Category Archives: Robotics

Medtronics Hugo robot-assisted surgery system [Image courtesy of Medtronic]Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) today announced it received three significant global market entrance and indication expansion approvals for its Hugo robotic-assisted surgery system.

The Fridley, Minnesota-based company won CE mark clearance for general surgery indication, Health Canada license for general laparoscopic surgery indication and Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare approval for urologic surgical and gynecological laparoscopic indications in Japan.

The new indications and approvals enable access to robotic-assisted surgery in Europe, North America and Asia to extend the benefits of minimally invasive surgery.

Robotic-assisted procedures have fewer complications, shorter hospital stays and faster return to normal activities. General surgery, gynecology and urology account for more than 80% of all robotic-assisted surgical procedures performed globally and general surgery is the fastest-growing segment within robotic surgery, according to Medtronic.

Receiving these important approvals paves the way for our expansion into key robotic markets, said Mike Marinaro, senior VP and president of surgical robotics at Medtronic. The Hugo RAS system was designed to address the barriers to robotic surgery adoption, and these approvals are significant steps in bringing the benefits of minimally invasive surgery to more patients in more places around the world.

Hugo uses the companys Touch Surgery Enterprise, a cloud-based surgical video capture and management solution, to offer a smart, digitally enabled surgical experience. It has wristed instruments, 3D visualization and dedicated support teams that specialize in robotics program optimization, service and training.

These regulatory approvals are a major step in expanding the benefits of minimally invasive surgery to patients around the world. We truly believe that AI-assisted robotic surgery will transform the operating room, Chief Medical Officer of Surgical Robotics at Medtronic Carla Peron said in a news release. Our team is thrilled to begin partnering with more surgeons and customers to help build and grow their robotic surgery programs in this hugely important area of healthcare.

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Medtronic expands global access to robotic-assisted surgery with three new global indication expansions - Mass Device

Photo Illustration by Erin OFlynn/The Daily Beast/Getty and The STEAM Connection

Language revitalization is vital to preserving Indigenous cultures and identitiesbut resources are dwindling. Fewer than 1 in 10 Indigenous children in the United States spoke a traditional language at home in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Thats less than half as many as among Native Americans 65 or olderan alarming figure when many of these elders can be the sole speakers of a particular language. The lack of tribal school funding and other systemic obstacles like geographic isolation only exacerbate the issue.

As this gloomy, multigenerational problem plagued her Ojibwe community, inventor and Indigenous advocate Danielle Boyer considered a modern solution: robots.

"We do not have a lot of resources for my language, Ojibwemowin," Boyer told The Daily Beast. "The goal is to revitalize our languages affordably and in a way that the kids can resonate with."

It wasnt Boyers first experience with childrens learning, nor her first using robots as educational tools. When she was 10, she taught more than two dozen kindergartners animal science as part of a homeschool group. The experience opened her eyes to the importance of accessibility within school systems. After being bullied off her high school robotics team, Boyer pursued engineering elsewhere in southeastern Michigan, eventually founding The STEAM Connection to foster inclusivity in youth engineering.

Her first mass-distributed product was Every Kid Gets a Robot (EKGAR), a robotics kit that teaches STEM-related technical skills. Operating as a non-profit, The STEAM Connection sent more than 8,000 units of EKGAR to children throughout North America entirely free. But Boyer wanted to confront issues more directly affecting her own community.

Thats why Boyer created SkoBots to address the deficiency of linguistic resources in tribal schools. The name is derived from skoden, a Native American slang term equivalent to lets go then. She teamed up with Johns Hopkins University professor Joshuaa Allison-Burbank, a Din and Pueblo speech-language pathologist who served as a mentor for the project. Along with Taino mechanical designer Robert Maldonado, Boyer and Allison-Burbank launched SkoBots in September 2021.

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"We can make learning fun. We can have students be part of developing and building the robot to personalize it," Allison-Burbank told The Daily Beast. "That's tied to and important for culturally responsive teaching practices and also reclaiming of identity. These spaces are, for the most part, colonial, and now we're starting to think more about how to Indigenize these spaces."

To have an impact in the classroom, however, SkoBots needed to be more than just effective technology. They had to appeal to both children (to interact with the bot) and elders (to be comfortable recording phrases). So, inspired by classic toys like Mr. Potato Head and Tickle Me Elmo, the trio built a colorful robot with a spoken personality. The device walks the wearer through a simple and guided lesson about their language. They also made it wearable on childrens shoulders with a GoPro strap.

SkoBot inventor Danielle Boyer wears one of her customizable language-teaching devices strapped to her shoulder.

The STEAM Connection

The design allowed for personalization. Allison-Burbank owns the first SkoBot, which sports a hat and Native jewelry to represent a Navajo youth finding their way in the world. Boyers SkoBot is bright pink, adorned with Ojibwe flowers and a keychain reading not ur Pocahottie.

"We wanted the robots to be customizable so that the kids could make them their own," Boyer said. "They could reflect their communities and their cultures in the robot in a way we haven't seen before."

As it turned out, free robots were more appealing than anticipated. Boyer estimated her charity receives about 10,000 requests per week, and almost 90 percent of applications granted have to be entirely subsidized. Thats no small order when each SkoBot costs around $100 to make. Boyer is the first to admit that between its microcontroller boards, speakers, and DC adapters, electronics costs are not optimal when added to 3D printing and other manufacturing expenses.

Shes hoping to use in-house PCB manufacturing to bring unit costs down under $30. Currently, The STEAM Connections largest financial supporter is MIT, but the nonprofit also acquired funding from brands such as L'Oral Paris and MTV.

Boyer estimated her charity receives about 10,000 requests for SkoBots per week, and almost 90 percent of applications granted have to be entirely subsidized. Thats no small order when each one costs around $100 to make.

The STEAM Connection

A year after launch, SkoBots can verbally instruct in four languages including Ojibwemowin and Taino. The bots also know bits and pieces of phrases from a handful of others. Additionally, the robots can function with Bluetooth and an accompanying mobile app.

Allison-Burbank called the current robots successful instructional aids and interest-sparking tools, but with artificial intelligence progress, he expressed optimism that a SkoBot could be less dependent on a human operator one day.

The hope is that, eventually, we can give it more of a brain, more of some personality, so that the robot can take charge of many of these interactions, Allison-Burbank said. Once the robots voice recognition and speech-to-text software improves, he added, more reciprocal interactions could be possible.

Stephen Camarata, a hearing and speech sciences professor at Vanderbilt University, isnt as convinced. Camarata told The Daily Beast he didnt consider present-day artificial intelligence powerful enough to replace the coreferencing that parents, teachers, or even peers provide in childrens second-language learning, although he conceded that social robots could be useful language tutors if they were attuned to students levels.

"If you're trying to elicit the words from the child, and they're not really in a functional communicative context, the learning is limited," Camarata said. "If people were to design robots that actually met the child where they were developmentally, I'm optimistic that would be very effective."

Camarata cited a 2018 research article summarizing several previous language-learning studies involving social robots and children. The authors found mixed results, but noted positive associations between social behavior and engagement. According to the article, humanoid or animal-shaped robots were also generally perceived as more helpful, credible, informative, and enjoyable to interact with than animated characters. SkoBots occupy a strange middle groundthey exist in physical form, but still resemble a Minion more than any human or animal. This could potentially limit its ability to effectively teach children.

As useful as social robots may be, the best revitalization methods still involve federally supported school systems, according to the director of the Communication Science and Disorders PhD program at the University of Pittsburgh, Leah Fabiano-Smith.

"What Ive seen in terms of initiatives like SkoBots is that, in the absence of institutional or infrastructural support, we see innovation in a lot of communities," she told The Daily Beast. "I'd love to see the budget of the United States of America invest in education, and then we may see language revitalization programs, but that seems to be somewhat of a pipe dream in our current political climate."

Blockchain May End the Pillaging of Indigenous Genetic Data

Fabiano-Smith also pointed to capitalisms deprioritization of Native American linguistic education, which has been particularly devastating for groups who have already had "their culture, their language, their traditions gutted from them due to settler colonialism.

"The value in it doesn't have anything to do with our financial system," Fabiano-Smith said. "It's almost something you can't really put a price tag on."

While traveling around the country to introduce SkoBots in schools and build linguistic resources, Boyer is simultaneously embarking on a different missionlearning Ojibwemowin herself. With just one year of formal university education, she had already done much of her learning outside of a classroom setting anyway.

Its an excuse to work with her own elders, sure, but Boyer said the educational tool has significantly helped her progress.

"The reason why I created the robot was also to aid in my own learning journey," Boyer said. When youre learning something and teaching it as well, it really solidifies it.

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These Languages Are FadingSo She Trained Robots to Help Save Them - Yahoo News

New York, Oct. 17, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Industrial Robotics Market by Type, Component, Payload, Application, Industry And Region - Global Forecast to 2027" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05012871/?utm_source=GNW Emergence of Industry 5.0 will boost the growth potential for industrial robotics in the coming years. Interoperability and integration issues with industrial robots and high cost of deployment for SMEs will restrain the market growth.

Market for Handling Application to grow at higher CAGR during forecast periodThe handling application segment of the industrial robotics market for traditional robots, in terms of shipment, shows a trend similar to that of the market; it is expected to account for the largest market size and highest growth rate in the forecast period owing to the integration of low-weight traditional industrial robots with automated guided vehicles (AGVs) to make them mobile.Handling activities such as pick and place, palletizing, packaging, and loading and unloading are common and applicable to most industries.

The handling application includes various sub-applications such as material handling, machine tending, as well as bin-picking, which is currently booming. The handling application has industry-wide usage in varied industries ranging from the automotive, chemicals, electrical and electronics to food & beverages; it was thus expected to register a share of ~45% of the industrial robotics market for 2021.

Market for Robot Arm Component to grow at highest CAGR during the forecast periodThe degree of industrial automation has increased immensely in recent years due to increased productivity, reduction in labor costs, increased efficiency in production processes, and improvement in the quality of products.In the future as well, industries such as food & beverages, automobiles, and oil & gas will be more inclined towards automation due to the intense competition in the market and the need to stay ahead of competitors by improving the product quality and the speed of production.

Robotics has transformed automation processes to a great extent.In recent years there has been a surge in the market for robot arms.

This demand is expected to escalate even further during the forecast period from 2022 to 2027.

Asia Pacific to create highest growth opportunities for industrial robotics market among other region during the forecast periodThe countries of Asia Pacific are witnessing increased demand for industrial robotics, and this demand is expected to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period as well.APAC is considered one of the worlds major manufacturing hubs and is expected to provide ample growth opportunities to the industrial robotics market.

Low production costs, easy availability of labor, lenient emission and safety norms, and government initiatives for foreign direct investments (FDIs) are some of the major factors fueling the growth of this market in APAC.The aging population in China and Japan has resulted in rising labor costs, leading to the growing adoption of automation.

The increasing population is also attracting companies to invest in APAC.China is expected to remain the largest market for both traditional and collaborative robots.

The country imports industrial robots as well as manufactures them domestically. The market for industrial robots in the automotive sector is expected to remain the largest for most of the countries in APAC except for Taiwan. The electrical & electronics industry is the second most important driver for the growth of the industrial robotics market in APAC, owing to the rising demand for electronic products across the world.In the process of determining and verifying the market size for several segments and subsegments gathered through secondary research, extensive primary interviews have been conducted with key industry experts in the industrial robotics market space. The break-up of primary participants for the report has been shown below: By Company Type: Tier 1 40%, Tier 2 40%, and Tier 20% By Designation: C-level Executives 50%, Directors 30%, and Others 20% By Region: North America 30%, APAC 40%, Europe 20%, Middle East 5%, and RoW 10%The report profiles key players in the industrial robotics market with their respective market ranking analysis. Prominent players profiled in this report are FANUC Corporation (FANUC (Japan)), ABB (Switzerland), Yaskawa Electric (Yaskawa (Japan)), KUKA (Germany), Mitsubishi Electric (Japan), Kawasaki Heavy Industries (Japan), DENSO (Japan), Nachi-Fujikoshi (Japan), Seiko Epson (Japan), and Drr (Germany), among others.

Research Coverage:This research report categorizes the industrial robotics market on the basis of type, payload, component, application, end use industry, and region.The report describes the major drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities pertaining to the industrial robotics market and forecasts the same till 2027.

Apart from these, the report also consists of leadership mapping and analysis of all the companies included in the industrial robotics ecosystem.

Key Benefits of Buying the ReportThe report will help market leaders/new entrants in this market with information on the closest approximations of the revenue numbers for the overall industrial robotics market and the subsegments.This report will help stakeholders understand the competitive landscape and gain more insights to better position their businesses and plan suitable go-to-market strategies.

The report also helps stakeholders understand the pulse of the market and provides them with information on key market drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities.Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05012871/?utm_source=GNW

About ReportlinkerReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.

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The industrial robotics market is projected to grow from USD 15.7 billion in 2022 to USD 30.8 billion by 2027; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of...

You might suppose Hollywood is good at predicting the future. Indeed, Robert Wallace, head of the CIA's Office of Technical Service and the US equivalent of MI6's fictional Q, has recounted how Russian spies would watch the latest Bond movie to see what technologies might be coming their way.

Hollywood's continuing obsession with killer robots might therefore be of significant concern. The newest such movie is Apple TV's forthcoming sex robot courtroom drama Dolly.

I never thought I'd write the phrase "sex robot courtroom drama", but there you go. Based on a 2011 short story by Elizabeth Bear, the plot concerns a billionaire killed by a sex robot that then asks for a lawyer to defend its murderous actions.

Dolly is the latest in a long line of movies featuring killer robots including HAL in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-800 robot in the Terminator series.

Indeed, conflict between robots and humans was at the center of the very first feature-length science fiction film, Fritz Lang's 1927 classic Metropolis.

But almost all these movies get it wrong.

Killer robots won't be sentient humanoid robots with evil intent. This might make for a dramatic storyline and a box office success, but such technologies are many decades, if not centuries, away.

Indeed, contrary to recent fears, robots may never be sentient.

It's much simpler technologies we should be worrying about. And these technologies are starting to turn up on the battlefield today in places like Ukraine and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Movies that feature much simpler armed drones, like Angel has Fallen (2019) and Eye in the Sky (2015), paint perhaps the most accurate picture of the real future of killer robots.

On the nightly TV news, we see how modern warfare is being transformed by ever-more autonomous drones, tanks, ships, and submarines. These robots are only a little more sophisticated than those you can buy in your local hobby store.

And increasingly, the decisions to identify, track, and destroy targets are being handed over to their algorithms.

This is taking the world to a dangerous place, with a host of moral, legal, and technical problems. Such weapons will, for example, further upset our troubled geopolitical situation. We already see Turkey emerging as a major drone power.

And such weapons cross a moral red line into a terrible and terrifying world where unaccountable machines decide who lives and who dies.

Robot manufacturers are, however, starting to push back against this future.

Last week, six leading robotics companies pledged they would never weaponize their robot platforms.

The companies include Boston Dynamics, which makes the Atlas humanoid robot, which can perform an impressive backflip, and the Spot robot dog, which looks like it's straight out of the Black Mirror TV series.

This isn't the first time robotics companies have spoken out about this worrying future.

Five years ago, I organized an open letter signed by Elon Musk and more than 100 founders of other AI and robot companies calling for the United Nations to regulate the use of killer robots. The letter even knocked the Pope into third place for a global disarmament award.

However, the fact that leading robotics companies are pledging not to weaponize their robot platforms is more virtue signaling than anything else.

We have, for example, already seen third parties mount guns on clones of Boston Dynamics' Spot robot dog.

And such modified robots have proven effective in action. Iran's top nuclear scientist was assassinated by Israeli agents using a robot machine gun in 2020.

The only way we can safeguard against this terrifying future is if nations collectively take action, as they have with chemical weapons, biological weapons, and even nuclear weapons.

Such regulation won't be perfect, just as the regulation of chemical weapons isn't perfect. But it will prevent arms companies from openly selling such weapons and thus their proliferation.

Therefore, it's even more important than a pledge from robotics companies to see the UN Human Rights Council has recently unanimously decided to explore the human rights implications of new and emerging technologies like autonomous weapons.

Several dozen nations have already called for the UN to regulate killer robots. The European Parliament, the African Union, the UN Secretary General, Nobel Peace laureates, church leaders, politicians, and thousands of AI and robotics researchers like myself have all called for regulation.

Australia is not a country that has, so far, supported these calls. But if you want to avoid this Hollywood future, you may want to take it up with your political representative next time you see them.

Toby Walsh, Professor of AI at UNSW, Research Group Leader, UNSW Sydney.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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'Killer Robots' Are Already Here. They Just Don't Look Like You Think - ScienceAlert

2022 Crop Robotics Landscape

Are we finally starting to see the adoption of labor-saving robots in agriculture? The short and unfulfilling summary answer is It depends. Undeniably, we are seeing clear signs of progress yet, simultaneously, we see clear signs of more progress needed. (Hi-res copy of the landscape.)

Earlier this year, Western Growers Association produced an excellent report that outlined the need for robotics in agriculture. Ongoing labor challenges are, of course, a major driver, but so are rising costs, future demand, climate change impacts, and sustainability, among others. The use of robotics in agricultural production is the next progression of decades of increasing mechanization and automation to enhance crop production. Todays crop robotics can build upon these preceding solutions and leverage newer technologies like precise navigation, vision and other sensor systems, connectivity and interoperability protocols, deep learning and artificial intelligence to address farmers current and future challenges.

So What is a Crop Robot?

We at The Mixing Bowl and Better Food Ventures create various market landscape maps that capture the use of technology in our food system. Our intent in producing these landscapes is to not only represent where a technologys adoption is today, but, more importantly, where it is heading. So, as we developed this 2022 Crop Robotics Landscape, our frame of reference was to look beyond mechanization and defined automation to more autonomous crop robotics. This focus on robotics perhaps created the hardest challenge for usdefining a Crop Robot.

According to the definition of the Oxford English Dictionary, A robot is a machineespecially one programmable by a computercapable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. Putting agriculture aside for a moment, that definition means that a dishwasher, washing machine, or a thermostat controlling an air conditioner could all be considered robots, not things that evoke robot to most people. When asking What is a Crop Robot in our interviews for this analysis, the theme of labor savings came through strongly. Must a crop robot be a labor reducing tool? This is where our definition of a crop robot started us down the It depends path?

Eventually, for the purposes of this robotic landscape analysis, we focused on machines that use hardware and software to perceive surroundings, analyze data and take real-time action on information related to an agricultural crop-related function without human intervention.

This definition focuses on characteristics that enable autonomous, not deterministic, actions. In many instances repetitive or constrained automation can get a task completed in an efficient and cost effective manner. Much of the existing and indispensable agricultural machinery and automation used on farms today would fit that description. However, we wanted to look specifically at robotic technologies that can take more unplanned, appropriate and timely action in the dynamic, unpredictable, and unstructured environments that exist in agricultural production. That translates to more precision, more dexterity and more autonomy.

The Crop Robotics Landscape

Our 2022 Crop Robotics Landscape includes nearly 250 companies developing crop robotic systems today. The robots are a mix: some that are self-propelled and some that arent, some that can navigate autonomously and those that cant, some that are precise and some that are not, both ground-based and air-based systems, and those focused on indoor or outdoor production. In general, the systems need to offer autonomous navigation or vision-aided precision or a combination to be included on the landscape. These included areas are highlighted in gold in the chart below. The white areas are not autonomous or not complete robotic systems and are not included on the landscape.

2022 Crop Robotics

The landscape is limited to robotic solutions utilized in the production of food crops; it does not include robotics for animal farming nor for the production of cannabis. Pre-production nursery and post-harvest segments are also excluded (but note that highly automated solutions for these tasks are commercially available today). Likewise, sensor-only and analytic offerings are also not included, unless they are part of a complete robotic system.

Additionally, we only included companies that are providing their robotic systems commercially to others. If they develop robotics only for their own internal use or only offer services then they are not included, nor are academic or consortium research projects unless they appear to be heading to a commercial offering. Product companies should have reached at least the demonstrable-prototype stage in their development. Finally, companies appear only once on the landscape, even though some may offer multiple or multi-use robotic solutions. They are also placed according to their most sophisticated or primary function.

The landscape is segmented vertically by crop production system: broadacre row crops, field-grown specialty, orchard and vineyard, and indoor. The landscape is also segmented horizontally by functional area: autonomous movement, crop management, and harvest. Within those functional areas are the more specific task/product segments described here:

Autonomous Movement

Navigation/Autonomy more sophisticated autosteer systems with headland turning capability and autonomous navigation systems

Small Tractor/Platform smaller, people size autonomous tractors and carriers

Large Tractor larger autonomous tractors and carriers

Indoor Platform smaller autonomous carriers specifically for indoor farms

Crop Management

Scouting and Indoor Scouting autonomous mapping and scouting robots and aerial drones; note that robots appearing in other task/product categories may have scouting capabilities in addition to their primary function

Preparation & Planting autonomous field preparation and planting robots

Drone Application spraying and spreading aerial drones

Indoor Drone Protection indoor crop protection aerial drones

Application and Indoor Application autonomous and/or vision-guided application including vision-based precision control systems

Weeding, Thinning & Pruning autonomous and/or vision-guided weeding, thinning and pruning, including vision-based precision control systems

Indoor Deleafing autonomous indoor vine-crop deleafing robots

Harvest

Harvesting crop sector-specific autonomous and/or precision harvest robotics

Some of the task/product segments, like Large Tractor, span multiple crop systems, as the robotic solutions within them may be applicable to more than one crop type. Logo positions within these landscape boxes are not necessarily indicative of crop system applicability.

The diversity of offerings appearing on the landscape is perhaps the biggest takeaway; crop robotics is a very active sector across tasks and crops types. In the Autonomous Movement area, although autosteer has been in wide use for many years, more robust autonomous navigation technology and fully autonomous tractors and smaller multi-use motive platforms are just entering the market. In Crop Management there is a mix of self-propelled and trailed and attached implements. Vision-aided precision crop care tasks like spot spraying and weeding are areas of heavy development activity, particularly for the less automated specialty crop sector. Finally, high-value, high-labor crops like strawberries, fresh-market tomatoes, and orchard fruit are the focus for many robotic harvesting initiatives. As noted, there is a lot of activity; however, successful commercialization is more rare.

Traversing the Valley of Death to Achieve Scale

The Government of the United Kingdom recently released a report that reviews Automation in Horticulture. In the report they include the automation lifecycle analysis graphic shown below that they refer to as Technology Readiness Levels in Horticulture. If we were to map the more than 600 companies we researched in our analysis, well over 90 percent of these companies would still be labeled in the Research or System Development phases. Historically, many agriculture robotics companies have failed to succeed, perishing in the Valley of Death. Only a handful of companies have reached Commercialization, a phase where companies attempt to traverse the perilous journey from product success to business success and profitability.

Automation in Horticulture Review

There are many reasons why ag robotics has had a high failure rate in reaching commercial scale. At its core, it has been very difficult to provide a reliable machine capable of providing value to a farmer on par with a non-robotic or manual solution at a cost effective price point.

Amongst the technical challenges crop robotics companies face are:

A last technical facet of scaling is the ease with which a platform can be modified to serve multiple crops or multiple tasks. The space is still so early that we dont have that many data points about repurposing technology for multiple crops/tasks. However, it is something many companies are obviously looking to prove to upsell customers or convince investors they have the potential to serve a larger market.

We heard from numerous crop robotic startups and investors that the technology challenges need to be tackled first, then the economic and business challenges can be addressed. The reality, of course, is that a successful crop robotic solution developer must face several challenges simultaneously: sustaining a business while refining product-market fit to get paying customers; refining product-market fit while sustaining the interest of investors; and sustaining the engagement of farmer customers.

On the business side, we tried to identify when a company could claim it had made it through the Valley of Death. One group we spoke with very simply said there were three key business questions to ask:

The answer to the question of Can we sell it? usually equated to when and if the robot could perform the task on par with a humana comparable performance for a comparable cost. That performance clearly varies by crop and task. As an example, there was a generally shared sense that picking was the most difficult task to achieve on par with the time, accuracy and cost of a human.

One thread that came up in our conversations is that many farmers may not yet see the longer-term potential of what robots can do in agriculture. They look at (and value) them merely as a way to replace the tasks a human doesbut do not look at what more efficient approaches beyond the capabilities of humans that could be enabled with these powerful platforms.

In our discussions we probed on whether the business model of a crop robotics company made a substantial difference in whether they could sell it. Responses were wide-ranging as to whether there is a benefit to having a Robotics as a Service (RaaS) model versus a machine buy/lease model. Our net conclusion regarding business models is that, while it may be advantageous to offer Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) in the early stages of a companys development, over the longer run companies should plan to operate under both a buy/lease and a RaaS model. The advantages of RaaS in the early days are that they 1) allow a farmer to try before you buy which lowers the complexity and cost, and, thus, lowers the barrier to adoption and 2) offer a startup to work more closely with farmers to understand problems and identify potential new challenges to solve.

Many startups have hyped their solutions too early, before they could conquer the many complexities involved with successfully operating in the market. This hype has caused many farmers to be leery of crop robotics in general. Farmers just want (and need) things to work and many may have been burned in the past by adopting technologies that were not fully mature. As one startup said, It is hard to get them to understand the iterative process. Still, farmers are also known as problem solvers and many continue to engage with startups to help mature solutions.

Of course, the Can we sell it? question should really be extended to Can we sell and support it?. An interesting point to watch between incumbents and new solution providers will be the scaling of startups and the resulting need for those companies to have a cost-effective sales and service channel. Incumbent vendors, of course, have those channels, and John Deere and GUSS Automation have announced just such a partnership.

Like farmers, investors also walk hand-in-hand with a robotics startup crossing the Valley of Death. Investor sentiment toward agriculture robotics is mixed. On the one hand, there is an acknowledgement that there have not been notable exits of profitable startups in this space (as opposed to those just having desirable technology). On the other hand, there is a recognition that agricultures labor issues are becoming more acute and large potential markets could be realized this time around. Investors also see that the quality of the technology and startup teams have improved in the last few years.

It is encouraging to see more investors looking at the space than a few years ago, writing bigger checks in later rounds, and investing at high valuations. Investors also understand the challenges better than before so that they can differentiate between segments developers are targeting, e.g., the difficulty of harvesting in an open field versus scouting in a greenhouse.

What Gives us Optimism Crop Robotics is Making Progress?

So, given the above, why do we feel optimistic that crop robotics is making healthy progress? For a number of reasons, the Valley of Death may not be as wide nor as fatal as it has been in the past for companies in this space.

Beyond the growing need for labor-saving solutions in agriculture, we are optimistic that crop robotics is making progress simply because of the underlying technology progress that has occurred in the last decade or so. Again and again in the interviews we conducted, we heard phrases similar to this would not have been possible a decade ago. Someone flat out stated that a few years ago The machines werent ready for the conditions of farming. Large scale improvements in core compute technology, accessibility and performance of computer vision systems, deep learning capabilities, and even automated mobility systems have come a long way in the last ten years.

In addition to the improved technology base, there is more seasoned talent than a decade ago and that talent brings a range of experiences from across the robotics landscape, including insight into scaling to success. In this regard, crop robotics can leverage the broader, better-funded robotics spaces of self-driving vehicles and warehouse automation. Equally important, most of the teams that are seeing success employ a combination of robotics experts and farm experts. Past ag robotics teams may have had the technological prowess to develop a solution but may not have understood the ag market or the realities of farming environments.

We are also optimistic because the depth and breadth of crop robotic solutions is expanding, as illustrated by the number of companies represented on our landscape. Although large commodity row crop farmslike those of the Midwestern USare already highly automated and have even adopted robotic autosteer systems en masse, a very clear indication of progress is that we are seeing a more diverse set of crop robotic solutions than in years past.

For example, new robotic platforms are successfully undertaking labor-saving tasks that are of modest difficulty. Perhaps the best example of this is the GUSS autonomous sprayer that can work in orchards. The self-powered GUSS machine navigates autonomously and can adjust its spraying selectively based on its ultrasonic sensors. It has reached commercial scale. We are also starting to see more solutions targeting farmers who have been underserved by labor-saving automation solutions, such as smaller farm operations or niche specialty crop systems. Examples of this are Burro, Naio or farm-ng. Lastly, we are seeing the development of smart implements. By not taking on the burden of developing autonomous movement, these solutions can be pulled behind a tractor to focus on complex agriculture tasks like vision-guided selective weeding and spraying. Verdant, Farmwise and Carbon Robotics are examples of this kind of solution.

One encouraging trend we are also watching is the role of incumbent agriculture equipment providers, particularly in specialty crops. John Deere (Blue River, Bear Flag Robotics) as well as Case New Holland (Raven Industries) have signaled a willingness to acquire companies in crop robotics to complement their ongoing internal R&D efforts. Yamaha and Toyota, through their venture funds, have also shown a desire to partner and invest in the space. The question remains to be seen if other incumbent equipment players have the willingness to invest in the assemblage of technology and talent required to bring robotic solutions to the marketplace.

Looking Ahead

The drivers for increased automation in agriculture are readily apparent and are likely to continue to increase over time. Thus, a large opportunity exists for robotic solutions that can help farmers mitigate their production challenges. That is, as long as those solutions perform well and at reasonable cost in the real world of commercial farm operations. As we observed while researching the landscape, there is an impressive number of companies focused on developing crop robotics solutions across a breadth of crop systems and tasks, and with more commercial focus than past projects. However, the market continues to feel early as companies continue to navigate the difficult process of creating and deploying robust solutions at scale for this challenging industry. Still, there is more room for optimism and more tangible progress being made now than ever before. The Crop Robotics Valley of Death that so many startups have failed to cross appears to be becoming less wide and ominous in great part due to the break-neck speed of technological progress. While a robotic revolution in crop production is likely still some time off, we are seeing a promising evolution and expect to see more successful crop robotic companies in the not too distant future.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources and The Vine for their strong interest in crop robotics and their continued support of this project. Thank you to Simon Pearson, Director, Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology and Professor of Agri-Food Technology, University of Lincoln in the UK for his insights and the use of the graphic from the Automation in Horticulture Review report. Thank you to Walt Duflock of Western Growers Association for sharing his detailed perspective on the ag robotics sector. Most importantly we would like to acknowledge all the start-ups and innovators who are working tirelessly to make crop robotics a much needed reality. A special thanks to those entrepreneurs and investors that spoke with us and provided a unique view into the challenges and excitement of a crop robotic business.

Bios

Chris Taylor is a Senior Consultant on The Mixing Bowl team and has spent more than 20 years on global IT strategy and development innovation in manufacturing, design and healthcare, focusing most recently on AgTech.

Michael Rose is a Partner at The Mixing Bowl and Better Food Ventures where he brings more than 25 years immersed in new venture creation and innovation as an operating executive and investor across the Food Tech, AgTech, restaurant, Internet, and mobile sectors.

Rob Trice founded The Mixing Bowl to connect food, agriculture and IT innovators for thought and action leadership and Better Food Ventures to invest in startups harnessing IT for positive impact in Agrifoodtech.

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CROP ROBOTICS 2022, BEYOND THE VALLEY OF DEATH - Forbes

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vyripharm Enterprises Inc. (VEI), a Texas biopharmaceutical/biotechnology company based in the Texas Medical Center (TMC) in Houston, and ABB Robotics, a leading global technology company headquartered in Zrich, Switzerland, have signed an agreement towards the development of an automated laboratory testing platform.

The platform will enable quality control of raw material to novel pharmaceutical compounds using a unique and comprehensive platform developed to allow certification of the tested samples against established standards. This fully automated robotic platform will be the first of its kind and will support the capture of data for use in research and development efforts within industry and health institutions.

We are very happy to work together with Vyripharm to advance and automate its quality process, said Dr. Jose Collados, Line Manager for ABB Life Sciences and Healthcare Robotic Solutions. ABBs automated solutions will enhance process productivity and sample traceability which, when combined with Vyripharms process and software, will improve productivity and optimize processes, substantively advancing the future of patient care.

Under the terms of the partnership, VEI will provide process definition, intellectual property (IP), equipment, software and associated funds. ABB will provide state of the art automation software and robotics to demonstrate the operational function of the integrative platforms. Two beta sites, located in Texas and Colorado, are currently under construction and are expected to be operational in 2023, with other locations planned throughout the U.S. and internationally.

John W. Shadle, RPh, Managing Director, QA/QC of VEI said, The rapid growth of the biopharma supply chain has produced a need for standardized testing to assure that the methods and instrumentation used in the testing process produce equivalent results across different laboratories. VEI has developed a process and protocol to achieve that goal. We look forward to working with ABB to bring this concept to fruition, and to make it available for use throughout the U.S. and the world.

In 2019, ABB opened its first dedicated global life sciences and health care research facility (ABB Life Sciences and Healthcare Solutions), in the Texas Medical Center (TMC) Innovation Institute. ABB Life Sciences and Healthcare Solutions hopes to bring advancement to the life sciences and healthcare industries, covering pharmaceutical and medical device production, and laboratory automation. ABB Robotics collaborates with the medical community to co-develop innovative automation technologies that help hospitals and laboratories improve productivity and optimize processes. The collaborative effort between ABB and VEI, brings this concept to reality in the biopharma industry, advancing public health care and safety. Implementation of this process will support quality, capacity, and cost of operations improvements within the industry.

With new upcoming legislation being submitted in Congress for review, it is critical that a solid Regulatory Framework for the testing, tracking, tracing, certification and verification of all U.S. novel pharmaceutical products be established in order to protect U.S. citizens and provide standardization throughout all points of the U.S. industry supply chain for novel pharmaceuticals, said Dr. Elias Jackson, Sr. VP of Government and Scientific Affairs for Vyripharm Enterprises. ABB Life Sciences and Healthcare Solutions is the leader in the integration of automation across the Life Sciences supply chain. We are excited to partner with ABB in this effort.

About Vyripharm Enterprises Inc.

Vyripharm is a disruptive biopharmaceutical/biotechnology innovator in personalized medicine focusing on the integration of traditional and alternative medicine. Our aim is to ensure the security of agribiopharmaceuticals through our commitment to public health and safety. Vyripharm Enterprises, Inc. holds foundational patents in safety certification and regulation of agribiopharmaceutical products in the United States and 40 other countries around the world. Vyripharms current diagnostic and therapeutic areas of emphasis are infectious diseases, neurological disorders, and cancer.

About ABB:

ABB is a leading global technology company that energizes the transformation of society and industry to achieve a more productive, sustainable future. By connecting software to its electrification, robotics, automation and motion portfolio, ABB pushes the boundaries of technology to drive performance to new levels. With a history of excellence stretching back more than 130 years, ABBs success is driven by about 105,000 talented employees in over 100 countries.

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Vyripharm Enterprises Inc and ABB, Inc. collaborate on the design and development of Automation and Robotics to advance Testing Laboratory Platform...

DUBLIN, Oct. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --The "Rehabilitation Robots Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

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The global rehabilitation robots market size reached US$ 865.6 Million in 2021. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to reach US$ 2,846.0 Million by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 21.94% during 2021-2027.

Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, we are continuously tracking and evaluating the direct as well as the indirect influence of the pandemic on different end use sectors. These insights are included in the report as a major market contributor.

Rehabilitation robots are automated, therapy machines that allow individuals to perform physical movements while interacting with their environment. These robots rely on input devices, sensors and actuators for supporting the body weight and controlling the movement, speed, direction, amplitude and joint coordination patterns. They record movement data, which is utilized by healthcare professionals to increase therapy intensity and provide quality care.

Consequently, they are used to deliver customized, task-oriented, prolonged, intensive, standardized and repeatable training. They are mostly employed for rehabilitating patients suffering from stroke, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and Parkinson's disease across the globe.

A significant rise in the number of individuals experiencing paralysis, quadriplegia and amputation represents one of the key factors impelling the global rehabilitation robots market growth. Moreover, the growing geriatric population, which is more susceptible to health disorders, is escalating the demand for rehabilitation robots. The integration of voice-recognition algorithms for enhancing the functionality and flexibility of the devices is acting as another major growth-inducing factor.

Story continues

Apart from this, the leading players are focusing on incorporating the Internet of Things (IoT) with rehabilitation robotics to help healthcare professionals deliver assessment and treatment to patients over the internet. They are also investing in developing lightweight variants, making products accessible off-the-counter and combining virtual reality (VR) and video games to maximize patient motivation. This, coupled with the improving healthcare infrastructure in a number of countries, is expected to increase the adoption of rehabilitation robots in the coming years.

Competitive Landscape:

The report has also analysed the competitive landscape of the market with some of the key players being Bionik Laboratories Corp., Ekso Bionics Holdings Inc., Hocoma AG (DIH International Ltd.), Kinova Inc., KUKA Aktiengesellschaft (Midea Group), Parker-Hannifin Corporation, Rehab-Robotics Company Limited, ReWalk Robotics Ltd., Rex Bionics Ltd., Siemens Aktiengesellschaft and Tyromotion GmbH.

Key Questions Answered in This Report:

How has the global rehabilitation robots market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What are the key regional markets?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global rehabilitation robots market?

What is the breakup of the market based on the type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the patient type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the end user?

What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry?

What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry?

What is the structure of the global rehabilitation robots market and who are the key players?

What is the degree of competition in the industry?

Key Topics Covered:

1 Preface

2 Scope and Methodology

3 Executive Summary

4 Introduction4.1 Overview4.2 Key Industry Trends

5 Global Rehabilitation Robots Market5.1 Market Overview5.2 Market Performance5.3 Impact of COVID-195.4 Market Forecast

6 Market Breakup by Type

7 Market Breakup by Patient Type

8 Market Breakup by End User

9 Market Breakup by Region

10 SWOT Analysis

11 Value Chain Analysis

12 Porters Five Forces Analysis

13 Price Analysis

14 Competitive Landscape14.1 Market Structure14.2 Key Players14.3 Profiles of Key Players14.3.1 Bionik Laboratories Corp.14.3.1.1 Company Overview14.3.1.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.1.3 Financials 14.3.2 Ekso Bionics Holdings Inc.14.3.2.1 Company Overview14.3.2.2 Product Portfolio14.3.2.3 Financials14.3.3 Hocoma AG (DIH International Ltd.)14.3.3.1 Company Overview14.3.3.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.4 Kinova Inc14.3.4.1 Company Overview14.3.4.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.5 KUKA Aktiengesellschaft (Midea Group)14.3.5.1 Company Overview14.3.5.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.5.3 Financials 14.3.5.4 SWOT Analysis14.3.6 Parker-Hannifin Corporation14.3.6.1 Company Overview14.3.6.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.6.3 Financials 14.3.6.4 SWOT Analysis14.3.7 Rehab-Robotics Company Limited14.3.7.1 Company Overview14.3.7.2 Product Portfolio14.3.8 ReWalk Robotics Ltd.14.3.8.1 Company Overview14.3.8.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.8.3 Financials 14.3.9 Rex Bionics Ltd.14.3.9.1 Company Overview14.3.9.2 Product Portfolio14.3.10 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft14.3.10.1 Company Overview14.3.10.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.10.3 Financials 14.3.10.4 SWOT Analysis14.3.11 Tyromotion GmbH14.3.11.1 Company Overview14.3.11.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.11.3 Financials

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/iuly3r

Media Contact:

Research and MarketsLaura Wood, Senior Managerpress@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

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Insights on the Rehabilitation Robots Global Market to 2027 - Integration of Voice-Recognition Algorithms for Enhancing Functionality and Flexibility...

Many of us are now having conversations with robots. But how many times does the robot you are talking to laugh at your jokes?

Right now, the answer would be zero. Most interactions with robots are limited to fundamental questions of whether it is a billing or service inquiry. But if Japanese researchers are successful, your conversations with robots could soon be punctuated with laughing at appropriate points.

Robotic laughter is seen as something of a holy grail among researchers in the area of conversational artificial intelligence.

If robots could laugh in conversations, it would make the experience more authentic and create momentum for adopting conversational AI into many different areas of customer experience.

We think one of the important functions of conversational AI is empathy, said Koji Inoue, an assistant professor of informatics at Kyoto University.

Conversation is, of course, multi-modal, not just responding correctly. So, we decided that one way a robot can empathize with users is to share their laughter.

Inoue and his team have published a study in the journalFrontiers in Robotics and AI, and have been experimenting with an advanced humanoid robot called Erica, using it or her as a platform for studying human-robot interaction.

Male students from Kyoto University took turns chatting face-to-face with Erica as amateur actresses in another room teleoperated the robot through microphones.

These interactions saw the creation of four short audio dialogues between humans and Erica, who was then programmed to use levels of laughter at various points in her conversations.

These were then rated based on empathy, naturalness, likeness to humans, and understanding.

While it is a start, Professor Inoue concedes that it could take a long time to teach robots to laugh appropriately in conversation.

It may well take more than ten to 20 years before we can finally have a casual chat with a robot as we would with a friend, he said.

Cognitive libraries

The Japanese experiments with Erica are part of significant momentum for conversational AI an industry estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 24%. By 2030, the global chatbot market will be valued at over USD4 billion.

Already, chatbots are successfully easing the pressure for many organizations as a front line for customer reception.

The newly launched chat of theIndian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporationhas been used by over 1 billion people in its beta launch.

It may well take more than ten to 20 years before we can finally have a casual chat with a robot like we would with a friend

Some other global applications while not including laughter are pushing the bounds of innovation.

In the New Zealand city of Auckland, for example, conversational AI is used to create virtual patients who teach medical students how to be empathetic.

The University of Auckland project is working with scientists from theUniversity of Floridas Virtual Experiences Research Groupto build these virtual patients, which appear on the screen and can converse with the student using a chat function.

The plan is to adapt five of these virtual patients to give them the ability to express emotions and preferences and also ask questions through the creation of a cognitive library.

I think the way empathy works is we learn throughout life how things feel in our bodies, said Monika Byrne, a doctoral candidate at the University of Auckland.

Then we build this cognitive library of human experiences and emotions that go with them such as what its like to be in emotional pain, for example, to lose a partner or to fail.

The project plans to enable the virtual patients to express these complex emotions so that the student doctors can respond as part of their empathy training.

The world of sports is also adopting conversational AI. In the U.S., NBA franchise the Milwaukee Bucks is partnering with San Francisco-based GameOn Technology to implement new features on the teams website, answering gameday questions such as when do the doors open and how late can I stay past the ending of a game or concert.

Instead of you having to go into our website or mobile app and scroll down a long list of things, we want our guests to be able to ask things conversationally and the software to interpret and match you with the best answer to the questions you have, said Robert Cordova, the Bucks chief technology and strategy officer.

Next level chatbots

Conversational AI is not just about the time the human spends talking with the bot; it also integrates with other technologies, such as automation and data-based applications.

Indian companyUniphorehas been working with conversational automation platforms since its inception in 2008, and is now one of the leaders in the industry.

The company offers a sophisticated platform which combines conversational AI, enterprise grade RPA , biometrics and workflow automation to blend front and back office operations.

The platform today optimizes the entire conversational cycle across multiple customer service channels in 100-plus global languages, said Ravi Saraogi, Uniphores co-founder.

Saraogi explains that the Uniphore AI analyses all conversations and is able to categorize people into different age groups and genders so that the AI can respond more appropriately.

Our key objective is to drive business benefits, added Saraogi.

It can be cost and efficiency gains; it can be revenue enhancements; it can be about improving the customer experience. And the best way to know the problem is by listening to what your customers are saying because they arethe ones giving you your revenue and your profits.

Lachlan Colquhoun is the Australia and New Zealand correspondent for CDOTrends andtheNextGenConnectivity editor.He remains fascinated with howbusinessesreinventthemselves through digital technologytosolve existing issuesandchange their entire business models.You can reach him at[emailprotected].

Image credit: iStockphoto/StudioM1

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Laughing Robots: The Next Leap In Chatbot Innovation - CDOTrends

A robotics manufacturer that continues to expand its arsenal of artificial intelligence attempted to ease public concerns over weaponized robots in an open letter last week that asserts its products should never be used for hostile purposes.

Boston Dynamics, which, in addition to its series of quadrupedal robots, has created the humanoid Atlas, a 6-foot-2, 330-pound parkour-capable robot, claimed that its rapidly evolving robots should be reserved for assisting in search and rescue missions and manufacturing areas in which robots can ease the burden on its human counterparts.

Whether anyone will adhere to the contents of letter, which was co-signed by five other robotics companies, is another story.

In July, a video was released depicting a weapon-firing quadrupedal made by Unitree, one of the companies that signed the letter, that was reportedly kitted out by Russian hoverbike manufacturer Alexander Atamanov.

When possible, we will carefully review our customers intended applications to avoid potential weaponization, Boston Dynamics officials wrote of its intent to vet customers. We also pledge to explore the development of technological features that could mitigate or reduce these risks.

When possible, in this case, being the key and skepticism-inducing phrase.

Other robotics companies have flaunted an eagerness to weaponize quadrupedal robots. At last years Association of the United States Army conference, for example, Ghost Robotics unveiled a dog-style robot that carried a small-arms weapon on its back. That particular robot-carried rifle, made by Sword International, touts an effective range of 1,200 meters and is equipped with a thermal camera and 30x optical zoom.

Furthermore, use of weaponized ground-based robotics is well-established beyond showroom concepts. In November 2020, Irans top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated near the city of Absard when a 7.62-mm machine gun opened fire from a parked vehicle as the scientist approached.

It was later revealed in a New York Times report that members of Israels foreign intelligence agency, the Mossad, had positioned the vehicle along a route Fakhrizadeh was expected to travel. The weapon, capable of firing 600 rounds per minute, was discovered to be controlled by an operator monitoring the situation from more than a thousand miles away.

We understand that our commitment alone is not enough to fully address these risks, and therefore we call on policymakers to work with us to promote safe use of these robots and to prohibit their misuse, the Boston Dynamics letter concluded.

We are convinced that the benefits for humanity of these technologies strongly outweigh the risk of misuse, and we are excited about a bright future in which humans and robots work side by side to tackle some of the worlds challenges.

This sort of declaration, of course, is precisely what an entity preparing to equip robots with weapons would say or at least myriad skeptics might think so.

Observation Post is the Military Times one-stop shop for all things off-duty. Stories may reflect author observations.

Jon Simkins is a writer and editor for Military Times, and a USMC veteran.

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Robotics companies don't want robots weaponized will anyone listen? - Military Times

AUSTIN, Texas Inspired by living things from trees to shellfish, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin set out to create a plastic much like many life forms that are hard and rigid in some places and soft and stretchy in others. Their success a first, using only light and a catalyst to change properties such as hardness and elasticity in molecules of the same type has brought about a new material that is 10 times as tough as natural rubber and could lead to more flexible electronics and robotics.

The findings are published today in the journal Science.

This is the first material of its type, said Zachariah Page, assistant professor of chemistry and corresponding author on the paper. The ability to control crystallization, and therefore the physical properties of the material, with the application of light is potentially transformative for wearable electronics or actuators in soft robotics.

Scientists have long sought to mimic the properties of living structures, like skin and muscle, with synthetic materials. In living organisms, structures often combine attributes such as strength and flexibility with ease. When using a mix of different synthetic materials to mimic these attributes, materials often fail, coming apart and ripping at the junctures between different materials.

Oftentimes, when bringing materials together, particularly if they have very different mechanical properties, they want to come apart, Page said. Page and his team were able to control and change the structure of a plastic-like material, using light to alter how firm or stretchy the material would be.

Chemists started with a monomer, a small molecule that binds with others like it to form the building blocks for larger structures called polymers that were similar to the polymer found in the most commonly used plastic. After testing a dozen catalysts, they found one that, when added to their monomer and shown visible light, resulted in a semicrystalline polymer similar to those found in existing synthetic rubber. A harder and more rigid material was formed in the areas the light touched, while the unlit areas retained their soft, stretchy properties.

Because the substance is made of one material with different properties, it was stronger and could be stretched farther than most mixed materials.

The reaction takes place at room temperature, the monomer and catalyst are commercially available, and researchers used inexpensive blue LEDs as the light source in the experiment. The reaction also takes less than an hour and minimizes use of any hazardous waste, which makes the process rapid, inexpensive, energy efficient and environmentally benign.

The researchers will next seek to develop more objects with the material to continue to test its usability.

We are looking forward to exploring methods of applying this chemistry towards making 3D objects containing both hard and soft components, said first author Adrian Rylski, a doctoral student at UT Austin.

The team envisions the material could be used as a flexible foundation to anchor electronic components in medical devices or wearable tech. In robotics, strong and flexible materials are desirable to improve movement and durability.

Henry L. Cater, Keldy S. Mason, Marshall J. Allen, Anthony J. Arrowood, Benny D. Freeman and Gabriel E. Sanoja of The University of Texas at Austin also contributed to the research.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Robert A. Welch Foundation.

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'Smart Plastic' Material is Step Forward Toward Soft, Flexible Robotics and Electronics - UT News - The University of Texas at Austin