MagicBots Galore: A Look at Multiple Robots

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion.

Humanoids Summit: 11–12 December 2024, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA

Enjoy today’s videos!

Step into the future of factory automation with MagicBot, the cutting-edge humanoid robots from Magiclab. Recently deployed to production lines, these intelligent machines are mastering tasks like product inspections, material transport, precision assembly, barcode scanning, and inventory management.

[ Magiclab ]

Some highlights from the IEEE / RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots – Humanoids 2024.

[ Humanoids 2024 ]

This beautiful feathered drone, PigeonBot II, comes from David Lentik’s lab at University of Groningen in the Netherlands. It was featured in Science Robotics just last month.

[ Lentink Lab ] via [ Science ]

Thanks, David!

In this video, Stretch AI takes a language prompt of “Stretch, put the toy in basket” to control Stretch to accomplish the task.

[ Hello Robot ]

Simone Giertz, “the queen of shitty robots,” interviewed by our very own Stephen Cass.

[ IEEE Spectrum ]

We present a perceptive obstacle-avoiding controller for pedipulation, i.e. manipulation with a quadrupedal robot’s foot.

[ Pedipulation ]

Kernel Foods has revolutionized fast food by integrating KUKA robots into its kitchen operations, combining automation with human expertise for consistent and efficient meal preparation. Using the KR AGILUS robot, Kernel optimizes processes like food sequencing, oven operations, and order handling, reducing the workload for employees and enhancing customer satisfaction.

[ Kernel Foods ]

If this doesn’t impress you, skip ahead to 0:52.

[ Paper via arXiv ]

Thanks, Kento!

The cuteness. I can’t handle it.

[ Pollen ]

A set of NTNU academics initiate a new research lab – called Legged Robots for the Arctic & beyond lab – responding to relevant interests within the NTNU student community. If you are a student and have relevant interests, get in touch!

[ NTNU ]

Extend Robotics is pioneering a shift in viticulture with intelligent automation at Saffron Grange Vineyard in Essex, addressing the challenges of grape harvesting with their robotic capabilities. Our collaborative project with Queen Mary University introduces a robotic system capable of identifying ripe grapes through AI-driven visual sensors, which assess ripeness based on internal sugar levels without damaging delicate fruit. Equipped with pressure-sensitive grippers, our robots can handle grapes gently, preserving their quality and value. This precise harvesting approach could revolutionise vineyards, enabling autonomous and remote operations.

[ Extend Robotics ]

Code & Circuit, a non-profit organization based in Amesbury, MA, is a place where kids can use technology to create, collaborate, and learn! Spot is a central part of their program, where educators use the robot to get younger participants excited about STEM fields, coding, and robotics, while advanced learners have the opportunity to build applications using an industrial robot.

[ Code & Circuit ]

During the HUMANOIDS Conference, we had the chance to speak with some of the true rock stars in the world of robotics. While they could discuss robots endlessly, when asked to describe robotics today in just one word, these brilliant minds had to pause and carefully choose the perfect response.

Personally I would not have chosen “exploding.”

[ PAL Robotics ]

Lunabotics provides accredited institutions of higher learning students an opportunity to apply the NASA systems engineering process to design and build a prototype Lunar construction robot. This robot would be capable of performing the proposed operations on the Lunar surface in support of future Artemis Campaign goals.

[ NASA ]

Before we get into all the other course projects from this term, here are a few free throw attempts from ROB 550’s robotic arm lab earlier this year. Maybe good enough to walk on the Michigan basketball team? Students in ROB 550 cover the basics of robotic sensing, reasoning, and acting in several labs over the course: here the designs to take the ball to the net varied greatly, from hook shots to tension-storing contraptions from downtown. These basics help them excel throughout their robotics graduate degrees and research projects.

[ University of Michigan Robotics ]

Wonder what a Robody can do? This. And more!

[ Devanthro ]

It’s very satisfying watching Dusty print its way around obstacles.

[ Dusty Robotics ]

Ryan Companies has deployed Field AI’s autonomy software on a quadruped robot in the company’s ATX Tower site in Austin, TX, to greatly improve its daily surveying and data collection processes.

[ Field AI ]

Since landing its first rover on Mars in 1997, NASA has pushed the boundaries of exploration with increasingly larger and more sophisticated robotic explorers. Each mission builds on the lessons learned from the Red Planet, leading to breakthroughs in technology and our understanding of Mars. From the microwave-sized Sojourner to the SUV-sized Perseverance—and even taking flight with the groundbreaking Ingenuity helicopter—these rovers reflect decades of innovation and the drive to answer some of science’s biggest questions. This is their evolution.