Weekly Robotics #6 23 Sep 2018

1) BMW made a self-driving motorcycle.

http://bit.ly/2Dr0koH

INFO: BMW aims to create driver support system for its motorcycles. The presented self-driving functionality is a by-product of their research efforts and not a final goal.

2) IEEE Spectrum is building a robot database.

http://bit.ly/2MOitMz

INFO: http://bit.ly/2PSi7pY is an IEEE robots database that at the time the article was written had 157 robots. If you suggest a robot that should be added to IEEE database by 15 October you have a chance to win a robot T-shirt (the details are in the last paragraph). Go Robots!

3) ROSCon 2018.

http://bit.ly/2DozTQu

INFO: Next week (29-30.09) ROSCon 2018 is happening in Madrid, Spain. As usual, there will be a livestream of the event online so keep the date and tune in! What we find particularly exciting about the schedule is how many of the presentations cover ROS2 related efforts.

4) Novel flying robot mimics rapid insect flight.

http://bit.ly/2Nrp0Sn

INFO: TU Delft researchers from MAVLab created a flapping-wing robot inspired by fruit flies. The impressive thing about the mechanics of this robot is the 29g weight, 33 cm wingspan and a flight time of 5 minutes on a single charge. The video that you can find in the article provides a great insight into flight characteristics of the robot.

5) NVIDIA adds AGX Xavier dev kits for robots, self-driving cars.

http://bit.ly/2pnUMkE

INFO: NVIDIA unveiled Jetson AGX Xavier developer kits for AI robotics applications. NVIDIA claims that the new line of those processor will have 20 times more processing power than its predecessor (NVIDIA TX2) and will be 10 times more efficient.

6) Book: Kalman and Bayesian Filters in Python.

http://bit.ly/2Ddi0nC

INFO: Open Source book on Kalman and Bayesian Filters in Python. It’s main strength (apart from being free) is that it’s written in Jupyter Notebook, which means you can modify the code and see the interactive output in your browser. You will find all the information on running the book in the repository’s Readme file.

7) Paper of the week - White Paper on Approaches to Safety Engineering (2003).

http://bit.ly/2xJGE9t

INFO: This paper by Nancy Leveson covers three general approaches to safety (system safety, industrial safety engineering and reliability engineering). It’s a great introduction for anyone wishing to start looking into safety considerations of their products.

Careers

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

https://weeklyrobotics.com/About

INFO: We are starting a careers section. If you would like to advertise an open position please head over to Careers Section in the above link.

1) Auterion (Zurich, Switzerland) - Various Positions.

https://auterion.com/open-positions/

INFO: Auterion builds the tests, certified, and long-term supported distribution of PX4 for the safe operation of autonomous robots.

2) Yaskawa Motoman Robotics (Austin, Texas, US) - Industrial Robotics Software Engineer.

https://cb.com/2PRhDAi

INFO: Yaskawa Motoman Robotics provides automation products and solutions for industrial and robotics applications.

3) INVOLI (Lausanne, Switzerland) - Various Positions.

http://bit.ly/2xzvi7H

INFO: INVOLI is a Swiss-based company which develops and produces air traffic awareness systems for professional drone applications.