Category Archives: Robotics

Posted: Feb. 20, 2017 2:30 pm

At a central New Jersey regional robotics and engineering competition held at East Brunswick High School, the Sparta Robotic Engineering teams performed well with three sub teams qualifying for the state championships to be held at Cherry Hill High School on March 4. The teams each won passage to the states by their combined performance in two areas: programming skills and driver-controlled skills.

The Sparta team 5249A, led by Conor Smetana, is currently ranked fifth in the state. Other members of 5249A include Hailey Koerner, Luke Kurian and Lucie Wolfson. The Sparta team 5249C, led by Evan Marcino and Julia Lopez, ranked 11th in the state. Other members of 5249C include Alexandra Poret, Julia Muth, Sam Roscoe, Alan Yeung, Ryan McQillan and Brendan Brusberg.

The Sparta team 5249E, led by Thiago Santos and Emmet Sedar, is ranked 17th in the state. Other members include Zach Herbert. Earlier in the season this team won both an Innovation award and a build award.

Sparta was also recognized by receiving what is called an "Amaze Award."

The Sparta team of 5249D led by Jack Willamson and co-led by Sarah Ramos received this award. The Amaze award is presented to a team that has built a competition robot that clearly demonstrates overall quality and solid mechanical design, key attributes assessed for this award. Other members of 5249D are Erich Schwarzrock, Grace Masterson, Nicole Kwok, Soumya Duggirala.

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Sparta Robotics teams head to state championship - New Jersey Herald

Every detail -- the latex skin, the mat of baby black hair -- seemed as realistic as a Ron Mueck sculpture. The left arm rose slowly, the mouth half-open, the eyelids flickering into a squint. I studied it intensely, half expecting a response -- a cry, a gurgle -- but without any desire to rescue the baby from the wall and cradle it. Side on, it was unmistakably a machine. An umbilical cord of shiny metal tubing fed into its spine.

"Robots" is as much about culture as it is about science. It answers a deceptively simple question that has been pondered for the last 500 years: How do we design robots we can happily interact with?

The question has become increasingly topical as humanoid robots multiply in the lab, with some likely to end up in our homes, schools, universities and clinics, as well as theme parks and museums.

Curator Ben Russell spent five years assembling over 100 humanoid robots for this show. He's tracked down historic robots and automata and along the way, and managed to salvage a few of them. (One was made out of central heating components, another out of scrap metal and found rusting outside.)

"We like to anthropomorphize. We are the only species who do. We like to invent objects like us," he says of the humanoids on display.

In 1970, a Japanese robotics researcher named Masahiro Mori posited a complex phenomenon known as the uncanny valley. His basic theory was that we respond positively to a robot as it becomes more human in look but only up to a certain point. And then suddenly, we are strongly repelled by it.

"Robots can reach a point where they become too much like us, are too corpse-like and creepy," Russell says.

The robot appears nearly human, but not quite right. It induces the discomfort of being close to something that is ill, and reminds us of our own mortality.

Contemporary robot designers seem to have responded to this challenge in different ways.

The trumpet playing robot, Harry (2005), made by the Toyota car company, is plainly a white silicon humanoid robot but without any real facial features. He exists to entertain just like one of the old toy automata, and can play tunes like "What a Wonderful World."

One of Russell's favorite exhibits, Eccerobot (2009), was more realistic, with a design based on the 19th century medical textbook "Gray's Anatomy."

It's human in shape, but without any kind of skin or proper face. All the innards are exposed and mimic the inner mechanics of the human body. Motors, cord, kite line and polymorph are substituted for muscles, tendons, joints and bones.

(I did find it humanly sympathetic in one respect: Eccerobot regularly seizes up with backache and has to be rested overnight.)

Russell introduced a Japanese communication robot called Kodomoroid as "one of the freakiest robots in the show."

I didn't disagree. With a helmet of black hair (almost a Mary Quant bob) and dressed immaculately in white smock and ballet flats, she seemed unnervingly real and yet also like a shop mannequin come to life. As with the animatronic baby, I examined her intensely. She too wasn't quite right.

Her job, back in Japan, is to read the daily news at the National Science Museum.

According to Russell, the Japanese have embraced robots culturally more than any other country. In fact, about a third of the robots in the exhibition are from Japan.

Russell draws a connection with Japan's dominant Shinto faith, in which there is no large between humans and inanimate objects. The sun, the moon, mountains and tree all have their own spirits or souls.

Telenoid (2013), developed at Osaka University, is a communication robot, glistening white and bald with tapering limbs devoid of hands and feet. A child, operating it remotely by computer, can use it to communicate with someone in another country.

The claim is that Telenoid reproduces in a physical form the child's movements and personality, as well as the voice. In trials, people have apparently been happy to talk to and cuddle the robot. They speak of the warmth of feeling in Telenoid's eyes.

Conversely, robots are often seen as a threat in the West, and we're still trying to overcome our suspicions.

Even the origin of the term "robot" was a bit sinister: It first entered the lexicon in 1921 via a dystopian play, "R.U.R.," by Czech writer Karel Capek. (R.U.R stands for Rossum's Universal Robots.)

The drama was set in a factory manufacturing humanoid robots from synthetic organic material. The robots rebel and wipe out the human race.

However, American robotics designer David Hanson has chosen not to worry about unnerving us and is already designing robots of uncanny realism with artificial intelligence and empathy, facial expression and the ability to chat. I was disappointed not to meet one; Hanson's robots aren't on display at the Science Museum.

"In the not-too-distant future, Genius Machines will walk among us. They will be smart, kind, and wise," it reads on his website. "Together, man and machine will create a better future for the world."

We shall see.

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What the faces of our robots tell us about ourselves - CNN

After six long weeks of planning, constructing and testing, Pitt Countys robotics teams are ready to battle teams from across North Carolina for robot supremacy.

Local students joined parents, teachers and mentors on Monday night at C.M. Eppes Middle School to introduce the robots they will send into the FIRST Robotics STEAMWORKScompetition next month. Gemini will run the gauntlet for the veteran Pitt Pirates team. Gearitation will duke it out for a Boneyard Robotics team in its third year.

We are excited this year, said Ann McClung, a former teacher at South Central High School and now the science coordinator at the Center for STEM Education at East Carolina University.This is our first year hosting the district competition.

The two Pitt teams will compete against about 30 other teams during the district competition March 4-5 at South Central High School. Winning teams advance to the state level of competition.

Pitt County Robotics, in its 10th year, is part of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition. FIRST, which began in 1989, is an international program with a goal of inspiring young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

We have a great interest locally, McClung said. Once people get involved ... they are hooked.

McClung said getting a robot ready for competition takes a partnership among students, parents, mentors and sponsors.

The students work with mentors from various disciplines, she said. We have engineers, tech support people and electricians. But we also have people from other disciplines like marketing ... its a team effort.

Teams get just six weeks from the time the concept is revealed to completion of a robot. After that, it is bagged up so no modifications can be made before competition.

After the unveiling ... the robots are put away until the competition, McClung said.Its amazing what these teams do in six weeks.

In STEAMWORKS, robots must capture fuel, deliver gears to their teams and then climb a rope before the airship takes flight.

This year has a Steampunk theme, McClung said.I think this is the coolest theme yet for this competition.

McClung said that she would like to see more teams compete next year, but the program needs more mentors and sponsors.

There are a lot of kids interested in getting involved, but we need more mentors in order to get more teams, she said. I encourage anyone that might be interested in getting involved to come out to the competition in March. ... That is all it will take for them to get hooked.

For more information about theFIRST Robotics program or the competition in March, call McClung at 252-258-3974.

Contact Shannon Keith at skeith@reflector.comor at 252-329-9579.

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Robots revealed: Gemini, Gearitation ready to battle - Greenville Daily Reflector

In its first match, Crescent Valley High Schools robot had pieces falling off one wheel because it hadnt been properly screwed together.

Later, the robotics team from South and West Albany high schools had trouble going straight in its first scrimmage because the students forgot to reset a gyroscope after moving it onto the field.

But students on both teams said they were actually glad to find the problems so they could fix them before the competition season for FIRST Robotics starts officially.

Learning moments like this took place frequently Saturday at a robotics pre-season scrimmage at Corvallis High School, which was attended by 25 teams from across the Pacific Northwest. Organizers say the event, held annually in Corvallis, gave students a chance to get practice playing this years game for the first time and shake out problems with their robots, which they have been hastily building over the last nearly six weeks.

Matthew Sundberg, captain of the Crescent Valley team, said he was glad for the scrimmage because it gave the team a chance to find problems like the improperly assembled wheel.

But he said the team also realized how important it will be to put cameras on the robot that send video feed to the teams drivers, because the field is large and had enough obstacles the drivers couldnt always see where the robot was.

We learned a lot about how helpful vision will be, said Sundberg, a senior

Eric Sisson, a senior on the combined team from the Albany high schools, said the takeaway from their first match was to make sure the robots gyroscope is reset after it is moved.

The first (match) is always rough, he said.

Sisson is the lead scout for his team and added that the event is also valuable because he gets to see other robots in action, which may affect which robots they try to form alliances with in the upcoming competitions. The game allows robots to score points by collecting wiffle balls and throwing them into a hopper, collecting gears from the ground and placing them on a peg or by climbing a rope.

Sisson said the robots compete on teams of three, so its valuable to see which robots might have complementary abilities for their robot, which specializes in picking up gears and placing them on pegs and climbing the rope.

Oh my gosh, Ive learned so much, he said. Every year I think, Why didnt we do that?

Daniel Arthurs, a member of Philomath High Schools team, said at last years scrimmage the team didnt have its robot functional until the scrimmage was mostly over, but this year they were mostly ready at the start, so the team was happy it would get more practice time this year.

Were feeling a lot better about where we are at, he said. The Philomath robot is also specialized to collect gears and climb, Arthurs said.

Arthurs, a sophomore, said he likes robotics competitions because of how much hes learned through participating in them.

It gives you a lot of career choices, he said.

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Robotics scrimmage - Corvallis Gazette Times

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West Lafayette robotics teams show off their hard work | WTHITV.com WTHITV.com Leading the Way in Terre Haute and the Wabash Valley with the most accurate and reliable news, weather, and sports coverage, along with the latest breaking ... and more »

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West Lafayette robotics teams show off their hard work | WTHITV.com - WTHITV.com

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions boosted its financial support to area schools last week, by adding a $9,000 donation to support robotics programs in Aiken County Schools.

SRNS has a sincere passion for supporting education outreach initiatives, year-round, throughout the CSRA, said SRNS Education Outreach Program Coordinator Kim Mitchell. Its at the primary and secondary levels of education within area school systems that our future leaders and the Savannah River Sites future employees are nurtured, shaped and prepared for life as an adult.

The new funding adds to the annual $20,000 SRNS gives to Public Education Partners. Mitchell said the additional $9,000 in funding is being used by PEP to assist science, technology, engineering, arts and math, or STEM/STEAM magnet schools Jackson Middle and New Ellenton Middle schools in Aiken County. The new funding is directed at helping jump start the student robotics programs.

Robotics programs have been springing up at a number of area schools, including the North Augusta High School team that travelled to the state competition in its first year.

Mitchell believes a cost effective method to deepen students interest in STEM-based courses is to intrigue them with robots. She said working in teams to build, program and compete with robots greatly increases student interest and participation in math, engineering and the sciences.

Ive always been interested in computers and programming, said Logan Hopson, an eighth grade student at Jackson Middle School. Working with robots gives us hands-on experience and hands-on building. Its a completely different perspective related to learning.

STEM and STEAM programs work, said New Ellenton Middle School Principal Shunte Dugar. The impact STEAM-based curriculum has had on our faculty and students have been nothing short of amazing. It is revolutionizing current educational theory, while evolving into a new questioning, tactile method of learning based on collaboration and discovery. We could not be more pleased with the results.

Jackson Middle School recently earned national accreditation for our STEM program, one of only 54 in the world today, said Kishni Neville, JMS STEM Coordinator. I believe a lot of the credit for this incredible accomplishment goes to SRNS for their long-time support, both financially and through their employees who regularly volunteer to help us.

Reach Thomas Gardiner at (706) 823-3339 or thomas.gardiner@augustachronicle.com.

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SRNS jump starts robotics programs in two Aiken County schools - The Augusta Chronicle

Its sort of Victorian-industrial, but with more whimsy and fewer orphans.

- Caitlin Kittredge, describing the Steampunk aesthetic

Students preparing for the 2017 FIRST Robotics (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Competition will be exhaling the first sigh of relief this week as the building deadline for robots closed on Tuesday.

The Steamworks theme is a nod to the Steampunk movement, which reflects the blending of Victorian-era mechanical gadgetry and modern science fiction.

It should also make for some interesting team costumes this year.

Since early January, the Kenyon-Wanamingo team 3848, known as Bots in Shining Armor, has been using all their technical skills to design, build and troubleshoot a robot for the contest.

Earlier preparation included a fall robotics scrimmage with last-year's robot at Prior Lake High School, an event that advisor Doug Thompson also uses to draw in new recruits for the team.

Over the weekend the team participated in a scrimmage with the new robot in Eagan. Thompson said they use that competition to see how their robot performs and learn if they have interpreted all the rules and guidelines correctly. Inspectors checked over the machine and the team still had two days to make improvements before the bag and tag deadline.

According to Thompson, the rules are particularly challenging this year in relation to the size of the robot. It could only be 36 inches by 40 inches, and 24 inches tall, including the bumpers. Previous machines had larger dimensions, but this new size restriction forces teams to build more compact.

The 2017 Steamworks challenge has three main components: shoot softball-sized "fuel balls" into a high or low "boiler," stack plastic gears to engage rotors for a "flying machine," and have the robot use a rope to climb on board for the "flight."

The main robot will be out of commission from now until they attend the FIRST Robotics competition at the University of Minnesota Mariucci Arena on April 5-8.

But that doesn't mean that the team will be slacking. Thompson had the JV squad build a mirror model that the group can use for practice. That is one advantage that comes from building up a stock of materials and receiving donations for extra funding.

In the fall, the robotics team received a $5,000 grant from Monsanto. Thompson was contacted by a representative from Syngenta near Stanton, who encouraged him to apply.

Other contributors include: Kenyon-Holden-Warsaw Mutual Insurance, Medtronics, Walmart, Toro, the Baalson family (in memory of Jake Baalson), Fastenal, Schwegman-Lundberg-Woessner Patent Attorneys, Alan and Ann Stolee, Paul Clauson, Dr. Jeff Pesta and the K-W Education Foundation.

Along with Thompson, adult mentors assisting the team are: Paul Clauson, Eddie Weyant, Jim Gould and Alan Stolee.

This year's team has only one senior, Casey Cooper. The juniors are: Kieran Weyandt, Sam Blastervold, Nicholas Kaiser, Ethan Houglum, Markus Rechtzigel and Joe Gould. Cole Newman is the only sophomore, and freshmen are Alan Clouse, Skylar and Xander Blauer and Charlie Severeid.

Team captain Casey Cooper handles much of the welding and fabricating. He said teamwork plays a big role in how they operate. Like a sports team, each person may have different roles to play such as welding, programming, electronics, artwork, finances and building.

Robotics brings students and adults together from different places and groups, he said, yet this makes them connected. Cooper's favorite part is that they are actually building real robots.

He said the challenging parts will be to make sure their robot can maneuver, get their timing right and overcome obstacles. A lot can depend on the competition they get at Mariucci, he added.

At a table in the shop classroom, Nickolas Kaiser talked with Joe Gould and Cole Newman. Gould held up a mounting bracket that they made with the 3-D printer. They agreed that robotics has helped them understand and apply what they have learned in the classroom about electricity and mathematical calculations like parabolas.

Newman has worked on the programming aspects this year. He said is has a steep learning curve, but he has learned a lot from alumni mentor Bryan Pliscott. Other alumni assisting the team include Peter Clauson, Trevor Clouse, Sam Tudor and Mason Sanders.

A 2015 K-W graduate, Sanders is currently enrolled at South Central College in Faribault. He is able to bring his machining and welding skills to the group and enjoys sharing knowledge and insights.

As he leaned over the robot, discussing an aluminum bracket placement with Cooper, he said it's cool to see the younger guys stepping up and taking charge. Sanders said he loves the program, calling it "the best extra-curricular that schools offer," and adding that robotics gave him a huge lead at college in the areas of design and welding.

Freshman Skye Blauer is the only female on the team this year. She brings experience in the Lego robotics program and is helping a lot with sponsorship and record keeping this year. She is also in charge of the team's interpretation of the Steampunk theme.

Thompson is optimistic about the K-W Robotics Team. With the other mentors, he has built a decent program from scratch that is developing students' skills and character, and representing K-W well.

What's next? He shared that a grade 5-8 Lego robotics team was approved by the school district, but all the contest spots were full this year. That's OK, he said, they have the parts and will be ready next fall.

Reach Publisher and Editor Terri Lenz at 333-3148, or follow her on Twitter.com @KenyonLeader

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KW Robotics team prepares for 'Steamworks' challenge - Southernminn.com

European Robotics Week 2016. Credits: Visual Outcasts

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love is a collection of short stories by American writer Raymond Carver. In his collection, he doesnt provide a direct definition of love but instead lets the perception of the natureof love form in the minds of the reader through narrating a series of short stories.

This idea of perception leads me to my point. In myprevious post, I highlighted the widespread reproducibility issues still haunting robotics research. These issues need to be fixed if we want to talk about Robotics as a science. Like what the new journal Science Robotics aims to do. However there are still other issues to consider: what exactly is Robotics about? What does it mean when its said, you will never be able to do that within the mechatronic paradigm? Is there a kind of robotics thermodynamics? What can be done? What cant, for fundamental reasons, be done with a given approach/class of physical systems?

Areal roboticist (even in academia) might be tempted to dismiss those question as typical intellectual speculations.

There was a recent article in New Scientist about Londons Science Museums Robots called,who is really pulling the strings? If you focus solely on the perception of disappointment, after reading thearticle, you might be led to think, as I do, that we need a paradigm change. And you may understand the objectives and concerns of some not-so-mainstream communities in AI and Robotics, for example, those gathering around the Shanghai Lectures (2016 edition here). Unfortunately, its easier said than done.

I will come back on this again. Stay tuned!

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What we talk about when we talk about robotics - Robohub

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, Feb. 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Students from the CITGO Innovation Academy for Engineering, Environmental & Marine Science at Foy H. Moody High School took home two awards at the 2016 Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) International Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Competition, held at the state-of-the-art NASA Johnson Space Center's Neutral Buoyancy Lab in Houston.

Showcasing the world's best and brightest science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students, the MATE International ROV Competition was the final round in a series of science fairs that challenged student teams to design and build ROVs to tackle missions modeled after realistic ocean scenarios, focusing on ways underwater ROV technology can be adapted for use in harsh ocean and space environments. The finalists advanced from more than 20 regional contests that took place throughout Canada, Egypt, Hong Kong, Russia, Scotland, Turkey and the United States.

The 17-person AquaBot Technicians robotics team from the CITGO Innovation Academy received the competition's Aloha Award for its team spirit and friendliness. The team shared Texas-shaped wildflower seed cards to its fellow competitors as part of its goodwill campaign. Additionally, CITGO Innovation Academy student and AquaBot Technicians CEO Natasha Sanchez was named the competition's MVP for her strong team leadership and knowledgeable presentation of the team's ROV, which illustrated how such vehicles could be utilized in both inner and outer space. Sanchez is a high-achieving student who traveled to the White House in 2015 to demonstrate an underwater robot built by CITGO Innovation Academy students to First Lady Michelle Obama.

"For more than a decade now, CITGO has been supporting the Innovation Academy at Moody High School, training the next generation of STEM professionals," said Art Klein, CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery vice president. "The AquaBot Technicians are a perfect example of how STEM education focused on real-world scenarios is taking these young leaders further. After placing third in the regional competition, the team has proven to be a force on the international level, demonstrating that with proper instruction, our children can contend with the best and brightest from overseas. We congratulate the AquaBot Technicians on their strong performance at this prestigious competition."

"We strive to find opportunities for our students to engage in interactive education because it prepares them for situations they will encounter in the real world," said Sandra Clement, principal of Moody High School. "Commitment from CITGO is integral to granting our students access to opportunities like the MATE ROV Competition, enabling them to take STEM learning beyond the classroom."

For more than a decade, CITGO has supported the CITGO Innovation Academy at Moody High School. Students are exposed to upper-level engineering, math and science courses, in addition to a wealth of mentors, speakers and educational opportunities. Since the CITGO Innovation Academy's inception, nearly 800 students have gone through the program, many of them becoming engineers, computer scientists and professionals in other STEM fields. Contributions from CITGO include a water tank for the robotics team to practice on, in addition to helping to launch several programs within the school.

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Through the CITGO STEM Talent Pipeline program, the company actively supports the academic exploration of STEM education in the schools nearby its refineries in Corpus Christi, Texas; Lake Charles, Louisiana; and Lemont, Illinois. CITGO is dedicated to educational and social investment because of the company's belief in the abilities of local programs that empower the next generation to contribute to the economic growth of their communities.

About CITGO Corpus Christi RefineryThe CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery, which celebrated 80 years of operations in 2015, provides more than 1,000 jobs locally, while generating more than $345 million per year in support of the local economy through salaries, services and taxes. In addition to producing high-quality fuels for its network of nearly 5,500 independently owned and operated CITGO branded stations across the country, Corpus Christi refinery employees make a major positive impact on the community. In 2015 alone, CITGO employees in Corpus Christi volunteered more than 2,900 hours of their personal time to local and national charities. Since 2013, the CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery and its employees have provided more than 10,000 volunteer hours and approximately $3.3 in support of community organizations such as United Way, Charlie's Place, Muscular Dystrophy Association, The Miracle League, Catholic Charities, the Special Olympics and a variety of environmental and preservation initiatives, such as the revitalization of the Gateway to Corpus Christi, Hans and Pat Suter Park and Adopt-A-Beach Clean Up. The 80th anniversary of the Corpus Christi Refinery last year was preceded by the 70th anniversary of the CITGO Lake Charles Refinery in 2014 and is being followed by the 90th anniversary of the CITGO Lemont Refinery in 2016, with CITGO facilities marking three significant milestones in three consecutive years. For more information on the CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery, visit http://www.citgorefining.com/corpus-christi.

About CITGOCITGO, based in Houston, is a refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. The company is owned by CITGO Holding, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petrleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. For more information, visitwww.CITGO.com.

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CITGO Innovation Academy Underwater Robotics Team Wins at International Competition - Yahoo Finance

Treasure Coast 12:03 a.m. ET Feb. 20, 2017

Dr. Adam Mues performs surgery.(Photo: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Treasure Coast patients who require urologic surgery now have the benefit of receiving their care locallyprovided by an expert surgery team operating Martin Health Systems da Vinci robot.

Robotic surgery is the standard surgical approach for many procedures in urology today, said Dr. Adam Mues, one of Martin Healths urologic surgeons.

Robotics, Mues noted, is especially helpful in surgeries that occur in small areas of the body, such as the pelvis, that are challenging to reach with hands or to see with the naked eye.

Our main concern is patient outcomes, and robotic surgery has improved many of these outcomes, said Mues, who joined Martin Health System in early 2015 after working as an assistant professor at New York University.

Outcomes have improved because of the minimally invasive approach, combined with the robots ability to perform difficult surgeries in an elegant manner, explained Mues.

We are able to perform very sophisticated surgery in small, tight spaces that are difficult to access otherwise, he said.

The surgeries are conducted through small keyhole-like incisions that produce less pain, lessblood loss, and a reduced risk of infection and wound-related complications. Patients generally have shorter hospitalizations and experience faster recovery time and a faster return to normal activities.

Another advantage of the da Vinci robot is an improved ability for surgeons to identify and treat complex conditions such as prostate cancer, kidney cancer and bladder cancer, Mues said.The system has an integrated fluorescence imaging capability called Firefly. Firefly provides the surgeon with real-time, image-guided identification of key anatomical landmarks during cancer surgery.

The robot includes a number of other features helpful to the surgeon. These include enhanced high-definition 3-D imaging for a high level of precision and control, a camera with a light at the end, and a pedal- and finger-controlled console where all robotic instruments and the camera can be manipulated by the surgeon with ease. The instruments have a wristed component with little joints that move, similar to a small hand.

Its a little bit like playing a video game, Mues explained.

For that reason, the majority of robotic surgeries are being performed by a new generation of surgeons more comfortable with technology than their predecessors.

It takes some getting used to, Mues said.You cant feel the patients tissues, which is a major part of all open surgery. The dissection is done with visual cues only, using the tiny instruments manipulated from the control panel rather than your hand.You have to become very skilled and comfortable with learning how to feel the tissues with your eyes.

Mastering robotic surgery involves extensive training. Mues completed his residency in urology at Ohio State University, which pioneered the early use of robotic surgery in urology, followed by a two-year fellowship in robotics at Columbia University in New York City.

Robotic surgery is a great passion of mine, he said. Its very gratifying to be able to treat these conditions in such a precise manner and to give the patient the best chance for an excellent outcome.

Dr. Adam Mues, a urologic surgeon with Martin Health System, performs robotic surgery using the da Vinci robot.(Photo: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

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SPONSOR STORY: Robotics at Martin improving urologic procedure outcomes - TCPalm