Happy National Robotics Week everyone! Have you hugged your robot today? I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords! Did I say overlords? I meant protectors.

National Robotics Week Kicks Off with Events Across the Country

From April 10-18, regional events and activities will allow the public to “Experience the Possibilities” through robotics technology
BEDFORD, Mass., April 12, 2010 – The first annual National Robotics Week commenced this week with a series of regional events and activities aimed at increasing public awareness of the growing importance of “robo-technology” and the tremendous social and cultural impact that it will have on the future of how people will live, work and play worldwide. National Robotics Week will occur annually on the second full week of April to recognize robotics technology as a pillar of 21st century American innovation. The week’s aim is to highlight the growing importance of robotics in a wide variety of application areas and to emphasize its ability to inspire students while building their interest in technology and innovation.

From California to Massachusetts, events held throughout the week feature dozens of opportunities for the public to interact with robots in a hands-on learning environment. Lectures, robot competitions, introductory courses on robotics for kids, educational workshops for businesses, demos and tours of robotics labs will provide networking opportunities and expose many to the genius and wonder of robotics.

National Robotics Week is a product of an effort by leading universities and companies to create a “national roadmap” for robotics technology, which was initially unveiled at a May 2009 briefing by academic and industry leaders to the Congressional Caucus on Robotics. U.S. Representative Mike Doyle (PA-14), co-chair of the caucus, and other members submitted a formal resolution (H.Res. 1055) that Congress passed on March 9, 2010 to support the designation of the second full week in April as National Robotics Week.

“The United States has the largest number of academic and research organizations with programs focused on the advancement of robotics technology in the world,” said Colin Angle, chairman and chief executive officer of iRobot. “It is exciting for all of us involved in this industry to have support from both the public and private sectors to create National Robotics Week. It provides a real opportunity to demonstrate to the country the profound impact robotics can and will have on our everyday lives.”

The current effort is being coordinated by a National Robotics Week Advisory Council, organized by iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ: IRBT) and The Technology Collaborative, a Pittsburgh-based non-profit economic development organization, along with a number of other companies, universities and organizations, including: Adept Technology (NASDAQ: ADEP); the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI); AUVSI Foundation; Botball® (KISS Institute for Practical Robotics); Carnegie Mellon University; Carnegie Science Center of Pittsburgh; FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology); Georgia Institute of Technology; Infamous Robotics; Innovation First International; Johns Hopkins University; MIT; Mass Technology Leadership Council; Museum of Science, Boston; Robotic Industries Association (RIA); The Tech Museum in Silicon Valley; Stanford University; University of Massachusetts Lowell; University of Pennsylvania; and University of Southern California.

Robotics technology is expected to fuel a broad array of next-generation products and applications in fields as diverse as manufacturing, healthcare, national defense and security, agriculture and transportation. At the same time, robotics is proving to be uniquely adept at enabling students of all ages to learn important science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) concepts and at inspiring them to pursue careers in STEM-related fields.

During National Robotics Week, many of these areas of growth will be demonstrated at public events and activities in cities across the country, including:

· Boston, Mass.
· Lowell, Mass.
· Worcester, Mass.
· Cambridge, Mass.
· Bridgewater, Mass.
· Pittsburgh, Pa.
· Philadelphia, Pa.
· New York, N.Y.
· Washington, D.C.
· San Francisco, Calif.
· Los Angeles, Calif.
· El Cajon, Calif.
· San Jose, Calif.
· San Mateo, Calif.
· Pleasanton, Calif.
· Atlanta, Ga.
· Baltimore, Md.
· La Plata, Md.
· Austin, Texas
· Bloomington, Ind.
· Fairfax, Va.
· Blacksburg, Va.
· Hartford, Conn.
· Ann Arbor, Mich.
· Renton, Wash.
· Boulder, Colo.
· Winston-Salem, N.C.
· Madison, Wis.
· Marion, Ohio
· Jackson, Miss.
· Monroe, La.
· Mayaguez, Puerto Rico

For a full listing of National Robotics Week events from around the country and other robotics-related resources and information, please visit us at www.nationalroboticsweek.org or on Twitter (@roboweek or #roboweek) and Facebook (facebook.com/roboweek).

robotics technology

The robotic arm is an extraordinary multi-functional invention used industrially and medically. The robotic system may be used to accomplish undesirable tasks in the workplace, freeing up more creative and fulfilling positions. Or the robotic arms can be used in stroke therapy, in surgery and to assist paralyzed patients. Who knows where the future of this technology will take us?

Starting in 1975, robotic arms have been used for industrial purposes. In some cases, they do the work more quickly, more accurately and more efficiently than human workers ever could. Yet in other instances, they simply perform work that is too monotonous, dangerous or undesirable for men and women. In the US auto industry, for example, there is one robotic arm for every ten workers. Industrial robots lift heavy objects, handle chemicals, and paint and assemble parts. Rather than replace jobs, the robotic system is intended to free up more creative, fulfilling work for people instead. After all, the Czech word “robota” translates to “drudgery work.”

Using a modified robotic arm, Dr. Alon Wolf and Dr. Howie Choset have developed a machine that can perform minimally-invasive surgery with great accuracy. The invention is called the “CardioARM” and has been designed for abdominal surgery, heart bypass surgery and mouth surgery, but can also be used to perform a laparoscopy, colonoscopy, and arthroscopy. The CardioARM is operated by a joystick and can navigate through the body to the problem areas. The flexible tele-operated probe is programmed to remember pathways and it can take tools into regions that surgeons would otherwise have to slice into. “Tools in operation rooms are not flexible. The CardioARM is flexible enough for remote and hard to reach anatomies,” explains Dr. Wolf. “The heart is a good example… now we don’t have to cut the person open.”

A new report found that two monkeys containing tiny electrodes attached to their brains could control a robotic arm using their thoughts. First researchers used the computer to teach the monkeys to move the arm and soon the monkeys were reaching for food and grabbing it, reaching their mouths two-thirds of the time. “In the real world, things don’t work as expected,” said Dr. Andrew Schwartz, a professor of neurobiology at the University of Pittsburgh. “The marshmallow sticks to your hand or the food slips, and you can’t program a computer to anticipate all of that. But the monkeys’ brains adjusted. They were licking the marshmallow off the prosthetic gripper, pushing food into their mouth, as if it were their own hand.” This exciting new robot research promises to help paralyzed patients.