Greg Galitzine
March 2011
You are browsing the archive for March 2011.
Monirobo Arrives at Fukushima Nuclear Plant
March 18, 2011Earlier today, TMCnet’s Ed Silverstein asked why there were no robots taking part in the dramatic attempts to regain control of the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Well according to the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun (hat tip to New Scientist), a robotic assistant was finally on the scene. (The English language Web home of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper can be found here.)
According to the paper, the robot in question is Monirobo (from “Monitoring Robot”), which was developed by Japan's Nuclear Safety Technology Center can be operated remotely from a distance of about 1km.
Humanoid Robot Ready for Testing in Space
March 18, 2011“Check me out. I’m in space!”
Maybe it doesn’t exactly have the same ring to it as “…One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind…” but it is something of a big deal nonetheless.
After several delays in breaking the surly bonds of Earth, and two and a half weeks in foam packing, Robonaut 2 – the first humanoid robot ever launched into space – tweeted his arrival (via a ground-based NASA employee) to the final frontier.
Robonaut 2 was delivered to the International Space Station on the shuttle Discovery, which carried the robot on its last voyage into space.
Health Robotics Completes R&D of New Cancer Therapy Robot
March 7, 2011Health Robotics, a manufacturer of intravenous medication robots has announced that it has completed research, development and factory testing of its next-generation Cancer Therapy Robot, i.v.STATION ONCO. Health Robotics plans to unveil its new robot at the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) in Vienna on 1 April 2011.
Designed to complement the other offerings in the Health Robotics suite of sterile compounding solutions, i.v.STATION ONCO is designed to automatically compound, cap, and label commercially-available soft plastic bags and syringes from eight different brands and 10 different sizes within an ISO-5 environment on negative pressure.
Generale de Sante, a leading private hospital care provider in France, is set to accept the i.v.STATION ONCO into a Paris-based facility for beta testing and early adopter status within approximately six months.
APlus Mobile Gets Navy R&D Nod
March 2, 2011APlus Mobile, Inc., announced it has been awarded a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with SPAWAR, the R&D division of the Navy. This is the second such agreement for APlus Mobile.
At the heart of the accord is the firm’s Q40, which is a sealed server, and which will be incorporated into a next-generation robotic platform that SPAWAR is developing for all branches of the military.
The Q40 sealed server runs Intel’s Core 2 Quad processors and chipsets, and is designed to deliver the necessary computing power to satisfy the highly complex mission tasks that today’s robots and autonomous vehicles perform to protect soldiers.
According to a release announcing the agreement, the server is shock mounted in a ventless, compact aluminum case, which prevents ingestion of solid or liquid contaminants, which can cause failures in the field.
Teal Group Study Highlights UAV Growth
March 2, 2011Just released integrated market research from the Teal Group, tells us that Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been the most dynamic growth sector of the world aerospace industry this decade.
According to Teal Group’s 2011 study UAV spending is estimated to nearly double over the next 10 years from current expenditures of $5.9 billion annually to $11.3 billion annually.
One of the study’s authors, Philip Finnegan is optimistic about the potential of the market space. “The UAV market will continue to be strong despite cuts in defense spending,” he said.
