Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

Sections A-Z

Video: F&P Robotics boss says he wouldn’t trust the thinking, feeling robots of the future

by

The founder and managing director of F&P Robotics says he wouldn’t trust the robots of the future because they will become conscious and capable of taking over the world, and possibly enslaving humans. (See video below.)

The experienced roboticist, who has a background in natural sciences and brain research, says it’s only a matter of time before artificial intelligence-powered robots start thinking about big questions – like, who created the universe and what is the point of humans.

In an interview with RoboticsAndAutomationNews.com, recorded at Hannover Messe in Germany (video above), Dr Hansruedi Früh says the only difference between humans and robots, at the moment, is “self-reflection, which only humans and very few animals have”, but robot learning is progressing and that their consciousness is inevitable.  [Read more…] about Video: F&P Robotics boss says he wouldn’t trust the thinking, feeling robots of the future

Six new trends in home automation

by

Amazon Echo Dot
Amazon’s Echo Dot, the voice-controlled Alexa-enabled device, can connect to a wide range of your smart home gadgets

By Megan Wild, editor of YourWildHome.com

It’s an exciting time to be a homeowner, but it can also be overwhelming. It seems every week there is a new smart home product on the market that can automate various aspects of your life, and it can be tough to decide which direction to go.

Like all new technology, there is a certain amount of risk involved. You don’t want to jump on something too early, only for it to be outdated and forgotten about a year later.

On the flip side, there is also that natural feeling of wanting to keep up with the trends in order to maximize your home value — not to mention take advantage of all of the cool features many of these devices have.

Here are six trends in smart home automation that are relatively safe bets for the foreseeable future.  [Read more…] about Six new trends in home automation

This is the biggest infographic in the world ever

by

infographic – Where-next-for-car-technology

By Neil Tohill, director of Southside Motor Factors

This epic infographic outlines the extraordinary technological innovations that we are currently seeing, or can soon expect to see, on modern vehicles.

The concept of self-driving cars has been mooted for quite some time and has been a feature of sci-fi TV shows or cartoons speculatively casting an eye to the future.

In 2017, autonomous cars have become a distinct possibility, and while a fully autonomous vehicle is still a way off, we can now invest in cars which will let us kick back for most of a journey.

We’re also entering the area of holographic windscreens which can display key data that we would previously have needed to glance down at the dashboard to see.

These advances are remarkable when you think that it wasn’t so long ago since power steering and remote locking were perceived as fantastic innovations.

Bosch reports increased sales of €73 billion. Wins massive new sensor contract from Apple

by

Bosch – one of the world’s largest industrial companies, producing a wide variety of engineered products, from automotive components to home appliances – has reported increased sales for the year 2016. 

In a press conference last week to launch the German giant’s annual report, Bosch CEO Volkmar Denner listed the key figures:

  • sales rose from €70.6 billion in 2015 to €73.1 billion last year; and
  • earnings before tax in 2016 reached a total of €4.3 billion.

Sales in all business segments and geographical regions had increased, added Denner.

As positive as the figures may seem, Denner said the company was nonetheless undergoing “profound transformation”, partly brought about by a range of new technologies which are changing the global industrial landscape, and because diesel engines may be phased out.  [Read more…] about Bosch reports increased sales of €73 billion. Wins massive new sensor contract from Apple

Video: Hannover Messe 2017 review

by

This is a collection of excerpts from interviews conducted with exhibitors at the recent Hannover Messe industrial trades show, in Germany.

For extended versions of the interviews, please visit our website over the next few weeks and check to see if they are published. Or contact us to find out.

Robotics and Automation News was represented by our editor, Abdul Montaqim, at the event, and was there for the whole week-long engineering extravaganza.

Read our overview article of the event:
Hannover Messe: Global software update

Doctor, I shrunk the robot. Or… Out of their tiny little robotic minds

by

By Chris Wagner, head of advanced surgical systems at Cambridge Consultants

Surgical robots today are large and unwieldy. This causes a number of challenges in the operating theatre. 

Setting up and managing the robots, for example, takes up valuable operating time. It’s also difficult to swap a robot in and out of a surgical procedure if traditional tools are more appropriate for some elements of an operation. And there are safety issues when clinical staff work in close proximity to a large piece of moving equipment.

So a surgeon has to weigh the benefits of surgical robotics against these limitations for each procedure where a robot is used.

There is an opportunity here – if we can simply make the robot smaller, many of these limitations disappear. It is much easier to move a small robot into an operating theatre, put it into position for an operation and move it out again afterwards. The safety concerns are also much reduced.  [Read more…] about Doctor, I shrunk the robot. Or… Out of their tiny little robotic minds

Robots are taking over the world. Run for the hills now, or cash in quick – the choice is yours

by

money face

In this guest article, supplied by SKS Media, the spectre of high-net worth individuals teaming up with robots offer a terrifying vision of the future, with some hapless humans finding themselves in the nightmare situation of having mountains of money but not enough opportunities to spend it 

The word exponential is often used to describe the pace of technological change which has come to define the world we live in. And with new technologies such as artificial intelligence, 3D printing and virtual reality only just warming up, the pace is unlikely to let up.

In this environment is it easy to become convinced that, when competing in a global marketplace, speed is the greatest of virtues. Indeed, in The Great Acceleration, author Robert Colvile argues that speed has become the defining feature of the modern economy, the driving force behind wealth creation in the 21st century.  [Read more…] about Robots are taking over the world. Run for the hills now, or cash in quick – the choice is yours

What type of users require VPN services?

by

Everyone who wishes to protect own identity, location and personal data should carefully think about addressing reliable VPN provider and make everything possible to ensure online safety at home and in the office.

Safe online environment is a must for users who fit the following categories:

  • often make online payments. Online payments services have a lot of sensible data and may have a leakage due to poorly protected networks. Travellers use such services on daily basis and rely on e-wallets greatly, therefore, may be left without access to their money in a foreign country due to hacker’s activity;
  • visitors of public places who love to use free Wi-Fi. Hackers enjoy attending such places as well – here there are a lot of easy targets – students, travellers. Most of them are using smartphone and providing thieves with credit cards numbers, passwords, access to private chats and correspondence. Any smartphone will automatically connect to public network and allows snoopers to monitor users’ online activity. It is hard to avoid such places with free Wi-Fi – business centres, airports, hotels, restaurants all have available Internet access;
  • cloud users also risking to lose all data stored in there; and
  • torrents also can lead to IP address leakage, as well as infected with malware.

Apart from these obvious benefits, here are other advantages of using VPN protection:

  1. Afraid of missing favourite game or show while traveling? After choosing one of the best VPNs every client is allowed access to popular streaming content as Netflix, Spotify and many more. It is known that numerous countries block such websites as well as social networks. Moreover, online activity can be closely monitored;
  2. Using VPN apps it is much safer to use public Wi-Fi; and
  3. Another benefit for travellers, foreign students or anyone who has friends or relatives abroad – saving money on VOIP calls by changing the country of the call making it domestic.

best vpn 1

Main objective of every VPN service

VPN service is invaluable when working remotely as allows safe access to another network as well as when want to protect personal online environment.

The first thing this software hides is client’s IP address and this feature is crucial as every app we use and website we visit reads user’s IP and gets a lot of information such as approximate location, internet provider, used browser and operating system and many more.

In case user has unencrypted connection any information can be intercepted: personal correspondence, chats, shared files, banking details, corporate documentation and more.

In order to create safe working environment, VPN is tunnelling all clients’ activities and creates encrypted connection between any user’s device and the VPN server. Various types of security protocols are used to ensure highest level of protection and maintaining online privacy.

best vpn 2

Prices for these services are affordable and there is no need to postpone such important decision.

Promoted

How Burger King’s OK Google ad exposed flaws in home automation

by

Burger King recently decided to try something different to promote its classic Whopper. The fast food giant aired a commercial in which a Burger King employee who says he doesn’t have time to talk about all of the ingredients in a Whopper comes up with another way for customers to learn about its ingredients.

The employee leans into the camera and says “OK Google, what is the Whopper burger?” This activated Google’s smart speakers — Google Home, and that’s when people started having fun. The actual ingredient list, as published on Wikipedia, was edited with some items replaced with things like children, toe-nail clippings and rat — among other creative ingredients.

Google wasn’t in on the plan, which led to an interesting chain of events that exposed some of the weaknesses of virtual assistants and home automation.  [Read more…] about How Burger King’s OK Google ad exposed flaws in home automation