Robopocalypse Report #122

Drones:

Some background on the ballistically launched drone.

The AB5 quadjet drone will be very expensive.

Using drones to make art in the Atacama Desert.

A fuel cell powered drone crossed 43 miles between US Virgin Islands.

Bell has test flown its APT-70 cargo drone with real cargo.

Self Driving Cars:

Who actually regulates self driving cars?

Using software bots to tell when to intervene with your driving.

Alfa Romeo is adding semi self driving tech.

MIT wants to train self driving cars to classify the personalities of the human drivers around them.

The fatal crash by an Uber self driving car was caused mostly my human error: use of a cell phone instead of paying attention and Uber not checking to see if its safety drivers were actually paying attention.

3d Printing:

A new micro 3d printing technique won a prestigious New Zealand science award.

3d printing large structures with Loctite materials.

A new 3d printer has multiple material nozzles.

3d printing with glass is now possible.

Lockheed manufactured Orion space capsule for NASA has over 200 3d printed parts.

Overcoming the problems facing printing large scale parts for aircraft.

Robotics:

Adidas is shifting its production from the US to Asia despite using robots in both locales.

Boeing has rescoped how it uses robots in aircraft construction after problems with the RUAB system.

Boston Dynamics' priorities are Spot, Handle and then, in the future, Atlas.

Boston Dynamics' Spot is being tested by the Massachusetts state police.

University of Bristol has created a soft robot that cane be put in your pocket.

Domodedovo airport will start testing cleaning robots.

Google's dream of an everyday robot remains out of reach.

NYC has warned Fedex not to invade their sidewalks with delivery robots.

Someone has developed a robot to entertain cats while you are away.  I cannot help but feel this will end badly.

Researchers are trying to better understand how soft muscle actuators work.

Softbank Robotics is releasing its robot janitor in the US.

Tokyo Metropolitan University developed a ladder climbing robot.

How to design robots with flexing, stretchy pieces.

Why robots should learn to build Ikea furniture.

A new haptic skin provides a sense of touch.

Robotic surgery is safe for overweight patients with kidney disease.

Cyborgism:

Ctrl-Labs CEO is claiming we will have neural interfaces in 5 years.  Press X to doubt.

A blind man can see his birthday cake candles again after a brain implant and artificial eye.

Automata:

Amazon is looking to open full supermarkets without cashiers next year.

Software bots may run the chemical factories of the future.

Should workers have a say in automation?

Software bots have greatly improved microscopes.

Software Bots:

China is using software bots to incarcerate people.  Precrime anyone?

Bill Gates is against borders being invoked to prevent AI researchers from collaborating.

The US Patent and Trademark Office wants to know who owns the inventions created by AI.

Senator Schumer wants a big push on AI in the US.

NYC has created an AI ethics officer.

The dangers of black box AI.

Researchers want to put limits on AI to protect against bias.

Ancestry is using a software bot to sift through millions of obituaries.

Google made a bot to compare voices.  Their test case was Freddy Mercury.

Google has created a software bot to designed to help with exploring fashion through color.

Why is Google slow walking its AI advances?

Microsoft has deployed a new type of AI processor into their cloud.

Better ways of understanding neural nets are underway.

A new bot can predict epilepsy seizures at almost 100% accuracy.

Software bots are more successful in interacting with people when they imitate people.

Software bots can adapt to avoid censorship.

A software bot can predict life expectancy for heart failure survivors.

A new software bot has been developed to help with plant breeding in the face of climate change.

How software bots could revolutionize psychiatry.  

Software bots are being used to study how to remediate nuclear waste.

Software bots could speed up and improve weather simulations.

A new software bot can design new tuberculosis drug regimens.

A new framework has been developed for software bots to limit bias and improve fairness.

The first census of bots on wikipedia has been completed.

A software bot lawyer can be used to untangle understanding user agreements.

Software bots writing fiction is now a thing.

Using software bots to determine if immunotherapy is working.

Software bots can now beat people in hidden goal games online.

Software bots can learn quantum mechanics.

Software bots could transform how we monitor the health of civil infrastructure.

How software bots are changing marketing research.

A software bot has been written to determine authorship and its test case is Shakespeare.

Software bots have been made for traumatic brain injury.

Software bots are been developed to screen for antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Software bots have been designed to study how humans interact in groups and make group decisions.

Software bots have been designed to help with gene therapy.

Software bots are watching us and judging us.

Someone wrote a software bot to try to predict and out trade the market.

META:

Either people are responsible for AI's actions or we will end up with Skynet?

Should modern "AI" have the same rights as animals?

The robopocalypse may threaten highly paid white collared jobs the most.

Robopocalypse Report #121

Drones:

Would you trust a self landing passenger plane?

Drone swarms could protect airports from intruding drones.

The US Department of the Interior has grounded all its DJI drones due to Chinese government spying concerns.  DJI is aware and China is not happy.

Aircraft pilots mostly miss seeing drones.

Drones are mapping Iceland's receding glaciers.

DJI's palm sized Mavic is small enough it doesn't need to be registered with the FAA and can fly for 30 minutes.

Google's Wing has started doing deliveries in the US.

Harvard's Robobees now use soft robot muscles for its powered flight.

Skydio has an autonomous, self charging drone.

A swarm of search and rescue drones could function without people.

Uber has unveiled its new VTOL drone for Uber Eats and hopes that will push the company into profitability.

UPS and CVS have teamed up to deliver prescriptions by drone.  It has done so in Cary, North Carolina for the first time.

Volvocopter has a massive drone that can lift 200 kg as cargo.

Self Driving Cars:

Would you let a self driving car drive you?

Why are parking lots so tough for self driving cars?

Self driving cars could make traffic worse.

A better algorithm has been created for autonomous vehicles in merging traffic/

Lyft is collaborating with Uber and Ford on self driving car safety.

MIT is teaching self driving cars to watch shadows so it can 'see' around corners.

Sony's Social Cart is a self driving shuttle with lots of advertising.

Tesla's summon capability might be glitchy.

Tesla's Autopilot now recognizes traffic cones.

Toyota's self driving e-Palette vehicles will shuttle people around at the 2020 Olympics.

Uber laid off 350 people, including from their self driving division.

An auditor found that Uber does, in fact, use Waymo code in its self driving cars.  This will force Uber to either license it or completely rewrite chunks of the code.  It will be expensive and setback Uber's plans nontrivially either way.

The Uber self driving car that killed the homeless woman in Phoenix, AZ, could not detect jaywalkers and had other serious software flaws.

Uber's self driving cars were in 37 accidents before hitting and killing the woman.  3 were caused by the self driving car.

VW has set up self driving car tech offices in Silicon Valley and China.

Waymo is close to unleashing its self driving cars with no backup driver.

In fact, Waymo seems to have in Phoenix.

Waymo's self driving cars will start mapping Los Angeles.

Waymo is complaining that California rules for purely self driving taxi services must be, for now, for free.

Waymo blames the media for overhyping self driving cars.  (hahahaha)

Waymo will deliver parts by self driving cars to repair shops.

3d Printing:

3d printing coral could help reefs.

3d printing has been proposed for refugee shelters in Syria.

3d printed polymer concrete gets assessed.

A bioprinted pancreas is expected to be implanted within 5 years.

Bio inks can 3d print into implantable blood vessels.

A father/son team has 3d printed a Lamborghini.

Kent State 3d printed a sculpture that will be installed on Ellis Island.

The Kraken 3d printing system is huge, 6 meters by 8 meters.

Local Motors has teamed up Airbus to develop 3d printing for flying taxis.

Massive 3d printers are printing rockets.

NWU is developing HARP, a high speed, large sized 3d printer.

Open source bioprinting for cell cultures?

A pediatric surgeon 3d printed an aorta replacement valve.

Prusa i3s can 3d print with 316L stainless steel filaments.

Qrons is developing 3d printable implants to repair brain injuries.

Researchers have 3d printed bacterial cellulose for use in medicine.

SUTD has a new method of 3d printing chocolate without heating it.

WASP will 3d print structures in Bologna.

You can 3d print the Youbionic robotic arm at home.

Robotics:

Irobot is suing a startup.

MIT has developed BILL-E, a construction bot.

Biologically inspired skin increases robot senses.

A chameleon's tongue is inspiring new robots.

A new algorithm created by Ford and MIT helps robots find the front door.

Machines are learning to smell.

MIT is working to give robots a faster grasp.

OpenAI's robot hand can solve a rubics cube one handed.

People are likely to blame robots for workplace accidents, but only if the robots are autonomous.

A new robot is designed to "mimic" how plants grow when it moves.  This will allow it to move through tight spaces.

If you want a robot to learn better, be a 'jerk' to it.

A telepresence travel bot for the infirm.

University of Houston has developed a soft robot with a neurologic like system.

A UIUC robot has human-like reflexes.

University of Toronto roboticists have created a soft robot that moves like an inch worm.

Cyborgism:

Tilly Lockey spoke at the Singularity University summit.

A software bot can interpret a paralyzed person's mind sufficient to allow writing.

Software bots:

The US DOE is about to embark on a multibillion dollar AI push.

The US is urged to invest more in AI as China is catching up.

California's anti Deep Fake law is pretty weak sauce.

An AI pioneer wants his algorithms to understand WHY they make the decisions they make.

Adobe has added more 'AI' tools to Photoshop.

Chinese researchers are using software bots to improve 3d printing.

Deep3dFly is a software bot designed to create insect inspired UAVs.

Researcher Anca Dragan wants robots to understand humans.

Why are deep learning software bots so easy to trick?

Facebook's software bots can change a person's face enough in video to hide it from facial recognition software.

Google's DeepMind appears to be better at deciphering damaged Greek clay tablets than people are.

Google's DeepMind can now beat Grandmasters at Starcraft II.

Google's software bot training tool can speed up the process.

IBM believes AI will leave no job untouched.

Microsoft wants to use software bots to bleep out bad words in XBOX chat.

Microsoft previewed its no coding tools to create chatbots.

Microsoft's Cortana can now read your emails in IOS.

Nvidia's deep fake work continues with being able to transplant your pet's smile onto any other pet.

Nvidia's software bots will help the USPS sort mail faster.

OpenAI has released the software bot that can write disturbingly good fake news.

Pinterest has stated software bots have vastly reduced the self harm content on the website.

USC has been using software bots to study how people react to music.

Wells Fargo stated big banks will automate away 200,000 jobs by 2030.

Software bots are being used in botany to study leaves.

Software bots can identify collapsed lungs from Xrays.

Software bots can help small holder corn growing.

Software bots can warn about drug-drug interactions.

Software bots can detect diabetic eye disease.

Software bots can't compete with humans in Angry Birds yet.

Software bots for health care discriminated against black people.

Software bots will soon study human feces.

A software bot can analyze whether you are confused or nervous.

There is also a bird watching software bot.

Software bots have been using CT scans to learn muscle anatomy.

Software bots are being used to predict whether a cancer patient should use immunotherapy.

Software bots are being used to study RNA/protein interactions.

Software bots can make realistic characters in 3d.

Software bots can make better ozone warnings.

Software bots can also give fashion advice.

Software bots are good at picking out catalytic properties when examining xrays.

Software bots are able to detect what the brain likes to see.

A software bot 'figured out' the earth orbits the sun.

Software bots could help diagnose canine disorders.

Software bots are learning to design structures.

There is an attempt to predict where lightning will strike with software bots.

Facial recognition bots can be fooled by a shirt?!  Antagonistic design may be a real thing.

Some startups are writing software to watch the bots.

A new technique can make software bots understand videos better.

Automation:

A software bot included in a cytometer detects rare cells in the blood.

Hackers might have compromised a hotel that uses robots and watched guests through bedside robots.

Software bots are being used to improve beam quality at LBNL's Advanced Light Source.

META:

The robopocalypse is underway.  It's just happening quietly.

Worker pay is stagnant and economists are blaming the robopocalypse.

The US has blacklisted Chinese AI researchers from getting visas.

40% of the money given out in an experiment of universal basic income was spent on food, clothing and other basic necessities.

US Presidential candidate Andrew Yang is stating robots are taking our jobs.  Is he wrong?

Robopocalypse Report #120

Drones:

Audi unveiled an offroad EV vehicle concept with drones for headlights.

China unleashed an army of drones to wipe out the armyworm infestations in the southern part of the country and seems to have wiped out 98% of them.

Cities are trying to plan for self driving cars.  again.

Flying a drone responsibly turns out to be surprisingly hard.

Drones are being used to study the Amazon Rain Forest's health.

Drones are being used to detect pot shards for archaeology.

There is a surge in drone development.

Google's Wing drones will start delivering FedEx and Walgreen's deliveries.

The first hurricane relief drone was ready to fly, but Hurricane Dorian smashed those plans.

Imperial College's Flying Fish drone literally explodes out of the water.

Parrot's latest drone package includes an immersive virtual cockpit.

Russian police and security forces received special permission to shoot down drones.

Skydio has a drone to challenge DJI with.

UPS has the first delivery drone service approved by the FAA.

Watch UAV Turbines micro turbine powered UAV fly.

Self Driving Cars:

Who is driving the self driving car job market?

A study finds Americans would prefer to drive themselves rather than use a self driving car.

With Levandowski being indicted for 33 felonies, will Silicon Valley change its lack of morality? (hint, probably not)

The NTSB has stated a 2018 Tesla crash was partially caused by the Autopilot software.

Aptiv and Hyundai have teamed up.

Daimler has started testing its self driving trucks on public roads.

Ford is bringing its self driving cars to Austin, TX.

GMV is building a satellite based nav system for self driving cars for BMW.

University of Michigan's self driving cars are using Verizon's 5G network now.

People are reporting collisions with Teslas using the Summon feature.  It doesn't always work.  And can end badly.

Tesla's Smart Summon has been used over a half million times,.

Tesla seems to have acquired DeepScale.

Uber has started mapping Dallas' streets for its self driving cars.

Why we should be thrilled with Waymo's go-slow approach to developing self driving cars.

3d Printing:

A Chicago based startup has 3d printed a mini human heart.

GE has been pursuing the quest for 3d printing a passenger plane engine.

Harvard scientists have created a new, more efficient way of 3d printing organs, including the blood vessels.

There is a new technique for 3d printing biomaterials.

Robotics:

Boston Dynamics' Atlas is now capable of being a gymnast.

Boston Dynamics' Spot is now commercially available.

Long distance heart surgery has been accomplished.

Picnic has a robot that can make 300 pizzas/hour.

Remote controlled lizard robots were used to study Galapagos lava lizard behavior.

Robots are being built to kill invasive species.

A robotic gripper has been developed to mimic the human touch.

Robot surgeons are starting to rival human ones.

Robots built a house in Switzerland.

Scientists have built micro bio hybrid robots.

Squid inspired robots!

Starship's delivery bots are now making deliveries at Purdue University.

Toyota has started training robots via a VR interface.

Exoskeletons:

A mind reading interface attached to an exoskeleton allowed a paralyzed man walk again.

Cyborgism:

A special glove has been designed for prosthetic hands.

Synthetic skin has potential for virtual reality and amputees.

A new robotic hand has been developed for amputees.

New reconfigurable electronics show promise to implantable tech.

A prominent German neuroscientist committed misconduct in brain reading research.

A new prosthetic leg allows amputees to feel the robotic feet and knees in real time.

Biohackers implanted a hard drive in a person's leg.

Automata:

The biggest market in the US for software bot controlled cameras is the schools.

There is an argument to protect American workers from automation.

Software bot driven surveillance has expanded worldwide.

Software Bots:

Google is bringing its Assistant to people without internet.

Intel wants to use software bots to repair spinal nerves.

McDonald's is replacing the person at the drive up sign with a software bot.

OpenAI's bots learned to pay hide and seek.

Should AI researchers get special access visas for traveling?

Deep learning powers finger tip tracking.

A software bot designed a molecule,. It appears to have drug like properties.

Should you care software bots are being used for hiring?

Software bots should not be used to oppress minorities.

Can software bots spot liars?

Software bots are used to ID primate faces in the wild.

A software bot has successfully passed an 8th grade science test.

A software bot was used to mimic a CEO's voice to steal money.

Software bots are being used for heart attack prediction.

Have software bots killed off spam and we didn't notice?

Software bots could revolutionize medicine or make it hell.

Software bots can pass standardized tests but would fail at preschool.

Software bots are being used in the quantum lab.

Software bots are being used to predict outcomes for radiation therapy use for throat and neck cancers.

Software bots are being used to ID genes associated with heart failure.

Software bots are being used to predict depression outcomes.

Software bots can outperform some employees in sales by 400%.

Software bots are being used to improve eye tests.

Software bots are being used to predict climate stress for African farmers.

Software bots are being used to probe dark matter.

Software bots are being used in clinical trials.

Software bots could make health care inequality worse if care is not taken.

Software bots are getting to be as good as people in medical diagnoses.

Software bots that read privacy policies are getting pretty good.

Software bots may not be able to protect us from deep fakes.

Software bots will not save us from deep fakes (again).

Software bots with blind spots might be key to privacy.

Software bots can help with pneumonia x rays.

Software bots can help with biomedical imaging.

Yacht used a software bot to help create their latest album.

META:

NYC Mayor de Blasio wants a tax on robots.

Some are criticizing some backlash for the robopocalypse originating in Silicon Valley.

Asimov's 3 Laws are useless.

Robopocalypse Report #119

Drones:

Amazon is seeking FAA approval for its drone delivery plans.

Bell's APT-70 cargo drone has flown.

The first FAA approved beyond line of sight drone has flown.

The FAA is warning everyone it is illegal to weaponize your drone.

DLR has been working on autonomous gyrocopters to act as cargo haulers.

The drone racing league is letting anyone buy the Racer4 drone.

Watch a drone take over a nearby smart tv.

Extinction Rebellion is threatening to shut down Heathrow with drones on September 13th.

Self Driving Cars:

What are the regulatory barriers in the US to full self driving?

Driverless scooters are coming.

Didi will offer self driving cars for its service in Shanghai.

Ford bought a robotics company to improve its self driving cars.

Kodiak Robotics has started a self driving truck route between Houston and Dallas.

Navya is abandoning the autonomous shuttle market.

Optimus Ride has started its self driving shuttle business in the Brooklyn Naval Yard.

Sony and Yamaha are working on a self driving cart for theme parks.

Tesla's Elon Musk has hinted at Project Dojo as his way to leap forward in the self driving car race.

UPS has been quietly using self driving trucks in Arizona for a while now.

Waymo has been using evolutionary competition to improve its self driving cars.

Waymo is sharing its data with researchers.

3d Printing:

3d printing has been successfully used in spinal implant work.

Researchers bioprinted living tissue in seconds.

Exploring how 3d printing might help with hip joint replacements.

A spinoff of the University of Pisa is 3d printing drone parts.

How to 3d print a human heart.  Sorta.

James Cook University compared different 3d printed rocket fuels.

SQ3D printed a prototype house is 12 hours.

3d printing is being used to try to create actuators for soft robots.

Robotics:

Meet FEDOR.  The scary, cylon looking robot being sent to the ISS by Russia.

Autonomous combines are being tested in Russia.

A chameleon inspired soft robot can change color.

A cockroach inspired robot cannot be squashed.

The Jellyfish robot swims untethered again.

Joola has made a robot for pingpong training.

Meet Kiki the social robot.

Apparently, Marty the grocery store bot is pretty useless and ominous.

Mesbot is a UUV intended to explore the mesopelagic depths of the ocean.

There is a robot that moves (sorta) like the human tongue.

New flexible sensors mimic human skin.

Autonomous USVs will hunt for Amelia Earhart's crash site.

Meet Astro, the robo dog.

Rollbot is a self folding, soft robot capable of self movement.

Consumer UUVs are a thing it seems.

DARPA's Underground Challenge presses ahead.

KAIST as developed artificial muscles.

MIT has developed a robot that can move through your arteries and veins.  Oh, and it's shaped like a worm.

MIT has developed boats that can reconfigure themselves.

Harvard has developed a robotic hand capable of grabbing jellyfish.

There is a new type of synthetic skin for robotics.

Exoskeletons:

Harvard developed some soft robotic shorts that assist running and walking.

Cyborgism:

The Arque is a robotical tail for a person to improve balance.

Bionic (functional prosthetic) eyes will possibly be able to see into the infrared.

Say hello to the Harvard developed cyborg organelles.

Japan will be offering $1 billion worth of research grants in 25 areas for cyborg tech and human augmentation.

Software Bots:

There are calls for an international ethics board to be independent of any nation and company.

Should software bots be required to go through FDA like trials?

Should China and the US collaborate on software bots for medical science or compete?

Will China lead the world in AI develop by 2030?

Researchers have developed a rigorous benchmark for software bots to be measured by for language understanding.

Amazon and Microsoft are putting the world at risk for killer AI.

Can open source take on Amazon and Google for software bots?

Cerebas is building a massive chip to power its AI development.

Facebook is training a digital assistant with Minecraft.

Google's DeepMind AI can supposedly predict kidney disease 48 hours ahead of time.

Google's DeepMind is being used to track Serengeti wildlife.

The cofounder of Google's DeepMind has been placed on leave while improprieties are being investigated.

Sony is using software bots to replace drummers.

Squirrel AI is a new 'school marm' software bot to tutor students in China.  The Chinese are looking to export it.

Software bots are being used by the Mayo Clinic for screening for atrial fibrillation. 

Are software bots making office life easier?

Software bots are being used for breast cancer screenings in London.

Software bots can help predict if storms will cause blackouts.

How software bots may be helping revolutionize medical diagnosis.

Researchers are pushing for software bots to be granted two patents.

There is a software bot to make sure patrons at bars are served in the right order.

A software bot can improve digital breast tomosynthesis.

Software bots are learning to detect fake smiles.

Three pitfalls to avoid when developing software bots.

See a software bot rendering your digital footprint.

A software bot predicts cell response to disease and treatment.

Software bots are coming for the coders, too.

There is a call for software bots to embrace social sciences in their coding.

Software bots could yield more accurate breast cancer diagnoses.

The human brain has inspired a new type of software bot algorithm.

Software bots are classifying words from where the brain activates.

Software bots need your data and you ought to be paid for it.

Software bots intended to flag hate speech are 1.5x as likely to flag black posters online than white.

Software bots are being used to test the math behind evolutionary theory.

Software bots have been developed to read ebooks in the author's voice.

Software bots are able to help track tiny particles.

A new brain map could help with machine vision.

Flawed software bots are grading millions of student essays.

Software bots can ID people in need of strong depression treatment.

Software bots can help ID genetic influence on behavior.

Software bots can play 6 person poker.

Software bots are helping track night time migrations of birds.

Software bots can help improve eye exams.

Software bots are helping to find a 'green' path to nylon.

Software bots take a stab at simulating the universe.

Software bots are being used to study old art master pieces.

Automata:

How much does robo coffee cost?

A robochemist set up uses software bots with robotics to make new compounds.

Georgia Tech has developed a robot that can build its own tools for a task.

META:

Strap on your exoskeleton, give up control and dance at the Gray Area Festival!

The "ethics" of hiding your data from the bots.

Former Uber, former Otto, former Waymo employee Levandowski is being charged by the federal government for stealing trade secrets of Waymo's self driving cars.

Robopocalypse Report #117

Drones:

AirPix has created a self drone.

Amazon's delivery drone has evolved into a tilt wing of sorts.

Amazon - the company with all the facial recognition software it is selling to police! - has patented surveillance as a service.

BMW's might get cleaned by drones some day.

Dutch scientists have created the world's smallest autonomous racing drone.

Extinction Rebellion is considering - at least claiming to - be considering shutting down Heathrow Airport with drones as a protest.  They are now stating they will wait until after summer - tourist season.

Flytech's Birdie UAV can become VTOL with an add-on.

Guam's coral reefs are being assessed by drone.

Harvard has made its Robobee pico drone take flight without a tether.  The whole pico drone weighs 256 mg.

Intentional fires are being studied by drone to improve models of how forest fires will spread.

Japan has banned flying a drone while drunk.

The ROTORWing UAV puts an interesting spin on a fixed wing VTOL UAV.

Singapore's airport was disrupted by drones for the second time in a week.

Telefonica has developed an autonomous drone for monitoring forest fires.

Uber will start delivering MacDonald's food via drone in San Diego this summer.

The Vector Scorpion transforms from a fixed wing UAV to a tricopter drone.

YOUBIONICS has created a nightmare inducing addition for UAVs: hands.

Self Driving Cars:

How close are self driving cars, really?

The shifting alliances of self driving cars make for interesting viewing.

To make self driving cars safer, look to how human brains recognize things.

A new study suggests self driving trucks won't wipe out trucker jobs.

How do you build a self driving car?  Forget about the car.

Apple is reportedly in talks to buy Drive.ai.  How this jives with the interest in buying Tesla is a little uncertain.

BMW unveiled a self driving car concept, the Vision M.

Boxbot wants to do autonomous deliveries.

Carnegie Mellon will collaborate with Ford's self driving car branch.

Daimler has a plan to get its self driving trucks on the road.

Domino's is planning on starting pizza delivery by self driving Nuro car in Houston.

EasyMile's self driving shuttles are supposed to be hitting campuses this year.

Florida is allowing fully driverless cars on its roads.

Ford will test its self driving cars in Detroit.

Lyft has completed 55,000 self driving rides in Las Vegas.

Self driving Nissan Leafs may be prowling Gongzhou, China soon.

Don't overestimate the semi in semi self driving cars.

Starsky Robotics' self driving truck has hit 55 mph.

Starsky is testing its fully automated semis on Florida's roads.

A Tesla Model 3 was sent driving without anyone in the latest, illegal stunt by a YouTuber.

A Tesla Model X accelerated out of the blue and nearly killed a pregnant woman.  Tesla is being sued.

A Tesla Model 3 driver was caught literally napping.

A driver is upset by Tesla's Autopilot and wants it regulated in this OpEd.

People keep spotting folks sleeping in their Teslas as the Teslas drive.

One of the reasons people may be overestimating the capabilities of Tesla's Autopilot might be the name.

Toyota and Softbank's self driving car venture, Monet, is getting more backing.

Uber and Volvo's latest self driving car has been unveiled.

Volvo's cabless self driving semi, the Vera, is moving loads in Sweden.

Volvo's vehicles use Nvidia tech.

Waymo is developing driverless cars with Renault and Nissan.

Waymo's self driving Jaguars are going to be field tested in Mountain View, California.

Waymo has hired former Anki staff.

Robotics:

Amazon 'cloned' a neighborhood to test its delivery robots.

Amoeba Energy has developed a soft robot for deliveries.

Autonomous 'roboats' may assemble water platforms as needed.

Boston Dynamics is preparing to launch its first commercial robot, Spot.

The creators of the social robot, Buddy - in something of a scandal - need more money to launch.

Carnegie Mellon has developed a wild robo fish that using a fluid for hydraulic driven motion and as electrical storage.

Dishcraft has a robodishwasing machine.

DJI has developed an educational robot for kids.

Facebook has released software to make robots easier to program.

Fieldworks Robotics demoed its first raspberry picking robot.

GEBCO-NF's USV won the XPrize for ocean mapping.

A Georgia Tech Slothbot gets outed to the public.

Ikea is working with startup Ori to make robotic furniture for small apartments.  Just imagine the assembly of that.

iRobot's latest bots cooperate to clean.

Lancaster University has created semi autonomous robots to help with decommissioning nuclear reactors.

University of Leeds is working on a miniature robot to check for diseases of the colon.

Microsubs might deliver drugs in the body one day.

MIT developed a sensor covered glove to help robots ID objects.

MIT also developed an algorithm to allow robots to predict where people will move next.

MIT also developed a robot that can detect what an object is by both sight and touch.

Meet the Movo Robot.

NASA's Astrobee robots are flying around in the International Space Station.

Nissan is testing a robot to weed rice paddies. 

Ocean Cleanup is testing its plastic cleaning robot.

A Purdue researcher is developing a smart phone app to allow average people to program robots.

Robotic surgery for throat cancer isn't any better than radiation therapy.

Are robots getting a little too good at how they move?  Some think so and are creeped out.

Imagine robot muscles powered by glucose.

Social robots can benefit hospitalized children.

Robots with a sense of "taste."

A robot has been designed with a software bot to pack boxes.

Shadow Robot Company demonstrated haptic feedback using a robotic hand.

3d Printing:

A 3d printer for human tissue is launching to the ISS.

Anisoprint is using basalt fibers for 3d printing of composites.

Boom Supersonic will be using 3d printed parts in their supersonic aircraft.

Chinese engineers are printing supercapacitors with graphene.

Columbia University researchers are 3d printing molds for hair follicles.

Scientists can now 3d print biological tissue without scaffolds.

Cyborgism:

An experimental prosthetic foot deals with uneven terrain.

A chip can upgrade your memory.

Software Bots:

The United States Congress is very unhappy about how big tech has turned loose the bots online.

True AI is hard.

AI researchers in China want to continue a global sharing culture.

The ACLU points out connected security cameras plus software bots is 1984 and then some.

Adobe created a software bot to detect when images have been manipulated.

Alexa and Siri were not built to deal with harassment.

Amazon's TextTract bot can read millions of pages of text in hours.

Experts are urging the EU to ban a social credit software bot like the Chinese have deployed.

Facebook has a photo realistic virtual sandbox running at 10k fps for AI work.

Google's DeepMind can thrash human players in Quake III capture the flag.

Google's AI Assistant is really a fraud.

Twitter has purchased a software bot company Fabula to fight fake news on its platform.

USC ISI has developed a new tool for detecting deepfakes and can do so 95% of the time.

Walmart is using software bots to watch for theft.

The World Economic Forum is developing rules for software bots.

Digital assistants might be able to tell if you are having a heart attack.  or an orgasm.  awesome.  not.

A software bot driven subreddit has been a thing for a while.

Software bots are being used to detect brain aneurysms.  

How software bots detect rare diseases.

Can software bots make decisions like people do?

Using software bots for genome research.

Can software bots detect Deep Fakes?

Using software bots for proteome research.

Training a single software bot can cost as much as 5 cars' lifetime carbon footprint.

Using echolocation, software bots can tell what you are doing.

A software bot generated face was used on linkedin by a spy.

Researchers have developed a software bot that generates your face from the sound of your voice.

Can software bots help with attribution of art to its proper creators (fake detection!)

Software bots can provide online legal help, but when will the legal profession allow it?

Software bots can ID which kissing bugs spread Chagas.

Software bots were used in quantum imaging experiments.

A new software bot allows you to generate deepfake videos with the person's voice by simply typing the words you want the person to say.

The power and limits of software bots and machine learning.

Software bots are being used to personalize radiation therapy for cancer treatment.

A software bot is being used to capture players' strategies in an RNA based game.

Software bots are helping to understand how electrons behave.

Software bots are also helping predict heart attacks.

Software bots could be a game changer for Alzheimer's research.

Software bots could be used to study student brains so teachers could improve their courses.

Automata:

Inside an Amazon warehouse.

The British Antarctic Survey has an automated station that works through the winter.

Are robots job killers or coworkers?

Another study says automation will destroy another 20 million jobs and worsen inequality.

META:

The robopocalypse isn't coming for your job, management is.