Japan developing wooden satellites to send into orbit by 2023 down on space junk
https://www.businessinsider.com/japan-de...ty-2020-12
SUMMARY POINTS: Kyoto University is teaming up with Japanese forestry company Sumitomo Forestry to develop a wooden satellite to send into orbit. The idea is that a device made of wood could safely burn upon re-entry and would create less space junk. Space junk is becoming a growing concern amongst experts, who say it poses an environmental hazard... (MORE - details)
Expressive robotics is breathing "life" into machines (including driverless vehicles)
https://www.zdnet.com/article/expressive...RSSbaffb68
INTRO: As a pedestrian, you're used to interacting with traffic, but you often rely on human interaction – like hand gestures, eye contact and body language – to navigate it safely. But as driverless vehicles edge closer to reality on public roads, humans are faced with something that's still foreign to the general population: reading the intentions of robots and communicating their own intentions to machines.
To better understand the communication between humans and automated robots, and ultimately build trust between pedestrians and driverless vehicles, Motional (a driverless vehicle company created by Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv) is adopting principles from a budding field known as Expressive Robotics -- the study of how robots can respond to a scenario in the same way that we expect a person might.
Paul Schmitt, Motional's Chief Engineer, and his team are researching the biological aspects of how humans interact with vehicles to make riders more comfortable with self-driving cars. By using VR, as well as taking cues from Disney's Principles of Animation, the team's goal is to make this human-robot interaction simple, familiar, and intuitive.
I reached out to Schmitt to help explain this emerging field and how our very human tendencies can help autonomous vehicles operate safer and with less awkwardness for the pedestrians that interact with them... (MORE - the interview)
https://www.businessinsider.com/japan-de...ty-2020-12
SUMMARY POINTS: Kyoto University is teaming up with Japanese forestry company Sumitomo Forestry to develop a wooden satellite to send into orbit. The idea is that a device made of wood could safely burn upon re-entry and would create less space junk. Space junk is becoming a growing concern amongst experts, who say it poses an environmental hazard... (MORE - details)
Expressive robotics is breathing "life" into machines (including driverless vehicles)
https://www.zdnet.com/article/expressive...RSSbaffb68
INTRO: As a pedestrian, you're used to interacting with traffic, but you often rely on human interaction – like hand gestures, eye contact and body language – to navigate it safely. But as driverless vehicles edge closer to reality on public roads, humans are faced with something that's still foreign to the general population: reading the intentions of robots and communicating their own intentions to machines.
To better understand the communication between humans and automated robots, and ultimately build trust between pedestrians and driverless vehicles, Motional (a driverless vehicle company created by Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv) is adopting principles from a budding field known as Expressive Robotics -- the study of how robots can respond to a scenario in the same way that we expect a person might.
Paul Schmitt, Motional's Chief Engineer, and his team are researching the biological aspects of how humans interact with vehicles to make riders more comfortable with self-driving cars. By using VR, as well as taking cues from Disney's Principles of Animation, the team's goal is to make this human-robot interaction simple, familiar, and intuitive.
I reached out to Schmitt to help explain this emerging field and how our very human tendencies can help autonomous vehicles operate safer and with less awkwardness for the pedestrians that interact with them... (MORE - the interview)