Wizard of Oz and The Tin Men
It's the dirty secret of robotics and why we really need to read below the headlines :)
Sadly, Astrobotic’s Peregrine Lunar Lander burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere over the South Pacific on Jan 19.
This afternoon Astrobotic received independent confirmation of Peregrine’s safe, controlled re-entry yesterday in the South Pacific.
Peregrine Mission One has concluded. We look to the future and our next mission to the Moon, Griffin Mission One. All of the hard-earned experience from the past 10 days in space along with the preceding years of designing, building, and testing Peregrine will directly inform Griffin and our future missions.
Peregrine and its payload teams have made a meaningful contribution to our lunar future, and we thank everyone who supported this mission. Courtesy of United Launch Alliance, this video was captured from their Vulcan rocket’s payload fairing.
Peregrine has flown so Griffin may land.
Ad luna per aspera.
Why is it so difficult to land on the Moon?
The Mission was doomed early on due to a propellant leak, however a everything else worked well and the Peregrine orbited for 10 days before being safely ditched. Ironically, the final maneuvers cleverly used the propellant leak itself to steer the spacecraft. We’re all looking forward to the next missions:
The Nova-C lander built by the Houston company Intuitive Machines is scheduled to launch toward the moon atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in mid-February.
The Griffin lander from Astrobotics is scheduled to launch toward the moon atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy in November 2024. Whether or not that mission proceeds and includes the NASA Viper depends on the results of the current Peregrine inquiry.
Image from Astrobotic and ULA as the Peregrine separated from the Vulcan Centaur capsule.
Japan’s SLIM lands successfully but suffers power issues.
Meanwhile, Japan has become the 5th country to successfully land on the moon, however the lander appears to have run out of power. Two small rovers, LEV 1 and LEV 2, were initially sending signals, and there is hope that a change in the sun’s alignment over time might restore some power.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) landed the moon's surface at around 12:20 a.m. (1520 GMT Friday), but its solar panels were not able to generate electricity, possibly because they are angled wrong.
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If you are a robotics company, January is a great time to join Silicon Valley Robotics.
Optimus can fold shirts? Not really.
You can briefly see the robot operator’s hand in the lower right of the shot. When questioned about this Elon Musk responded that the robot would soon be operating autonomously.
We all know that folding laundry autonomously is not a simple task.
Soon is a very stretchy word. Sooner than the heat death of the universe perhaps?
Figure robots are about to start working at BMW? Not really.
If you read the Figure release and the Reuters article more closely then it’s clear that;
Initially the agreement is for Figure to simply work out just what the robot COULD do and then to train it.
IF successful then a trial deployment COULD start in 12-24 months.
Figure HOPES to have a robot ready for commercial release in 2024.
Also, the Figure-01 has learned how to make coffee video from Jan might be autonomous, but actually just involves the robot standing still, opening a lid, picking up and inserting a single nearby coffee pod, and then pushing a button. Nothing else.
Dark Magic anyone? (the coffee pod blend)
Great product placement opportunity though for Keurig and Green Mountain Coffee
Self-driving cars drive themselves? Not often.
As per Rodney Brook’s 2024 Predictions Scorecard
Whoa! Driverless means that there is no human involved in the actual driving. Here the story says that there is an army of people, 1.5 persons per car, who intercede remotely every 2.5 to 5 miles of travel. I thought I had been taking Cruise vehicles that were driving themselves.
In fact, everyone I talked to in San Francisco thought that the Cruise and Waymo vehicles were fully autonomous as they were so bad in certain ways.
Remote operation can be a feature NOT a bug! For example, Imperium Drive launched a remote retrieval vehicle rental service in Milton Keynes in 2023, something that Germany based Vay has just launched in Las Vegas.
Best Practices for Robot PR (researchers & startups)
Had to speed up the videos? Include “4x” or “16x” prominently on the video.
Had to do multiple takes? Include “Take 8” on the video and release bloopers.
Tele-operating the robot sometimes? Include autonomous vs remote ratio.
These are all very common situations when demonstrating robots in action and understandable. What’s most important? Massive youtube views or actual customer awareness and satisfaction? Audiences that matter are probably aware of all the tricks, and won’t appreciate being faked out.
Famous PR2 folding laundry video from UC Berkeley in 2011, incl. 2010’s towel folding video.
Robotics Events:
7 Feb - Bots & Beer location SF or OAKLAND
8 Feb - InOrbit Robot Space Anniversary Party - Mountain View CA
20-21 Feb - IEEE Serious Open Source 2024 - Mountain View CA
5-6 April - SF Symphony: Press Play Carol Reiley and the Robots - Soundbox SF
6 April - Robot Block Party - exciting new location (more news soon!)
18-21 April 2024 - RoboGames - TBC
21 April 2024 - Robots on Ice - Yerba Buena Skating Rink SF
Some upcoming academic robotics conferences
TAHRI 2024 Boulder CO 9 Mar - 10 Mar (Technology Advances for HRI)
HRI 2024 Boulder CO 11 Mar - 14 Mar
Haptics 2024 Long Beach CA 7 Apr - 10 Apr
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
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
Robotics News:
Robot Team Builds High-Performance Digital Structure for NASA - NASA
SRI International releases XRGo for tele-manipulation - SRI International
Amazon eyes AI, autonomous vehicles and Asia as $1B industrial innovation fund evolves - TechCrunch
Locus Robotics reduces staff, but CEO is still bullish on market growth - The Robot Report
Welcome to the Unicorn Club - 10 years later - Aileen Lee / Cowboy Ventures
Apple autonomous car another step closer - report - Drive.com.au
This robot grows like a vine and could help in disaster response - Nature
Robot snowplow competition offers a glimpse of the future - MPR News
This snowplowing robot automates yard work while you play - CNET
New undersea robot digitally captures the sea’s most delicate life - Science
Interactive jellyfish robot responds to hand gestures - YankoDesign
Origami fabric robot slithers like a snake - Nature
Watch this robot cook shrimp and clean autonomously - MIT Review
Love Machina review - The Hollywood Reporter
Love Me movie review - Collider