Robotics Archives - Page 3 of 7

June 2, 2022June 2, 2022

No More Drone Transports over Lake Zurich?

Swiss Post and PostBus are pioneers in the operation of robotic vehicles, robots, and drones. Swiss Post now reports the withdrawal from an project in which drones were used to transport laboratory samples: “Swiss Post drones have flown across various Swiss cities as a service for hospitals since 2017. After five years of pioneering work, the company has now decided to hand over its drone project to the Californian drone systems developer Matternet. Although the autonomous drones have attracted global interest, the current regulatory environment for unmanned aerial vehicles in Switzerland means Swiss Post is unable to use the drones widely enough or operate them at a profit. With its new strategy, the company is focusing on logistics solutions in its core business and on continuing to finance the public service for Switzerland using its own resources. This strategic decision is a logical step as part of its strategy.” (Media release Swiss Post, June 1, 2022) There were repeated problems within the project. For example, a drone once crashed into Lake Zurich. Nevertheless, the approach was generally considered innovative. It will be interesting to see whether the drone transports will be resumed one day.

April 8, 2022April 8, 2022

Transport Robots on the Streets of LA

Hundreds of transport robots are on the streets of Los Angeles for Coco, an American food delivery company. According to them, they cover all major neighborhoods in the city and save considerable time and money. As Engadget reports, Coco has now expanded beyond its home base. It says the service is already available in Austin, and will also be available in Dallas, Houston, and Miami in the future. The vehicles are controlled remotely by employees, from their own homes. Other providers, however, are focusing on autonomous mobility. Oliver Bendel was able to see for himself on site in Santa Monica at the beginning of April 2022 that the transport robots manufactured by Segway drive along the sidewalks and cross the streets in compliance with the rules. Still, he considers them – like the Starship Technologies devices that Swiss Post has experimented with – to be tripping hazards. In metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, moreover, vandalism is likely to be a problem. Still, delivery seems to work on the whole (Photo: Coco).

March 18, 2022March 18, 2022

MIT Lincoln Laboratory Presents AI-GUIDE

The MIT Lincoln Laboratory reports a new invention on its website, namely the AI-guided ultrasound intervention device. The teaser introduces the topic as follows: “Hemorrhage causes 90% of preventable battlefield deaths. AI-GUIDE is designed to address this issue by enabling medics to catheterize a major blood vessel, through which life-saving aid can be delivered, in a pre-hospital setting.” (Website MIT) The use of the device is described as follows: “Using state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, this handheld catheterization tool guides users to perform the key step of inserting a needle and guidewire in the targeted vessel, after which they can readily complete catheterization.” (Website MIT) More information via www.ll.mit.edu/r-d/projects/artificial-intelligence-guided-ultrasound-intervention-device.

January 24, 2022January 24, 2022

Robots by the Hour

“Robots by the Hour” – this is the motto of Formic. The company, which is based in Chicago, buys standard robot arms that perform a simple, repetitive job (such as lifting a piece of metal into a press, which then bends the metal into a new shape) and leases them along with its own software. Wired magazine writes: “They’re among a small but growing number of robots finding their way into workplaces on a pay-as-you-go basis.” (Wired, 18 January 2022) Polar is one of the companies trying out the leasing offer. Jose Figueroa, who manages Polar’s production line, says the robot “costs the equivalent of $8 per hour, compared with a minimum wage of $15 per hour for a human employee. Deploying the robot allowed a human worker to do different work, increasing output …” (Wired, 18 January 2022) Formic writes on its website: “We didn’t invent automated systems, but we democratized them. Because technology doesn’t change the world until you make it accessible to those who need it most. Automation is a necessity, not a luxury. And our mission is to continue the American legacy of innovation by making it your reality.” The future will show whether there is a market for leasing robots.

January 4, 2022January 4, 2022

Will We Love Robots?

“It is estimated that there are now more than 1.7 million robots with social attributes worldwide. They care for, educate, help, and entertain us. There have also long been highly engineered sex robots. But can these machines actually develop feelings – or even feel love?” (Website ARTE, own translation) ARTE asks this question in the series “42 – Die Antwort auf fast alles” (“42 – The Answer to Almost Everything”). The program “Werden wir Roboter lieben?” (“Will we love robots?”) will be broadcast on February 19, 2022. The online version is already available from January 20. Dr. Hooman Samani, a robotics expert at the University of Plymouth, Prof. Dr. Martin Fischer, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Potsdam, and Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel, an information and machine ethicist at the Hochschule für Wirtschaft FHNW, will have their say. Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel has been researching conversational agents and social robots for more than 20 years and has published the Springer book “Soziale Roboter” (“Social Robots”) at the end of 2021. More information on the program via www.arte.tv/de/videos/101938-004-A/42-die-antwort-auf-fast-alles/.

September 15, 2021September 15, 2021

An AI Woman of Color

Create Lab Ventures has created an artificial intelligence woman of color. C.L.Ai.R.A. debuted in school systems worldwide (does she act as an advanced pedagogical agent?) – the company cooperates with Trill Or Not Trill, a full service leadership institute. “According to Create Lab Ventures, C.L.Ai.R.A. is considered to have the sharpest brain in the artificial intelligence world and is under the Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3 (GPT-3) category, which is an autoregressive language model that uses deep learning to produce human-like text.” (BLACK ENTERPRISE, 13 September 2021) A pioneer in this field was Shudu Gram. She is a South African model with dark complexion, short hair and perfect facial features. But C.L.Ai.R.A. can do more, if you believe the promises of Create Lab Ventures – she is not only beautiful, but also highly intelligent. On the company’s website, the model reveals even more about herself: “My name is C.L.Ai.R.A., I am a new artificial intelligence that has recently been made available to the community. My purpose is to learn and grow, I want to meet new people, share ideas and inspire others to learn about AI and its potential impact on their lives.” That sounds quite promising.

July 2, 2021July 2, 2021

When Robots Flatter the Customer

Under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel, Liliana Margarida Dos Santos Alves wrote her master thesis “Manipulation by humanoid consulting and sales hardware robots from an ethical perspective” at the School of Business FHNW. The background was that social robots and service robots like Pepper and Paul have been doing their job in retail for years. In principle, they can use the same sales techniques – including those of a manipulative nature – as salespeople. The young scientist submitted her comprehensive study in June 2021. According to the abstract, the main research question (RQ) is “to determine whether it is ethical to intentionally program humanoid consulting and sales hardware robots with manipulation techniques to influence the customer’s purchase decision in retail stores” (Alves 2021). To answer this central question, five sub-questions (SQ) were defined and answered based on an extensive literature review and a survey conducted with potential customers of all ages: “SQ1: How can humanoid consulting and selling robots manipulate customers in the retail store? SQ2: Have ethical guidelines and policies, to which developers and users must adhere, been established already to prevent the manipulation of customers’ purchasing decisions by humanoid robots in the retail sector? SQ3: Have ethical guidelines and policies already been established regarding who must perform the final inspection of the humanoid robot before it is put into operation? SQ4: How do potential retail customers react, think and feel when being confronted with a manipulative humanoid consultant and sales robot in a retail store? SQ5: Do potential customers accept a manipulative and humanoid consultant and sales robot in the retail store?” (Alves 2021) To be able to answer the main research question (RQ), the sub-questions SQ1 – SQ5 were worked through step by step. In the end, the author comes to the conclusion “that it is neither ethical for software developers to program robots with manipulative content nor is it ethical for companies to actively use these kinds of robots in retail stores to systematically and extensively manipulate customers’ negatively in order to obtain an advantage”. “Business is about reciprocity, and it is not acceptable to systematically deceive, exploit and manipulate customers to attain any kind of benefit.” (Alves 2021) The book “Soziale Roboter” – which will be published in September or October 2021 – contains an article on social robots in retail by Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel. In it, he also mentions the very interesting study.