Category: Robotics Conferences

Raffaello D'Andrea: The astounding athletic power of quadcopters

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In a Robot Lab at TEDGlobal, Raffaello D’Andrea demos his flying quadcopters: robots that think like athletes, solving physical problems with algorithms that help them learn. In a series of nifty demos, D’Andrea show drones that play catch, balance and make decisions together — and watch out for an I-want-this-now demo of Kinect-controlled quads.

The Future of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (Andrew Ng, Stanford University, STAN 2011)

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Andrew Ng (Stanford University) is building robots to improve the lives of millions. From autonomous helicopters to robotic perception, Ng’s research in machine learning and artificial intelligence could result one day in a robot that can clean your house.

STAN: Society, Technology, Art and Nature, was Stanford University’s prototype conferecne for TEDxStanford, and showcased some of the university’s top faculty, students, alumni and performers in an intense four-hour event laced with surprising appearances and memorable experiences. STAN, modeled after TED, explored big questions about society, technology, art and nature in a format that invites feedback and engagement.

Google I/O 2011: Cloud Robotics

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How Cloud Robotics Could Soon Threaten Jobs

The last point cannot be emphasized enough. I think that many economists and others who dismiss the potential for robots and automation to dramatically impact the job market have not fully assimilated the implications of machine learning. Human workers need to be trained individually, and that is a very expensive, time-consuming and error-prone process. Machines are different: train just one and all the others acquire the knowledge. And as each machine improves, all the others benefit immediately.