Robots - The Podcast for News and Views on Robotics

In this episode, Abate De Mey interviews Jeff Sprenger, founder of the startup Xemory in Vermont, USA. At Xemory they are developing a robot simulation game called Xemo, where players learn to animate virtual robots. Complex motion at each joint is broken down into its more fundamental components, called degrees of freedom. Players are faced with the challenge of controlling the several degrees of freedom to recreate lifelike motions such as crawling, walking, jumping, and even dancing. These challenges are similar to the ones faced by roboticists trying to develop lifelike, robust and balanced motions for legged robots. Sprenger discusses the unique ways different age groups and genders interact with the software. Through incorporating feedback from the students, Sprenger adds new activities and challenges to keep students engaged and challenged, improving their understanding of robot control.

In this episode, Audrow Nash interviews Edson Prestes, Professor at Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and an organizer of the Humanitarian Robotics and Automation Technology Challenge (HRATC) 2016 competition. The HRATC competition challenges teams around the world to develop methods of controlling robots to detect land mines in large open environments.

In this episode, Audrow Nash interviews several researchers presenting their work at the Robotics Science and Systems (RSS) 2016 conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

In this episode, Ron Vanderkley interviews Jürgen "Juxi" Leitner, a researcher at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Robots Vision in the Queensland University of Technology in Australia. Leitner speaks about a system being developed for the Google Lunar XPrize, called LunaRoo.

In this episode, Audrow Nash interviews Ekaterina Bereziy, Founder and CEO of ExoAtlet, about exoskeletons for the disabled and for rehabilitation. Transcript below.

In this episode, Audrow Nash interviews Hugh Herr, Director of the Biomechatronics Group at MIT. Herr talks about the accident that led to the amputation of both of his legs below the knee and how this shaped his rock climbing and academic career. Herr also discusses orthoses and exoskeletons developed by his research group, as well as the future of bionic technology. Transcript below.

In this episode, Audrow Nash interviews Fredrik Gustafsson, Professor in Sensor Informatics at Department of Electrical Engineering in Linköping University, about an initiative to reduce poaching in a rhino sanctuary in Ngulia, Kenya. Gustafsson discusses how he first became involved in this project, how he has worked with the rangers to develop solutions, and the future of this work.

In this episode, Audrow Nash interviews Emo Todorov, Director of Movement Control Laboratory at the University of Washington, about a physics-based optimization method for controlling robots. Todorov describes how his physics-based method can be used to solve problems and discusses results in simulation and on hardware.

In this episode, Audrow Nash interviews Karl Iagnemma, a Principal Research Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the CEO of nuTonomy, about autonomous vehicles in urban environments. Iagnemma discusses the market for autonomous cars, why nuTonomy is being developed and, at least initially, deployed in Singapore, and the technology of autonomous cars.

This is the second of two episodes where Audrow Nash interviews several companies at the International Conference for Robotics and Automation (ICRA). ICRA is the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society’s biggest conference and one of the leading international forums for robotics researchers to present their work. The 2016 conference was May 16-21 in Stockholm, Sweden.

This is the first of two episodes where Audrow Nash interviews several companies at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA). ICRA is the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society’s biggest conference and one of the leading international forums for robotics researchers to present their work. The 2016 conference was May 16-21 in Stockholm, Sweden.

In this episode, Audrow Nash interviews several companies at last year’s INNOROBO, a conference that showcases innovation in robotics.

Transcript below.In this episode, Abate De Mey interviews Guido De Croon about Evolutionary Robotics and its use to design behaviors for flying robots.

Transcript below. In this episode, Audrow Nash interviews Silas Adekunle, Co-founder and CEO of Reach Robotics. They speak about Reach Robotics’ first product, Mecha Monsters: legged, gaming robots that are controlled by a smartphone.

Transcript below.In this episode, Ron Vanderkley speaks with Mark Pivoc from FastBrick about Hadrian the bricklaying robot. Fastbrick is an Australian robotics firm aiming to disrupt the local bricklaying market with a machine it says will be able to build a four-bedroom house in two days, without any human interaction.

In this episode, Andrew Vaziri speaks with John Lymer, Chief Architect of Robotics and Automation at SSL. They highlight key programs in space robotics from the 1980s through to SSL’s current program to robotically assemble satellites in space.

In this episode Andrew Vaziri speaks with Mike Osborne, Associate Professor in Machine Learning at the University of Oxford. They discuss how advancements in artificial intelligence may change the workforce, the economy and society based on findings from their study on the future of employment.

Transcript belowIn this episode, Andrew Vaziri speaks with Curtis Carson, Head of Research and Technology in Industrial Strategy and Systems at Airbus. They speak about the Airbus Shopfloor Challenge to be held at ICRA 2016, and discuss the need for a new generation of industrial robots for aircraft manufacturing.

Transcript below.  In this episode, we celebrate our 200th episode! That’s over 6000 minutes of robot goodness and nearly 8 years releasing interviews with your favorite roboticists. The podcast is all volunteer run, a special thanks to everyone on the team who’s made this possible! And thanks to all of you for listening in all these years. To celebrate, our president Audrow Nash has invited a team of old-timers from the podcast team, and one of our favorite recurring guests, Rodney Brooks from Rethink Robotics.

Transcript below. In this episode, Audrow Nash interviews Simone Schürle, advisor and co-founder of MagnebotiX, about using small robots to harvest crystals. These crystals can be used to infer atomic structure. An example application is in drug development to see if protein binding has occurred.