Symposium to Take Defence Robotics to Next Step

PUNE: Research and development organisations, academia and industries will gather under one roof in Pune for a two-day symposium on robotics and autonomous vehicles starting from April 28.

According to defence officials, the aim of the symposium is to take robotics to the next level in view of improvement of defence robotics technology. The symposium, titled 'Robotics and Unmanned Vehicles', will take place at Research and Development Establishment (Engineers) [R&DE (E) ], an establishment of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). This two-day long event will conclude on Friday.

The symposium will bring together users such as Army, Airforce, paramilitary and police forces, research and development organizations including DRDO, ISRO, BARC along academia like IIT-Kanpur, IISc-Bengalore, BITS-Pilani and Industry in order to synergize the efforts and accelerate robotic development process.

Roomba-Maker iRobot Clears Path For Robotics

Top scientists around the world are trying to improve upon robots, which can already detect bombs, perform surgery and even go into battle.

At iRobot Corp., they're trying to make a better vacuum.

Of course, iRobot's scientists do other things too. The company, best known for its Roomba floor vacuum, recently sent machines to Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster to help detect radiation, to the war zone in Afghanistan to find bombs, and to the Gulf of Mexico to locate spilled oil in the water.

But home robots — dominated by vacuums — make up 55 percent of the company's revenue and are part of the reason iRobot is on a tear. Shares are up 43 percent since the start of the year, and the company earned a profit of $26 million on sales of $401 million last year, up from $3 million on $299 million in revenue the year before.

Robotics Team Wins Praise at National Contest

MANIPAL: The eight-member robotics team of Manipal Insitute of Technology (MIT), RoboManipal, which took part in ROBOCON 2011 held in Pune recently, has a success story to tell despite failing at making it to the top slot.

The national event was organized under the auspices of Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) at Belawadi stadium in Pune. The experience, though their first, came as a boost for the team and they are hopeful of a bigger opportunity in the future. They also hope to win the top slot in the next international event in 2012. This year, Robomanipal competed with teams that included those from IITs and other renowned institutes.

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.

Robotics News Blog

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.