The Pransky interview: Dr Robert Ambrose, Chief, Software, Robotics and Simulation Division at NASA

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 285-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Pransky
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Technology Policy ◽  
Industrial Robot ◽  
Autonomous Systems ◽  
Space Station ◽  
Strategic Partnership ◽  
Robotic Systems ◽  
Space Robotics ◽  
Human Spaceflight ◽  
Content Type

Purpose – This paper, a “Q & A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of Industrial Robot Journal, aims to impart the combined technological, business and personal experience of a prominent, robotic industry engineer-turned entrepreneur regarding the evolution, commercialization and challenges of bringing a technological invention to market. Design/methodology/approach – The interviewee is Dr Robert Ambrose, Chief, Software, Robotics and Simulation Division at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. As a young child, even before he started school, Dr Ambrose knew, after seeing the Apollo 11 moonshot, that he wanted to work for NASA. Dr Ambrose describes his career journey into space robotics and shares his teams’ experiences and the importance of the development of Robonaut, a humanoid robotic project designed to work with humans both on Earth and in space. Findings – Dr Ambrose received his MS and BS degrees in mechanical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, and his PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr Ambrose heads the flight spacecraft software, space robotics and system simulations for human spaceflight missions. He oversees on-orbit robotic systems for the International Space Station (ISS), the development of software for the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle and future human spaceflight systems, simulations for engineering development and training, hardware in the loop facilities for anomaly resolution and crew training and the technology branch for development of new robotic systems. Dr Ambrose also serves as a Principal Investigator for NASA’s Space Technologies Mission Directorate, overseeing research and formulating new starts in the domains of robotics and autonomous systems. He co-chairs the Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) Robotics, Tele-Robotics and Autonomous Systems roadmap team for the agency’s technology program, and is the robotics lead for the agency’s human spaceflight architecture study teams. Working with the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Dr Ambrose is the Technical Point of Contact for NASA’s collaboration in the National Robotics Initiative (NRI). Originality/value – Dr Ambrose not only realized his own childhood dream by pursuing a career at NASA, but he also fulfilled a 15-year national dream by putting the first humanoid robot into space. After seeking a graduate university that would allow him to do research at NASA, it didn’t take long for Dr Ambrose to foresee that the importance of NASA’s future would be in robots and humans working side-by-side. Through the leadership of Dr Ambrose, NASA formed a strategic partnership with General Motors (GM) and together they built Robonaut, a highly dexterous, anthropomorphic robot. The latest Robonaut version, R2, has nearly 50 patents available for licensing. One of the many technology spinoffs from R2 is the innovative Human Grasp Assist device, or Robo-Glove, designed to increase the strength of a human’s grasp.

The Pransky interview: Dr Nabil Simaan, Vanderbilt University Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science and Otolaryngology, Thought Leader in Medical Robotics

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Pransky
Keyword(s):  
Computer Science ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Single Port ◽  
Industrial Robot ◽  
Medical Robotics ◽  
Surgical Robotics ◽  
Robotic Systems ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Thought Leader ◽  
Vanderbilt University

Purpose The following article is a “Q&A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of Industrial Robot Journal as a method to impart the combined technological, business and personal experience of a prominent, robotic industry PhD and innovator regarding his pioneering efforts. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The interviewee is Dr Nabil Simaan, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science and Otolaryngology at Vanderbilt University. He is also director of Vanderbilt’s Advanced Robotics and Mechanism Applications Research Laboratory. In this interview, Simaan shares his unique perspective and approaches on his journey of trying to solve real-world problems in the medical robotics area. Findings Simaan received his BSc, MSc and PhD in mechanical engineering from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. He served as Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University. In 2005, he joined Columbia University, New York, NY, as an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering until 2010, when he joined Vanderbilt. His current applied research interests include synthesis of novel robotic systems for surgical assistance in confined spaces with applications to minimally invasive surgery of the throat, natural orifice surgery, cochlear implant surgery and dexterous bimanual microsurgery. Theoretical aspects of his research include robot design and kinematics. Originality/value Dr Simaan is a leading pioneer on designing robotic systems and mechanisms for medical applications. Examples include technologies for snake robots licensed to Intuitive Surgical; technologies for micro-surgery of the retina, which led to the formation of AURIS Surgical Robotics; the insertable robotic effector platform (IREP) single-port surgery robot that served as the research prototype behind the Titan Medical Inc. Sport (Single Port Orifice Robotic Technology). Simaan received the NSF Career award for young investigators to design new algorithms and robots for safe interaction with the anatomy. He has served as the Editor for IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Robotics, Editorial Board Member of Robotica, Area Chair for Robotics Science and Systems and corresponding Co-chair for the IEEE Technical Committee on Surgical Robotics. In January 2020, he was bestowed the award of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow for Robotics Advancements. At the end of 2020, he was named a top voice in health-care robotics by technology discovery platform InsightMonk and market intelligence firm BIS Research. Simaan holds 15 patents. A producer of human capital, his education goal is to achieve the best possible outcome with every student he works with.

The Pransky interview: Dr Yoky Matsuoka, Vice President Technology, Nest Labs

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 481-486
Author(s):  
Joanne Pransky
Keyword(s):  
Computer Science ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Academic Career ◽  
Industrial Robot ◽  
Vice President ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Smoke Detector ◽  
Foundation Engineering ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The University

Purpose – This article is a “Q&A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of Industrial Robot Journal as a method to impart the combined technological, business and personal experience of a prominent, robotic industry engineer-turned entrepreneur regarding the evolution, commercialization and challenges of bringing a technological invention to market. Design/methodology/approach – The interviewee is Dr Yoky Matsuoka, the Vice President of Nest Labs. Matsuoka describes her career journey that led her from a semi-professional tennis player who wanted to build a robot tennis buddy, to a pioneer of neurobotics who then applied her multidisciplinary research in academia to the development of a mass-produced intelligent home automation device. Findings – Dr Matsuoka received a BS degree from the University of California, Berkeley and an MS and PhD in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She was also a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT and in Mechanical Engineering at Harvard University. Dr Matsuoka was formerly the Torode Family Endowed Career Development Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington (UW), Director of the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering and Ana Loomis McCandless Professor of Robotics and Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. In 2010, she joined Google X as one of its three founding members. She then joined Nest as VP of Technology. Originality/value – Dr Matsuoka built advanced robotic prosthetic devices and designed complementary rehabilitation strategies that enhanced the mobility of people with manipulation disabilities. Her novel work has made significant scientific and engineering contributions in the combined fields of mechanical engineering, neuroscience, bioengineering, robotics and computer science. Dr Matsuoka was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in which she used the Genius Award money to establish a nonprofit corporation, YokyWorks, to continue developing engineering solutions for humans with physical disabilities. Other awards include the Emerging Inventor of the Year, UW Medicine; IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Early Academic Career Award; Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers; and numerous others. She leads the development of the learning and control technology for the Nest smoke detector and Thermostat, which has saved the USA hundreds of billions of dollars in energy expenses. Nest was sold to Google in 2013 for a record $3.2 billion dollars in cash.

The Pransky interview: Dr Jun Ho Oh, Professor and Director of Humanoid Robot Research Center, KAIST; Cofounder, Rainbow Robotics Co.

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 695-699
Author(s):  
Joanne Pransky
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Industrial Robot ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Vice President ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Real Time Control ◽  
Commercial Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The University

Purpose The following paper is a “Q&A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of Industrial Robot Journal as a method to impart the combined technological, business and personal experience of a prominent, robotic industry PhD-turned-entrepreneur regarding the commercialization and challenges of bringing a technological invention to market. This paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The interviewee is Dr Jun Ho Oh, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and Director of KAIST’s Hubolab. Determined to build a humanoid robot in the early 2000s to compete with Japan’s humanoids, Dr Oh and KAIST created the KHR1. This research led to seven more advanced versions of a biped humanoid robot and the founding of the Robot for Artificial Intelligence and Boundless Walking (Rainbow) Co., a professional technological mechatronics company. In this interview, Dr Oh shares the history and success of Korea’s humanoid robot research. Findings Dr Oh received his BSc in 1977 and MSc in Mechanical Engineering in 1979 from Yonsei University. Oh worked as a Researcher for the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute before receiving his PhD from the University of California (UC) Berkeley in mechanical engineering in 1985. After his PhD, Oh remained at UC Berkeley to do Postdoctoral research. Since 1985, Oh has been a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at KAIST. He was a Visiting Professor from 1996 to 1997 at the University of Texas Austin. Oh served as the Vice President of KAIST from 2013-2014. In addition to teaching, Oh applied his expertise in robotics, mechatronics, automatic and real-time control to the commercial development of a series of humanoid robots. Originality/value Highly self-motivated and always determined, Dr Oh’s initial dream of building the first Korean humanoid bipedal robot has led him to become one of the world leaders of humanoid robots. He has contributed widely to the field over the nearly past two decades with the development of five versions of the HUBO robot. Oh led Team KAIST to win the 2015 DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) and a grand prize of US$2m with its humanoid robot DRC-HUBO+, beating 23 teams from six countries. Oh serves as a robotics policy consultant for the Korean Ministry of Commerce Industry and Energy. He was awarded the 2016 Changjo Medal for Science and Technology, the 2016 Ho-Am Prize for engineering, and the 2010 KAIST Distinguished Professor award. He is a member of the Korea Academy of Science and Technology.

The Pransky interview – Martin Haegele, Head of Department Robotics and Assistive Systems, Fraunhofer IPA

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Pransky
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Industrial Robot ◽  
Service Robots ◽  
Service Robot ◽  
Project Leader ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fraunhofer Institute ◽  
Clean Manufacturing ◽  
Manufacturing Engineering ◽  
Assistive Systems

Purpose The following paper is a “Q&A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of Industrial Robot Journal as a method to impart the combined technological, business and personal experience of a prominent, robotic industry engineer-turned successful innovator and leader, regarding the challenges of bringing technological discoveries to fruition. This paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The interviewee is Martin Haegele, a renowned expert in industrial and service robot applications, technologies and markets. He is Division Director “Intelligent Automation and Clean Manufacturing” and Head of the department “Robot and Assistive Systems” at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (Fraunhofer IPA). In this interview, Haegele details some of the robotics projects he led and provides his outlook on the European robotics industry. Findings Haegele received a Dipl.-Ing. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Stuttgart in 1989 and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from George Washington University, Washington DC in 1989. Haegele has led the Robot Systems Department at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA in Stuttgart, Germany since 1993, and is a member of the Fraunhofer IPA Board. Originality/value Inspired by the book Robotics in Service written by Joseph Engelberger in 1989, Haegele spearheaded ground-breaking applications in the service robot industry. He led a German study on the market potentials and challenges of service robots. He was the project leader and supervisor of numerous service robot developments including a fuel-refilling robot resulting in a fully operational gas station and several generations of mobile robots developed for museums, shopping centers and home applications. Haegele coordinated many publicly funded research projects to develop robot technologies for industrial and service applications. He was coordinator of two large-scale European initiatives (SMErobot and SMErobotics) for the creation of technologies and a new family of robots suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises. He has published more than 80 papers and book chapters and holds four patents. He is a 2007 recipient of the prestigious Joseph Engelberger Award. Furthermore, Haegele is active in the International Federation of Robotics and the euRobotics association.

China's space station will pay political dividend

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Space Station ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Political Commitment ◽  
Human Spaceflight ◽  
Private Space ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Apollo Mission ◽  
The One ◽  
Moon Landing ◽  
New Phase

Subject China's human spaceflight programme. Significance China’s human spaceflight programme has advanced steadily, with seemingly unwavering political support. It is now ready to begin a new phase: construction of a permanent crewed space station. Impacts Institutions in other countries will benefit from opportunities to use China’s space station. Beijing’s consistent political commitment to human spaceflight may make other governments see it as a more reliable partner than Washington. China’s space station may compete with US private space stations for business from non-US clients. China has no public timeline for a human moon landing, but is putting the necessary elements in place. A Chinese crewed moon programme would likely be designed to be sustainable, unlike the one-off Apollo mission.

Dr Homayoon Kazerooni: Professor at UC-Berkeley, pioneer of exoskeletons, founder and CEO of U.S. Bionics (DBA suitX), founder Ekso Bionics

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Pransky
Keyword(s):  
Lower Extremity ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Spinal Cord Injuries ◽  
Industrial Robot ◽  
New York Times ◽  
Innovative Technology ◽  
Massachusetts Institute Of Technology ◽  
Distribution Centers ◽  
Ieee Transaction ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The following paper is a “Q&A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of Industrial Robot Journal as a method to impart the combined technological, business and personal experience of a prominent, robotic industry PhD-turned innovator and entrepreneur regarding his pioneering efforts. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The interviewee is Dr Homayoon Kazerooni, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California (UC) Berkeley, pioneer and leading entrepreneur of robotic exoskeletons. He is a foremost expert in robotics, control sciences, exoskeletons, bioengineering and mechatronics design. Kazerooni shares in this interview details on his second start-up, US Bionics DBA suitX. Findings Kazerooni received his MS and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He has been a Professor at UC Berkeley for over 30 years. He also serves as the Director of the Berkeley Robotics and Human Engineering Laboratory “KAZ LAB.” The lab’s early research focused on enhancing human upper extremity strength, and Kazerooni led his team to successfully develop a new class of intelligent assist devices that are currently marketed worldwide and used by manual laborers in distribution centers and factories worldwide. Dr Kazerooni’s later work focused on the control of human–machine systems specific to human lower extremities. After developing BLEEX, ExoHiker and ExoClimber – three load-carrying exoskeletons – his team at Berkeley created Human Universal Load Carrier. It was the first energetically autonomous, orthotic, lower extremity exoskeleton that allowed its user to carry 100-pound weights in various terrains for an extended period, without becoming physically overwhelmed. The technology was initially licensed to Ekso Bionics and then Lockheed Martin. Kazerooni and his team also developed lower-extremity technology to aid persons who have experienced a stroke, spinal cord injuries or have health conditions that obligate them to use a wheelchair. Originality/value In 2005, Kazerooni founded Ekso Bionics, the very first exoskeleton company in America, which went on to become a publicly owned company in 2014. Ekso, currently marketed by Ekso Bionics, was designed jointly between Ekso Bionics and Berkeley for paraplegics and those with mobility disorders to stand and walk with little physical exertion. In 2011, Austin Whitney, a Berkeley student suffering from lower limb paralysis, walked for commencement in one of Kazerooni’s exoskeletons, “The Austin Exoskeleton Project,” named in honor of Whitney. Kazerooni went on in 2011, to found US Bionics, DBA suitX, a venture capital, industry and government-funded robotics exoskeleton company. suitX’s core technology is focused on the design and manufacturing of affordable industrial and medical exoskeletons to improve the lives of workers and people with gait impairment. suitX has received investment from Wistron (Taiwan), been awarded several US government awards and won two Saint-Gobain NOVA Innovation Awards. suitX has also won the US$1m top prize in the “UAE AI and Robotics for Good” Competition. Its novel health-care exoskeleton Phoenix has recently received FDA approval. Kazerooni has won numerous awards including Discover magazine’s Technological Innovation Award, the McKnight-Land Grant Professorship and has been a recipient of the outstanding ASME Investigator Award. His research was recognized as the most innovative technology of the year in New York Times Magazine. He has served in a variety of leadership roles in the mechanical engineering community and served as editor of two journals: ASME Journal of Dynamics Systems and Control and IEEE Transaction on Mechatronics. Kazerooni has published more than 200 articles to date, delivered over 130 plenary lectures internationally and is the inventors of over 100 patents.

The Pransky interview: Melonee Wise, CEO, Fetch Robotics

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Pransky
Keyword(s):  
Personal Growth ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Industrial Robot ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Start Up ◽  
In Series ◽  
The Right ◽  
Hardware Platforms

Purpose The following paper is a “Q&A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of Industrial Robot Journal as a method to impart the combined technological, business and personal experience of a prominent, robotic industry engineer-turned successful business leader, regarding the commercialization and challenges of bringing technological inventions to market while overseeing a company. This paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The interviewee is Melonee Wise, an entrepreneur and veteran robot designer. In this interview, Wise candidly discusses her career journey, including the successes and lessons learned in the transitioning from an engineer to the CEO of two robotic start-up companies in just six years. Findings Melonee Wise had a love for building mechanical things since childhood. At the age of eight, she built and programmed a plotter out of Legos. Wise received BS degrees in mechanical engineering and physics engineering, and an MS degree in mechanical engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. While in school, Wise spent her summers interning at Alcoa, DaimlerChrysler and Honeywell Aerospace. She was able to parlay her passion of building robots when she had the opportunity to work on the DARPA Urban Challenge through her university. From there, Wise joined the start-up Willow Garage as a Senior Engineer in 2007. In 2013, she left her position as Manager of Robot Development at Willow to co-found Unbounded Robotics. When Unbounded unexpectedly shut down 18 months later, Ms Wise gave birth to Fetch Robotics, a manufacturer of autonomous and affordable robots for the warehouse and logistics industries. Originality/value Melonee Wise is an ambitious robot engineer-turned-entrepreneur in pursuit of fast-paced career and personal growth, and taking on unprecedented challenges. After interning at three large US manufacturing companies, Wise decided to pursue her PhD until the right company and opportunity came along. In 2007, she was asked by a Willow Garage co-founder to leave her PhD studies and join them as their second employee. Willow Garage, the creator of Robot Operating System (ROS) open source software and the PR2 hardware platforms, would go on to become one of the most significant robot incubators of the decade. Wise was one of the co-creators of TurtleBot, a consumer robotics product developed in nine months, and she helped with the design of the PR2 and ROS. Additionally, while at Willow Garage, Wise created the Intern Program, increasing the number of interns from one to over 60. Melonee Wise spun-off Unbounded Robotics in 2013 and headed Fetch Robotics in 2014. Wise and Fetch recently raised more than US$20 million in Series A funding. Wise holds the patent for a steering column lock assembly and has been honored with the prestigious awards: MIT Technology Review’s 35 Innovators under 35; The 2014 Business Insider’s 15 Most Important People Working in Robotics; and Robohub’s 2013 25 Women in Robotics you need to know about.

The Pransky interview: Dr Hod Lipson, Professor at Columbia University; Robotics, AI, Digital Design and Manufacturing Innovator and Entrepreneur

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 568-572
Author(s):  
Joanne Pransky
Keyword(s):  
3D Printing ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Data Science ◽  
Industrial Robot ◽  
Digital Design ◽  
Columbia University ◽  
Israel Institute ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Institute Of Technology ◽  
Technion Israel Institute

Purpose This paper is a “Q&A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of Industrial Robot Journal as a method to impart the combined technological, business and personal experience of a prominent, robotic industry PhD and innovator regarding his personal journey and the commercialization and challenges of bringing a technological invention to market. This paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The interviewee is Dr Hod Lipson, James and Sally Scapa Professor of Innovation of Mechanical Engineering and Data Science at Columbia University. Lipson’s bio-inspired research led him to co-found four companies. In this interview, Dr Lipson shares some of his personal and business experiences of working in academia and industry. Findings Dr Lipson received his BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in 1989. He worked as a software developer and also served for the next five years as a Lieutenant Commander for the Israeli Navy. He then co-founded his first company, Tri-logical Technologies (an Israeli company) in 1994 before pursuing a PhD, which was awarded to him from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Mechanical Engineering in the fall of 1998. From 1998 to 2001, he did his postdoc research at Brandeis University, Computer Science Department, while also lecturing at MIT. Dr Lipson served as Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering and Computing & Information Science at Cornell University for 14 years and joined Columbia University as a Professor in Mechanical Engineering in 2015. From 2013 to 2015, he also served as Editor-in-Chief for the journal 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing (3DP), published by Mary Ann Liebert Inc. Originality/value Dr Lipson’s broad spectrum and multi-decades of research has focused on self-aware and self-replicating robots. Dr Lipson directs the Creative Machines Lab which pioneers new ways for novel autonomous systems to design and make other machines, based on biological concepts. In total, his lab has graduated over 50 graduate students and over 20 PhD and Postdocs. Some of these students joined Lipson, in cofounding startups, while others went on to found their own companies. Lipson has coauthored over 300 publications that received over 20,000 citations. He has also coauthored the award-winning book Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing and the book Driverless: Intelligent Cars and the Road Ahead. Forbes magazine named him one of the “World's Most Powerful Data Scientists”. His TED Talk on self-aware machines is one of the most viewed presentations on AI and robotics.

Grappling Spacecraft

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Glen Henshaw ◽  
Samantha Glassner ◽  
Bo Naasz ◽  
Brian Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Autonomous Systems ◽  
Space Station ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Robotic Systems ◽  
Robotic Arm ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Reliable Operation ◽  
New Techniques ◽  
The Core

This article provides a survey overview of the techniques, mechanisms, algorithms, and test and validation strategies required for the design of robotic grappling vehicles intended to approach and grapple free-flying client satellites. We concentrate on using a robotic arm to grapple a free-floating spacecraft, as distinct from spacecraft docking and berthing, where two spacecraft directly mate with each other. Robotic grappling of client spacecraft is a deceptively complex problem: It entails designing a robotic system that functions robustly in the visually stark, thermally extreme orbital environment, operating near massive and extremely expensive yet fragile client hardware, using relatively slow flight computers with limited and laggy communications. Spaceflight robotic systems are challenging to test and validate prior to deployment and extremely expensive to launch, which significantly limits opportunities to experiment with new techniques. These factors make the design and operation of orbital robotic systems significantly different from those of their terrestrial counterparts, and as a result, only a relative handful of systems have been demonstrated on orbit. Nevertheless, there is increasing interest in on-orbit robotic servicing and assembly missions, and grappling is the core requirement for these systems. Although existing systems such as the Space Station Remote Manipulator System have demonstrated extremely reliable operation, upcoming missions will attempt to expand the types of spacecraft that can be safely and dependably grappled and berthed. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems, Volume 5 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

The Pransky interview: Professor Moshe Shoham, Founder of Mazor Robotics and Microbot Medical

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 393-397
Author(s):  
Joanne Pransky
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Industrial Robot ◽  
Improve Patient Care ◽  
Guidance System ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Israel Institute ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Micro Robot ◽  
Disease Site ◽  
Institute Of Technology

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to present a “Q&A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of the Industrial Robot Journal as a method to impart the combined technological, business and personal experience of a prominent, robotic industry engineer-turned entrepreneur regarding the evolution, commercialization and challenges of bringing a technological invention to market. Design/methodology/approach – The interviewee is Professor Moshe Shoham, Director of the Robotics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. Professor Shoham is also the Founder of Mazor Robotics Ltd. and the co-founder of Microbot Medical. As a pioneer of new and developing fields in medical robotics, Shoham describes his major advancements and innovative approaches. Findings – Professor Moshe Shoham has BSc in Aeronautical Engineering, MSc and DSc in Mechanical Engineering from Technion, where he has been teaching for the past nearly 30 years, and is currently the Tamara and Harry Handelsman Academic Chair in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. The Technion is renowned for the ingenuity of its graduates, who comprise 70 per cent of Israel’s founders and managers of high-tech industries, making Israel the greatest concentration of high-tech start-up companies anywhere outside of Silicon Valley, California, USA. Along with Technion’s expert faculty, students and facilities, Professor Shoham founded Mazor Robotics in 2001 and co-founded Microbot Medical Ltd. in 2010. Originality/value – Professor Shoham, a worldwide acclaimed authority in the field of robotics whose life work is dedicated to developing technologies that improve patient care, is the inventor of the first commercially available mechanical guidance system for spine surgery, the Mazor Robotics Renaissance™ Guidance System. He is also the visionary and creator of the unprecedented Microbot ViRob, an Autonomous Advancing Micro Robot, <1 mm in diameter, which has the ability to crawl within cavities/lumens, allowing physicians to target a disease site with exquisite precision. His latest work includes a revolutionary swimming Micro Robot and the new Mazor Renaissance® Brain Surgery. Professor Shoham holds 30 patents and more than a dozen awards, including the recent prestigious 2013 Thomas A. Edison Patent Award and the election into the National Academy of Engineering.

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