Investment into robotics hotting up, and so are robot events!

Testing the track ahead of DIY Robocars on Aug 14

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• Women in Robotics Speaker Series with Dr Ariel Anders of Robust.AI and Cynthia Yeung of Plus One Robotics Friday July 30th at 12pm 

• Bots&Beer Online Wednesday August 4th at 7pm

• DIY Robocars / Brazilian BBQ at Circuit Launch August 14th from 

• Online Robotics Job Fair Wednesday August 18th at 7pm

• Startup Funding Seminar with PropelX Thursday August 19th at 2pm (TIME STILL TBD)

• Society, Robots and Us: Funding Inclusive Robotics Tuesday August 24th at 6pm

Alex Dantas and Andra Keay at Circuit Launch Brazilian BBQ

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Here's what I'm looking forward to!

• The Reddit Robotics Showcase July 31-August 1

• World of Drones and Robots August 18-19

• The Built Worlds Summit on Sept 4

• Avatar XPrize Semifinals in Sept

• WeRobot Conference in Sept

• DARPA SubT Challenge Finals in Sept

• IROS 2021 in Sept/Oct

• The ARM Dev Summit in Oct

• AAAI's AI for HRI in Nov

• AMT's MFG Meeting and MTForecast Conference in Nov

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SynTouch

SynTouch (NSF-1534524) is partnering with Interhaptics to help creators deliver realistic experiences that simulate touch virtually. SynTouch will combine its haptics profiles with Interhaptics’ haptic composer software to provide users with touch feedback from different materials and surfaces. (Article via Medium) 

Diligent Robotics

Diligent Robotics (NSF-1738375) was selected as one of the World Economic Forum’s “Technology Pioneers.” The women-led company created a robot, Moxi, that helps hospital staff with logistical tasks so that they can focus on patient care. (Article via El Paso Inc.) 

Dash Systems

Dash Systems, the Los Angeles-based FreightTech startup using precision airdrops to expand the reach of next-day delivery, announced the successful completion of a proof-of-concept Alaska expedition this month. (Article via FreightWaves and SVR)

Covariant

In May of last year, Covariant announced that it had raised a $40 million Series B. It was a healthy sum of money for the young company, bringing its total funding up to $67 million. Just a little over a year later, the Berkeley-based AI startup is adding another $80 million to its coffers, riding on a wave that dramatically accelerated interest in robotics and AI during the pandemic. (Article via TechCrunch reposted on SVR) 

• Joby Aviation aiming to go to market in 2024 completes 154 mile test run

• Cassie the bipedal robot runs a 5k

• Swarm launches $499 evaluation kit for getting satellite communication wherever you are

• AI and robotics are a minefield of cognitive biases

• Researchers at IBM, MIT and Harvard release DARPA "Common Sense AI" dataset at ICML 2021

• Integrating aesthetics into robotics - webinar from Edinburgh Center for Robotics

• ARM develops flexible chip and more about the chip shortage and semiconductor industry

• Deimos One builds robotics spacecraft for Venus mission in 2023

• Mecademic releases new firmware for smallest industrial robotic arm

• Introducing the Open Cap Table Initiative for startups

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Kate Darling, robotics ethicist and author of The New Breed

The New Breed: What Our Animal History Reveals For Our Robotic Future

Live Stream at 12:30pm PT on 8/10/21

Watch & share this talk on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Long Now Live.

Robot ethicist Kate Darling offers a nuanced and smart take on our relationships to robots and the increasing presence they will have in our lives. From a social, legal, and ethical perspective, she shows that our current ways of thinking don’t leave room for the robot technology that is soon to become part of our everyday routines. Robots are likely to supplement, rather than replace, our own skills and relationships.

Darling also considers our history of incorporating animals into our work, transportation, military, and even families, and shows how we already have a solid basis for how to contend with, and navigate our future with robots.

Dr. Kate Darling works at the intersection of law, ethics and robotics; as a researcher at MIT Media Lab, author and intellectual property policy advisor. Her work with Dr. Lawrence Lessig, the Harvard Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, and other institutions explores the difficult questions that lawmakers, engineers, and the wider public will need to address as human-robot relationships evolve in the coming decades.

Darling's work is widely published and covered in the media; and her new book is The New Breed: What Our History With Animals Reveals About Our Future With Robots.