The Technology News

Infusions and plants that will help you lose weight

noreply@blogger.com (Faryad Baryar) — Fri, 2 Aug 2019 07:00:00 -0700

They have diuretic properties, improve digestion and will allow you to lose weight more easily, as long as you consume them in a balanced and healthy diet.

There are few months left for the summer and, during this time, searches for the term 'bikini operation' or 'how to lose weight' increase. However, when it comes to losing weight, everything is not valid and it is important to get good advice before starting a diet that puts your health at risk. The Spanish Society of Dietetics and Food Sciences (SEDCA) warns that rapid weight loss regimens do not solve the problem, are usually very restrictive and can lead to a deficit of nutrients and other health problems.

Therefore, together with the Phytotherapy Research Center (INFITO), they remember the importance of following healthy and sustainable programs over time. That is, follow a balanced diet and exercise regularly. Complementing this weight loss program with medicinal plants can help us achieve our goal.

“It is important that those people who go on fast diets take into account that there are no miracles, which, however easy they may seem, are not healthy and they must have the support of health professionals and nutritionists to be effective and comply with the desired objective ”, warns Andrea Calderón, nutritionist at SEDCA. Fast diets, he adds, “are usually too restrictive, too low in calories and quite monotonous. In the end, they allow to lose weight in the first two weeks mainly in the form of liquids, but they end up stalling and therefore, they end up leaving with great frustration, which leads to the so-called rebound effect and the consequent recovery of lost or more kilos”.

In relation to medicinal plants, "it is important to also bear in mind that medicinal plants are not a miracle product that allows us to reduce kilos more quickly," warns Teresa Ortega, Professor of Pharmacology at the Complutense University of Madrid and vice president of INFITO. “Plants such as green tea, glucomannan, garcinia, have properties that help the body to lose weight gradually and sustainably over time, together with a responsible reduction of calories in the diet and the practice of physical exercise regularly and daily, ”he adds.

In order for the use of medicinal plants to be responsible and effective, “they must be acquired in the pharmacy, under the advice of a pharmaceutical professional, since it is the way to use them with the due guarantees of safety and efficacy,” he recalls.

If you are going to take them in infusion

In addition to these plants, which you can find in your pharmacy in the form of supplements, infusions are also very effective to help you lose weight in a healthy way and without starving. In addition, it has been seen that drinking hot drinks helps to increase the feeling of satiety, so you will avoid snack at all hours.

These are some of the most effective infusions if you want to lose weight:

Green Tea
Red tea
Birch Infusion
Dandelion infusion
Horsetail Infusion
Artichoke Infusion

Facebook works on a tool to access and analyze all WhatsApp messages

noreply@blogger.com (Faryad Baryar) — Fri, 2 Aug 2019 05:29:00 -0700

Facebook is working on a tool for WhatsApp that would allow skipping end-to-end encryption to read private chats in search of content that violates company policies.

This means that the social network is moving towards mass surveillance directly from the user's device and would do so by introducing an algorithm designed to moderate and filter content.

What is end-to-end encryption?

End-to-end encryption or encryption is a communication system in which only the sender and the receiver can read the messages. Not even the company itself behind the platform can access the contents.

Therefore, Facebook wants to skip this protection and thus integrate an algorithm that works locally on the user's device to transmit the information in real-time from a cloud service, since it would scan the message content just before sending it and the encrypted message after being decrypted.

Encryption would continue to prevent third parties from accessing the content of the conversation, but the tool integrated into the instant messaging app would allow Facebook to access and analyze it, even if users disagree.

Not only is Facebook working on reading user messages, but Donald Trump is also considering the possibility of banning US companies from encryption or any other type that authorities cannot break to access information.

Trump's argument is that authorities must access private information in case of investigations of abuse or terrorism.

The company's objectives are still unclear, but Facebook could go to the same line; The social network would read the messages to avoid situations of harassment, discrimination, drug trafficking or other illegal acts.

However, we will have to wait to know more details about this tool since Facebook does it officially.

Autonomous vehicles will be on the streets soon

noreply@blogger.com (Faryad Baryar) — Wed, 31 Jul 2019 01:34:00 -0700

Every day the spread about projects and tests of autonomous vehicles grows and this thanks to the advances of Artificial Intelligence added to the Internet of Things technology.

We need to follow, besides the numerous possibilities presented regarding the use of IoT equipment, in this case, autonomous vehicles: to what extent are all these connected equipment protected from hacking? Remembering that even vehicles that are driven by humans but have equipment connected to the internet need to be protected.

See a small part of the interview made today, July 25, 2019, during the Cyber Security Summit Brazil event published on Instagram.

Many projects are in the testing phase and others are ready pending regulation for implementation. What autonomous car experts predict is that this will be true even in 10 years.

Autonomous vehicles will be on the streets in the coming

We have been waiting for autonomous vehicles for a long time, and thanks to technological developments and the broadening of the internet of things, it will soon be possible to retire the driver behind the wheel or at least lessen the need for one inside the car.

It is true that we still live in the age of concepts and prototypes presented by automakers and companies in the logistics and transportation industry, but for industry experts, freelancers will take to the streets in the next 10 years.

The prospect of this future has encouraged studies of the impact of autonomous vehicles on society - such as one by Strategy & PwC indicating that by 2030, the logistics industry will become an autonomous vehicle ecosystem driven by a digitized supply chain combining autonomous trucks. and robot distribution centers.

According to the survey, carried out in the European market, logistics costs of trucking will fall by 47%, largely due to the reduction in labor. Delivery times will fall by 40%, mainly because autonomous trucks can travel without the need for rest breaks.

Volvo Vera, fully autonomous and electric vehicle. It will soon transport cargo from a logistics center to a terminal in the port of Gothenburg, Sweden.

To slow down ahead of the transformations in the IoT-driven automotive market, companies are turning to big investments. Daimler Trucks has set up an internal organization to develop autonomous trucks within the next decade, with an initial investment of 556 million euros.

The group will focus on research and development, covering the software and hardware needed for trucks to operate autonomously, along with the infrastructure and networking required for these vehicles to navigate the roads.

Domino's pizza chain also decided to focus on the self-service delivery market through a partnership with Nuro.

The network intends to launch later this year the unmanned pizza delivery vehicle in the city of Houston, in the United States.

Select customers who order online will have the option of using the standalone delivery vehicle called R2. Customers can track their vehicle in the pizza restaurant app and receive a PIN code to unlock it and access their pizza.

“The opportunity to offer our customers the choice of unmanned delivery experience and our operators an additional delivery solution during a busy race is an important part of our autonomous vehicle testing,” said Kevin Vasconi, Executive Vice President. and Domino's CIO.

Walmart also has plans to test a standalone delivery vehicle later this year. Driverless vans will be launched in the US city of Surprise, Arizona. According to Bloomberg, Walmart President Greg Foran said autonomous vehicles operating “half a mile” between Walmart warehouses and adjacent collection kiosks could cut logistics costs in half for online ordering.

Uber has been testing autonomous passenger vehicles for a few years, but a giant from another market may compete with the company's driverless vehicles - in the future. Google's parent company Alphabet has received approval to test its vehicles in California.

The initiative is still in its infancy and has some restrictions, such as not charging for passenger transport during the test and placing on every vehicle a driver ready to take control of the steering wheel in an emergency. The company will use Jaguar I-PACE models, 100% electric, and a Chrysler Pacifica, which has hybrid motorization (a combination of electric motor and combustion engine).

Source: ABINC

Sony creates air conditioner that dresses to keep your body at the right temperature

noreply@blogger.com (Faryad Baryar) — Tue, 30 Jul 2019 00:58:00 -0700

It's called Reon Pocket and will hit the market in March 2020. The device uses the Peltier effect to emit and absorb heat.

Sony creates air conditioner that dresses to keep your body at the right temperature.
The heatwave plaguing Europe is a historic event that will tend to recur. The effects of global warming are less and less discreet and in the face of the impossibility of escaping the heat, one has to learn to live better with it. For Sony, this coexistence could be through personal air conditioning.

The device is wearable. Now it is in the financing phase, called Reon Pocket which is worn inside the t-shirt. To speed up the operation of this gadget, the company also created a special t-shirt with specific support to carry it.

Video:

The basis of the idea is the so-called Peltier effect, which consists of heat transmission between semiconductors through electric current. This effect allows the Reon Pocket to raise or lower your body temperature without making any noise.

To control the device there is a dedicated application, but Sony hopes to be able to develop an "Auto Mode" that keeps your body temperature at the desired point without having to interact with it.

Another plus point is the battery, which is enough to withstand a full day of operation before it has to be recharged. The charging cycle lasts for two hours.

The Reon Pocket is expected to hit stores next March and, for now, only the Japanese market is in Sony's plans. The base price is expected to be around $ 117, as the company itself says.

Scientists invent the contact lenses of the future. Zoom in when you blink!

noreply@blogger.com (Faryad Baryar) — Tue, 30 Jul 2019 00:05:00 -0700

With the great technological advances achieved over the last few years, it has become increasingly complicated to distinguish between reality and science fiction. Proof of this is the new contact lenses developed by scientists at the University of California San Diego.

These contact lenses are similar to the traditional lenses worn by millions of people every day. This is because they can, through the blink of an eye, zoom!

How these "smart" contact lenses work

While the entire technology and process are extremely complex, there is a very simplified explanation for understanding exactly how these new contact lenses work.

The scientists used a procedure called electro oculography to measure the electrical impulses generated by the eyes when they perform certain movements. In this way, they were able to get detailed results on the level of an electrical impulse generated when looking right, up, sideways and also when blinking.

The final step was the development of a bio-mimetic lens, which reacted directly to this type of electrical impulses. In the developed prototype, the lens can react at a glance (twice) and make a change in focal length by zooming.

Contact lenses experiment

What are the possible practical applications of these lenses?

At the moment, scientists have published only one document explaining in detail all of their experimental design, as well as the results obtained. While there is still no clear purpose for this new creation, scientists have highlighted an important feature of these contact lenses.

Its features may be enabled regardless of whether or not the user can see. Even for blind users, eye movements continue to produce such electrical impulses. Therefore, some of your applications may be related to new features for blind users.

10 changes in our life that will bring the 5G

noreply@blogger.com (Faryad Baryar) — Sat, 27 Jul 2019 05:03:00 -0700

The 5G comes and changes our lives in ways we may not have imagined. But what is the 5G and what are the areas that will see the major changes directly?

Smart Cities

Here 5G, there 5G

But what is 5G and why is it so important? Although its coming is the main topic of discussion for some years, it seems that the questions that exist are more than answers, which is logical.

The reason is that 5G is a prerequisite for any technology debate, both consumers and industry.

What is and how does 5G work?

5G is the next generation of mobile broadband that will replace or at least upgrade the 4G LTE connection. With 5G, the speeds on everything going on the internet will increase dramatically, to the extent that the comparison between the 4G networks we use now and the 5G will be like comparing a bike with a sports car.
The important thing to bring with it is the minimization of the delay with which the devices communicate with each other, which will dramatically increase the response speed and spur the network usage experience.

Unlike LTE, 5G operates in three different bandwidths. While this may not seem important, it will have a dramatic effect on everyday use.

Low band spectrum

The major disadvantage of this operating range is that it allows a very large area to cover. The downside is that the maximum data speed it can transfer will not exceed 100 Mbps. That is, the lowest speed that 5G can give is the same as the fastest speed we currently have in our country.

Medium bandwidth range

It provides faster coverage and a slower delay than you will find in the low zone. However, it fails to penetrate buildings as well as low band spectra. Expect maximum speeds up to 1 Gbps

The high-frequency spectrum is what most people think when thinking about 5G. It is often referred to as mmWave. The high-frequency spectrum can offer maximum speeds of up to 10 Gbps and has very low latency. The main disadvantage of the high band is that it has a low coverage area, which is covered with denser small cells, providing excellent speeds with low lag

10 changes in our life that will bring the 5G

Experience of use and enormous speeds

This is what most users will experience, as very high speeds will change the way we are used to using the internet. The advantages of 5G are that it will not drop the speed when many users are connected at the same time in a hive, which is an unpleasant reality with the 4G.

The downloading of movies and series, gaming and live streaming will be almost instantaneous, to the point that what we think of high-speed today will be completely obsolete.

2. Autonomous Vehicles

Can the stand-alone vehicles have made their presence on the streets, but the advent of 5G is expected to take off. A basic parameter of autonomous vehicle operation is the ability to send and receive commands and process data at zero time.
Once moving between people and other vehicles, they should be able to communicate directly with all systems, something that can not be done with today's systems but with 5G these obstacles disappear.

3. Smart cities

The debate on smart cities has long begun and has included situations that are heard from the most advanced books of science fiction.

What will allow us to do 5G is the control of a series of sensors connected to a central control point, which will count that one can imagine, from the exact light to turn the lamps on their own, until how many cars are parked at each point to organize public parking.
Apart from "commercial" uses, the sensors will be able to monitor sewer levels, forest temperatures, and contamination levels, warning early if there is a problem.

4. Public Security and Civil Protection

Although the location of sensors in sensitive locations for remote monitoring is not new, the amount and range of information that they can transmit so far are limited. With 5G, the capabilities are multiplied, making it more easy to keep track of it.
Sensors on bridges, forests, rivers, sewers, and roads will be able to send every minute information about the condition of the conditions and the problems to each infrastructure as if there were engineers at each point who are looking at each building and infrastructure and reporting.

5. Smart Homes

The advantages offered by the smart home have already begun and become visible and used for a long time, but with the 5G they will be launched. Remote control of devices, security systems that will transmit everything to our mobile phone in the office, smart devices that communicate with each other, all of which can be realized with the speed and range offered by the 5G.

Combined with increased broadband, our home can easily become a multimedia and entertainment center without any delay in transmitting and downloading information and entertainment content.

6. Remote machinery handling

Speaking of remote control devices, the industry will be one of the sectors that will benefit greatly from 5G, as the expansion of the "communication channel" with its machines allows remote control and manipulation.

For example, checking a machine or setting it up will not require a technician to travel anywhere in the world to do it, as he can do it from his office. This increases both the efficiency of the factories and the flexibility of the engineers.

This feature is so important that it has been the benchmark in every 5G system demo we have seen so far. Consumers may not see "profits" directly from it, but product production is expected to multiply its benefits.

7. Telemedicine

Industrial machinery is not the only one that can handle remotely, as it will be the same with medical devices.

With the use of 5G, it will be possible to perform remote interventions, which will save lives in remote areas or emergencies.

With just 1-2 doctors, remote residents will have access to almost all medical services, and in extraordinary cases or difficult cases access to specialist doctors will be much easier. With 5G, neither the doctor nor the patient will need to be afraid of connection problems, which in this case could be fatal.

8. Internet of Things

Another term that concerns public opinion and the media for a long time will get flesh and blood in 5G. It is estimated that the number of small or large devices connected and to local or remote control centers will have reached tens of billions by 2022.

If the number sounds enormous, count how many lamps in public or private buildings will be connected to light up when it starts and darkens. Or how many windows will open and close depending on the air.
How many air conditioners will start and stop depending on the weather, or how many millions of household appliances, parts of the smart home, will be able to communicate with each other via the internet?

9. Smart Agriculture and Livestock

Just as sensors will monitor everything in a city, the same can be done on a farm or a field. Counting everything from temperature, humidity, soil chemical composition, water, food, and weather conditions, farmers and stock farmers will be able to keep track of everything in real-time, even having a live connection to any potential point of their production.
In a hypothetical scenario where a sensor detects a problem, a drone is automatically commanded to get up and transmit an image live to the person who, at the touch of a button, can choose to treat it from a distance without having to he goes to the point.
Although there are already sensors that do this job, the 5G offers the speed and stability, in particular, to function without any problems in real-time, at the same time in greater sensitivity and quantity.

10. Linking people

Already people are increasingly using the internet to learn, to have fun and to communicate. We use it to educate children on the other side of the world, in places where the means are insufficient.

We use it to see and keep an eye on what is happening away from us with our own eyes, without interference.

We have certainly fallen into excesses and have developed cultures and behaviors that can even be characterized as antisocial, but these are the exceptions and side effects of an instrument and service that has dramatically changed our lives.

The main feature mentioned in almost all the above examples is speed and stability. Many of these are already being used, but the limitations of today's technology often lead to "network failure" and "service shutdown".

All of this will not exist with the 5G, or at least it should not exist. If we have to make a match with our everyday life, 5G is a huge, new, modern road network across the country, even the last pass. An "Attiki Odos" 10 lanes per direction in every part of the country, even in the last fishing village.

And now we have roads, and there are many cars on these streets. Trafficking is a daily routine, the quality of the road network is poor, the lighting virtually non-existent and the security it provides, rudimentary (not to say non-existent).
With 5G all this is changing, or at least it's a huge step in that direction. Infrastructure investments that are needed are also large, but not as prohibitive.

Wandercraft launches exoskeleton to help paraplegics walk

noreply@blogger.com (Faryad Baryar) — Wed, 24 Jul 2019 08:46:00 -0700

It's official: the Parisian company Wandercraft announces the marketing of its exoskeleton to allow paraplegics to walk without crutches. This new standard should allow the company to officially launch Atalante (the name of the exoskeleton in question) on the market.

An exoskeleton to walk without crutches

The principle of this innovation is: robotic legs working without crutches, to help people with paraplegia to walk without crutches. According to Matthieu Masselin, President of Wandercraft: "For the moment, there are only exoskeletons on crutches on the market. We believe that the market can change with the arrival of our product ".

The problem with existing exoskeletons on the market today, with crutches, is that the effort goes mainly through the shoulders. Concretely, this does not allow to have a nature walk and also does not offer the possibility to paraplegic people to carry out exercises of reeducation because they are quickly tired.

Today, Atalante is still worth 200,000 euros

After being raised 15 million euros, Wandercraft has made the right choices to create Atalante and make a real revolution in the market. The exoskeleton of the Parisian society is loaded with technologies and even allows to control its balance autonomously, thanks to specific algorithms. The upper body is no longer useful to control the movement: people with paraplegia will find the feeling of walking .

The only downside for the moment: its price. Displayed at 200 000 euros, this exoskeleton will have to prove itself before any hope to be a commercial success. A consumer version would be under development according to the teams. Home mobility assistance is part of Wandercraft's strategy. Jean-Louis Constanza, head of development explains that: "for this consumer version, we are targeting the price of a small or medium car".

Video:

RoboBee X-Wing takes Solo Flight

noreply@blogger.com (Faryad Baryar) — Sun, 21 Jul 2019 06:47:00 -0700

10 years have already passed since the development of the bee-type drone "RoboBee" started at Harvard University.

The design is so simple, this worm-shaped drone "RoboBee", its function has evolved dramatically in recent years. As a "new feature", it seems that hovering flying continuously in one place and flight path setting to fly a predefined route have been added recently. Besides, because the main unit is too small to mount the battery, until now, it was necessary to fly with the power cable attached to drive it. However, it succeeded in the first solo flight which was disconnected from the power cable last August.

Image: Harvard Gazette

・ Solar panel supplies 120 milli watts of power

・ Reduction of the speed transmission ratio, construction of actuator improves 38% floating

・ 4 blades increase efficiency by 30%

・ 3 cm from the panel to the blade so that the solar panel does not disturb the blade

・ Improved signal of solar panel at instrument panel

But it's not as great a flight as the world gets up to, but it's just flying from end to end of the lab. Still, it is no different from having flown by oneself. But after only a few seconds, it seems that it has been supported by the safety cable and dropped. To realize this, RoboBee has been making various hardware improvements. Two wings are added, for a total of four wings. This boosts the lift by 38%. It is also equipped with the world's smallest solar panel, weighing only 10 mg.

Video: Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences / YouTube

Even with these upgrades, this "RoboBee X-Wing" weighs only 259 mg. (Incidentally, the weight of a normal paper clip is four times this.) Just like a worm, it's super light. If you load the battery, it's too heavy to fly.

It is a solar panel attached to eliminate the power cord. It seems to generate about 120 milli watts of electricity. This is comparable to the power to light one tiny electric light on a Christmas tree. A single electric power moves the actuator and blades, and this Robo Bee can fly. ... It's only a moment. Robbie X-Wing needs the sun to continue flying. A halogen lamp was used in the experiment.

To date, dogs, cheetahs, and mules have been developed, but research on the bees has continued for quite some time. That means that it is difficult to make a tiny robot with the functionality of a small bee. It will take several years until Robo Bie will be able to fly freely in his lab with his power alone. If you can't read even the movement of the wind, and it blows out unexpectedly, the outer world debut, which can be out of control, seems like it's still ahead. But ... development is progressing little by little.

At that time, if I smashed the sound of flapping reflectively with hands, it would have been Robo Bie ... what time will come. There is a world in which a tiny drone oversees you softly. But if you smash it with a fly, the development cost will be an instant.

Source: Harvard Gazette

Microsoft Technology Enables You to Speak Your Hologram in Any Language

noreply@blogger.com (Faryad Baryar) — Sat, 20 Jul 2019 08:20:00 -0700

With the new generation technologies, the problems of knowing a foreign language and being fluent in that language disappear.

At the Inspire 2019 Conference, organized by technology giant Microsoft on Wednesday, Julia White, one of the company's top executives, took the stage and gave an extraordinary presentation.

In her presentation, which started in English, Julia White put on her Hololens headpiece, reflected her one-to-one copy of the hologram on stage and continued her speech in Japanese. The attention to detail in this presentation, aside from the visuality of high-end hologram technology, was that Julia White did not speak Japanese.

At the beginning of his speech, White addresses the audience:

Can technology help me to be where I want and to speak in the language I want? ”
In the demonstration where you can watch the details of Julia White from the video below, Microsoft synthesizes two different technologies; “Mixed Reality” and “Neural Text Reading” . White started his speech in English, then put Hololens head on his head, reflecting his copy of the hologram on the stage. Then he continues his speech in Japanese.

In the coming years, White's real-life hologram has been created to turn this technology into a show that has the potential to eliminate even more inter-communal boundaries. For this, Julia White visited Microsoft's Mixed Reality Capture Studio and recorded her speech in English.

Microsoft designed White's one-to-one hologram copy and then created Julia's “audio signature kullanarak using natural text reading technology. In this way, everything Julia says can be translated into other languages with her voice as if she was speaking.

Microsoft's widespread use of this technology in transportation, accommodation, tourism, organization and so on. it can lead to revolutionary transformations in many sectors. Meetings can take place in virtual environments, in everyone's language. Conferences, even if the summits are not completely, can at least turn into a scenario in which the speakers from abroad will take part in the stage with their holograms and speak in their language.

Julia White finishes her interesting demonstration with a striking statement:

All of these technologies are currently available. The future is here. ”

Boston Dynamics has the mission to make marketable robots

noreply@blogger.com (Faryad Baryar) — Sat, 20 Jul 2019 07:24:00 -0700

We are watching videos that show off the ingenuity of newly developed robots on social media. Most of these shares belong to Boston Dynamics robots. Robots that run fast, open the door, load, or even flip over can soon start roaming between us.

Boston Dynamics, founded in 1992, purchased by Google in 2013 and then sold to Softbank in 2017, has been working on animal and human-like robots for many years. Boston Dynamics's robot videos became so popular that a parody robot video prepared last month was thought to be read by many and shared on social media.

A number of industry names will say that working with robots is a very difficult task, due to several factors, be it research and development, for financial reasons - many companies fail because investors give up in the middle of the road - and require leadership committed to the projects, highly qualified team and product and market strategies combined with perfect execution.

After a long period of R & D investments, the company is now ready to launch its first commercial products. Although the company is preparing to launch its four-legged dog-shaped robots, the exact date and prices of the products have not yet been announced. However, the robots will be available in 2019, according to The Verge.

Last April, the company's CEO, Marc Raibert, announced that they will launch 100 units of SpotMini robots in mass production and will launch in 2019, whose videos are well-liked and even included in a photo with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Boston Dynamics had made similar statements before, but we haven't been able to see its products on the commercial market yet. However, according to the latest news from The Verge in 2019, we will be confronted with these robots.

Boston Dynamics, which recently acquired the company Kinema Systems, working on autonomous technologies that facilitate the use of robots in warehouses, quickly enters the logistics sector and invests in the digitalization of the sector.

Jeff Burnstein, president of the Association for the Advancement of Automation, agrees that it is a "good sign" that more companies than just Boston Dynamics are involved in the creation of leg robots, such as Spot, although it can not project if they have a future due to hardware issues.

Mobility Challenge:

One of the main challenges for Boston to reach this level is mobility. This is the real challenge that Spot's arrival can provide. There is a physical obstacle, depending on the area they occupy and the fact that many solutions are still static.

This limits its use to factories and other industrial applications, which give little intelligence to the robot, which is in the same place, performing repetitive tasks. The idea is that the next generation of robotics is agile and dynamic, able to work with humans and react to changes in environment and behavior.

Boston Dynamics has been trying to break the mobility barrier for decades, but it seems like the time is right. Marc Raibert, CEO of Boston Dynamics, believes that Spot is for robotics what Android was for the smartphone industry: a customizable platform that other companies can use to address specific needs.

"We have designed specifically as a platform so that it can be customized for many different users. In a very short time frame, we will have several different attachments that can be used to customize the robots. "
Marc Raibert, CEO of Boston Dynamics

If Boston Dynamics's commercial sales succeed, we may often begin to encounter humanoid, or at least dog-shaped, four-legged robots that will pass by us on the road soon.

Artificial skin 1000 times more sensitive than human skin

noreply@blogger.com (Faryad Baryar) — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 04:43:00 -0700

Benjamin Tee of the National University of Singapore and other researchers have created artificial skin 1000 times more sensitive than human skin. This skin feels perfectly the temperature, as well as the pressure. It should be used to cover prostheses to offer a better experience to the person, but also on robots so that they can better perceive their environment.

This mixture of rubber and plastic is covered with sensors. When the skin touches something, sensors transmit electrical impulses to a receiver. Human "sensors" send signals at a maximum frequency below 1 kHz, or 1000 times per second. As far as artificial skin is concerned, the sensors send signals at a frequency of 9 MHz, 9 million times per second.

Benjamin Tee explains that "when we touch a cup of coffee, for example, our skin instantly sends electrical signals to our muscles and our brain for treatment." This example of the cup of coffee is not trivial since, during tests, Benjamin Tee and the team of researchers placed the artificial skin on a hand prosthesis that held a hot cup. Scientists have observed that three types of sensations have been recorded. Following this, Benjamin Tee indicates that this technology could allow robots to have skin all over the body, just like a human being.

Source