Open Tabs on Robotics News

Every once in a while, I need to clear out all my open tabs and regain control of my Firefox browser. Here’s a few related to robotics, including: Robot teachers, sensitive skin, movable walls, and warehouse workers.

Teaching with Robots

According to a post on Engadget, robots will become a presence in the classroom early this decade. South Korea’s continued national investment in the robotics economy will put teacher robots in 8,000 pre-schools and kindergartens by 2013. The “R-Learning” program will give robots the ability to tell stories and allow a telepresence for parents who want to check in on their kids during the day.

More Sensitive Skin

The MIT Media Lab has commissioned Peratech Limited to create a sensitive material that can be used to skin robotic forms. Peratech, a UK company partnering with Durham University, manufactures news types of electrically conductive material called Quantum Tunneling Composite (QTC) that is proportionally sensitive to pressure.

Walls That Move

Clemson University’s Intelligent Materials and Systems for Architecture program unveiled a robotic wall, Animated Work Environment . AWE is “a user-programmable robotic work environment that dynamically shapes and supports the working life of architects, designers and their new and more traditional collaborators.” There are six configurations of the wall.

Robot Movers

Crate and Barrel announced this month that is was joining Zappos, Staples, and Walgreens in adopting mobile-robotic solutions by Kiva Systems to help with order fulfillment in their warehouses. Rather than sending human workers out onto the floor to hunt down a bunch of divergent items, these robots find shelves filled with the products and queue them near the human’s workstation. There is a demonstration video available on the company’s site, but Be Kind To Robots also found a video of the robots dancing to the Nutcracker.