robots | Common News Update

Nov92020 by adminNo Comments

Robots help seniors learn to use technology in South Korea

World

SEOUL, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- In South Korea, one of the most digitally connected societies in the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the growth of contactless technology in everyday life. But one group is finding itself struggling in a fast-changing world of communications apps, fast food-ordering kiosks and robot waiters: senior citizens. The Seoul city government is trying to help bridge the digital divide with a new program that uses specially designed robots to teach seniors how to use smartphones and touchscreen kiosks. The program, which will teach 3,000 participants over the next three months at 17 facilities, launched last week. Advertisement "Our goal is closing the digital gap between young people and seniors," said Shin Eun-kyong, business outreach manager of the Seoul Digi...

Aug142020 by adminNo Comments

Robots go their own way deep in the ocean

Science

"It's very common," says Jess Hanham casually, when asked how often he finds suspected unexploded bombs.Mr Hanham is a co-founder of Spectrum Offshore, a marine survey firm that does a lot of work in the Thames Estuary.His firm undertakes all sorts of marine surveying, but working on sites for new offshore wind farms has become a big business for him.Work in the Thames Estuary, and other areas that were the targets of bombing in World War 2, are likely to involve picking up signals of unexploded munitions."You can find a significant amount of contacts that need further investigation and for a wind farm that will be established in the initial pre-engineering survey," he says. ...

Jul272020 by adminNo Comments

Heathrow Airport brings in robots to fight coronavirus

Technology

Disinfection robots have been installed at Heathrow Airport as part of measures to help keep the passengers and staff safe from the coronavirus.Previously used to tackle hospital acquired infections, the machines move through the airport terminals disinfecting high risk touch points like bathrooms and lifts.The robots use ultraviolet (UV-C) light to kill viruses and stop them replicating.The airport has also brought in other features including anti-viral wraps on escalators, and trolleys and passenger temperature checks.BBC Click’s Lara Lewington reports.See more at Click's website and @BBCClickLet's block ads! (Why?) BBC News - Technology

Jul32020 by adminNo Comments

New jellyfish robots can outswim their inspiration

Science

July 2 (UPI) -- Engineers have developed soft-bodied robots that can outswim their biological inspiration -- jellyfish. The jellyfish robots, described this week in the journal Advanced Materials Technologies, were engineered with pre-stressed polymers, a new method that lends strength to soft-bodied robots. Advertisement "Our previous work focused on making soft robots that were inspired by cheetahs - and while the robots were very fast, they still had a stiff inner spine," Jie Yin, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University and corresponding author on the newly published paper, said in a news release. "We wanted to make a completely soft robot, without an inner spine, that still utilized that concept of switching between two stable ...

Jun12019 by adminNo Comments

GEBCO-NF Alumni robots win ocean-mapping XPRIZE

Science

Media playback is unsupported on your device A robotic boat and submersible have won the XPRIZE to find the best new technologies to map the seafloor.The surface and underwater combo demonstrated their capabilities in a timed test in the Mediterranean, surveying depths down to 4km.Put together by the international GEBCO-NF Alumni team, the autonomous duo are likely now to play a role in meeting the "Seabed 2030" challenge.This aims to have Earth's ocean floor fully mapped to a high standard.Currently, only 20% of the world's sub-surface topography has been resolved to an acceptable level of accuracy. Media playback is unsupported on your device "The global scientific community has come together to...