Robotic Surgery Gains Prominence in India

Currently in Chennai in India, major heart surgeries are being performed by a surgeon sitting on a console and manipulating a joy stick. In actuality, he is performing a surgery with the help of an extremely efficient electronic robot with arms.

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The robot’s arms could be maneuvered to perform some very minute and subtle movements to wield the instruments for the operation. The patients, instead of the normally high recovery time are up and about in no time at all. The surgeon in question was Dr Ravi Kumar R from the Chettinad Health City CHC, and the patient was an auto driver on whom a double valve replacement operation was performed with robotics for the first ever time.

Formerly, either the aortal or the mitral valve had been substituted with the help of robots, but simultaneous replacement of both the valves was a new occurrence. From the year 2000, robotics has been utilized in cardiac procedures and it usage has also spread over to other medical fields such as gynecology, urology and oncology. Despite being found in many hospitals in the US, in India it is available in just 4-6 hospitals such as CHC in Chennai, CARE in Pune, AIIMS in Delhi and Fortis-Escorts in Delhi.

Rochester High School Team Takes Robot to District Competition

The Rochester FEDS head to Wayne State University this weekend to let their robot compete against other schools.

In a workshop inside Rochester High School, a group of 45 students — mostly aspiring engineers and computer scientists — has spent the past three months somewhere between Legos and the grown-up working world.

They've been brainstorming, designing, building and testing as part of FIRST Robotics, a national science and technology program that challenges students each year to build a real, working robot that will compete against other schools' robots in an arena-like game.

This weekend the Rochester FEDS (which stands for Falcon Engineering & Design Solutions) will take that robot to Wayne State University to compete in the Detroit FIRST Robotics District competition. Last year, Rochester was a finalist in that contest; this year, the group hopes for something more.

National Robotics Week Will Be April 9-17

The second annual National Robotics Week will be held from April 9-17, 2011, with a weeklong series of events in a dozen U.S. locations aimed at increasing public awareness of the growing importance of “robo-technology” and the social and cultural impact that it will have on how people live, work, and play.

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National Robotics Week recognizes robotics technology as a pillar of 21st century American innovation and seeks to inspire students while building their interest in technology and innovation. Events include panel discussions, robotics competitions, introductory courses on robotics for kids, educational workshops for businesses, demos, and tours of innovative labs.

National Robotics Week is a product of an effort by leading universities and companies to create a “national roadmap” for robotics technology, which was initially unveiled at a May 2009 briefing by academic and industry leaders to the Congressional Caucus on Robotics. U.S. Representative Mike Doyle (PA-14), co-chair of the caucus, and other members submitted a formal resolution (H.Res. 1055) that Congress passed on March 9, 2010 to support the designation of the second full week in April as National Robotics Week.

Staples High Robotics Team Engineers State Tourney Victory

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The Staples High School Robotics Team, called The Wreckers 577, dominated the Connecticut Tournament of the First Tech Challenge on March 5.

The Staples team members are Haris Durrani, Timothy Yang, Alec Solder, Erin Gandelman, Dylan Roncati, Mrinal Kumar, and John Solder, with Joshua Schwartz providing supervision.

The tourney included 22 schools from New England, New York and Pennsylvania, part of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition In Science and Technology) program.

The Wreckers 577 robot dominated the state tourney from the outset. The performance challenge consisted of five rounds of four teams randomly paired up so that two team's robots formed an alliance and competed against the other alliance. The Wreckers 577 defeated all the other teams in its division through all five challenges.