Robotics: It's What Everyone Is Talking About

Or at least that is what I am told.

Dec 08, 2023

Aaron’s Thoughts On The Week

In this business it takes time to be really good - and by that time, you're obsolete. - Cher

Every time I open my LinkedIn feed, I see more and more people talking about robotics. Now of course this is because I follow a lot of people in the robotics industry and I am pretty sure the LinkedIn algorithm knows that is the type of content I want see. However, I am started to see new entrants into my feed. Some are sharing some amazing stuff. Unfortunately, some are not and that is giving me pause.

So what is giving me pause? First is the amount of “old stuff” that is being shared. Now there have been some amazing robot applications over the years and seeing them again isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The issue is when the same video from 2, 3, even over 5 years ago is shared as some new thing that I have to just say “STOP!”

Sharing a video of a robot that is no longer used and calling it something new is misleading to the point that it should be labeled “misinformation.” I have recently seen videos of delivery robots from Amazon and FedEx that were part of programs that were discontinued in 2022.

I have even seen people posting videos of inventory scanning robots at Walmart, even though Walmart killed that program back in 2020.

Now these were cool robots, but they are no longer with us. Sharing them as a story about the past or why they failed has value, but sharing them on social media just to share them is doing no one any justice. For those new to the industry, it sets them up to be seen as ignorant if they reshare them without the knowledge that robot is no longer being used.

Then there are the AI-created deep fake videos of robots doing things that can’t do. I have no problem sharing them, but you better open the post with “THIS IS FAKE.” These fake videos not only hurt the robotics industry as a whole, there is growing research that they may hurt the creditability of the person who shares them.

One of the most common fake videos of a robot that is shared is the bowling robot below. There are numerous signs that this video is fake. The biggest of which is the robot is not even bolted to the ground (like any bowling alley would let someone bolt an industrial robot to their wood floors).

Sadly though this fake keeps being shared on social media with most claiming it to be real when it is clearly not. The problem with this is as AI gets better, the fakes are going to get harder to figure out. If people are being tricked this easily, combatting the good ones is going to get harder. This week, we saw many people sharing a fake video of Tesla bots shooting up one of Tesla’s new cybertrucks. This, of course, amplified the “Here comes the Terminator” crowd even though nothing about those robots were real.

Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing a bunch of robot videos in my feed. However, we need to do a better job of ensure they are A) REAL and B) STILL RELEVANT. We have a lot of new people coming to the robotics industry to work in it or get solutions from it. We need to be setting realistic expectations. We need to share robot solutions that can actually be obtained on the marketplace. This also means we should share robotics research that shows how hard it is to get robots to do certain things. Moravec's paradox is very much alive and well in our industry and we need to convey to the larger general public.

If we want the public to embrace robotics, we need to be honest with both them and ourselves by sharing true things and not stuff that could mislead them. Share, but give context.

Robot News Of The Week

Gecko Robotics raises $100M Series C extension, adds board members to intensify defense focus

Gecko Robotics has raised $100 million for its robots that assess the safety and condition of infrastructure for industries including defense, oil and manufacturing.

The Pittsburgh-based company, whose customers include the US Navy last year’s Series C and Air Force, received new investment as an extension to last year’s Series C round, giving the company a post-money valuation of $633 million.

Reliable Robotics makes history with fully automated cargo flight

U.S. based startup Reliable Robotics has achieved a significant milestone as the company successfully piloted a fully autonomous flight. The company utilized a Cessna 208B Caravan aircraft with no crew on board.

Carbon Robotics raises additional $8M as maker of AI-powered weed zapper eyes new ag-tech product

Carbon Robotics, makers of a weed-zapping machine powered by artificial intelligence and computer vision technology, has raised an additional $8 million which it plans to use to accelerate development of a new product line in agriculture tech. The new cash extends a Series C round that has now pulled in $43 million for the Seattle startup. Carbon Robotics has raised $80 million in total.

Kodiak Robotics makes autonomous pickup for military

Kodiak Robotics delivered a prototype of an autonomously equipped Ford F-150 pickup to the U.S. military, showing it can adapt its robotic driving system to a light-duty vehicle as well as a heavy-duty truck. The F-150 up fitted with the Kodiak Driver contains both the autonomy hardware and software required to operate a military ground vehicle. The vehicle is designed to handle complex military environments, diverse operational conditions and operate in areas where GPS is sketchy.

Robot Research In The News

Robotic mouse with flexible spine moves with greater speed and agility

A mouse-like robot with an articulated spine is faster, more agile and defter at balancing than rigid competitors, but the added cost and complexity means such devices will only be suitable for some applications.

Zhenshan Bing at the Technical University of Munich, Germany, and his colleagues created their robot using a 3D printer. Its flexible spine has eight joints controlled by servos, and the whole machine is about 40 centimeters long and weighs 225 grams.

Penn awarded $2 million grant from NASA to fund research on lunar robots

The grant will aid the Temporarily, Robots Unite to Surmount Sandy Entrapments, then Separate Project. TRUSSES’s goal is to create inventive strategies for teams of robots to navigate environmental challenges on the moon. The project is spearheaded by Gabel Family Term Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics Cynthia Sung at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Tiny robots made from human cells heal damaged tissue

Scientists have developed tiny robots made of human cells that are able to repair damaged neural tissue1. The ‘anthrobots’ were made using human tracheal cells and might, in future, be used in personalized medicine.

The research “points the way to a ‘tissue engineering 2.0’ that synthetically controls a range of developmental processes”, says Alex Hughes, a bioengineer at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Flexible Finger Points to New Possibilities for Semiconducting Materials

A team of researchers at the University of Melbourne and RMIT University have developed the next generation of wearables in the form of a flexible finger with enormous potential for sensing.

Robot Workforce Story Of The Week

Learn robotics at Valencia College; the state’s paying for it

As part of the state and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office announcing over $28 million in awards around the state to expand its semiconductor and chip manufacturing industries, Valencia College received a $4.16 million grant to expand its Robotics and Semiconductor Technician program.

Valencia College Robotics and Semiconductor Training student Jermaine McCoy puts one of the training robots through its paces. PHOTO/KEN JACKSON

Robot Video Of The Week

Digit once again is breaking the internet. Now only is Amazon using Digit to move totes, but now GXO.

Per Bloomberg: “GXO Logistics Inc. is testing a humanoid model at its facility in Flowery Branch, Georgia. Agility Robotics built the robot. It's building a production facility in Oregon that will eventually be able to produce up to 10,000 robots a year.”