Soft fabric robot grips objects like an elephant's trunk
The new tool may someday be used in work that needs a light touch.
13 November, 2020
Credit: UNSW Medical Robotics Lab
- A team of engineers has developed a shape shifting tool that can grasp strangely shaped objects.
- Unlike robots based on claws, this device can wrap around objects for a better grip.
- It could be commercially available in as little as a year.
A team of engineers from the University of New South Wales has created a strange new robotic tool to pick up objects with finesse. The device, inspired by the form of an elephant's trunk but having the movement of a snake, may be applied as an alternative to tools used to grasp and hold objects which are less flexible or capable of applying lower levels of <a href="https://gizmodo.com/this-tongue-like-robot-gripper-can-slurp-its-way-into-t-1845620959" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">pressure</a>.
<p> Dr. Thanh Nho Do, the UNSW Medical Robotics Lab director, and Ph.D. candidate Trung Thien Hoang were the senior and lead authors of a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/admt.202000724" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study</a> published in Advanced Materials Technologies this month describing the device. </p><p><br> Most grippers used by individuals, professionals, or industrial machines are based on the human hand or a claw. While there are advantages to this design, it is not ideal for grabbing oddly shaped objects or ones that are much larger or smaller than the grabber itself. They can also be challenging to use with <a href="https://www.manufacturing.net/home/news/21202083/robotic-snake-grips-picks-up-objects" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fragile items</a>. <br> <br> This is where this new design stands out. <br> <br> As a long and flat object, it can take advantage of having a larger surface area than a hand or claw. This increases the holding force without needing to apply more pressure, a principle that would be known to anyone who has tried to hold something with their fingernails rather than their palm. The coiling motion is made <a href="https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/new-%E2%80%98robotic-snake%E2%80%99-device-grips-picks-objects" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">possible</a> by the "manufacturing process involving computerised apparel engineering and applied newly designed, highly sensitive liquid metal-based tactile sensors for detecting the grip force required," according to study co-author Professor Nigel Lovell. </p><p>It also features a very precise force sensor, which allows it to detect how much grip is needed and to prevent it from breaking the object. The grabber's ability to change shape is considered a further advantage, as it allows it to enter into small spaces to collect items, as seen in the demonstration with a pencil in a <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201109110242.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tube</a>. </p>
<iframe width="730" height="430" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kIelv-iABQs" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><p> A prototype gripper used during testing weighed a mere 8.2 grams and lifted an object of 1.8 kilograms (almost 4 pounds) – that's more than 220 times the gripper's mass. Another one that was 11.8 inches long wrapped around an item with a diameter of 1.2 inches. The production methods for the device are scaleable, and variations of the design can be made much larger.</p><p> The researchers suggest that the tool could find wide application in fields where fragile objects are handled, such as agriculture, the exploration industries, rescue operations, assistant services, and other areas where claw or hand-shaped grippers are impractical or sub-optimal.<strong></strong></p><p><strong> </strong>Dr. Do has also stated, "We are also working on combining the gripper with our recently announced wearable haptic glove device, which would enable the user to remotely control the gripper while experiencing what an object feels like at the same time."<br> <br> He also suggested that the gripper could be mass-produced for commercial use within a year if a manufacturing partner can be <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201109110242.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">found</a>. </p>
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Tiny parasite-like robots are the future of pain relief
Researchers design microdevices that can gradually deliver medicine by latching on to intestines.
08 November, 2020
Credit: Johns Hopkins University
- A research team from Johns Hopkins University designs microdevices that can deliver medicine.
- The tiny robots are based on parasite hookworms.
- The machines can latch on to the intestines and gradually release pain-relieving drugs.
<p>Researchers created tiny devices that can deliver drugs to the body by attaching themselves to a person's intestines.</p><p>The research team was led by engineering professor David Gracias and gastroenterologist Florin M. Selaru from Johns Hopkins University. The scientists took inspiration from the <em>hookworm</em> – parasitic worm that is known to dig its sharp teeth into the intestines of the host. The scientists created shape-shifting microdevices called "<em>theragrippers</em>" that can mimic the worm and latch on to the intestinal mucosa of a patient. </p><p>The six-pointed devices, each as large as a dust speck, are made of metal and thin film that can allow them to change shapes. They are covered by a heat-sensitive paraffin wax and have the potential to release a drug gradually into the body. This method improves upon other extended-release drugs that tend to go all the way through the gastrointestinal tract before fully dispensing all medicine.</p>
<p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Normal constriction and relaxation of GI tract muscles make it impossible for extended-release drugs to stay in the intestine long enough for the patient to receive the full dose," <a href="https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-11-tiny-machines-medicine-efficiently.html" target="_blank">explained</a> Selaru." We've been working to solve this problem by designing these small drug carriers that can autonomously latch onto the intestinal mucosa and keep the drug load inside the GI tract for a desired duration of time."</p><p>The scientists say that thousands such devices can be let loose in a GI tract. As the wax coating on tiny robots matches the body's inside temperature, theraggrippers automatically close and latch on to the wall of the colon. As they do so and dig into the mucosa, they start slowly releasing the stored medicine. In time, the devices lose their grip on the intestine tissue and leave the organ through usual gastrointestinal function. </p>
March of the microscopic robots
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="beb2343e06c26aa2bdd6658a72166dde"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2TjdGuBK9mI?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>The very small robots don't rely on electricity or wireless signals, and don't have room for batteries, antennas, or any external controls, explained Gracias. Instead, the grippers work like "<span style="background-color: initial;">small, compressed springs with a temperature-triggered coating" which releases the stored energy.</span></p><p>In the trial, the researchers managed to fit about 6,000 such devices on a 3-inch silicon wafer. Experiments on rats showed a successful dispersion of pain-relieving drugs into the bloodstreams.</p><p>Check out the new study published in <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/44/eabb4133" target="_blank">Science Advances. </a></p>
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COVID-19 is accelerating the pace of automation and the need for UBI
The pandemic has given us an early glimpse at how truly disruptive the fourth industrial revolution may be, and the measures we'll need to support human dignity.
12 May, 2020
Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
- The coronavirus crisis has acted as a catalyst for two powerful transformative forces: automation and universal basic income.
- These two intertwined forces will undoubtedly gain steam, writes Frederick Kuo, and the pandemic will hasten the acceptance of them from a scale of decades to years or mere months.
- This crisis has ushered in a glimpse of what a dystopian future could look like as a rapidly advancing fourth industrial revolution inevitably causes severe disruption in our economy and labor structure.
<p><br></p>
<p>The coronavirus pandemic has sent the global economy into a tailspin posing a twisted choice to humankind between economic survival or our very health. Markets are crashing, numbers of infected people and deaths soaring by the day and a massive part of the global economy forced into a standstill as people shelter in place. Looking out the window, the world still looks the same. The sun is still shining, the leaves still rustle in the wind and birds still chirp merrily as if nothing was amiss. However there is no mistaking a collective sense of mourning that the world is feeling as normal daily routines and freedoms we took for granted have come to a sudden halt. Amidst the constant barrage of gloomy news however, this crisis shall inevitably pass. But the world post-COVID-19 will not be the same; the crisis has acted as a catalyst for powerful transformative forces such as <a href="https://thewire.in/tech/inequality-technology-robotic-age" target="_blank">automation</a> and the need for universal basic income, two intertwined forces that will undoubtedly gain steam.</p>
COVID-19 will expedite automation
<p>As the mobility of human beings grinds to a halt due to public health directives and fears of infection, our need for food, resources and social connection has forced us to increasingly rely on technology to fill urgent gaps. In the United States, Amazon is seizing this opportunity to further entrench its <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/03/31/coronavirus-is-only-making-jeff-bezos-and-amazon-more-powerful/" target="_blank">domination</a>, while in China, robots are being deployed to serve those in <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/18/how-china-is-using-robots-and-telemedicine-to-combat-the-coronavirus.html" target="_blank">quarantine</a>. In a world where fear of contact with other humans has become pervasive, businesses that can adapt quickly and significantly automate their supply lines and cut points of human contact stand to thrive in this new market. </p><p>Whereas before this crisis, the need for automation was mainly driven by the desire for increased profits and improved efficiency, the momentous shift in public consciousness today regarding simple human contact may make automation almost a necessity for many businesses to survive. When humans trust a robot to handle or deliver their food or goods more than they trust another human, or when crowded workplaces present public health hazards, jobs for humans will be unceremoniously eliminated. Given existing technologies, experts have estimated <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2020/03/24/the-robots-are-ready-as-the-covid-19-recession-spreads/" target="_blank">36 million jobs</a> may be vulnerable, ranging from trucking and delivery to food service and repetitive white collar jobs, the labor market may face a significant restructure driven by <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/3/31/21200010/coronavirus-recession-automation-brookings-mark-muro" target="_blank">new technology</a> and a radically altered market for those technologies. In a recent survey conducted by auditing firm <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/30/bosses-speed-up-automation-as-virus-keeps-workers-home" target="_blank">Ernst & Young</a>, more than half of company bosses throughout 45 countries had begun implementing existing plans to fast track automation.</p><blockquote>This crisis has compacted the timeline of a gradual acceptance of an automated future from years into months. </blockquote>
<p>The crisis of unemployment has become real for tens of millions locked down around the world. Although this phase is likely to be temporary with normality expected to return by the third quarter, the process of entrenching automation in our daily lives will be radically pushed forward. This crisis has compacted the timeline of a gradual acceptance of an automated future from years into months. In <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jan/21/amazons-first-automated-store-opens-to-public-on-monday" target="_blank">Seattle</a>, Amazon has pioneered Amazon Go, a small grocery that relies on cameras and sensors to charge customers for what they buy instead of a checkout line. With Amazon already in control of a major grocery chain, Whole Foods, one could imagine that this little, fully automated store could serve as a template for a nationwide expansion of this technology, thus reducing the once-vital role of the cashier nearly overnight. Similar rollouts of automation models will likely follow in the coming years, affecting warehouse employees, delivery people, food service personnel and more.</p>
Mainstream acceptance of UBI
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="44c33c426c79ad9f2c6148d8f9f63bc4"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UEsK7hpIkVI?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>In early 2019, <a href="https://time.com/5804656/ubi-yang-coronavirus/" target="_blank">Andrew Yang</a> began gaining news coverage regarding the central theme of his presidential campaign: $1,000 a month in universal basic income (UBI) dispersed to every American. His primary argument for the necessity of this safety net rested on the belief that the coming age of automation was about to inundate vast scores of our current jobs with a shrinking percentage of elite tech corporations gobbling up more and more of the profit. When Yang first introduced his vision, it seemed to belong to a remote dystopian future with little relevance to the booming economy and low unemployment figures that was the reality until only weeks ago. On the right, he was lambasted as a communist seeking to turn American citizens into dependents to the state. On the left, his ideas were dismissed as other Democratic hopefuls touted the Green New Deal and job programs.</p><p>Fast forward to today and Andrew Yang's UBI theory has moved straight into the forefront. Trump, perhaps cognizant that the "Yang Gang" pulled a great deal of support from his own supporters, quickly recognized the popularity of his ideas and the need to provide supplemental income to Americans as shelter-in-place directives began to take hold throughout the country. The massive <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/coronavirus-checks-direct-deposits-are-coming-here-s-everything-you-n1168936" target="_blank">$2 trillion</a> coronavirus emergency stimulus will provide every American earning $75,000 or less, regardless of current employment, a check of $1,200 per person and $500 per child for the duration of the crisis. There has been little debate over the necessity of this measure because it has proven to be widely popular to the public, regardless of political standing. It lifts some of the immediate and pressing need to work and helps take some of the edge off from isolating at home, thus contributing to a quicker resolution of this health crisis by sending fewer people out into the streets.</p><blockquote>Although the pandemic and the stimulus check is temporary, this crisis has ushered in a glimpse of what a dystopian future would look like as a rapidly advancing fourth industrial revolution inevitably causes severe disruption in our economy and labor structure. </blockquote>
<p>Although the stimulus package is a stopgap measure to deal with this crisis, its absolute necessity during this crisis has validated Yang's prophetic vision of a dystopian future where work no longer becomes possible for huge swathes of the American people. The reality is that the after effects of this crisis will be felt for at least months after the pandemic ends. There is little security for either the business owners or employees of food service businesses, bars, hair and nail salons and essentially any business that requires large crowds of people to gather and interact. To the initial detractors of UBI who argued that the program would breed laziness and a welfare state, the reality is that for most workers thrown into the sea of uncertainty, receiving a stimulus check will provide a small lifeline but will ultimately be of little solace to individuals who are accustomed to earning far more and who derive a sense of pride and satisfaction from their jobs. For most of those impacted by loss of employment, supplemental income in the form of a UBI helps take the edge off but it is ultimately no replacement for having a job or business.</p><p>Although the pandemic and the stimulus check is temporary, this crisis has ushered in a glimpse of what a dystopian future would look like as a rapidly advancing fourth industrial revolution inevitably causes severe disruption in our economy and labor structure. Automation and artificial intelligence are coming and will significantly alter the way we work, shop, eat and socialize. As society experiences the disruptive force of technology and draws on our collective experiences fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, UBI may become a permanent fixture of our political economy as well.</p>
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An Intelligence That Can See Its Own Future Created by Scientists
UC Berkeley researchers create a robot that learns by playing and can predict the future of its actions.
06 December, 2017
Credit: UC Berkeley
<p class="p1">Researchers from UC Berkeley have created a technology that allows robots to imagine how their actions will turn out in the future. Using this approach, the robots are able to interact with objects that they’ve never come across previously.<span> </span></p><p class="p1">The way the technology helps the robots predict the future is called <strong>visual foresight. </strong>It gives the robotic system an ability to anticipate what future actions, like a series of movements, would look like in its camera.</p><p class="p1">In essence, a robotic imagination is invoked, allowing predictions several seconds into the future. This is not much but lets the robot named <strong>Vestri</strong> perform tasks without help from humans or much background information about the environment. The visual imagination is improved simply through unsupervised exploration, with the robot playing with objects on a table like a child. That helps the robot build a predictive model of the environment and use to control objects it hasn’t encountered previously. </p><p class="p7">Check out this video on how Vestri uses imagination to perform tasks:</p><p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b07d31124aa3a37bc2f4e1b1da441c5d"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Li_vZVpiFSA?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span></p><p class="p1">Underlying this ability is <strong>deep learning</strong> based on technology called <strong>“dynamic neural advection (DNA)”.</strong> Models using DNA predict how pixels in an image will look like in the next frame depending on the robot’s action. Advancements in such video prediction models allow for greater planning capacity for robots as well as performance of complex tasks like changing positions of various objects and sliding toys around obstacles.</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1"><strong>Sergey</strong> <strong>Levine</strong>, assistant professor at Berkeley, whose lab developed the technology, thinks robotic imagination can make the machines learn intricate skills.</span></p><blockquote>
<p class="p4"><span class="s1">"In the same way that we can imagine how our actions will move the objects in our environment, this method can enable a robot to visualize how different behaviors will affect the world around it," <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/uoc--nrc120417.php" target="_blank">said Levine.</a> ”This can enable intelligent planning of highly flexible skills in complex real-world situations."</span></p>
</blockquote><p class="p4"><span class="s1">He compared the learning method to how children learn by playing with toys. This research gives robots the same opportunity.</span> </p><p class="p4"><span class="s1"><strong>Chelsea Finn, </strong>a doctoral student from Levine's lab, who is also the inventor of the original DNA model, remarked that the significant advancement here is that robots can now learn on their own.</span></p><blockquote>
<p class="p4"><span class="s1">"In that past, robots have learned skills with a human supervisor helping and providing feedback," <a href="http://news.berkeley.edu/2017/12/04/robots-see-into-their-future/" target="_blank">said Finn.</a> What makes this work exciting is that the robots can learn a range of visual object manipulation skills entirely on their own."<span> </span></span></p>
</blockquote><p class="p7">This tech can find application in self-driving cars that need to predict future events or in robotic assistants.<span> </span></p>
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Want to survive job automation? Don't think like a robot
Here's why coding skills alone won't save you from job automation.
29 November, 2017
The conventional wisdom developing in the face of job automation is to skill up: learn how to code, become a member of the rising tech economy. Venture capitalist Scott Hartley, however, thinks that may be counterproductive. "Just because you have rote technical ability, you may actually be more susceptible to job automation than someone who has flexible thinking skills," he says. Retraining yourself in tech-based areas is smart, but the smartest way to survive job automation is to develop your soft skills—like improvisation, relational intelligence, and critical thinking. Believe it or not, those 'softer' assets will rule in the digital age, so play to what makes you human. In time, everything else will be done by a robot. Scott Hartley is the author of The Fuzzy and the Techie: Why the Liberal Arts Will Rule the Digital World.
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