Last June, a massive dust storm engulfed Mars and immobilized the most famous robots in the galaxy, Opportunity and Curiosity. This is not the first time that Martian dirt has prevented Opportunity from recharging its solar panels. Its creators originally predicted that the planet’s harsh weather conditions would limit the rover’s mission to ninety sols (the […]
Cool Tech
Blueprint Power Raises $3.5M to Make Buildings And Their Owners Powerhouses
Having your building become a virtual power plant sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, but Blueprint Power is making this a reality. This NYC startup is pushing boundaries using machine learning to manage clean energy resources in buildings. Buildings become autonomous power plants and any surplus energy produced can be sold to existing […]
This NYC Startup Just Raised $1.7M to Prove that the Retail Apocalypse is Not Real
We’ve all heard the stats and have seen articles that mention how brick-and-mortar stores are coming to an end, but is that actually true? According to PERCH, the experiential marketing platform that uses patented, cutting-edge technology to give items a life of their own, the retail apocalypse is just talk. That’s because in the last […]
Disney Launches New Era Of Autonomy With Gravity-Defying Stickmen And More
Ever since the première of “Steamboat Willie” in 1928, The Walt Disney Company has pushed the envelope of imagination. Mickey Mouse is still more popular worldwide than any single human actor. In fact, from that one cel an entire world of animated characters was birthed. The entertainment powerhouse demonstrated last week a new generation of […]
Body vs. Belongings: How Tech is Changing the Way Companies Merge Person and Machine
Members of every culture adorn their bodies with artifacts like clothing and jewelry, and change these out to suit their moods or social demands. But today, we don’t just put things on; we put things in. Permanent tattoos, breast, lip, buttock and cheek implants, artificial hips, knees and prostheses, pacemakers, and embedded computer chips obliterate […]
Disposable Robots Take Flight
Recently, I attended AeroVironment’s presentation of their contribution to NASA’s Mars Helicopter mission. The autonomous vertical-lift drone is remarkably capable of flying through the planet’s thin atmosphere, as demonstrated on Earth in a vacuum chamber by their CEO, Wahid Nawabi. The unmanned aerial craft will provide a bird’s eye view of the Martian landscape to guide the growing fleet of terrestrial […]
An Analysis Of Jibo: What Went Wrong?
Recently, RobotLab hosted its most thought-provoking panel yet, on The Future Of Work and Universal Basic Income. Democratic Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang presented his dystopian outlook on the demise of jobs for “Normal People” caused by the acceleration of automation and artificial intelligence. Yang’s solution, a $1,000 a month for every American, no strings attached. The stipend would come […]
WAZE For Drones: Expanding The National Airspace
Sitting in New York City, looking up at the clear June skies, I wonder if I am staring at an endangered phenomenon. According to many in the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) industry, skylines across the country soon will be filled with flying cars, quadcopter deliveries, emergency drones, and other robo-flyers. Moving one step closer to […]
This NYC Startup Just Raised $14M To Help Both Parents and Babies Get Sleep
There are millions of books instructing parents on how to raise a newborn and understand what a baby’s crying and fussing really means. But what if there was a more concrete and measurable way enhanced with technology to understand why your baby is waking up and crying at 3am every night? Nanit has reinvented the baby […]
A Chat with the Creator Of Aquanaut, The Shape-Shifting Subsea Robot
It has been two years since OceanOne, “the robotic mermaid,” first discovered the seventeenth century shipwreck La Lune, the prized frigate of King Louis XIV’s navy. Professor Oussama Khatib of Stanford, the inventor of the swimming humanoid, heralded in then a new age of subsea exploration. After the 100 meter dive labeled too dangerous for humans, Khatib, clutching his […]
Drones As First Responders
In a basement of New York University in 2013, Dr. Sergei Lupashin wowed the room of one hundred leading technology enthusiasts with one of the first indoor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) demonstrations. During his presentation, Dr. Lupashin of ETH Zurich attached a dog leash to an aerial drone while declaring to the audience, “there has to be […]