Page 20 - CSA Speaker Bulletin December 2017 | CSA Celebrity Speakers
P. 20
ROBOTICS
Rodney Brooks
Gentler, More Aware
‘COBOTS’
Are CominG...
MICROSITE | VIDEO
GE Robotics recently humans in assembly plants GER: How do you design
spoke to Professor Rodney and warehouses, handling
Brooks, where he opened many repetitive, dirty and them so that they don’t knock
the GE Global Research difficult tasks. Brooks serves as someone over?
Robotics Symposium. Below chairman and chief technology
is an edited version of their officer of Rethink Robotics, RB: Our robots have force
conversation. whose investors include Bezos
Expeditions, Goldman Sachs, as sensors in every joint. As they’re
Few people have done more well as GE Ventures. moving, they’re predicting how
to bring humans and robots much force they should feel,
together than Rodney Brooks. GE REPORTS: How do you and then, if they hit something,
Two decades ago, the Australian within a millisecond or two
inventor, mathematician and convince factory workers to they’re aware that the forces
former MIT professor founded start collaborating with your are not what they expected. We
iRobot, the company that robots? quickly shut down the motion
designed Roomba, a line of and then we go into what is
robots that zip around homes RODNEY BROOKS: Most called squish mode, where a
and clean dirty floors. Today, person can just push the arm
he’s still dreaming up clever of our customers are putting out of the way.
ways to make robots do our robots in places they never
dirty work — but in factories had robots before. Traditional GER: Squish mode sounds
rather than living rooms. industrial robots require a cage
around them so people can’t get awesome.
In 2008, he founded the Boston- close to them because they’re
based Rethink Robotics, a just not safe. RB: Indeed. As a result, you’re
company building collaborative
robots like Baxter and the Our robots are safe. People can never going to get trapped by
one-armed Sawyer. These place robots into workspaces the robot and you only get hit
“cobots” are working next to right next to humans and have very, very gently. For my robots,
them take over the really dull, I’m always willing to put my
repetitive parts of the jobs that head right in front of the robot
people don’t like doing. and have a whack. To read more
click here.
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