Autonomous driving startups in China are in an arms race to put passengers in their machine-driven vehicles. Every few weeks, news arrives that another major player has got the greenlight to launch a new pilot program or a small-scale service. These press releases, often dotted with regulatory jargon and flowery language to aggrandize the companies’ […]
The year of living autonomously
Even in the era of the virtual event, it tends to take me a few days to recover from the whirlwind of CES. Frontloading the year’s big hardware news is a bit less than ideal, but perhaps the changing nature of the big tech event will bring adjustments to the news cycle, as well. For […]
ロボットの最適な設計をアルゴリズムが考えると、驚くほど「奇妙な形状」ができあがる
ロボットの設計には、どうしても人間の先入観が入りがちだ。こうしたなかマサチューセッツ工科大学（MIT）の新しいオープンプラットフォームは、アルゴリズムにロボットを自動で設計させることにより、そのタスクに最適な形状をはじき出そうと試みている。そこから生まれた奇妙な形状の“ロボット”の数々をご覧にいれよう。
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Consumer Robotics Show
CES has always been a weird show for robotics. That’s not an indictment of the show itself, so much as a comment on the state of robotics generally. It’s true the organization behind the show dropped the name “Consumer Electronics Show” some number of years ago (a fact it continues to be very insistent about […]
Goodyear Develops Airless Tire for Starship’s Delivery Robots
Starship needs maintenance-free tires for the thousands of deliveries its robots make. Starship Technologies wants its autonomous delivery robots to be as maintenance-free as possible, so the company asked Goodyear to develop a new longer-lasting tire. Starship robots are used for last-mile package and food deliveries, and each one relies on six wheels. They are […]
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New Year’s robolutions
This is always a strange week — that liminal space between the Christmas holiday and New Year. Romjul — or “Dead Week” — as they call it in Norway (thanks Haje). It’s a time for quiet and reflection on the year that was for some — and CES embargoes for others. We’re currently focused on […]
How Meituan is redefining food delivery in China with drones
On a congested sidewalk next to a busy mall in Shenzhen, a 20-something woman uses a smartphone app to order a milk tea on Meituan, a major food delivery company. In under ten minutes, the pearl-white drink arrives, not on the back of one of the city’s ubiquitous delivery bikes, but descending from the cloudy […]
Dinner is servoed
I’ve been up to my neck in CES planning — and, I suppose, unplanning this week. There’s a strange disconnect getting pitches for the one millionth UV light sanitizing robot while you’re weighing the pros and cons of attending a show in-person, amid the latest variant surge. Ultimately, we’ve decided not to go to Vegas […]
Putting the fear of bass into mosquitofish—with a robot
A notorious invasive species stays scared for weeks after seeing a fake predator.
Treat every day like Boxing Day
Oh, hey, before we get started this week, I’m excited to finally be able to tell you that TC Sessions: Robotics has been announced for next year, and we’re returning to the East Coast! I’ve been pushing for this for a while now — and not just because it’s a shorter flight for me. Berkeley […]