose passion, leadership and dedication to FIRST proves exemplary.

Nwaezigwe was quite modest about the accomplishment.

[Deans List] students try to make a change in their communities, she said. Thats all I try to do nowadays.

She added that the group placed 46 out of about 60 teams in Houston in the midst of fierce competition on a rigorous robotics course.

FIRST is a nationwide initiative that challenges students to create a robot with a six-week time frame to accomplish a specific task. Students are also simultaneously raising funds for their organization, as well as obtaining teamwork and leadership skills.

Cane Bays robotics group is led by Nikki Stancampiano, who teaches introduction to engineering and design at the high school, and a host of volunteer mentors.

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Robotics team concludes successful season - The Gazette

TechCrunch

Amazon's Tye Brady and ABB's Sami Atiya to Speak at TC Sessions: Robotics July 17 at MIT TechCrunch We first developed the idea for TC Sessions: Robotics because we wanted to bridge the gap between startups and investment in the robotics world namely research, academia, government and industry. On July 17 at MIT's Kresge auditorium in Cambridge, ...

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Amazon's Tye Brady and ABB's Sami Atiya to Speak at TC Sessions: Robotics July 17 at MIT - TechCrunch