In an effort to spur breakthroughs in autonomous driving technology, Toyota is funding new research centers at MIT and Stanford, the Associated Press reports. Prof. Daniela Rus explains that MIT researchers will be working on developing technology that would make it possible to build a car, “that is never responsible for a collision.”
Toyota has announced that it is funding new research centers at MIT and at Stanford dedicated to developing “intelligent” cars, reports John Markoff for The New York Times. “We see this as basic computer science, A.I. and robotics that will make a difference in transportation,” explains Prof. Daniela Rus.
A new center at MIT, a collaborative effort with Toyota, will be focused on broadening artificial intelligence technologies for cars, writes Eric Adams for Popular Science. Prof. Daniela Rus explains that the MIT center will dedicated to “helping reduce traffic casualties, and potentially even helping us develop a vehicle incapable of getting into a collision.”
Toyota is partnering with MIT and Stanford to research autonomous-vehicle technology, reports Marco della Cava for USA Today. “Toyota will use its MIT and Stanford investment dollars to develop on-board systems that will improve an automobile's ability to make smart driving decisions in split seconds when the driver is either unaware or too slow.”
MIT researchers have developed a robot called Hermes that is controlled by the motions of an exoskeleton-wearing human, reports Nidhi Subbaraman for BetaBoston. “What’s unique about Hermes is that Ramos is able to sense the robot’s balance through the harness,” writes Subbaraman.
Nidhi Subbaraman of BetaBoston reports on how MIT researchers have developed a fleet of self-driving golf carts. “The group road-tested a fleet of self-driving golf carts at a park in Singapore over six days,” writes Subbaraman.
Kelsey Atherton reports for Popular Science that MIT researcher have developed and tested a self-driving golf cart in a public garden in Singapore. Atherton writes that one potential use for the self-driving golf carts is a shared vehicle system where the carts would “drive people to their destination, and then either return or seek new riders.”
Prof. Hugh Herr speaks about his work developing bionic limbs on Popular Science’s Futuropolis podcast. When asked about what sort of capabilities bionics may be able to give humans in the future, Herr explains his view that, “If something is possible given physical law, given the laws of nature, then I think ultimately humans will explore it.”
Kate Darling of the MIT Media Lab speaks with Wired reporter Katie Collins about what the destruction of a hitchhiking robot says about how people relate to robots. "Can we change people's empathy with robots,” says Darling. This is "at the core of what I view as ethics. I don't think robot ethics is about robots, it is about humans."
Los Angeles Times reporter Jenn Harris writes that MIT researchers have developed a system that allows teams of robots to deliver items. Harris explains that the researchers hope their technique could be used to allow robots to aid in situations like “getting supplies and medicine across a battlefield in a war-torn country.”
MIT researchers have developed a program that allows a team of robots to work together to serve drinks, reports Lorenzo Ligato for the Huffington Post. The researchers, “programmed the robots with complex planning algorithms, which allowed the machines to engage in higher-level reasoning about their location, status and behavior -- similarly to they way humans perform tasks.”
MIT researchers have developed an algorithm that allows a team of three robots to serve drinks, writes Gordon Gottsegen for Wired: “While the real-world application of this research may seem like the beer fetching itself (to us at least), the method that allows robots to execute tasks despite uncertainty may have practical usages.”
Jordan Lebeau writes for Boston.com about a team of drink-serving robots created by MIT researchers: “The team consists of one large double-armed bot, the bartender, and two smaller ‘turtle bots,’ the servers.”
Brook Hays of UPI writes that researchers from MIT have developed a new program that allows teams of robots to work together to pour and deliver drinks. Hays explains that the robots are “programmed to anticipate what drinks are needed where, taking orders and delivering drinks with the greatest possible level of efficiency.”
Lindsay Kalter writes for The Boston Herald about a new robot developed by MIT researchers called HERMES, which is controlled by a human operator wearing an exoskeleton. “The idea here is you have a humanoid robot that you can send into a disaster situation, with someone operating it remotely,” explains graduate student Albert Wang.