We, the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MIRMI) of the Technical University of Munich (TUM), in collaboration with Messe München
and automatica have launched successfully a new high-tech platform calledmunich_iin 2021, an event bringing together the world’s leading thought leaders and personalities from AI and robotics.
munich_i will take place again at the next automatica from June 21-24, 2022 in Munich, therefore
Robothon®, the international competition to develop skills in robot manipulations, will also go into the second round!!
Robothon® – The Grand Challenge Series focuses on pressing and unsolved challenges of our time and was 2021 held digitally in the run-up to the automatica sprint
with 9 international teams and a renowned Grand Challenge Jury. As a highlight, it ended with the Award Ceremony on June 22, 2021
with 4 winning teams, a total prize money of € 22,500, great recognition and an expansion of our community.
Are you a motivated robotics enthusiast looking for new challenges?
QUBS (www.qubs.toys) is a Swiss company producing traditionally-designed wooden toys with hidden high-tech magic: liberating children to explore their imagination, safely learn future skills and engage in educational, screen-free fun.
Inspired by the Montessori method, QUBS STEM toys educate as well as entertain. Playing with QUBS toys provides children, through play, with developmental skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Loved by parents, teachers and, most importantly, young users (3 to 12 years), QUBS’ intuitive, gender neutral toys – made from responsibly sourced and long lasting beechwood – contain patented technology which brings them to life. Unlike other tech-enabled STEM children’s toys, QUBS’ toys have an eternal shelf life, do not require updates nor access to the internet, and are completely screen-less, empowering children to become creators, rather than passive users of laptop or smartphone screens.
Each block and toy component contains a QUBS-developed and patented version of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology (the innovation most commonly-used in contactless payments and key fobs). RFID technology is 100% safe and secure for children and grown-ups, allowing the individual tiles and blocks to interact, all within their own secure universe.
Cody Block
QUBS’ first product, CodyBlock- to be showcased at Nuremberg Toy Fair – Spielwarenmesse Digital (where it has been shortlisted for the prestigious annual ‘Toy Award’) – features an independently-moving car (Cody), whose journey changes in response to a child’s placement and arrangement of wooden blocks within its environment. Encouraging creativity and teamwork, Cody Block introduces children to computer programming concepts, robotics, and the Internet Of Things through fun and accessible play.
Learning computational skills in early years is essential. Cody the car, and the wooden toy blocks which shape his journey, teach kids to think like a programmer: being introduced to principles of debugging (the process of identifying a problem and correcting it) and sequencing (the specific order in which instructions are performed in an algorithm) through physical play.
The task is to plan a path that leads Cody through the city and back home, his movements changing in response to the child’s arrangement and rearrangement of the wooden blocks (each containing RFID tech). Each block denotes a different directional command (e.g. ‘turn left’, ‘turn right’, ‘u-turn’ etc.), creating a sequence of instructions. This allows children to improve their motor skills, critical thinking, creativity and spatial awareness.
Cody Blockis designed for kids aged 3-12, and will be available to ship in Q2 2022.
Matty Block
QUBS’ second product, MattyBlock, is designed for ages 3-9, it helps children develop self confidence in mathematics by introducing the concepts of addition, subtraction and multiplication.
Children place Matty the farmer on a board above a sum of their own creation, formed by numbered tiles (representing seeds). With a nod or shake of his head, Matty guides young users to the right answer to the sum. MattyBlockfeatures voice feedback in six languages (English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Mandarin), making it the perfect tool for children to play and learn autonomously. Its story setting provides a fun and comprehensive introduction to numbers and equations, while exploring the delicate and ever-changing world of nature.
Matty Blockwill be available in 2023.
About QUBS
Based in Zurich, Paris and London, QUBS Toys was founded by Hayri Bulman in 2019, a Swiss entrepreneur with over 30 years of IT expertise, working for GE (General Electric) and Xerox. Hayri’s own fatherhood, passion for wooden toys and firm grasp of technology motivated him to create QUBS to better equip the future generations for the digital world. Inspired by the toy company TEGU in 2015, Hayri sought out to merge classic wooden toys with modern technology and soon started working on concepts that combined RFID technology with wooden blocks. Since then, QUBS has expanded into a vast team of designers, engineers and creatives from all across Europe.
In April 2020, at the very beginning of the global pandemic, QUBS raised CHF 88,887 (~£70,000) by 503 backers during a Kickstarter campaign.
QUBS Toys will be available for purchase online from www.qubs.toys, as well as from major stockists.
Sophie writes on behalf of Panda Security covering cybersecurity and online safety best practices for consumers and families. Specifically, she is interested in removing the barriers of complicated cybersecurity topics and teaching data security in a way that is accessible to all. Her most recent piece is on the evolution of robotic dogs and where they're headed next.
Robots have been a point of fascination and study for centuries as researchers and inventors have sought to explore the potential for automated technology. While there’s a long history of the development and creation of autonomous machines, mobile, quadrupedal robots — or four-legged robotic dogs — have seen a significant boom in the last few decades.
The development of quadrupedal robots stems from the necessity of mobile robots in exploring dangerous or unstructured terrains. Compared to other mobile robots (like wheeled or bipedal/two-legged robots), quadrupedal robots are a superior locomotion system in terms of stability, control and speed.
The capabilities of quadrupedal robots are being explored in a variety of fields, from construction and entertainment to space exploration and military operations. Today, modern robotic dogs can be purchased by businesses and developers to complete tasks and explore environments deemed too dangerous for humans. Read on for the evolution of robotic dogs and where they might be headed in the future.
1966: Phony Pony
Although it technically mirrored the form of a horse, the Phony Pony was the first autonomous quadrupedal robot to emerge in the U.S. that set the precedent for robotic dogs of the future. Equipped with electrical motors, the Pony Pony had two degrees of freedom, or joints, in each leg (the hip and the knee) and one adaptive joint in the frontal plane. The hip and knee joints were identical, allowing for both forward and backward walking movements.
The Phony Pony was capable of crawling, walking and trotting, albeit at a very slow speed. Thanks to its spring-restrained “pelvic” structure, it was able to maintain static vertical stability during movement. Since the Phony Pony was developed before the advent of microprocessors, it could only be controlled through cables connected to a remote computer in an adjacent building.
Developer: Frank and McGhee
Use: Initial research and development of autonomous quadrupeds
1999: AIBO
In the late 1990s, Sony’s AIBO — one of the most iconic and advanced entertainment robotic dogs — hit the market. While the AIBO (Artificial Intelligence RoBOt) was constructed for entertainment purposes, its machinery is still highly complex.
Developed with touch, hearing, sight and balancing capabilities, it can respond to voice commands, shake hands, walk and chase a ball. It can also express six “emotions”: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, dislike and surprise. Its emotional state is expressed through tail wagging, eye color changes and body movements, as well as through a series of sounds including barks, whines and growls. Today, the AIBO has been used across many research groups for the purpose of testing artificial intelligence and sensory integration techniques.
Developer: Sony
Use: Toys and entertainment
2005: BigDog
Boston Dynamics has become a leader in the world of robotics, specifically in their development of canine-inspired quadrupeds. Their first robotic dog, coined BigDog, arrived in 2005. Measuring three by two feet and weighing in at 240 pounds, BigDog was designed to support soldiers in the military. It can carry 340 pounds, climb up and down 35-degree inclines and successfully hike over rough terrains.
Each of BigDog’s legs has a passive linear pneumatic compliance — a system that controls contact forces between a robot and a rigid environment — and three active joints in the knees and hips. The robot is powered by a one-cylinder go-kart engine, and its dynamic regulating system allows it to maintain balance. Its movement sensors embrace joint position, joint force, ground contact, ground load and a stereo vision system.
In 2012, developers were still working to refine BigDog’s capabilities before plans to officially deploy it to military squads. However, the project was discontinued in 2015 after concluding its gas-powered engine was too noisy to be used in combat.
Developer: Boston Dynamics
Use: Assist soldiers in unsafe terrains
2009: LittleDog
Four years after BigDog came LittleDog, Boston Dynamics’ smallest quadrupedal robot to date. LittleDog was developed specifically for research purposes to be used by third parties investigating quadrupedal locomotion.
Each of LittleDog’s legs are powered by three electric motors fueled by lithium polymer batteries and have a maximum operation time of thirty minutes. LittleDog maintains a large range of motion and is capable of climbing, crawling and walking across rocky terrains. A PC-level computer placed on top of LittleDog is responsible for its movement sensors, controls and communications. It can be controlled remotely and includes data-logging support for data analysis purposes.
Developer: Boston Dynamics
Use: Research on locomotion in quadrupeds
2011: AlphaDog Proto
Continuing their efforts to develop military-grade robots, Boston Dynamics released AlphaDog Proto in 2011. Powered by a hydraulic actuation system, AlphaDog Proto is designed to support soldiers in carrying heavy gear across rocky terrains. It’s capable of carrying up to 400 pounds for as far as 20 miles, all within the span of 24 hours, without needing to refuel.
AlphaDog Proto is equipped with a GPS navigation and computer vision system that allows it to follow soldiers while carrying their gear. Thanks to an internal combustion engine, AlphaDog Proto proved to be quieter than its predecessor BigDog, making it more suitable for field missions.
Developer: Boston Dynamics
Use: Assist soldiers in carrying heavy gear over unsafe terrains
2012: Legged Squad Support System (LS3)
Boston Dynamics’ development of the Legged Squad Support System (LS3) came soon after the creation of BigDog in their efforts to continue refining their quadrupedal robots for soldiers and Marines. LS3 was capable of operating in hot, cold, wet and otherwise unfavorable conditions. It contained a stereo vision system with a pair of stereo cameras, which were mounted inside the robot’s head. This operated in conjunction with a light-detecting and ranging unit that allowed it to follow a soldier’s lead and record feedback obtained from the camera.
Compared to BigDog, LS3 was around 10 times quieter at certain times and had an increased walking speed of one to three miles per hour, increased jogging speed of five miles per hour and the ability to run across flat surfaces at seven miles per hour. It was also capable of responding to ten voice commands, which was a more efficient function for soldiers who would be too preoccupied with a mission to use manual controls.
Five years into development, LS3 had successfully been refined enough to be able to operate with Marines in a realistic combat exercise and was used to resupply combat squads in locations that were difficult for squad vehicles to reach. By 2015, however, the LS3 was shelved due to noise and repair limitations. While the Marines were ultimately unable to use the LS3 in service, it provided valuable research insights in the field of autonomous technology.
Developer: Boston Dynamics
Use: Assist soldiers in carrying heavy gear over unsafe terrains
2016: Spot
Spot is Boston Dynamics’ next creation in their line of quadrupedal robots, designed in an effort to move away from developing quadrupeds strictly for military use and instead move into more commercial use. Spot is significantly smaller than their previous models, weighing just 160 pounds. Spot is capable of exploring rocky terrains, avoiding objects in its path during travel and climbing stairs and hills.
Spot’s hardware is equipped with powerful control boards and five sensor units on all sides of its body that allow it to navigate an area autonomously from any angle. Twelve custom motors power Spot’s legs, gaining speed of up to five feet per second and operating for up to 90 minutes. Its sensors are able to capture spherical images and also allow for mobile manipulation for tasks such as opening doors and grasping objects. Spot’s control methods are far more advanced than Boston Dynamics’ earlier robots, allowing for autonomous control in a wider variety of situations.
Developer: Boston Dynamics
Use: Documenting construction process and monitoring remote high-risk environments
2016: ANYmal
While Boston Dynamics had been the main leader in quadrupedal robots since the early 2000s, Swiss robotics company ANYbotics came out with its own iteration of the robotic dog in 2016. Positioned as an end-to-end robotic inspection solution, ANYmal was developed for industrial use, specifically the inspection of unsafe environments like energy and industrial plants.
ANYmal is mounted with a variety of laser inspection sensors to provide visual, thermal and acoustic readings. Equipped with an on-board camera, it’s capable of remote panning and tilting settings to adjust views of the inspection site. ANYmal is capable of autonomously perceiving its environment, planning its navigation path and selecting proper footholds during travel. It can even walk up stairs and fit into difficult-to-reach areas that traditional wheeled robots can’t.
ANYmal has undergone a handful of development iterations since 2016 and is available for purchase as of 2021. ANYbotics is currently working on an upgraded version of the robot suitable for potentially explosive environments.
Developer: ETH Zurich and ANYbotics
Use: Remote inspection of unsafe environments
2021: Vision 60
One of the latest developments in quadrupedal robots is Ghost Robotics’ Vision 60 robotic dog, which has recently been tested at the U.S. Air Force’s Scott Air Force Base in Illinois as part of its one-year pilot testing program. Built to mitigate risks faced by Air Force pilots, Vision 60 features a rifle mounted on its back contained in a gun pod and is equipped with sensors that allow it to operate in a wide variety of unstable terrains. It’s also capable of thermal imaging, infrared configuration and high-definition video streaming.
Vision 60 can carry a maximum of 31 pounds and can travel at up to 5.24 feet per second. It’s considered a semi-autonomous robot due to its accompanying rifle; while it can accurately line up with a target on its own, it can’t open fire without a human operator (in accordance with the U.S. military’s autonomous systems policy prohibiting automatic target engagement).
Developer: Ghost Robotics
Use: Military and Homeland Security operations
2021: CyberDog
With more companies embracing the development of quadrupeds, Xiaomi Global followed suit and released their version named CyberDog. CyberDog is an experimental, open-source robot promoted as both a human-friendly companion and an asset by law enforcement and military. CyberDog is sleeker and smaller than its other robotic dog predecessors, carrying a payload of just 6.6 pounds and running over 10 feet per second.
CyberDog is equipped with multiple cameras and image sensors located across its body, including touch sensors and an ultra-wide fisheye lens. CyberDog can hold 128 gigabytes of storage and is powered by Nvidia’s Jetson Xavier AI platform to perform real-time analyses of its surroundings, create navigation paths, plot its destination and avoid obstacles. CyberDog can also perform backflips and respond to voice commands thanks to its six microphones.
By making CyberDog an open-source project, Xiaomi hopes to expand its reach into the future of robot development and innovation. Its open-source nature is meant to encourage robotics enthusiasts to try their hand at writing code for CyberDog, giving the project more exposure and bolstering Xiaomi’s reputation in the robotics community.
Developer: Xiaomi Global
Use: An open-source platform for developers to build upon
While the market for quadrupedal robots is still in its early stages, interest is steadily growing in a wide range of industries. As for fears of robots pushing out the need for traditionally human-led jobs, these machines are more intended to support humans alongside their jobs rather than replace them outright.
On the other hand, privacy concerns associated with robots aren’t to be ignored. As with any tech-enabled device, hacking is always possible, especially for open-source robotic models that can put users’ personal information at risk. This applies not only to the quadrupeds discussed above, but to more common commercial robotic systems like baby monitors, security systems and other WiFi-connected devices. It’s important to ensure your home network system is as strong and secure as possible with a home antivirus platform.
The true AI vision robotic arm powered by Jetson Nano is affordable and open-source, making your AI creativity into reality.
In recent years, there are more makers, students, enthusiasts, and engineers learning artificial intelligence technology, and many interesting AI projects are being developed as well.Hiwonder brings the power of AI to robot, build a true AI robotic arm— JetMax, to enhance the AI and robotic learning experience for everyone.
JetMax featurs Deep Learning and Computer Vision abilities. It is equipped with Jetson Nano and HD Wide Angle camera, which enables it to interact with the perceived environment efficiently. It empowers you to skillfully make your AI creativity into reality.
Being an AI Vision Robotic Arm, JetMax not only features AI vision but has a clever brain as well. Supporting you in learning coding, researching AI robotics applications, and bringing your AI ideas to life. It can be your helping hand in a lab, university, or workshop.
Powered by NVIDIA Jetson Nano
The open-source JetMax robot arm is powered by Jetson Nano, featuring deep learning, computer vision and more. Jetson Nano has the performance needed to power modern AI workloads to enable JetMax robot arm with advanced AI capabilities.
Supports multiple types of EoAT (End-of-Arm Tooling)
Supporting multiple types of end-of-arm tooling such as grippers, suction cup, pen holder, electromagnet etc, JetMax provides you with many ways of creative design applications.
Open-Source
JetMax is an open platform hardware product. We contribute numerous project source and AI tutorials. Additionally, the API interface is completely opened for customization and supports, such as Python, C++ and JAVA languages.
Judges recognize the world’s first haptic robotic system to transmit realistic touch feedback to an operator located anywhere in the world
Converge Robotics Group reached the finals of the $10M ANA Avatar XPRIZE competition for an avatar system that can transport human dexterity to a remote location in real-time.
Converge Robotics Group is an international collaboration between Shadow Robot Company, HaptX, and Tangible Research responsible for developing the Tactile Telerobot, a high-fidelity dexterous telerobot in use in the U.S., U.K., and Asia, and now advanced to the ANA Avatar XPRIZE finals.
The Tactile Telerobot features Shadow Robot’s Dexterous Hands, HaptX Gloves DK2 with true-contact haptics, SynTouch’s biomimetic tactile sensors, and Universal Robots robotic arms to allow an operator to perform complex human tasks instantaneously across the globe such as handling objects in laboratories or workshops. The Tactile Telerobot mimics your movements, displaying human-like and reactive behaviours. Users can feel what the robot hands are touching, making it possible to connect humanity across vast distances like never before.
The groundbreaking technology of the Tactile Telerobot has been described as “weirdly natural” by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who added, “The tactile feedback is really tremendous.” The Telerobot’s most recent improvements for the XPRIZE Semifinals, hosted in Miami, include the use of high-fidelity audio and visual technology and other safety and usability improvements. It meets the competition’s criteria for a non-autonomous Avatar System with which an operator can see, hear, and interact within a remote environment in a manner that feels as if they are truly there.
Rich Walker, Managing Director of the Shadow Robot Company, said, “We’re coming up to Shadow’s 25th anniversary as a company and what a way to lead up to it by reaching the finals for a four-year global competition! The Shadow Dexterous Hands have been a sought-after product among the research community ever since we formally registered as a company. What the Hands can achieve today, on their own and as part of the Tactile Telerobot, is truly revolutionary and it’ll only get better.”
“Lifelike touch feedback is a critical component of transporting human presence,” said Jake Rubin, founder and CEO of HaptX. “The Tactile Telerobot demonstrates the difference that true-contact haptics makes in the field of robotic teleoperation, and we’re delighted for HaptX and our partners in Converge Robotics Group to receive this recognition from the ANA Avatar XPRIZE judges.”
“I’m proud of the accomplishments of our international and interdisciplinary team,” said Jeremy Fishel, founder and CTO of Tangible Research and Converge’s XPRIZE team lead. “We’ve brought together experts in robotic dexterity and haptics with the amazing technology of our partners and collaborators to do amazing things.”
In the XPRIZE Semifinals, the Converge Robotics Group debuted their collaboration with Voysys, a company that specialises in high-quality, low-latency video communication for the teleoperation of vehicles and machines.
„The combination of the Voysys video pipeline with ultra-low latency, the HaptX Gloves DK2, and the sensitive robot hand from Shadow Robot truly revolutionizes telepresence and makes remote working possible for a whole range of new industries,“ said Magnus Persson, CEO of Voysys.
“Advancing to the ANA Avatar XPRIZE finals alongside excellent competition is a significant milestone in this journey,” said the Converge Robotics Group in a statement “We look forward to showing how our Telerobot system can be used by ordinary people in amazing ways, making engineering jobs safer, reducing the need for global travel (and CO2 emissions) and letting us spend more time at home with our loved ones.”
Auch wenn ich schon viele Roboter gebaut und getestet habe, ist dies heute eine Premiere! In den letzten Tagen habe ich zum ersten Mal einen Roboter von fischertechnik gebaut. Die Pressankündigung des fischertechnik Robotics Smarttech haben wir bereits in den letzten Tagen vorgestellt. [LINK]
Nun durfte ich ihn selber testen. Das Bausystem war mir zwar neu, hat mir aber auf Anhieb Spaß gemacht und ist wirklich einfach zu verwenden. Hat man sich einmal an die Bauanleitung und deren Stil gewöhnt, ist diese einfach verständlich. Während des Zusammenbaus des vierrädrigen Roboters mit den Omniwheels und dem Gestensensor, der mich ungefähr vier Stunden beschäftigt hat, habe ich dann auch gelernt auf welche Feinheiten ich in der Anleitung achten muss. Mir, als fischertechnik Neuling, sind zwei, drei Fehler passiert, die mir aber beim nächsten fischertechnik Modell bestimmt nicht mehr passieren würden. Überrascht war ich, dass man bei diesem Set die Kabel noch selber ablängen, abisolieren und die Steckverbinder anbringen muss. Das war ich aus anderem Roboter Kästen bisher nicht gewohnt; dies bietet aber die tolle Möglichkeit Kabel nach eigenen Wünschen und Längen zu erstellen. Diese Möglichkeit besteht bei vielen anderen Herstellern nicht und gerade wenn man mal einen etwas größeren Roboter baut, ist es von Vorteil wenn man lange Kabel selber fertigen kann.
Die Bauteile halten gut zusammen und es lassen sich sehr stabile Roboter konstruieren. Kinder brauchen hier vielleicht an der ein oder anderen Stelle etwas Unterstützung wenn die Teile, gerade wenn sie noch neu sind, noch etwas schwergängig zusammen zu stecken sind. Der von mir gebaute Roboter war dafür im Anschluss sehr stabil und überlebt selbst kleinere Stürze ohne dass Teile abfallen.
Die coolen Omniwheels ermöglichen es dem Roboter jederzeit in jede Richtung zu fahren. Solche Räder findet man in Robotersets leider viel zu selten! Daher fiel die erste Wahl auch direkt auf das Basismodell mit den neuen Omniwheels. Anschließend habe ich dies mit dem Spursensor und dem Gestensensor erweitert. Neben diesen beiden Modellvarianten sind Anleitungen für weitere sieben Roboter enthalten.
Der Roboter lässt sich entweder mit einem Netzteil oder mit einem Akku-Set betreiben, beides muss leider extra erworben werden.
Die aktuellste Version der für die Programmierung benötigten Software ROBOPro fand ich auf der Homepage von fischertechnik. Nachdem ich den Roboter über die Konfiguration auf dessen Touchscreen mit meinem WLAN verbunden habe (Okay: USB oder Bluetooth wäre auch gegangen, aber der Geek in mir musste direkt WLAN ausprobieren), konnte ich diesen mit der ROBOPro Software verbinden und programmieren. Das für die Cloud Funktionen benötigte Update wurde beim ersten Verbinden mit der ROBOPro Software mir sofort angeboten und ich konnte es problemlos installieren. Mit diesem Update lässt sich der Roboter als IoT Device in die fischertechnik Cloud einbinden und als smartes Gerät mit dem Internet kommunizieren. So kann man zum Beispiel eine Alarmanlage bauen, die einen über das Internet beim Auslösen alarmiert.
Neben der Möglichkeit in der ROBOPro Software grafisch zu programmieren, kann mit einer zusätzlichen frei verfügbaren Software auch in Scratch grafisch programmiert werden. Wer lieber textbasiert programmieren möchte kann dies auch in C. Da das Betriebssystem des Roboters auf Linux basiert, gibt es hier bestimmt noch jede Menge weitere, mir bisher unbekannte, Möglichkeiten den Roboter zu „hacken“ und noch mehr Funktionen hinzuzufügen. Das Einloggen auf dem Roboter per SSH ist auf jeden Fall möglich und über den SD-Karten Slot lassen sich alternative Betriebssysteme installieren und der Speicher erweitern.
Mein erster fischertechnik Roboter, genauer der Robotics Smarttech Roboter, hat mir bisher Freude bereitet und ich hatte Spaß daran mal ein mir bisher unbekannte Bausystem auszuprobieren. Mit den „selbstgebauten“ Kabeln und den universellen Ei- und Ausgängen am Controller, sowie der Cloud Anbindung, finden sich sicherlich auch tolle Einsatzmöglichkeiten abseits vom Einsatz als Spielzeugroboter.
FREE E-LEARNING ARRIVES TO YOUR HOME OR OFFICE FROM 8 TO 12 NOVEMBER BY MAKER FAIRE ROME
Over 50 webinars, talks, online and free workshops about all the innovation topics offered by our makers and partners: check out the complete list of webinars and choose the one that suits you the most!
Participating is simple: you just need to register for the event of your choosing and then you will receive an alert just before it starts. All webinars are held on Zoom: make sure you got the app on your device.
MAKER LEARN FESTIVAL: E-LEARNING FOR EVERYBODY
Maker Learn Festival is truly for everyone.
A few examples? If you are a professional, an entrepreneur, a startupper, take look at the webinars dedicated to the world of entrepreneurship with specific focus on digital and robotics, artificial intelligence, digital manufacturing and 3D printing, transition 4.0, PNRR and incentives for SMEs . Eg check the selection for the fabrication topic here.
And that’s not all, an entire section is dedicated to innovation born within the Italian universities and there is no shortage of webinars and specific workshops for students and young people!
„Academic“ events: select the „Universities“ tag and discover all the workshops and talks organized by some of the most important Italian universities, including the University of Pisa, La Sapienza University of Rome, the University of Studies Roma Tre, the Polytechnic of Bari.
Appointments for students and teenagers: dedicated contents from robotics to experiments to be done in the classroom or at home along with the parents.
And if you want to, you can specifically select the topics of your interest, browse by topics such as art, robotics, artificial intelligence … the offer is very wide!
Come and discover all the innovation you need on the Maker Learn Festival, from 8 to 12 November!
WHAT IS MAKER LEARN FESTIVAL
Maker Learn is the project of Maker Faire Rome and PID Punto Impresa Digitale, for continuous training, a web gateway in which you can find free training opportunities throughout the year covering the most diverse topics. Maker Learn Festival is the natural continuation of Maker Faire Rome, the event that was held from 8 to 10 October. With Maker Learn Festival we celebrate the continuous training by concentrating over 50 different courses in one week. By participating in the Maker Learn Festival, you can experience firsthand the benefits that “life long learning” can offer you.
Seit rund vier Jahren arbeiten das Fraunhofer-Institut für Intelligente Analyse- und Informations-systeme IAIS und die Dr. Hans Riegel-Stiftung im Rahmen ihrer Projekte »Open Roberta®« und »TouchTomorrow« zusammen, um junge Menschen für Coding & Co. zu begeistern. Das jüngste Ergebnis der Zusammenarbeit ist die erste 3D-Simulation des humanoiden Roboters NAO für die Open-Source-Plattform »Open Roberta Lab«. NAO ist mit Anschaffungskosten von mehreren tausend Euro im Vergleich zu anderen Mikrocontrollern und Hardware-Systemen wie Calliope mini oder LEGO Mindstorms sehr teuer und deshalb in Privathaushalten oder auch in Schulen kaum vertreten. Ab sofort haben Open-Roberta-Fans die Möglichkeit, die anschaulichen Programmiermöglichkeiten des NAO in einer 3D-Simulation auszuprobieren und zu erlernen. Schon jetzt ist das Open Roberta Lab in mehr als 20 Sprachen verfügbar und wird in über 100 Ländern von ca. 500 000 Personen pro Monat genutzt – mit dem 3D-Roboter steigt die Attraktivität der Programmierplattform um ein weiteres Highlight.
Das »Open Roberta Lab« ist eine frei verfügbare grafische Programmierplattform, die das Programmieren lernen leicht macht. Auf der Open-Source-Plattform der Initiative »Roberta® – Lernen mit Robotern« des Fraunhofer IAIS erstellen selbst Neulinge im Handumdrehen erste Programme per »drag and drop«. Die Besonderheit: Im Open Roberta Lab erwachen reale Roboter und Mikrocontroller zum Leben. »Hands-on« erlernen Nachwuchs-Programmiererinnen und -Programmierer die Grundlagen des Codens und entdecken spielerisch die unzähligen Möglichkeiten, die die Welt der Technik und Naturwissenschaften für sie bereithält.
Unter den aktuell 14 Roboter- und Hardware-Systemen, die im Open Roberta Lab programmiert werden können, ist der humanoide Roboter NAO mit seinen 25 Bewegungsgraden, umfangreicher Sensorik und einem Kaufpreis von mehr als 5000 Euro die komplexeste und teuerste Variante. Gleichzeitig ist es natürlich besonders spannend, einen humanoiden Roboter programmieren zu können. Aus diesem Grund haben das Fraunhofer IAIS und Dr. Hans Riegel-Stiftung nun eine erste 3D-Simulation für die Plattform integriert, so dass sich die Nutzer*innen auch ohne teure Hardware die Resultate ihrer Programmierungen in einer detaillierten Simulation anschauen können. Dies soll u. a. zusätzliche Erfolgserlebnisse ermöglichen und damit die Motivation steigern.
Weitere Kooperationen von Fraunhofer IAIS und Dr. Hans Riegel-Stiftung
Begonnen hat die Zusammenarbeit im Rahmen der Entwicklung des »TouchTomorrow-Trucks« der Dr. Hans Riegel-Stiftung, der bundesweit an Schulen fährt, um Schülerinnen und Schüler durch das Erleben und Ausprobieren von Zukunftstechnologien für Bildungs- und Berufswege im MINT-Bereich (Mathematik, Informatik, Naturwissenschaft, Technik) zu begeistern. Eine von acht Themenstationen im Truck befasst sich mit humanoiden Robotern. Schülerinnen und Schüler können dort dank mehrerer vom Fraunhofer IAIS entwickelter Tutorials einen echten NAO-Roboter programmieren. Neben dem Truck sind in den vergangenen Jahren weitere Angebote entstanden: u. a. »TouchTomorrow-Teaching« mit Unterrichtsmaterial und Fortbildungen für Lehrkräfte, »TouchTomorrow-Stream« als Livestream-Dialogformat für Distanz-Lehranlässe wie Covid-19 und das »TouchTomorrow-Lab« im Deutschen Museum Bonn.
Das Deutsche Museum Bonn ist einer von fünf »Open Roberta Coding Hubs« in NRW. Dies sind außerschulische Lernorte, die mit Hardware wie Robotern und Laptops ausgestattet und deren Personal vom Roberta-Team des Fraunhofer IAIS vor Ort zu Roberta-Teachern ausgebildet werden. Das TouchTomorrow-Lab im Deutschen Museum Bonn bietet eine ideale Kulisse für die diversen Workshops in diesem Kontext.
Beate Jost, Technische Leiterin der Roberta-Initiative und Wissenschaftlerin am Fraunhofer IAIS: »Wir freuen uns, dass unsere langjährige Kooperation mit der Dr. Hans Riegel-Stiftung nun in eine neue Phase geht. Mit der neuen NAO-Simulation haben Programmier-Fans und vor allem Schulen ab sofort die Gelegenheit, spannende Experimente mit humanoiden Robotern auszuprobieren, ohne dafür gleich tief in die Geldbörse greifen zu müssen.«
