As one of the RobotMak3rs (http://www.robotmak3rs.com/Sebastian-Trella/) and with support by LEGO, I had the opportunity to get my hands on the new LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor Set #51515 early. Thank you to the RobotMak3rs RLOC and LEGO for making this possible!
In this first video featuring the new MINDSTORMS Set, you will see me doing a timelapse of the build of „Tricky“. Tricky is one of the 5 robots that come with the 5in1 Set #51515. The other robots will for sure also be shown on this website in the short future. But for now, enjoy the build of „Tricky“. The build of the first two stages took me about 20 minutes. So, after 20 minutes you have a driving base which can be extended with some „tools“ to make Tricky the amazing robot he is. More information about this amazing new LEGO MINDSTORMS set can be found here: https://robots-blog.com/2020/06/12/new-lego-mindstorms-robot-inventor-lets-creators-build-and-bring-to-life-anything-they-can-imagine/ There you will also find pictures and videos of the other robots, like Gelo, Blast, M.V.P. and Charlie.
SqwaQ, a pioneering leader in air-to-ground (A2G) LTE connectivity that enables safe BVLOS drone flights, has been recognized by the AUVSI with a 2020 Xcellence Award for Technology & Innovation. Winners were selected from a pool of accomplished applicants across various categories.
“The AUVSI XCELLENCE Awards honor innovators with a demonstrated commitment to advancing autonomy, leading and promoting safe adoption of unmanned systems and developing programs that use these technologies to save lives and improve the human condition,” said Brian Wynne, president and CEO of AUVSI.
The SqwaQbox is the first carrier approved 4G/LTE modem for Airborne LTE Operations (ALO) that delivers robust, multi-redundant connectivity for safe BVLOS flights. The 270 gram device enables multiple cameras and sensors to stream video in real time with nationwide Command and Control (C2) of the aircraft. This provides the remote pilot with an in-the-cockpit experience that includes pilot view cameras, the capability to fly in controlled airspace, remote operation of ADSB or Mode-S transponders, voice communication to the remote air traffic control tower using aviation VHF radio, and more. The remote pilot can safely integrate with manned aircraft traffic and even take off or land at the world’s busiest airports. These capabilities, and more like it, are already patented by SqwaQ and part of a longer range roadmap that integrates unmanned traffic, rather than UTM segregation which is restrictive and not practical.
A major obstacle facing the UAS industry has been the ability to maintain command and control over long distances via a multi-redundant communication link that not only streams video and sensor data, but can pass muster with FAA safety requirements. SqwaQ understood this from the outset and manufactures the AS9100 Certified SqwaQbox to those aviation standards, with an eye toward additional FAA certifications that may become mandatory for all UASs the future.
Over the last ten years, the drone industry has been guided by robotics engineers and drone enthusiasts with little knowledge of FAA rules or FAR safety guidelines. This has led to challenging FAA authority over the airspace and ignoring aviation safety guidelines in hopes of allowing tens of thousands of flimsy drones to invade the safest airspace in the world. To the FAA this is a dangerous threat. SqwaQ technology is the missing component that resolves this conflict and integrates all connected aircraft in the sky, allowing safe integration of any properly built Remotely Piloted Aircraft.
Today in 2020, major aviation manufacturers are quietly designing their own Remotely Piloted Aircraft solutions with an eye toward full FAA type class certification and safety compliance. That’s not a Part 107 waiver or Part 135 exemption that restricts operations. It means passing a rigid safety certification like Boeing, Bell and Airbus routinely undertake with manned aircraft, to fly unfettered in the airspace and deliver value to customers that toy drones cannot achieve.
SqwaQ is engaged with many aviation manufacturing partners to lead the transformation to certified Remotely Piloted Aircraft. That RPA moniker will denote a real aircraft, flown freely across controlled airspace by a real pilot holding a conventional pilot certification and pedigree. SqwaQ anticipates that OEMs using its BVLOS technology may eliminate 75% of their competitors in the drone industry, as certified aircraft push out the flimsy toys being fobbed off, particularly in public safety.
PLYMOUTH, England, Sept. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Ocean research non-profit ProMare and IBM (NYSE:IBM) have announced the completion and launch of the Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) – an AI and solar powered marine research vessel which will traverse oceans gathering vital environmental data.
Following two years of design, construction and training of its AI models, the new fully-autonomous trimaran was today lifted into the waters off the coast of Plymouth, England ahead of its official launch tomorrow.
Designed to provide a safe, flexible and cost-effective way of gathering data about the ocean, the new-generation Mayflower promises to transform oceanography by working in tandem with scientists and other autonomous vessels to help understand critical issues such as global warming, micro-plastic pollution and marine mammal conservation. ProMare is co-ordinating the scientific studies working with IBM Research and a number of leading scientific organizations.
MAS features an AI Captain built by ProMare and IBM developers which gives MAS the ability to sense, think and make decisions at sea with no human captain or onboard crew. The new class of marine AI is underpinned by IBM’s latest advanced edge computing systems, automation software, computer vision technology and Red Hat Open Source software.
„Able to scan the horizon for possible hazards, make informed decisions and change its course based on a fusion of live data, the Mayflower Autonomous Ship has more in common with a modern bank than its 17th century namesake,“ said Andy Stanford-Clark, Chief Technology Officer, IBM UK & Ireland. „With its ability to keep running in the face of the most challenging conditions, this small ship is a microcosm for every aspiring 21st century business.“
To enable followers around the world to stay updated with MAS as it undertakes its various missions, IBM and ProMare have today launched a new interactive web portal. Built by IBM iX, the business design arm of IBM Services, the MAS400 portal is designed to provide real-time updates about the ship’s location, environmental conditions and data from its various research projects. Live weather data will be streamed from The Weather Company, as MAS is receiving forecast data and insight from the new IBM Weather Operations Center.
The portal even features a seven-armed, stowaway octopus chatbot called Artie, who claims to be hitching a ride on the ship. Powered by IBM Watson Assistant technology and created in partnership with European start-up Chatbotbay, Artie has been trained to provide information about MAS and its adventures in a lively, and accessible format.
„MAS400.com is one of the most advanced ocean mission web portals ever built,“ says Fredrik Soreide, Scientific Director of the Mayflower Autonomous Ship project and Board Member of ProMare. „Protecting the ocean depends on our ability to engage the public in important matters affecting its health. This MAS400 portal is designed to do exactly that and tell people where the ship is, what speed it’s travelling at, what conditions it’s operating in and what science we are conducting. Users can even help Artie the Octopus fish out surgical masks, cigarette butts and other increasingly common forms of ocean litter from a virtual ocean of facts and data.“
MAS will spend the next six months in sea trials and undertake various research missions and voyages before attempting to cross the Atlantic in Spring 2021. MAS’s transatlantic voyage will be based on a similar route and pioneering spirit to the 1620 Mayflower which made the same crossing 400 years ago.
MAS Facts:
Name:
Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS)
Organizations and companies behind it:
ProMare, IBM and a global consortium of partners
Mission:
MAS and other autonomous ships and drones working in tandem with human scientists to collect vital oceanographic data
Humans on board:
0
Autonomy level
5 (can operate independently with no human intervention)
Sensors on board:
30+
AI Cameras on board:
6
Octopuses on board:
1
Science projects:
Marine mammals, micro plastics, sea level height & wave patterns, oceanographic and environmental data collection
Length:
15M
Width:
6.2M
Max speed:
10 knots
Weight:
5 tons/4535KG
Equipment capacity:
0.7 tons/700KG
Hull design:
Trimaran (central hull with two outrigger wings)
Power:
Solar-driven hybrid electric motor
Software:
IBM Visual Insights computer vision technology, IBM edge systems, IBM Operational Decision Manager automation software, IBM Maximo asset management software, data from The Weather Company
Hardware:
IBM Power Systems AC922, 6 Jetson AGX Xavier, 2 Jetson Xavier NX, 4+ Intel-based computers, 4+ custom microprocessor systems
London, England – July 21st 2020 – The Crafty Robot today launches Smartipresence, a low cost telepresence robot that works with a smartphone, based on their Smartibot robotics platform. Created by product designer Ross Atkin, Smartipresence kits are available for pre-order on Kickstarter from £50 ($62).
Smartipresence builds on top of the existing Smartibot app-connected cardboard robot platform, adding extra components to create a dedicated telepresence robot. Slide a phone into the cradle, put the robot online then send a loved one a link to the pilot webpage allowing them to appear on-screen just like a video call, except they have the additional ability to move themselves around. Using controls on the pilot page your friends and family members can drive forward, backwards, left and right and they can tilt the phone to look up or down.
Smartipresence comes as a kit combining cleverly designed cardboard parts with re-usable electronics, allowing owners to build their own telepresence robots by hacking battery operated toys, using LEGO, radio controlled vehicles or 3D printers.
“It’s awful not being able to visit loved ones right now and I wanted to make something to help” explained Ross Atkin. “I thought telepresence might be useful, but not the robots designed for corporate environments that cost thousands. I realised that the Smartibot kit already had most of the parts you’d need to make a really accessible telepresence robot that would work in people’s homes. So I designed the extra cardboard parts to make the experience as good as it could be, and worked with Altrubots to put together the software. It’s turned out great. It’s not quite as good as actually being somewhere but it’s a whole lot better than a video call.”
As Smartipresence is an expansion for the Smartibot the kit, it also includes everything from the previous set, including parts to make the A.I. bot, Unicorn and Teabot. The kit includes 10 hours of telepresence using Smartipresence service with additional 10 hour usage codes available at £5 each. There are no accounts and the system collects no personal information from users.
The telepresence system has been created in partnership with Altrubots, creators of the ‘RC Everywhere’ system used in publicly controllable robots that perform helpful functions like trash collection.
John Stewart, Altrubots software lead, said “It’s amazing to be creating a world wide communication system that’s going to allow normal people to use robots to communicate, it’s the closest thing to Princess Lea coming out of the R2D2 that we’re going to get right now.”
Smartibot Technical Specs
Kit contents
Hardware Features
Software Features
1 x Smartibot Circuit Board3 x DC Motors + Gearboxes1 x 4AA Battery Box1 x Cardboard Smartipresence Parts1 x Cardboard A.I. Bot Parts1 x Cardboard Unicorn Parts1 x Cardboard Teabot Parts2 x Glass Marbles2 x ScrewdriversStainless Steel Fixings Rubber Bands
Robot can move forward and back, rotate and tilt the phone to look up or down NRF 52 series ARM Cortex-M4F based Bluetooth system-on-chip Espruino runtime USB/Bluetooth programming
Smartipresence system comprising pilot webapp and robot iOS app and webapp iOS and Android app for remote control mode and A.I. mode (YOLO A.I.) Programmable with JavaScript or code blocks from a web browser using Espruino
Smartibot can be found on Kickstarter starting at £50 ($63) for a limited time.
