More and more humanoids, IPOs and the State of AI ...
Plus putting fur on robots turns out to be a really bad idea.
Boston Dynamics bounces back in beautiful style with Atlas(e) or 2.0 or whatever the heck the new electric Atlas is called. Did you somehow miss the introduction video? Here it is again!
Unbelievable or only to be expected?
Turns out I have a second cousin who performs circus around the world as Robot Sam - when he’s not making theatrical props (and robots) in his floating workshop! Who knew so much robotics ran in my family :)
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What else is happening in the robotics neighborhood?
This year’s AI Index from the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) is out, tracking the rise of multimodal foundation models, major cash investments into generative AI, new performance benchmarks, shifting global opinions, and new major regulations. If you don’t want to read the full 500 pages, here are the highlights in 13 9 charts:
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Robotics News:
Mentee Robotics comes out of stealth / Israel with a $17m raise and a team lead by prominent researchers with a strong track record.
Three reasons robots are about to become way more useful - MIT Technology Review
Serve Robotics sets IPO terms - BizJournal
Moxi, healthcare robot created in Austin, completes 500k deliveries - CBS Austin
A rimless wheel robot that can reliably overcome steps - TechXplore
Daddy long-legs-inspired robot could one day squirm through Martian caves - Popular Science
Meet the new AI robot billionaire - Forbes (paywall)
From sleeping on a friend’s floor to signing huge industrial customers: How Gecko’s founder built a $600 million robot company from a college project - Fortune (paywall)
Your Fast Food Is Already Automated - The Atlantic
At Kernel, your veggie burger will be served by a robot - The Verge
Sega Toys recalls cat robots in Japan - burning smell complaints also lead to sales suspension - Tom’s Hardware
(the lesson Sega learned is to NOT put fur on robots!)
This Dog-Sized Mutant Furby Robot is a Monstrosity - GeekTyrant
Robotics Events:
May 1-2 - Robotics Summit & Expo - Boston, MA
May 2 - Robotic Food Manipulation in the Wild - Chef Robotics hosting Women in Robotics in SF
May 6-9 - Automate - Chicago, IL
TBC June 13-14 - SVR Robotics Investment Summit - Menlo Park, CA (alternate date October)
June 17-20 - Collision - Toronto CA
Some more upcoming academic robotics conferences:
Robosoft 2024 San Diego CA 14 Apr - 17 Apr
ICRA 2024 Yokohama Japan 13 May - 17 May 2024
ARSO 2024 Hong Kong, China 20 May - 22 May 2024
AIM 2024 Boston MA 14 July - 18 July
CASE 2024 Puglia Italy 28 Aug - 1 Sep 2024
CLAWAR 2024 Kaiserslauten Sep 4 - Sep 6
ICRA@40 Rotterdam NL 23 Sep - 26 Sep 2024
IROS 2024 AbuDhabi 14 Oct - 18 Oct 2024
Humanoids 2024 Nancy FR 26 Nov - 28 Nov
ICRA 2025 Atlanta Georgia 17 May - 23 May 2025
Adding the industry conferences next issue :)