The robots of IROS 2023, IROS on Demand and ROSCon coming up!
Plus XPrize Wildfire Challenge, 50 women in robotics you need to know about, and last week of robotics and AI news
The robots of IROS 2023 post should be live today (Saturday Oct 7th) and the Best Papers and IROS on Demand post should be live on Monday Oct 9th, so you can share in some of the IROS experience.
Want to attend more science based robotics conferences?
ROSCON 2023 New Orleans LA 18 Oct - 20 Oct
CORL 2023 Atlanta GA 6 Nov - 9 Nov
Humanoids 2023 Austin TX 11 Dec - 14 Dec
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
Big thank you to everyone who has become a paid subscriber - it makes you an angel investor in the work I do at Silicon Valley Robotics and as a startup advisor, and accelerator. And maybe we can do more to share your experience and expertize with the robotics startup community. Mentor Office Hours, maybe startup profiles. We’ll keep exploring.
Quick Reads:
50 women in robotics you need to know about - Women in Robotics
Celebrating the first international women in robotics day - The Robot Report
How Disney packed big emotion into a little robot - IEEE Spectrum
Farm robotics startups face a talent shortage. Academia and tech are working together to change that - AgFunder
The Robots Are Here - Bonsai Robotics Closes $13.5M Seed Round - Global Ag Tech
How NVIDIA became a major player in robotics - TechCrunch
The big AI and robotics concept that has attracted both Walmart and Softbank - CNBC
NTNU opens ‘test arena’ for maritime robots in Trondheim - The Maritime Executive
The extreme robot arm that can chop up a ship - BBC
Robotics, Automation Key to Fulfillment: Study - Supply & Demand Chain Executive
Fractal fingers could let robots securely grasp any shape - New Scientist
CU Boulder offers new graduate program in robotics - CU Boulder
Meet the Maker: Robotics Student Rolls Out Autonomous Wheelchair with NVIDIA Jetson - NVIDIA
Science lab automation and robotics startup Automata raises $40M - TechCrunch
Google DeepMind releases Open X-Embodiment that includes a robotics dataset with 1M+ trajectories and a generalist AI model (RT-X) to help advance how robots can learn new skills - MarkTechPost
DeepMind’s ‘remarkable’ new AI controls robots of all kinds - VentureBeat
Creating domestic robots that really help - IEEE Spectrum
Reliable Robotics analyzes Air Force automation potential - AOPA
Vayu Robotics emerges from stealth with $12.7M in seed funding - The Robot Report
Robosculptor develops advanced robotic system for massage - Robotics and Automation News
Meet JUXTA Nomad - a portable autonomous mini mart you may see at EV charging stations soon - Electrek
LAPD addresses using food delivery robot video footage in recent arrest - CBS
Wisk Aero starts flight testing electric autonomous aircraft in Los Angeles - TechCrunch
Future of human-machine integration must bring right mix of robotic elements to formations - US Army
A Robot’s Nightmare is a Burrito Full of Guac — The Atlantic
Chipotle has another robot helper. This one makes salads and bowls - USA Today
Chipotle robots may soon construct your salads and bowls - The Washington Post
Video Friday: Morphing Adaptive Robots and more robot videos - IEEE Spectrum
Robotics Events:
Maker Faire is back in the Bay Area at Mare Island Oct 13-15 and Oct 20-22 (I’m giving a talk on Building the Future with a New Breed of Robots at midday on Sunday Oct 22)
October 18-22 - ROSCon + PX4 Autopilot Developer Summit - New Orleans and virtual from Open Robotics (save $100 by registering for both events)
October 25 - The Food AI Summit - Alameda CA from The Spoon
Nov 3 - AI x Robotics Hackathon - SF Schematic Ventures
Nov 6-9 - Future in Review - Terranea CA from The Strategic Review (I’m hosting a panel with Agility Robotics, Apptronik and 1x)
Startup Deadlines
Xprize Wildfire registration ends Oct 31
Community Energy Innovation Prize
Concept submissions now open for all three tracks - $7,490,000 in prizes
Collegiate track closes Nov 2 - Clean Energy track and Manufacturing Ecosystem track closes Feb 2 - Informational webinar on Oct 12
Interesting Robots:
Kirigami inspired woven soft robotic grippers
Kang, G., Kim, YJ., Lee, SJ. et al. Grasping through dynamic weaving with entangled closed loops. Nat Commun 14, 4633 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40358-y