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“You really need to develop a whole product solution—hardware, software, UI, interfaces, and process redesign—with a consideration for what problem you are really trying to solve.” —Aldo Zini
Getting large teams of robots to collaborate is the work of Dr Regis Vincent, who envisions applications that include mapping nuclear contamination.
What obstacles remain for robots to work alongside humans in industrial settings, and how far have we come in eliminating those challenges? Dr. Roland Menassa answers these and other questions in his presentation at the RoboBusiness summit November 2-3 in Boston.
John Reid, director of Product Technology and Innovation at Moline Technology Innovation Center, a part of John Deere’s Global Technology Innovation Network, discusses how his company’s technologies will help feed the world’s billions.
Mark Ingebretsen
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The contract is for Talon Gen IV robots, parts, spare kits and related parts and service on a non-time-limited contracted. The announcement from Technology Solutions Group (TSG), which was known as Foster-Miller, Inc. until it was acquired by U.K.-based QinetiQ in 2004, said the company expects to finish the contract in early 2010.
The U.S. Army, Navy and other services have been testing and deploying Talons since they were released in 2000. Currently more than 2,800 are in service, according to TSG, though that figure includes both military and civilian uses.
Talon is a general-purpose, dual-tracked unmanned ground vehicle that can be configured with cameras and a variety of graspers for a variety of specific jobs, including work on unexploded improvised explosive devices (IED), hazardous material identification and disposal, armed reconnaissance and other uses.
The company announced last week that it had added microphones and speakers to Talon so remote operators could hear what was going on in the robot’s vicinity and talk back to those near it at checkpoints, or in hostage negotiations.
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