Weekly Robotics #20 06 Jan 2019

1) Drones Used to Find Toylike Butterfly Land Mines.

Scientific American

INFO: Researchers at Binghamton University in New York are using thermal imagery captured by a multirotor UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) to search for landmines. In the trials the team was able to pick up about 78% of the mines.

2) Self-driving Rovers Tested in Mars Like Morocco.

ESA

INFO: Recently self-driving space rover trials were concluded in Sahara desert by members of PERASPERA consortium. Before testing of the rovers the test location was mapped using a drone, producing a digital elevation model with a 4cm resolution that were used as a ground truth to the data captured by the rovers. The article mentions that SherpaTT rover managed a 1.3 km journey during trials.

3) Cafe Staffed by Robots Controlled by Paralyzed People.

SoraNews24

INFO: On November 26th a ribbon cutting ceremony was held at Dawn ver.β Cafe that was meant to be a trial run that lasted until 7th of December 2018. According to the linked article the Cafe used OriHime-D robots that paralyzed people could control from their homes. The project was crowdfunded and if the support continues it is hoped that the full fledged Dawn Cafe can open in 2020.

4) Autodrome: OpenAI Gym environment for self-driving vehicle development.

Autodrome

INFO: The simulator is built around the engine, map editor and assets of Euro Truck Simulator 2 or American Truck Simulator. The project is released under MIT Licence.

5) The Disruptors Podcast Episode on Bio Inspired Robotics.

The Disruptors

INFO: In this podcast episode Prof. Auke Ijspeert from EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne) discussing biology vs mechanics. In the interview Prof. Ijspeert provides quite an interesting view on Boston Dynamics and Academia. Other topics covered in the Podcast are military use of robots, exoskeletons, Uncanny valley (including a robotic crocodille), robotics and jobs.

6) Project Soli.

Project Soli

INFO: Google is working on a 8x10mm radar chip for gesture detection. The radar operates at 60 GHz ISM band. According to the information on the website the SDK can provide data at 100 to 10,000 frames per second.

7) Publication of the week - Excalve: Hardware Testing in Mass Production, Made Easier (2018).

bunnie:studios

INFO: This blog post about hardware testing is made of two parts. The first one talks about test jigs and automated hardware/firmware testing of electronics. The second part introduces Exclave - a factory test infrastructure written in Rust. We found the post to be very informative and full of good practices for electronics mass production.

1) Introducing the sponsored section.

Weekly Robotics

INFO: Would you like to advertise your Robotics related product or service? Please get in touch and we will provide you with all the details

2) Robotics for the Planet.

M. Sadowski Blog

INFO: Mat, the author of this newsletter partnered with 1% For The Planet, pledging to donate at least 1% of sales from his Robotics Consultancy and WeeklyRobotics to environmental non-profits.

3) Humble STEM Books Bundle - pay whar you want for STEM books (until 7th January 2019).

Humble Bundle

INFO: The Humble Book Bundle with STEM books published by Mercury Learning is nearing to an end. In the Bundle you can find such books as Industrial Engineering Foundations, Artificial Intelligence and Problem Solving, Radar Systems and Radio Aids to Navigation, Industrial Automation and Robotics, Wireless Sensor Networks, Real-Time Embedded Components and Systems With Linux and RTOS and more. We joined Humble Bundle partner program, meaning that you can support Weekly Robotics by purchasing the bundle using the above link.

Careers

0) Would you like to advertise an open position in a robotics related company?

Weekly Robotics

INFO: If you would like us to include your open position in the hiring section please feel free to send us an e-mail.

1) ATLAS (Various Countries and institutions) - Various PhD Positions Related To Surgical Robotics.

ATLAS

INFO: ATLAS (AuTonomous intraLuminAl Surgery) is a project coordinated by the University of Leuven, is implemented by a consortium of seven Universities and many industrial partners. The call for some of the open positions will close on 15th of January.

2) Eco Robotix (Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland) - Various Positions.

Eco Robotix

INFO: Eco Robotix creates completely autonomous robot for a more ecological and economical weeding of row crops, meadows and intercropping cultures.

3) Satellite Applications Catapult (Harwell, UK) - Agri-Tech Satellite Solutions Architect.

Satellite Applications Catapult

INFO: The Satellite Applications Catapult aims to empower businesses in the exploitation of new and emerging satellite services, to achieve our own vision “To innovate for a better world powered by satellites”.