In conjunction with the formation of the OSRF, the Board of Directors was also announced.  The Board of Directors comprises a worldwide collection of educators, leaders and visionaries in the field of robotics, including:

Wolfram Burgard.  Dr. Burgard is a professor at the University of Freiburg where he leads the Laboratory for Autonomous Intelligent Systems.  His major research interests lie in mobile robotics, state estimation and control, as well as artificial intelligence.  Burgard is an active member of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society and a lifetime member of the American Association of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). Dr. Burgard is a recipient of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)

Ryan Gariepy.  Mr. Gariepy is the co-founder and CTO of Clearpath Robotics.  Clearpath Robotics specializes in the design and manufacture of robust and reliable unmanned vehicle solutions for industrial R&D.  Gariepy’s belief in the need for a strong global robotics community resulted in Clearpath being the first field robotics company to fully adopt and support ROS.  Mr. Gariepy manages Clearpath’s technology strategy and serves as the company’s lead system architect.

Brian Gerkey.  Dr. Gerkey is Director of Open Source Development at Willow Garage.  Since 2008, Gerkey has worked on ROS, which develops and releases one of the most widely-used robot software platforms.  He is also founding and former lead developer on the open source Player Project.   For his work on Player and ROS, Technology Review recognized Gerkey with the TR35 award in 2011.  Dr. Gerkey will be CEO of the OSRF.

Helen Greiner.  Ms. Greiner is a co-founder of iRobot and currently CEO of CyPhyWorks.  She has also been honored as a Technology Review ”Innovator for the Next Century” and has been awarded the DEMO God Award and DEMO Lifetime Achievement Award.  Greiner serves as the elected President and Board Member of the Robotics Technology Consortium (RTC), a non-profit organization established to speed the creation and deployment of ground robotics technology.

Sam Park.  Mr. Park is the executive vice president of Yujin Robot.  At Yujin Robot he has directed the commercialization of educational and entertainment robots, elderly service robots and home cleaning robots. Yujin Robot is one of South Korea’s first generation of service robotics companies and also a leading voice in the Korean robotics community.  Before joining Yujin Robotics, Mr. Park was an industrial robotics engineer at Motorola.

The first initiative of the OSRF will be participation in the DARPA Robotics Challenge. The DARPA Robotics Challenge will launch in October 2012 and offers a $2 million prize “to whomever can help push the state-of-the-art in robotics beyond today’s capabilities in support of the DoD’s disaster recovery mission.”

“It’s always been the intention of Willow Garage to create an independent body that can take our initial work in open source robotics and see it grow beyond the confines of a single organization,” according to Steve Cousins, CEO of Willow Garage.  “The reality is that the popularity of open source robotics in general, and ROS specifically, has grown beyond our wildest expectations.  Willow Garage will enthusiastically support the goals of the OSRF.”

About The Open Source Robotics Foundation
The Open Source Robotics Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization founded by members of the global robotics community.  The mission of the OSRF is to support the development, distribution, and adoption of open source software for use in robotics research, education, and product development.  The organization is based in Menlo Park, California.  More information is available at http://www.osrfoundation.org and by following the OSRF on Twitter @OSRFoundation.

Press Contact:

Tim Smith

Element Public Relations

tsmith@elementpr.com

415-350-3019

Arlington County Police Department

Fairfax County Police Department

Virginia State Police

DC Metropolitan Police Department

Montgomery County Police Department

Prince George’s County Police Department

Maryland State Police

Alexandria Police Department

Loudon County Sheriff’s Office

Prince William County Police Department

Frederick County Sheriff’s Office

Metro Transit Police Department

Metro Washington Airport Authority

“These robot systems will help protect the lives of tactical operators and enable us to resolve dangerous situations much more quickly,” says Lt. Chris Cochrane, the Tactical Subcommittee Chairman for MWCOG, and a commander of the Fairfax County Special Operations Team. “Through the cooperative service agreements that we have in place, we can now ensure that these robots will be available to assist all of the tactical teams in the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments region.”

“We are honored to play a role in protecting the lives of tactical operators and counterterrorism personnel in our nation’s capitol and the surrounding area,” says Aimee Barmore, Director of Law Enforcement Programs for ReconRobotics. “With more than 400 tactical customers, worldwide, and nearly 2,000 robots deployed with our troops in Afghanistan, we know this battle-proven micro-robot system will be a game changer for the MWCOG SWAT and special operations teams.”

The 1.2-lb (540g) Recon Scout XT micro-robot is deployed during high-risk operations involving surveillance, barricaded subjects, hostage situations and narcotics raids to provide situational awareness and standoff distance to tactical operators. The XT can be thrown up to 120 feet (36m) and can see in complete darkness. Once deployed, operators can direct the ultra-quiet robot to move through an environment and transmit video reconnaissance through walls and doors to a small, handheld operator control unit. This capability can reveal the location of armed subjects, the condition of hostages and the layout of rooms – all of which is critical to planning and executing the tactical operation.

About ReconRobotics, Inc.

ReconRobotics is the world leader in tactical, micro-robot systems. The company’s Recon Scout® micro-robot systems save lives by providing immediate situational awareness and greater standoff distance to warfighters and law enforcement personnel. These capabilities protect personnel from hidden threats, enhance mission planning and execution, and minimize collateral damage. The company was formed in 2006 to commercialize robotics technology developed at the University of Minnesota Distributed Robotics Laboratory under funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). ReconRobotics is based in Edina, Minnesota, USA and markets its products through a distribution network in 33 countries.

www.reconrobotics.com

Contact:

Jack Klobucar

ReconRobotics

+1-952-292-8331

jack.klobucar@reconrobotics.com

ARTAS System

The ARTAS System, with its image-guided robotic arm, is truly an automated system under the control of a physician. It has the capability to assist in making decisions about which grafts to extract, how to approach the grafts and so forth. This is going to expand physicians’capability to provide quality surgery to their patients. The beauty of this system is that doctors can now offer quality grafts, enhance patient outcomes, and not have to dedicate years to training in order to do so. Rigorously tested and developed in close collaboration with leading hair experts in clinical trials, the ARTAS image-guided robotic system has been cleared for use by the FDA. Physicians and patients alike can now benefit from this minimally invasive, permanent solution to hair restoration. Visit Restoration Robotics site too in order to get more information.

“Pure play” is an investment term that refers to a company which is exclusively focused on a particular product or service. An investor buys stock in pure play companies in order to obtain a market share in the industry as well as in the company. Robotics, to many, are just a tool to accomplish business tasks in an efficient way. To me, making robots to achieve those goals is an industry in itself and deserving of consideration for investment because of good prospects for the future. Hence the need to find pure play companies in the industry.

For example, iRobot (IRBT:US) and KUKA (KU2:GR) are pure plays while Boeing (BA:US) and John Deere (DE:US) are not; yet all four companies are involved with robotics. In the case of Boeing and John Deere, robotics is not their primary business and represents just a tiny fraction of their operating profits. Boeing designs and manufactures UAV’s for defense agencies and John Deere produces a line of AGV’s including a new robotic lawn mower, and also provides autonomous navigation modules for tractors; but neither is truly a robotics company.

Consequently, if you believe that the robotics industry is ready for you to invest in, you wouldn’t purchase either Boeing or John Deere — they aren’t representative of the industry and their stocks move to the beat of a different drummer than robotics. Instead, you would pick from a list of pure play robotic stocks (if such a list existed).

Emerging non-industrial robotics is a global industry stemming from entrepreneurial and university spin-off activities in the US, Europe, Korea, Japan and more recently, Taiwan and China. There is no center, although America is leading the pack at present. Conversely, industrial robotics clusters are located in Germany, Korea and Japan. America, which started the industry, is no longer its leader.

The non-industrial portion of the robotics industry is new and is where all the venture attention is focused. There are hundreds of start up companies which are not yet publicly traded… Kiva Systems (which was just acquired for $775 million) being a prime example. [Rhetorical question: since Amazon acquired Kiva Systems, does Amazon (AMZN:US) become a publicly traded robotics stock?]

Graph provided by: The Robot Report

Last year an analyst provided a list of 10 robotic stocks. Only four were realistic picks to watch and one was an outright mistake. This year Robotics Business Review produced a list of 19 public stocks but included 8 which were certainly not pure plays: ABB (ABBN:VX), Boeing (BA:US), John Deere (DE:US), Epson (6724:JP), Honda (7267:JP), Microsoft (MSFT:US), Panasonic (6752:JP) and Toyota (7203:JP). Each (except ABB which gets 21%) has a 5% or lower involvement in robotics; two don’t manufacture robots at all; most are users of robots; and none of them are pure plays. Thus, compiling a list of pure play stocks and picking favorites is complex and rigorous. ABB is a perfect example of the complexity: they are one of the top global robot manufacturers yet their revenue from robotics represents just 21% of their overall business because ABB also builds power and control systems (generators, turbines, etc.).

For three and a half years I have tracked and compiled a global and growing list of publicly-traded stocks involved in the robotics industry, stocks which are listed on reputable exchanges require regular, audited financial disclosure. I’ve separated them into three groups: industrial, service (which includes defense and space, medical and everything else non-industrial) and ancillary (which covers integrators, consulting firms, component suppliers, vision systems and software providers). I’ve individually weighted each stock by its closeness to being a pure robotic play based on their financial records and websites and have built the top 100 into an index which I call Robo-Stox™. Each month I’ve produced a chart of the Robo-Stox™ index showing month-to-month and year-to-date changes and each year I’ve created a chart showing how the stocks performed over the years since their 2007 highs.

Globally, there are slightly more than 250 publicly-traded robot manufacturers with varying levels of other business activities within the company. Here are some interesting robotic stocks to whet your appetite:

Healthcare Applications:

• Intuitive Surgical (ISRG:US) and its da Vinci Robotic Surgical System are being installed at major hospital operating centers worldwide. Its stock has risen over $200 in the last 12 months! Intuitive Surgical has more than 870 U.S. and foreign patents as well as more than 990 pending.
• Mako Surgical (MAKO:US) has an interactive robotic arm orthopedic system for knee implants.
• Accuray (ARAY:US) and its CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System is an up-and-coming robotic radiation treatment system.
• Swisslog (SLOG:SW) makes warehouse automation devices as well as hospital logistics and drug management solutions using mobile robots.
• Mazor Robotics (MZOR:IL), an Israeli company, provides state-of-the-art robotic surgical guidance systems.

Defense, Security and Space Applications*:

• AeroVironment (AVAV:US) is a provider of unmanned aircraft, systems and services and 85% of their revenue comes from UAS (unmanned aerial systems) sales. They regularly get DoD orders for their Raven and Wasp small unmanned aircraft systems and just got three orders totaling $28.4 million for production of their Puma drone.
• iRobot (IRBT:US), a 100% pure play robotics company, just had a 33% drop in their stock price because of reduced government contracts. They have recently restructured to add healthcare to their lineup of products, consumer products are doing fine, and the company is fishing for additional consumer robotic products.
• QinetiQ (QQ/:LN) is iRobot’s direct competitor in the defense robotics marketplace despite their being a British company and not a pure play stock.

*  Many of the major providers in Defense, Security and Space do have robotics subsidiaries but are conglomerates where only a very small portion of their revenue is derived from robotics, hence they are not listed here. Examples of this type of company include: Northrup Grumman, Rockwell Automation, General Dynamics, Boeing, Teledyne, Textron and Canadian MacDonald Dettwiler.

Industrial and Co-robot Applications**:

• Adept Technology (ADEP:US) is one of the very few industrial robot manufacturers based in the U.S. Most of it’s revenue from robotics comes from manufacturing, food processing, automotive and warehousing applications. With their recent acquisition of Mobile Robotics, and after strengthening and modularizing their mobile acquisition,the company began to enter the service robotics sector.
• Two privately held companies, Universal Robotics, a Danish company and c-Link Systems, from the US, along with two publicly-traded companies KUKA (KU2:GR) and ABB (ABBN:VX), have released lightweight, economical, safe, robotic arms for light industrial and SME work.
• KUKA (KU2:GR) has been getting a lot of press for their increasing involvement in China, too. All these companies (KUKA, ABB, FANUC, Adept, Yaskawa Electric (Motoman)) hope to do well in China as China automates its automotive and other industries. But KUKA and the other non-Chinese companies may have problems further down the road when China’s in-country technology machine takes over.
• ABB (ABBN:VX) has for many years been active in China and, until Foxconn announced that they would be manufacturing their own robots, ABB was rumored to be the leading contender to get the job. ABB stock comes with the caveat that robotics represents only 21% of their corporate revenue.
• Yaskawa Electric (Motoman) (6506:JP) is similar to ABB in that the company is well respected as a robot manufacturer yet robotics represents only 30% of revenues. They recently announced building plans for a robot factory in China.
• FANUC (6954:JP) recently completed construction of an additional factory in Japan to handle sales to China.

Foxconn, is an example of how the industry may shift to China and cut out foreign competitors. Hon Hai Precision (2317:TW), a holding company for Foxconn and a buyer of 10,000 industrial robots from a variety of vendors, is one of China’s largest manufacturers, employing over 1 million workers in China alone. Foxconn is planning to make and install their own robots with an ambitious plan to install 1 million robots within 3 years! And then they’ll begin selling robots to others!

We thank Frank Tobe of The Robot Report, for sharing this article and his informative graphics with us, from his blog Everything-Robotic. You can find the original article here:

http://www.everything-robotic.com/2012/04/picking-robotics-stocks-is-complicated.html

At Robotic Magazine, we believe that, just like the IT industry is growing its share in every field, robotics will follow. Overall performance of the robotics stocks promise a great potential as more and more tasks can be automated. The development in software (AI) and the battery and hardware etc… enables incrementally more usage of robots. Unless someone comes up with an algorithm to the true AI tomorrow, this will not happen overnight, but everything is happening right now, in small increments, at a speed that we can not easily discern. Over the course of this development, there may be some companies that can go down, some companies be great success but important thing to remember is the overall performance of the industry is very promising. It is also not unrealistic to assume that as this trend goes up, the current robotics companies with the biggest knowledge base and background will be there to undertake the largest part in this development.

Single-Axis Controller with Microstepping Drive

(Rocklin, CA) — Galil Motion Control, an industry leader in motion control technology, is announcing a stepper motor drive option for their DMC-30000 Pocket Motion Controller Series. The new DMC-30017 combines a single-axis motion controller with a 6A microstepping drive. Like other products in the DMC-30000 Series, the DMC-30017 offers higher performance, better power efficiency, smaller size, and a lower price than prior generation, single-axis controllers.

Galil Pocket Motion Controller

“Now Galil offers a single-axis controller/drive package for stepper motors in addition to servo motors”, said Lisa Wade, vice president of sales and marketing. “The already released DMC-30012 combines a single-axis motion controller and 800W drive for servo motors. The new DMC-30017 contains a 6A microstepping drive for stepper motors.”

The DMC-30017 contains a microstepping drive for operating a two-phase bipolar stepper motor. The drive produces 256 microsteps per full step or 1024 steps per full cycle which results in 51,200 steps/rev for a standard 200-step motor. The maximum step rate generated by the controller is 3,000,000 microsteps/second. The DMC-30017 drives motors operating at up to 6 Amps at 20 to 80 VDC. There are four software-selectable current settings: 0.75A, 1.5A, 3 A, and 6A.

Designed for compact size, the dimensions of the DMC-30017 controller/drive package are 3.9” x 5.0” x 1.5”, and no external heat sink is required.

Like other products in the DMC-30000 series, the DMC-30017 is higher speed than Galil’s prior generation single-axis controllers; The 125 microsecond servo loop update time is twice as fast and the 15MHz encoder frequency and 3 MHz stepper pulse output are 25% faster. Other features of DMC-30000 controllers include PID compensation with velocity and acceleration feedforward, non-volatile memory for user programs, multitasking for simultaneously running up to four programs, and I/O processing for synchronizing motion with external events. Modes of motion include point-to-point positioning, position tracking, jogging, contouring, electronic gearing, ECAM, and PVT.

The DMC-30000 provides optically isolated inputs and outputs as a standard feature. I/O include forward and reverse limit inputs, homing input, 8 uncommitted digital inputs, 4 uncommitted digital outputs, 2 uncommitted analog inputs and 1 uncommitted analog output. Two daisy-chainable Ethernet ports are included and an external Ethernet hub is not required. A 115 kb RS232 port is also provided.

In addition to the DMC-30012 controller/servo drive and DMC-30017 controller/stepper drive packages, the DMC-30000 Series is also available as a controller-only model which can be connected to a stepper or servo motor amplifier of any power range.

The DMC-30017 controller and microstepping drive unit is $745 U.S. in single quantity and $480 in quantities of 100. The DMC-30017 is available for immediate delivery.

For more information, see: http://www.galilmc.com/products/dmc-300xx.php 

For more information about Galil, please see http://www.galilmc.com/ or contact Lisa Wade, VP-Marketing and Sales, at Galil Motion Control, Inc., 270 Technology Way, Rocklin, CA 95765, Ph.            800-377-6329       or email lisaw@galilmc.com.

Image Credit: DARPA

The world of Asimov’s i-Robot may be just around the corner thanks to DARPA’s new robotic challenge. Details of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s new $2 million challenge have been unveiled, revealing a highly ambitious project aimed at developing sophisticated, humanoid robots capable of doing tasks that, to date, only humans have been able to carry out. The challenge is aimed at finding humanoid robots capable of replacing soldiers and rescue workers in dangerous and hospitable locations.

DARPA intend to fund 6 hardware and 12 software teams who can produce a robot that can not only do human type tasks, but can also use tools, drive vehicles and physically traverse obstacles, which, makes it one of the most ambitious challenges DARPA have ever laid out. The developed robots would preferably need to be bipedal and be able to conduct tasks with just supervisory remote operation from humans. The purpose of the challenge is to design a robot that can replace humans in hazardous locations such as those seen in the aftermath of natural disasters, terrorist attacks or industrial accidents, like the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, where radiation made it highly dangerous for human rescue workers.

Driving

The first challenge for teams that enter the project is to develop a robot that can autonomously drive an unmodified vehicle. While the type of vehicle the robot will be expected to drive is yet to be unveiled, it is most likely going to be an ATV or heavy-duty vehicle capable of traversing rough ground. While the robot won’t have to worry about the complexities of having a valid driving license or the right HGV insurance, the robot must be capable of steering and operating the vehicle’s gas and brake pedal from the driver’s seat. In recent years, we have seen large steps taken in the development of driverless cars, but developing a robot that can actually control an unmodified vehicle is a heady challenge. While human operators may be able to provide remote assistance, the robot will still have to be designed detect and negotiate obstacles while moving the steering wheel and activating the pedals.

Driving is something many of us humans take for granted. It is quite common to drive for miles on a highway and not realize the tiny corrections in steering and adjustments to the gas pedal we are automatically doing to keep a vehicle on the road. These tasks will be made even more difficult for the robots, which are expected to drive on rugged terrain.

Walking and climbing

The next step in the DARPA challenge is a series of physical challenges for the robot. First, the robot will have to traverse uneven terrain, probably strewn with some form of debris. Walking is difficult enough for a robot and has taken many years for robotic engineers to develop machines, such as the world famous Asimo, that can replicate human movement. However, negotiating rubble and other debris will provide an added challenge, requiring the robots to have sophisticated balance systems.

The robots will also be asked to clear an obstacle from a doorway, such as a rock or cinder block, which would mean the machine would need high levels of physical strength. The next step will be for the robot to climb a ladder, which may prove the hardest aspect of the challenge because of the precise coordination the task requires.

Tool use

The final stage of the challenge is for the robot to demonstrate the ability to use human tools. This will involve a series of tasks such as unlocking a door, finding and fixing a leaky pipe or removing and replacing a pump, all of which will require the robot to have high levels of dexterity and the ability to grasp objects. Even a simple task such as using a key in a door will require an enormous amount of development to enable a robot to develop such dexterity. While we are used to industrial robots doing tasks such as welding, riveting and even screwing in parts in automotive factories, they do so with robotic attachments, to develop a robot that can actually use human tools such as a wrench will be an extreme challenge for the developers in the competition.

How close DARPA gets to its goal of getting a robot to conduct such tasks, only time will tell, but if developers can devise robots that only do a fraction of what DARPA hopes, it could create a new age in robotics and herald a new generation of ultra-sophisticated machines that would be right at home in the pages of Isaac Asimov’s most famous work.

Also see press release at:

http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2012/04/10.aspx

Those who believe that one day soon humans will be walking the streets with robots took one step closer to this reality recently when a robot prototype reached a speed of 18 miles per hour.

Whilst the streets are safe for the time being from things like robot courier services, this is a big move forward in development for the prototypes’ makers.

Record setting robot

The prototype, or Cheetah ‘bot as nicknamed by some has been built by the company Boston Dynamics in Waltham, Massachusetts. The company claim that the speed of 18 miles per hour is a new record for a legged robot and whilst the new speed set doesn’t seem alarmingly fast, it is much faster than the average human jogger, and not a million miles away from Usain Bolt who ran at a speed of 28 miles per hour in the 100 meters in 2009. The previous robotic record was set in 1989 and was 13.1 miles per hour.

The development is funded by the US military – specifically the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and is part of their Maximum Mobility and Manipulation program which supports robotics research. Whilst Boston Dynamics president Marc Railbert declined to comment on how much the Cheetah development has cost, he was extremely vociferous about the robots running style.

Freestanding future

Cheetah ‘bot replicates the movement of a cheetah, the fastest animals in the wild and it has been filmed running on a treadmill on all four legs and as Railbert states the run is much more of a gallop. The robot is supported by cables and a mechanism that keeps it centred on the treadmill but the company are already planning a free standing version that won’t have the technical stabilizers that Cheetah ‘bot currently has.

The aim of the whole DARPA project is for Boston Dynamics to develop robots that can support and help the military out in the field and ultimately Cheetah ‘bot will operate outdoors rather than on a treadmill. The company also hopes that Cheetah ‘bot will also one day be able to reach speeds of 60 to 70 miles per hour as well as use zigzag motions to pursue and dodge, similar to a real life cheetah.

Use in combat?

Whilst DARPA are keeping quiet about Cheetah ‘bot’s exact purpose on the battlefield in the future it is thought that it would be activities like emergency response, travel over agricultural terrain and fire fighting.

The video of the treadmill trial can be found at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgMFMsfxxKU

A number of prototypes

The development of Cheetah ‘bot is part of a number of prototype designs by Boston Dynamics of robots with military and civilian uses. Whilst still early days the treadmill demonstration is a milestone for the US military as they look to create more mobile devices to assist in war situations. The fact that service men and women can be supported by robots that are capable of going where they go is encouraging.

Cheetah ‘bot is funded along with a flamingo bird like robot and accompany other Boston Dynamics creations like their four legged robotic mule which is designed to carry heavy equipment for soldiers over 20 miles without the need for refuelling. The company is also responsible for internet star ‘BioDog’ which is a robotic dog designed to stay upright on its legs despite kicks from humans. BioDog shot to fame when its online videos went viral.

Increased robot use by 2020

The use of robots in the military is no longer reserved for science fiction or the movie theater. It is reported that by 2020 the military goal is to have approximately 30% of the army made up of robotic devices. The image though isn’t one of R2D2 or C3PO from Star Wars, nor is it anything like a robot from Will Smith movie I-Robot. In fact the military use the word robot to describe anything from a self driving truck right up to what the general public would describe as a robot and anything in between.

Robots such as Cheetah ‘bot are already in use by the military such as ground robots for explosives detection and unmanned vehicles. Whilst they still need human intervention to function the increased use of robots in the military does raise new ethical questions such as who is to blame when things go wrong. However, it is clearly an area that benefits the current forces and advancements in military robotics can help to save human lives.

Photo Credit: UC San Diego

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Photos Courtesy of:

Adriana Grossman, Jon Landers (www.thecreativegrp.com) and John Braiman