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.

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 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 robot-to-robot service encounter: an examination of the impact of inter-robot warmth

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (9) ◽  
pp. 15-27
Author(s):  
Magnus Söderlund
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Service Robots ◽  
Service Robot ◽  
Service Encounters ◽  
Experimental Setting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Robot Systems ◽  
Synthetic Agents ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This study aims to examine humans’ reactions to service robots’ display of warmth in robot-to-robot interactions – a setting in which humans’ impressions of a service robot will not only be based on what this robot does in relation to humans, but also on what it does to other robots. Design/methodology/approach Service robot display of warmth was manipulated in an experimental setting in such a way that a service robot A expressed low versus high levels of warmth in relation to another service robot B. Findings The results indicate that a high level of warmth expressed by robot A vis-à-vis robot B boosted humans’ overall evaluations of A, and that this influence was mediated by the perceived humanness and the perceived happiness of A. Originality/value Numerous studies have examined humans’ reactions when they interact with a service robot or other synthetic agents that provide service. Future service encounters, however, will comprise also multi-robot systems, which means that there will be many opportunities for humans to be exposed to robot-to-robot interactions. Yet, this setting has hitherto rarely been examined in the service literature.

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.

scholarly journals How will service robots redefine leadership in hotel management? A Delphi approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 2217-2237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shi Xu ◽  
Jason Stienmetz ◽  
Mark Ashton
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Leadership Role ◽  
Service Robots ◽  
Service Robot ◽  
Robotic Technology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Delphi Approach ◽  
The Future

Purpose Using the Delphi technique, this paper aims to investigate how human resource experts perceive service robots will impact leadership and human resource management in the hospitality industry. Design/methodology/approach A three-stage Delphi study with hotel industry human resource experts was conducted to identify the key trends and major challenges that will emerge in the next ten years and how leaders should deal with the challenges brought about by service robot technologies. Findings The results show that while service robots are anticipated to increase efficiency and productivity of hotel activities, they may also pose challenges such as high costs, skill deficits and significant changes to the organizational structure and culture of hotels. Therefore, the anticipated applications and integration of robotic technology will require leaders of the future to carefully consider the balance between the roles of service robots and human employees in the guest experience and to nurture a work environment that embraces open-mindedness and change. Originality/value This is the first type of study to examine hospitality leadership and human resource management in the context of robotized hotels. This study has taken an important step to understand the leadership role in robotized hotels from a human resource perspective and brings clarity as to how robotic technology can influence leadership in the future workplace.

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 service triad: an empirical study of service robots, customers and frontline employees

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaby Odekerken-Schröder ◽  
Kars Mennens ◽  
Mark Steins ◽  
Dominik Mahr
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Service Robots ◽  
Service Robot ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Frontline Employees ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Casual Dining ◽  
Utilitarian Value

PurposeRecent service studies suggest focusing on the service triad consisting of technology-customer-frontline employee (FLE). This study empirically investigates the role of service robots in this service triad, with the aim to understand the augmentation or substitution role of service robots in driving utilitarian and hedonic value and ultimately customer repatronage.Design/methodology/approachIn study 1, field data are collected from customers (n = 108) who interacted with a service robot and FLE in a fast casual dining restaurant. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to test hypotheses about the impact of service robots' anthropomorphism, social presence, value perceptions and augmentation opportunities in the service triad. In study 2, empirical data from a scenario-based experimental design (n = 361) complement the field study by further scrutinizing the interplay between the service robot and FLEs within the service triad.FindingsThe study provides three important contributions. First, the authors provide empirical evidence for the interplay between different actors in the “customer-FLE-technology” service triad resulting in customer repatronage. Second, the empirical findings advance the service management literature by unraveling the relationship between anthropomorphism and social presence and their effect on perceived value in the service triad. And third, the study identifies utilitarian value of service robots as a driver of customer repatronage in fast casual dining restaurants.Practical implicationsThe results help service managers, service robot engineers and designers, and policy makers to better understand the implications of anthropomorphism, and how the utilitarian value of service robots can offer the potential for augmentation or substitution roles in the service triad.Originality/valueBuilding on existing conceptual and laboratory studies on service robots, this is one of the first field studies on the service triad consisting of service robots – customers – frontline employees. The empirical study on service triads provides evidence for the potential of FLEs to augment service robots that exhibit lower levels of functional performance to achieve customer repatronage. FLEs can do this by demonstrating a high willingness to help and having excellent interactions with customers. This finding advocates the joint service delivery by FLE – service robot teams in situations where service robot technology is not fully optimized.

Assessing the hotel service robot interaction on tourists' behaviour: the role of anthropomorphism

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Wen Jia ◽  
Namho Chung ◽  
Jooyoung Hwang
Keyword(s):  
User Satisfaction ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Service Robots ◽  
Service Robot ◽  
Research Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Hotel Service ◽  
Human Likeness ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe main purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of service robots on hotel visitors' behaviour and to verify the role of anthropomorphism(human likeness) in customer satisfaction with robots.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey of 381 respondents was conducted, divided into three types of robots according to the level of anthropomorphism. The research model was thoroughly tested using the PLS-SEM method. Research model was tested thoroughly using the PLS-SEM method.FindingsThis study found that user satisfaction with service robots in a hotel had a positive impact on user satisfaction, attitude towards the hotel and room purchase intention. Moreover, our results showed that users were most likely to accept medium-human likeness robots and least likely to accept high–human likeness robots.Originality/valueThis study proposes influencing factors to be considered when researching hotel service robots, as well as practical suggestions for any hotel intending to use or currently using a service robot.

Impact of anthropomorphic features of artificially intelligent service robots on consumer acceptance: moderating role of sense of humor

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengying Zhang ◽  
Dogan Gursoy ◽  
Zhangyao Zhu ◽  
Si Shi
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Consumer Acceptance ◽  
Service Robots ◽  
Service Robot ◽  
Sense Of Humor ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Moderating Role

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of both physical and personality-related anthropomorphic features of an artificial intelligence service robot on the cognitive and affective appraisals and acceptance of consumers during service delivery. Design/methodology/approach The proposed hypotheses that investigate the effects of service robots’ physical appearance on the emphasis consumers place on each evaluation criteria they use in determining their willingness to accept the use of service robots in service delivery and the moderating role of sense of humor are tested by conducting two studies using scenario-based experiments. Findings The results show that humanlike appearance leads to higher performance expectancy, mascot-like appearance generates higher positive emotions and machine-like appearance results in higher effort expectancy. The effects of humanlike and mascot-like appearances on consumer acceptance are moderated by the sense of humor of service robots. However, the sense of humor effect is attenuated with a machine-like appearance owing to the lack of anthropomorphism. Practical implications This study provides crucial insights for hospitality managers who plan to use service robots in service delivery. The findings highlight the key roles of appearance type and sense of humor of service robots in influencing the appraisals and acceptance of consumers regarding the use of service robots in service delivery. Originality/value This study focuses on comparing the effects of traditional and mascot-like appearances of service robots on consumer appraisals and identifies sense of humor as a cute anthropomorphized personality trait of service robots.

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.

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