GineersNow Engineering Magazine Issue 005

WORLD’S FIRST ENGINEERING NEWS
FOR YOUNG BADASS ENGINEERS
JULY 2016 ISSUE NO. 005
MASDAR:
THE FUTURE OF
SUSTAINABLE CITY
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
WITH THE CEO
SPECIAL FEATURE
STORIES:
Future Cities
Smartest Cities in the World
Robotics
Artificial Intelligence
Deep Learning
Exoskeleton
Social Good Technologies
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
1

John Vauden
Senior Editor
Asia-Pacific
Hina Sapra
Senior Editor
South Asia
Therese Matheren
Senior Editor
North America
GINEERSNOW TEAM
Ems Bagatsing
Sales & Marketing Director
Ems@LincolnMartin.com
Robert Bagatsing
Editor-In-Chief
editor@GineersNow.com
Engr. Alice Hernandez
Senior Editor-At-Large
Charity Bagatsing
Senior Editor
North America
Engr. Dion Greg Reyes
Junior Editor
Engr. Cielo Panda
Junior Editor
Raymond Gerard del Valle
Junior Editor
Abhishek Tarafder
Matrix Media
Information Technology
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Video Editor
Creative & Layout
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Editor's
Note
The future is here and we can see
it everywhere. From the advanced
technology that helps us easily
navigate our way around the world
to the robotic technology we’re
using to make everyday life more
efficient. No more waiting lines, no
more harsh and awkward human
interactions from offices and
definitely a faster way to fix things
and heal people. Yes, the future
is here and we’re benefiting from
all the hard work engineers have
devoted to making it all happen.
In this issue, we bring you different
stories about how the world
interacts with robots and artificial
intelligence. Learn more about
cities that are setting an example
on today’s renewable-energy-driven
technologies and machines that can
work for the human race. Aren’t you
excited with what more engineers
can do for us now?
Whatever you need, there’s an
artificial intelligence program ready
to serve you. May it be one push of
a button or just one word uttered,
today’s AI has fully advanced and
developed into a machine that can
think like a human. Come to think
of it, there are robots out there that
looks just like a real person. Is this
a good thing or a bad thing for
the human race? I’ll let you be the
judge of that. A lot of experts have
different opinions on this matter
but one thing’s for sure, the world
may no longer be a place for only
humans and animals.
Let’s talk about futuristic cities, too.
While we can’t deny that majority of
today’s people are poverty-stricken,
there are rising cities and welldeveloped
places that have been
labeled as the cities of the future.
We’re not just talking about highrise
establishments here. We’re
seeing cities with the most advanced
technologies available to all of its
citizens. We’re talking about the use
of renewable energy to power these
places, which leads to a cleaner and
safer environments to live in. One
example of these projects is what
Masdar has accomplished so far
in Masdar City. We’re giving you
an exclusive interview with the
company’s CEO on our cover story
to let you know what exactly is the
company up to and how they can
set an example for other cities and
countries to follow.
As engineers, we’ll be taking on a
crucial job in providing the future
generation a place where they can
thrive more using the artificial
intelligence programs we’ll be
developing. It is our responsibility
to give them a place to live where
we can teach them that anything is
possible - something we’re tacking
on as well. Futuristic cities? Robots
that can follow our every demand?
Who knew that this day would
come? The engineers in the past
did. The engineers today believe
that as well. Let’s set an example for
the future engineers to think that as
well.

CONTENTS
PAGE
TITLE
PAGE
TITLE
06
COVER STORY
MASDAR: THE
FUTURE CITY
43
SCARLETT JOHANSSON
BECOMES A DOLL ROBOT
12
WORLD’S FIRST CHILD
EXOSKELETON HELPS
DISABLED KIDS TO WALK
44
HOW THE JETSONS
PREDICTED THE
FUTURE
15
ENGINEERS HELP
PARALYTICS TO GET BACK
ON THEIR FEET
48
THE QUEEN OF
USELESS ROBOTS
16
‘2045 INITIATIVE’: THE
TECHNOLOGY TO GAIN
ETERNAL LIFE
50
ROBOTS THAT WILL MAKE
THE KIDS WANT TO LEARN
MATH AND SCIENCE
17
THE MORAL AND ETHICAL
ISSUE WITH ROBOTS
56
FUTURISTIC CITIES
YOU'D WANT TO LIVE IN
20
MEET THE REAL JARVIS
FROM IRON MAN
58
6 GADGETS MADE
FROM LEGO BRICKS
26
SCIENTISTS ARE TEACHING
AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
SYSTEM TO TELL STORIES
BASED ON PHOTOS
60
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO
KNOW ABOUT ROBOTICS
ENGINEERS
30
BIG GUYS - HAWKING,
WOZNIAK, HASSABIS AND
MUSK ARE OPPOSING
AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS
62
HOW WOULD HUMANS
SURVIVE A CURRENT
ROBOT APOCALYPSE?
34
ROBOTS ARE THE FUTURE
OF CONSTRUCTION
64
HOW R2-D2 AND C-3PO
INSPIRED THOUSANDS
TO JOIN ROBOTICS
37
WORLD’S FIRST POLICE
ROBOT WORTH $3.2 BILLION
66
TOP 50 ROBOTICS
COMPANIES IN THE
WORLD
38
ELIOS: THE WORLD'S FIRST
COLLISION TOLERANT
DRONE
68
10 MOST FAMOUS
FICTIONAL ROBOTS

COVER STORY
MASDAR:
THE FUTURE CITY
MEET THE
COMPANY’S
CEO:
MOHAMED
JAMEEL AL
RAMAHI
I joined Masdar in 2008
as Head of Internal Audit
and Compliance. Later, I
was appointed Masdar’s
Director of Corporate Services
and Financial Affairs. I
subsequently became Chief
Financial Officer, and then
Chief Operating Officer of
Masdar. I was appointed
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
in February 2016.
In addition to my
responsibilities as CEO, I serve
on the board of a number of
prominent companies, joint
ventures and special entities,
including the Dudgeon
Offshore Wind Farm in the
UK, the Masdar Solar Wind
Cooperative, the Masdar
Investment Committee,
and Torresol Energy. Before
joining Masdar, I was head
of the Internal Audit and
Risk Management Office at
GASCO, a leading oil and gas
company based in Abu Dhabi.
I have a bachelor’s degree in
business administration and
finance from the University of
Evansville in the US.
KNOWING THE
COMPANY
Q: Are you an educational
institution, social enterprise,
non-profit or private
company?
Masdar is a commercially
driven renewable energy
company based in Abu
Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The company has a mission
to invest, incubate and
establish a new energy
industry in Abu Dhabi and
around the world. Masdar
is playing an important role
in extending Abu Dhabi’s
energy leadership beyond
hydrocarbons. Masdar is
delivering on its goal of
becoming an innovative,
holistic, ecosystem while
helping to realise a template
for sustainable urban
development. Masdar City
is the home of the Masdar
Institute of Science and
Technology, the focal point
of an innovation cluster
that is leading global
technology partnerships,
commercializing new
technologies and driving
real-world innovation.
Q: How big is your company?
Masdar was established in
2006 as a wholly owned
subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi
government’s Mubadala
Development Company.
Our company is located 17
6
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kilometers east-south-east of
the city of Abu Dhabi near
its international airport: our
operations span the globe
from Europe through the
Middle East and North Africa
(MENA) region to the Indian
Ocean, Asia and the Pacific
islands.
Q: Describe your mission,
vision and values.
Masdar is advancing
the development and
commercialization of
renewable energy and
sustainable technologies
in both developed and
developing markets. Through
initiatives such as Masdar
City, Masdar is helping
to realize a template – or
“greenprint” - for sustainable
urban development. Masdar
is realizing solutions and
technologies at the critical
nexus of water and energy
– in a region where water
is more important than oil.
Masdar is helping to equip
the region’s future leaders
in energy and sustainable
development with the skills
to succeed in an increasingly
diversified economy. Through
its diverse activities, Masdar
is raising awareness among
the wider community of the
importance and potential
of sustainability and clean
energy, helping to change
behavior and motivate action.
Q: Where is this company
headed? What’s your future
expansion plans?
Our long-term vision is to make
Abu Dhabi the preeminent
source of renewable energy
knowledge, development and
implementation, as well as
the world’s benchmark for
sustainable development.
In the next five years, we will
further develop Masdar City
as an innovation ecosystem.
Our aim is for 35 percent of
the planned built-up area of
the City to be complete within
5 years (up from 5 per cent
today) and to quadruple the
number of tenants in Masdar
City Free Zone. We will
continue adding residential
facilities, commercial facilities
and educational institutions,
as well as building out the
clean-tech R&D hub.
In clean energy, our goal is
to double the clean energy
capacity in our portfolio in the
next 10 years and to continue
improving energy access in
some of the most remote
areas of the world.
INTRODUCTION
Q: What is clean energy?
Clean energy can be defined
as sustainable and renewable
energy sources that increase
the global carbon footprint.
Masdar has been at the
forefront of the UAE’s efforts
to deploy clean energy at
home and abroad, while
driving sustainable economic
growth, employment,
innovation and prosperity.
Since its inception in 2006,
Masdar has positioned Abu
Dhabi on the front line
of clean energy research
and technology, investing
over US$2.7 billion in clean
energy projects around the
world, with nearly 1.7 GW of
renewable energy capacity
either in operation or under
development globally.
Masdar has 360-degree
expertise in renewable energy
projects, from development to
construction to operation: the
company now has projects in
the UAE, Spain, the United
Kingdom, Jordan, Mauritania,
Seychelles and the South
Pacific.
• The 630MW London Array
in the Thames Estuary,
UK, is Masdar’s biggest
JULY 2016
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7

international investment at
present and the largest wind
farm in the world currently in
operation
• Masdar has a 35% share
in the planned Dudgeon
offshore wind farm in Britain,
which is being developed
with the Norwegian partners
Statoil and Statkraft
• The Tafila Wind Farm in
Jordan is the first utility-scale
wind farm commissioned
in the region. The US$238
million project is capable
of producing 117MW
of electricity, delivering
400GWh of electricity
annually and displacing
235,000 tonnes of CO 2
• A pilot desalination
programme in Ghantoot, Abu
Dhabi, is producing 1,500
m3/day of potable water
over 15 months using four
unique technologies from
four international partners.
The programme is ultimately
aimed at the large-scale
deployment of one or more
of these energy-efficient
desalination technologies
in the UAE and potentially
across the MENA region, and
in other global locations.
• Masdar’s 100MW Shams 1
facility in the Western Region
of Abu Dhabi is still one of the
world’s largest concentrated
solar power plants, capable
of reducing CO 2
emissions
by up to 175,000 tonnes
annually.
• In partnership with ADNOC,
Masdar is developing a
Carbon, Capture, Usage
and Storage project that
sequesters industrial carbon
and enhances oil recovery
• Through the Ecomagination
2020 Partnership, Masdar
and GE are implementing the
first complete energy-neutral
wastewater treatment
process.
Why bother? What's the
importance of pursuing clean
energy?
It is crucial that we develop
clean energy to mitigate
climate change and address
domestic and global energy
demand. Our rapidly
urbanizing world will mean
that cities are likely to host
up to 70% of the world’s
population by 2050. We need
to reduce carbon emissions
and provide sufficient energy
for a rapidly growing global
population.
The UAE’s commitment to
generate 24 percent of its
electricity from clean energy
sources by 2021 shows both
our nation’s commitment
to climate action and its
willingness to invest in the
innovation needed to achieve
such an ambitious target.
THE MACRO
LEVEL OF
CLEAN
ENERGY
Q: Where are we today? What
is the current situation of
renewables?
Globally, an estimated
US$329 billion was invested
in new renewable energy
capacity last year, an all-time
high [2015 Bloomberg New
Energy Finance Report (http://
www.climateweeknyc.org/
news-media/clean-energyhit-record-investment-lastyear-bnef-report)].
Emerging
markets still account for a
relatively small proportion
of this expenditure, but the
Middle East and North Africa
(MENA) region will steadily
acquire a larger share of
newly installed renewables
capacity. At Masdar, we
are refocusing our efforts
on the further adoption of
clean energy and sustainable
development across MENA in
8
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics

2016, building on our many
successful projects overseas.
Q: Where should we be 10
years from now? Are we
on the right track? Are we
delayed? Are we progressing?
The business case for
renewable energy is now
beyond doubt. A recent
report by the International
Renewable Energy Agency
suggests that doubling the
share of renewables in the
global energy mix by 2030
could boost global GDP by
1%. That equates to more
than 1 trillion US dollars and
an estimated 24 million jobs.
Countries in arid and semiarid
regions are increasingly
setting renewable energy
targets in their energy mix as
demand grows, serving as a
boost for investments in solar
and wind power ventures.
At the same time, prices
are becoming increasingly
competitive.
MASDAR’S
INITIATIVES,
DEVELOPMENTS
AND
ACHIEVEMENTS
Q: What are the initiatives /
projects that you are doing
(or have done) that will drive
low or zero emission?
Masdar is a for-profit,
renewable energy company
that has been fulfilling a
mission to invest, incubate
and advance the new
energy economy around the
world since the company’s
inception in 2006.
Our completed projects are:
• Shams 1, Abu Dhabi (100
MW CSP plant)
• Masdar City, Abu Dhabi:
10 MW PV array and 1MW
roof-top complex, Abu
Dhabi
• Solar Hub testing and R&D
facility, Abu Dhabi
• Renewable Energy
Desalination pilot
programme
• London Array, UK (630 MW
offshore wind farm)
• Gemasolar solar power
plant, Spain (20 MW)
• Valle 1 and 2 solar plants,
Spain (100 MW)
• Tafila Wind Farm, Jordan
(117 MW)
• 600 solar home systems in
27 villages in Afghanistan
• Sheikh Zayed Solar Power
Plant, Mauritania (15 MW PV
plant)
• Port Victoria Wind Power
Project, the Republic of
Seychelles (6 MW)
• Siwa Solar PV Plant, Egypt
(10 MW)
• Red Sea Solar Power Plants,
Egypt (14 MW)
• Al Wadi Al Jadeed Solar PV
Plants, Egypt (6 MW)
• 7000 Solar Home Systems
in Egypt
• Kiribati: 500kW Solar PV &
Water Protection
• Fiji: LaKaRo 525kW Solar
PV plant
• Samoa: 550kW Cyclone-
Proof Wind Farm
• Tonga: Vava’u 512 kW Solar
PV plant
• Tuvalu: 500kW Rooftop
Solar PV plant
• Vanuatu: Port Vila 767kW
Solar PV plant
• Solomon Islands – Solar PV
Plant in Honiara
• Marshall Islands – Solar
Water Collection in Majuro
• The Republic of Nauru –
Nauru Solar PV plant
• Palau – Solar Penetration
and Water Access projects
• FSM – Solar PV plant in
Pohnpei
Our projects currently under
development are:
• Carbon Capture, Usage &
Storage project, Abu Dhabi
• Waste to Energy projects
• Dudgeon, UK (402 MW
offshore wind farm)
• A 50MW onshore wind farm
in Dhofar, Oman
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
9

• A 200MW PV plant in Jordan
• Additional PV projects in
Mauritania with a total
capacity of 12MW
Q: What are the future
innovations that your
company is currently
pursuing?
The pilot research projects
located at Masdar City, many
of them led by or closely
involving MI scientists and
students, are accelerating
the acquisition of scientific
knowledge in the clean tech
industry and paving the way
towards the development
of real-world commercial
applications. As the
surrounding community at
Masdar City grows, the R&D
cluster will also expand.
The exciting and innovative
new projects currently being
developed at Masdar City
include:
• Eco-Villa Prototype: a project
incorporating innovative
water- and energy-saving
technologies and design
features that significantly
reduce its environmental
impact compared to standard
villas. The ‘Net Zero Energy’
prototype equipped with 80
rooftop PV panels can supply
up to 40,000 kWh per year
to the national grid, easily
offsetting its own electricity
requirements.
• Seawater Energy &
Agriculture System (SEAS):
a project supporting the
nascent aviation biofuel
industry in the Middle East
and promoting increased
food security through the
cultivation of oil-rich, salttolerant
plants from the
waste water of an industrial
fish farm. SEAS is an initiative
of the Sustainable Bioenergy
Research Consortium
established by the Masdar
Institute, Etihad Airways,
Boeing and Honeywell UOP.
• Electric Energy Storage
Solutions Hub: exploring the
potential of electrochemical
technologies to enhance the
capacity of renewable energy
systems to store power,
enabling their wider adoption
in the energy mix.
• Geothermal Energy: a
project evaluating a possible
power source for district
cooling. With geothermal
wells already sunk to a depth
of 2,500 metres within the
grounds of Masdar City, the
research initiative is the first
of its type in the Middle East
and may be converted into
a full-fledged demonstration
project.
• The Masdar Solar Hub:
Photovoltaic (PV) Test Centre:
operated in partnership with
the Masdar Institute and TÜV
Rheinland, the facility provides
independent measurement of
the performance, reliability
and durability of PV modules,
their panel coatings and other
related technical equipment.
• The Masdar Solar Hub:
CPV Testing Facility: a
joint initiative between
Masdar and Instituto de
Sistemas Fotovoltaicos de
Concentración (ISFOC)
of Spain, researching the
performance of Concentrated
Photovoltaic (CPV) systems
in the Gulf’s desert climate
conditions.
Q: What impact have you
delivered (social, economic
and environmental)? Do you
have metrics or statistics of
your accomplishments?
Masdar has 10 years of
experience as a renewable
energy developer and
investor, building state-ofthe-art
projects, from large,
utility-scale power plants to
community grid projects to
individual solar house systems
in locations around the world.
In total, Masdar has invested
more than US$2.7 billion in
clean energy generation.
Our already-operational solar
and wind projects have a total
peak capacity of nearly 1,000
megawatts (MW) and are
displacing nearly 2.5 million
metric tons (2,389,725 m/t)
of carbon dioxide per year.
Another 700MW of capacity is
currently under development.
Among the most notable of
our clean energy projects is the
630MW London Array, which
is the largest offshore wind
project in the world currently
in operation. The landmark
Gemasolar concentrated solar
power (CSP) plant in Spain
was the first utility-scale solar
plant to deliver electricity to
the grid 24 hours a day.
Masdar City’s 10MW
photovoltaic array produces
about 17,500 megawatthours
of clean electricity
annually and offsets 15,000
tonnes of carbon emissions
per year. The plant consists of
87,780 multi-crystalline and
thin-film modules supplied by
Suntech and First Solar.
Masdar also manages the
Zayed Future Energy Prize.
From ensuring access to
modern energy in rural African
villages, to empowering
Bangladeshi women with
careers as solar technicians,
more than 202 million people
around the world have
experienced the sustainable
actions of the Zayed Future
Energy Prize winners. Through
progressive achievements
recognized by the awards,
water security is now a
reality for millions of families
across Bangladesh, India,
Ghana and the Philippines.
Renewable energy sources
supply electricity to 60 million
people, and enough carbon
emissions have been avoided
to offset the price of global
deforestation for a year.
The Zayed Future Energy
Prize’s Global High Schools
category was launched in 2012
10
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics

as part of the UAE leadership’s
commitment to the Sustainable
Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative.
Since the launch of this category,
nearly 2,000 students have
participated in projects run by
award-winning schools and
academies. Over 9,000 students
in total have benefitted along
with 37,000 people living in local
communities. Almost 1.5 million
kWh have been generated, solar
panels with a total capacity
of 263 kW installed and CO2
emissions cut by over 1,000
tonnes.
Our annual Sustainability Report
for 2015 demonstrates that we
have firm foundations to build on
by outlining a range of significant
achievements. During 2015, we
secured the production of 2,962
gigawatt hours of total renewable
energy, displacing a total of 1.39
million tonnes of carbon. Masdar
City’s personal rapid transport
(PRT) system was used by more
than 33,000 passengers each
month on average during the
period. Our attractiveness as a
business environment was further
illustrated by the 64 percent
increase in registered companies
in Masdar Free Zone (MFZ) last
year.
FACING
CHALLENGES
& PROVIDING
SOLUTIONS
Q: What are the stumbling blocks
or bottlenecks in the renewable
industry?
From a wider industry
perspective, one of the main
technical hurdles for sustainable
renewable energy, and therefore
one of the main points of focus
in terms of innovation, is energy
storage. With effective storage
technology in place, energy from
renewable sources will evolve
from its traditional peak-sharing
energy providing role to providing
reliable base-load generating
capacity, enabling electricity
grids to absorb even more clean
power. Overall, renewable energy
is the fastest growing power
sector worldwide, accounting
for the majority of new installed
capacity, so the future for the
industry is bright indeed.
Q: How do we provide cheap
energy in poverty stricken areas?
Masdar has led the way in
providing renewable energy to
remote regions and communities
away from the national grid.
For example, Masdar has led a
UAE initiative to bring secure
sources of renewable energy to
11 remote Pacific Island counties.
These projects include innovative
solar and wind solutions that have
provided 6.5MW of clean energy
and saved US$1 million dollars in
diesel fuel imports.
The most important consideration
when designing energy access
projects in remote areas is to
consider the specific needs of the
community and of the geography.
No two projects should be the
same. For example, our
project in Samoa features
collapsible wind turbines due
to the prevalence of cyclones.
ADVICE TO
THE YOUNG
ENGINEERS
The momentum towards
the widespread adoption of
sustainable and renewable
energy can only be maintained
through the collective action
of our young scientific,
technological and engineering
talent.
My advice to young engineers
would be – think big and work
hard. There is no limit to what
you can achieve with bold ideas,
dedication and determination.
You have the power to create
the new innovations that will
secure our future.
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
11

WORLD’S FIRST CHILD
EXOSKELETON HELPS
DISABLED KIDS TO WALK
We have already seen many exoskeletons being developed for quite
some time, and most of them have been created especially for
elderly workers and for people achieving extraordinary strength. This
company however, has developed an exoskeleton made especially
for children with disabilities.
The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) has developed the
world’s first child exoskeleton which is designed to help children with
spinal muscular atrophy. Spinal muscular atrophy is a degenerative
illness which affects one in ten thousand babies in Spain.
This exoskeleton weighs 12 kilos, and is made of aluminium and
titanium. It is designed to help the patients walk—for some, for
the first time. This exoskeleton will also be used in physiotherapy
in hospitals to prevent secondary effects that are associated with
the loss of mobility in this illness. This technology is currently in the
preclinical phase and has been patented and licensed by CSIC and
its technology-based business unit, Marsi Bionics.
12
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
Photo by: Engadget

TINY ORIGAMI
ROBOT REMOVES
SWALLOWED
BATTERIES AND
MARBLES
Good news for parents
and toddlers everywhere.
No need to worry about
young kids accidentally
swallowing a battery or a
marble. Scientists from MIT,
the University of Sheffield
and Tokyo Institute of
Technology have developed
a robot that can remove
eaten batteries and marbles.
It’s an ingestible origami
robot that unfolds itself from
the capsule as soon as it
enters the stomach. It crawls
along the stomach wall and
detects the small object
and wraps itself around it,
then remove it. Scientists
also makes it possible for
the robot to help in healing
wounds inside the digestive
system.
Professor Danial Rus, leader
of the group behind this
origami robot and director
of MIT’s Computer Science
and Artificial Intelligence
Laboratory (CSAIL), said:
“It’s really exciting to see our
small origami robots doing
Photo by: MIT News
something with potential
important applications
to health care. For
applications inside the
body, we need a small,
controllable, untethered
robot system. It’s really
difficult to control and
place a robot inside
the body if the robot is
attached to a tether.”
This small robot works
without wires since it can
be controlled by magnetic
waves. It is encased in a
piece of ice so that it can
be swallowed easily.
Every year, around 3,500
small batteries are
swallowed by toddlers. If
not removed immediately,
it can cause stomach
lining burns.
A ROBOT DID A
SURGERY WITHOUT
THE HELP OF ANY
DOCTOR
It’s not new that robots have
assisted doctors in medical
operations and surgeries, but
recent experiment indicates
that robots alone can do
the job themselves – yup,
with the doctor no longer
in the operating room. This
is what can be derived from
an experiment with an
autonomous robot named
Smart Tissue Autonomous
Robot or STAR, who made
surgical stitches with pigs.
Composed of a robotic arm,
a suturing tool and imaging
technologies, STAR operates
using a computer program
which has the intelligence
to perform surgical practices,
especially stitches.
It was found out that the
robots were as good as, if
not better, than the stitches
made by skilled surgeons.
Peter Kim, the study’s senior
author, believes that if robots
can do it on pigs, they can
also do it to human patients.
He said, “The main message
is that by giving surgeons
Photo by: Medifit Biologicals
tools that are intelligent,
whether autonomous or
semi-autonomous, you can
make outcomes better.”
Surgeons have the tendency
to have tremors during
operations, which robots
do not have. This is what
autonomous robots can
offer far more than the
humans: consistency. Having
autonomous robots in
operating rooms can reduce
human errors and improve
efficiency, surgical time and
access to quality surgeons
in some of the 44.5 million
soft-tissue surgeries in the
United States a year.
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
13

A revolutionary device is
now being developed
in the laboratory of
AndrosRobotics (AR) LLC
which will help stroke
patients and physical
therapists in gait training.
The device is called the
Robotic Leg Advancement
Device (R-LAD).
The device will primarily
help physical therapists in
administering gait training.
It will reduce the number of
physical therapists required
in treating a patient from
2 or 3 to just one, without
compromising the gait
training therapy. But it
isn’t designed to replace
the therapists and is meant
to compliment them.
NEW ROBOTIC DEVICE
TO ASSIST PHYSICAL
THERAPISTS
R-LAD is the brainchild
of Dr. Maciej Pietrusinski,
Founder and President
of AR, whose career is
dedicated to medical
robotics. The device
is a by-product of Dr.
Pietrusinski’s Ph.D.
project which aimed to
develop a robotic system
for controlling pelvic
motion during therapy.
The original system was
too complicated and too
expensive which led to the
simpler R-LAD device.
A prototype was made
thanks to a $225k grant
from National Science
Foundation. This grant
paved the way for R-LAD
to place third among
664 submissions in the
International Robotics
for Good competition in
Dubai.
Photo by: Google/Sites
14
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics

Photo by: Adrian Malloch
ENGINEERS HELP
PARALYTICS TO
GET BACK ON
THEIR FEET
The Rex Bionics Group is a leading
technology based company that
produces robotic walking devices.
Paralytics in wheel chairs will now
be able to walk, all thanks to this
company’s innovation. The robotic
innovation’s physical appearance is
similar to a human exoskeleton, a sort
of robotic suit, which could be the
next alternative for wheelchairs.
Rex Bionics uses advanced
technological solutions, precise
engineering, electromechanical
actuators and exclusive system
of network to make this awesome
robotics device possible. The primary
concern of the robotic exoskeleton
has been to improve the capabilities
of the people of military ground. The
materials that are used to build it
are lightweight, so that the person
will be able to maneuver the device
comfortably. The individual will strap
themselves to the exoskeleton with
the help of several Velcro and bucklestraps
that are strapped around the
legs and the belt wraps around the
waist. Unlike most exoskeletons, REX
is controlled through a joystick that is
placed in the waist level of the user.
With Rex, an individual can make
any movement like walking, moving
sideways, climbing up and down the
stairs, and even turning around. It is
convenient to move on any surface
may it be on slopes, ramps or flat
surfaces.
It has a battery that can be
recharged and can run for around
two hours. However, prior to
purchasing a Rex, the person needs
to consult a physician and qualified
physical therapist to make sure that
it is suitable for them. In order to
use Rex, a person’s height must be
between 4’8’’- 6’4’’, weight less
than 220lb and a waist dimension
of less than 15”.
Rex Bionics ensures that they instruct
their customers well on how to use
it. They mention that it is suitable
for any manual wheelchair user
to operate with the help of hand
controls. This device has proved to
be very helpful for the paralytics.
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
15

‘2045 INITIATIVE’:
THE TECHNOLOGY TO
GAIN ETERNAL LIFE
Dmitry Itskov, a Russian media mogul and multi-millionaire,
has one goal: to be able to use technology to live forever. To
be able to do this, he is currently heading a science-based
project called the ‘2045 initiative’ which aims to “upload”
human consciousness into an online avatar that can live
forever.
Itskov has given millions of dollars into pioneering the
research since the initiative was launched. His team of
scientists, believe that the human brain is very similar to a
computer and will eventually be able to be transferred to
upgradable “bodies”.
Itskov claims that he has upped the urgency of his research.
"If there is no immortality technology, I'll be dead in the
next 35 years," he says in an upcoming documentary,
The Immortalist. “The ultimate goal of my plan is to
transfer someone's personality into the new artificial carrier.
Different scientists call it uploading or they call it mind
transfer. I prefer to call it personality transfer."
Photo by: International Business Times
16
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics

THE MORAL AND ETHICAL
ISSUE WITH ROBOTS
Photo by: EW.com
Photo by: geeksofdoom.com
Take a look at science fiction
and you will find innumerable
examples of robots gone
evil. From the popular
Skynet and Terminators to
HAL 9000 to Ultron, there
are many robots that are
out to destroy humanity. Of
course, such stories may be a
bit of a stretch. Nonetheless,
there is a genuine concern
about artificially intelligent
robots but it’s not because
people worry about these
robots taking over the world.
The concern is about whether
the robots in question are
capable of taking the right
moral choice at the right
time.
Thousands of scientists
and tech experts such as
Stephen Hawking, Steve
Wozniak and Elon Musk have
agreed to get autonomous
weapons such as drones
banned. Such weapons are
capable of identifying and
destroying targets without
human intervention. As scary
as that sounds, the actual
applications may be more
mundane. Nonetheless, it
may spark off another arms
race.
Jerry Kaplan, a scholar
of artificial intelligence,
believes that morality is
essential to robots. After all,
humans can end up making
some extremely silly and bad
choices when it comes to
their robots. After all, they
may ask the robot to fetch
something quickly. Now,
that may turn to be very bad
if the robot ends up hurting
people when fetching the
desired item.
Another interesting test
proposed by Jerry Kaplan is
the driving test. Self-driving
cars need to make a very
crucial decision when it comes
to avoiding a major accident.
For example, should the car
swerve to save pedestrians
and harm the occupants or
the reverse? Now that is a
moral conundrum that even
humans find difficult to
agree on. Kaplan declares
that machines by their very
nature are psychopaths.
Therefore, it becomes crucial
that robots are taught
morality and ethics. A lofty
goal? Well, we need that or
Skynet is a possibility.
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
17

It’s Scary What AI Can Do
Artificial Intelligence has come
a long way after its introduction
in 1950’s. But what if robots and
Artificial Intelligence replace the
human race as shown in the scifi
movies? Sounds intimidating,
right? Some eminent personalities
like Stephen Hawking seems to be
bothered about this same issue for
quite some time now.
Nevertheless, reality tells us that
there is nothing to worry about.
The concern of the people is mostly
compelled by Hollywood movies.
The fact is that though the field
of artificial intelligence might be
making huge progress but it is
nowhere near being a threat yet.
There will be enough time to gauge
the problem and solve it.
This does not necessarily mean that
the issue can be left to be ignored.
In any case, if you look into the
matter very closely you will notice
that artificial intelligence needs to
reach to some point where they will
be able to think all by themselves
and evolve into something all by
themselves which we will not be
perceive and control.
There is no reason to think that
artificial intelligence will rise up
against us one day in an attempt
to break free from the constraints of
humanity. When you come to think
of it logically, you will realize that
if you have a robot that performs
according to your instruction, then
how can you wake up one morning
to find the robot to be doing some
other tasks which it has not been
programmed to do? No way! They
are not human beings that they will
not have their feelings and opinions
about something. They do not have
dreams and desires, and they work
according to the goals that we set
for them.
You might want to ask, is there
nothing to worry about? Well, not
really, not at least at present. For
now you can enjoy the privileges
provided by the AIs.
Photo by: Technologyreview.com
Photo by: t-online.de
Photo by: consciouslifenews.com
left:: Stephen Hawking
below: Michio Kaku
18
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics

MEET ASUS’ ZENBO:
THE FAMILY’S
PERSONAL ASSISTANT
ROBOT
Asus has just unveiled a
cute talking robot named
Zenbo. It was presented at
this week’s Computex trade
show in Taipei, it’s priced at
$599.
Zenbo is an adorablydesigned,
friendly home robot
which generally provides
assistance, entertainment
and companionship to
families and it helps address
the different needs of the
family members. It has
numerous capabilities like
moving independently
and understanding spoken
commands.
In Asus’ Zenbo video
showed some of the robot’s
capabilities, like giving
reminders, interacting with
family members, telling
stories to the children, movie
streaming, and its face is
touch screen too!—which
helps the family to connect
and browse through the
internet.
The Chairman of Asus
Jonney Shih presented and
demonstrated Zenbo at a
press conference in Taipei,
he gave it various voice
commands and asked it
questions as it rolled on the
stage.
A big reason for Asus’s
creation of Zenbo is that it
could help assist the elderly.
According to Asus, Zenbo
“helps to bridge the digital
divide between generations”
by allowing seniors to make
video calls and use social
networking with simple voice
commands.
Zenbo can also connect to a
smart bracelet which alerts
relatives via a smartphone
app if their elderly relative
has a fall.
Photo by: Android Community
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
19

MEET
THE REAL
JARVIS
FROM
IRON MAN
Autonomous, a company
based in the United
States will be offering
us, mere mortals, the
opportunity to purchase
Maya, a Personal Robot
for US$1499 come the
middle of 2016. Maya’s
Kickstarter program
had 274 backers pledge
$161,537.00 to get the
project off the ground and
it seems the first of 300
of these Robotic Personal
assistants will be born very
soon.
Some cynics have ridiculed
the concept, and sure,
the design may look like
the unplanned progeny
of a Tennis racquet, iPad
and Robo Vac after a
swinger’s party. But the
problems that was solved
and the engineering
effort that has gone into
the making of Maya is
simply breathtaking!! The
Photo by: Cloud Front
20
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics

company claims “She’s the
whole package: your very
own personal assistant,
photographer, storyteller,
telepresence device
& the smartest home
automation system.”
Sounds good to me, and
if the promotional videos
are to be believed she will
be effective to the point of
being a nagging nuisance!
But despite this, the
company is dedicated to
the development of such
devices and has gone to
painstaking measures to
find the best componentry
available in the market
today. If you fancy yourself
as a tech genius and
would like to be part of the
development process, the
company offers a research
version called Deep Bot
for US$999. Though it
looks like something an
alien race would use in a
death squad, Deep Bot is
creating an open source
opportunity for anyone
willing to contribute
to the evolution of this
technology.
While I think many of
the features of Maya
are already done well by
people, I think the concept
is pretty darn clever! The
discussion and research
it will foster, will make
a huge contribution to
how we can develop the
technology to aid us in
our daily lives. Who knows,
with further development
of these devices, we
might even be able to
program Maya to match
the owner’s preference of
assistance like aiding the
disabled and the elderly.
Photo by: Autonomous
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
21

THIS
ROBOT
HAND CAN
LEARN
FROM ITS
MISTAKES
Many robots nowadays can
do a variety of tasks ranging
from easy to difficult.
They are used in different
industries, but mostly in
manufacturing. Yet while
these robots have an edge in
specific tasks, they can’t do
a given list of chores or learn
certain skills on their own.
Now a new robot hand can
learn how to master new
abilities over time, and it
doesn’t need help from its
programmers. This extradexterous
robotic hand
is the product of study
by 3 researchers from the
University of Washington.
They call this the Adroit
manipulation system, and
presented it on Tuesday at
Photo by: Turner
the International Conference
on Robotics and Automation
in Stockholm.
If you’re familiar with Rosie,
the robot maid from the
Jetsons, the Adroit system
is somewhat similar to its
technology. Its hardware
accomplishes tasks better
than humans and is
controlled by a “Brain”
which learns—just like the
human mind. Vikash Kumar,
the lead researcher, and his
team focused on building a
robot that could do general
tasks and be able to adapt.
According to the researchers,
their creation can be used in
many applications like space
exploration and healthcare.
Photo by: Youtube/ ADROIT Manipulation Platform
22
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics

WHAT HAPPENS
WHEN COMPUTERS
START TO LEARN
ON THEIR OWN
How do computers learn something new? One might say
programming, but it involves telling the computer every
little step that it needs to perform in order to complete the
new task. You need to know the steps yourself in order to
teach the computer. However, what do you do when you
don’t know the steps yourself?
This is where machine learning comes in. With this
technology, the computer is made to learn things and
processes on its own. Jeremy Howard is a specialist in this
field. He gave a TED Talk to show how much machine
learning has evolved and how it will begin to affect the
world at large.
The first example of machine learning took place in 1956
when a guy named Arthur Samuel wanted his computer to
be good enough at checkers to beat him. His solution was
to make the computer keep playing checkers against itself
and learning from the games. Suffice to say, it worked
so well that the computer ended up defeating the state
champion of Connecticut.
Photo by: Stanford Info Lab
Today, examples of machine learning
are all around us. The most common
application is the search engine. Google
makes use of machine learning to get
its search engine locate the information
that you actually want. Remember those
recommendations shown in Amazon?
Those recommendations are provided by
machine learning algorithms. Pretty nifty,
right? Well, it can be creepy too like those
friend recommendations in LinkedIn.
Photo by: Your News Wire
Take for example the team which created
a computer program for automatic drug
discovery. What’s cool is that the team
did not have any knowledge in biology or
medicine. They simply used what is called
deep learning. Deep learning allows
computers to actually learn Chinese.
Now, what does that mean for people
and their jobs? We might be heading into
another Industrial Revolution, except, the
results might not pretty. After all, deep
learning will allow computers to perform
80% of human jobs easily.
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
23

ATLAS THE ROBOT DOESN'T
WANT TO BE PUSHED
AROUND ANYMORE
It’s 2016 and these engineers have finally
programmed a robot that can’t be pushed
around anymore. Boston Dynamics, an
engineering and robotics design company,
has just released an updated version of Atlas.
This company is where people from the
military and even the entertainment industry
turn to when they need help with specialized
robots.
And as expected, Google owns this company.
In its Youtube video, it has described its latest
addition to the company’s weird but very
innovative collection of robots:
“A new version of Atlas, designed to operate
outdoors and inside buildings. It is specialized
for mobile manipulation. It is electrically
powered and hydraulically actuated. It uses
sensors in its body and legs to balance and
LIDAR and stereo sensors in its head to
avoid obstacles, assess the terrain, help with
navigation and manipulate objects. This
version of Atlas is about 5' 9" tall (about a
head shorter than the DRC Atlas) and weighs
180 lbs.”
Atlas can now walk and move just like a
normal human being. It can even stack boxes
on its own. One feature that makes this latest
version remarkable is its ability to get back
right up after it has been pushed over by a
stick.
Is this the beginning of robots finally sticking
up to itself and eventually picks a fight with
humans? Are we seeing a possible humanrobot
war in the future? Will these robots
evolve into something that would make them
our enemies?
Future enemies or not, these robots will be
used to help soldiers carry equipments and
probably replace humans in deployment to
dangerous areas. So far, Boston Dynamics
tests its robots’ efficiency by treating them
to different kinds of tortures like kicking them
and making them walk in icy steps.
Still brutal even for robots. Good thing they
don’t feel anything.
Photo by: 4erevolution
24
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics

Photo by: UAH
AUTONOMOUS
ROBOTS CAN
ALSO SAVE
LIVES
Science is doing everything in its
power to bridge the gap between
humans and robots. The students of
University of Alabama in Huntsville
(UAH) and their adviser have built
an autonomous robot that has
managed to grab a lot of attention.
There are a lot of robots out there, so
what is so special about the robot?
The project that they are developing
teaches the robots the way they
will control themselves in certain
environments. These robots function
primarily like driverless cars.
Dr. Farbod Fahimi, along with
mechanical engineering graduate
Sai Susheel Praneeth Kode and his
research assistant, Tevon Walker,
an undergraduate Computer
Engineering Major, has been working
on the project for more than one
year.
They have written a code and
inserted it into the robot which
will make the robot function. The
robot has a GPS system to be
able to detect its surroundings.
It is supposed to function in an
unfamiliar environment without any
kind of assistance from you. You just
let it do the task. That’s it; but it can
be operated by a remote control if
you desire.
The robot is so smart that it can
detect the surroundings and report
about its conditions to you. That
way, it can also cut off human
element when it is not required.
At present, the robot is working
according to the inputs that they
are giving but they are unsure as
to how accurate the robot executes
the code. However, what is amazing
about this robot is that this has
the capability to adjust its error
automatically. Somehow, their robot
fixes a problem that their makers
cannot fix.
This robot is definitely opening up
new opportunities in the field of
autonomous robots. With time,
these kind of robots will come out
of the laboratory and find its place
in the hands of the military and
emergency response where they are
needed the most.
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
25

SCIENTISTS
ARE TEACHING
AN ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
SYSTEM TO TELL
STORIES BASED
ON PHOTOS
26
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics

Photo by: Pinterest
Scientists will soon prove
that Artificial Intelligence
may be able to embody the
saying “A picture is worth a
thousand words,” because
now, they are teaching
programs to tell a story
based entirely from pictures.
According to the researchers,
computers will soon be able
to explain what is happening
in videos, just like people do.
Scientists at Microsoft
Research with their
colleagues are developing
a system that can
automatically describe
images just like a person
would tell a story. Their
objective is not only to let
the system enumerate the
objects in the picture, but to
explain what is happening
in the photo and how it can
make a person feel. In other
words, they are giving the AI
storytelling capabilities.
For example, if a person is
shown a picture of a man in
a tuxedo and a woman in a
long, white dress, instead of
saying. “Bride and groom,”
they would say “My best
friend got married. They look
happy, and it was a beautiful
wedding.”
According to study senior
author Margaret Mitchell,
a computer scientist at
Microsoft Research, "The
goal is to help give AIs more
human-like intelligence, to
help it understand things on
a more abstract level — what
it means to be fun or creepy
or weird or interesting.”
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
27

AN AI CAN NOW
READ AND ANSWER
QUESTIONS BASED
ON NEWS ARTICLES
In the future, you may
be able to chat with your
computer about the daily
news headlines, because
now, an AI is being taught
how to read, analyze and
answer questions about a
news article accurately.
One of Computer Science’s
goals is to be able to
create AI systems that can
learn humanity’s existing
information. According to
Chris Manning at Standford
University, “Computers
don’t have the kind of
general knowledge and
common sense of how the
world works [from reading]
about things in novels or
watch[ing] sitcoms,”
Last year, Google’s
DeepMind team got a series
of articles from the Daily Mail
website and CNN to help
train an algorithm, so that
it can read and understand
short stories. The researchers
used the bulleted summaries
of the articles to create
short and simple questions
which trained the algorithm
to search for the article key
points.
Now, a group led by Manning
has designed an algorithm
that was able to beat
DeepMind’s results by 10
percent on the CNN articles
and 8 percent for Daily Mail
articles. Overall, it got a score
of 70 percent.
“Some of the stuff they
had just causes needless
complications. You get rid
of that and the numbers go
up.” Manning said.
Photo by: Makeuseof
28
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics

NASA’S
CURIOSITY
ROVER TO
SAMPLE
WATER ON
MARS
NASA scientists have been
searching for liquid water
on mars, and they’ve found
hints. Now, they want to
have a closer look at it. NASA
revealed that the Curiosity
rover will be investigating
recurring slope lineae—
the dark narrow streaks on
the above photo—around
Mars’ Gale Crater hoping to
find water.
It will first take a photo
using its mast camera to
make sure that there really
is water. If it does find
water, the machine will
go and get samples. The
agency is expecting to take
photos within a year.
However, finding water
doesn’t mean Curiosity will
find life. As we all know,
Mars’ harsh conditions like
fierce radiation might have
prevented life in the first
place. We may take a look
at this investigation as a
stepping stone for mankind.
By getting results, the
findings Curiosity will collect
may help plan a mission
for finding signs of life. A
small success in this trip may
lead to greater things in the
future.
Photo by: Express
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
29

BIG GUYS - HAWKING,
WOZNIAK, HASSABIS
AND MUSK ARE OPPOSING
AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS
30
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
Until now, it was just in the
science fiction movies, but
now, it is known that the
“killer robots” are possible.
Throughout the world, there
are around 40 countries
that are engaged in building
autonomous robots.
Probably, the day is not far
when the humanity has to be
on war against the machines
for their survival. There
are talks that the world is
nearing an autonomous
arms race. To stop this kind of
a destructive war, which can
have a devastating impact
on the entire humanity,
some great scientists of the
world have come together.
They have filed a petition to
the governments all around
the world to put ban on
autonomous weapons. There
are some high profile names
on the list of petitioners
including Prof. Stephen
Hawking, Tesla’s CEO Elon
Musk, Google DeepMind
CEO Demis Hassabis and
Apple co-founder Steve
Wozniak. They have joined
hands to put a ban on the
designing and development
of weapons that can
autonomously “select and
engage targets without
human interventions.”
The letter of declaration
states: “AI technology has
reached a point where the
deployment of [autonomous
weapons] is – practically
if not legally – feasible
within years, not decades,

Photo by: Hawking
Photo by: Woz
Photo by: speakerpedia
Photo by: Ted
and the stakes are high:
autonomous weapons have
been described as the third
revolution in warfare, after
gunpowder and nuclear
arms.”
Hawkings and Musk
reiterated that mankind’s
biggest existential threat is
to develop an AI that could
spell the end of the human
race.
A few of the early examples
of machines that could hit
targets and kill without
any kind of human help
are drones, quadcopters
armed with weaponry, and
various military targeting
systems. However, that is
not the end of it, they are
just the beginning. With
the advancement of robotic
technology, more lethal
weapons are going to come
to the forefront to kill people
and wage wars against one
another.
According to roboticist Noel
Sharkey, the new world
robots will not look like the
ones we see in movies and
televisions. The killer robots
will probably look like the
autonomous machines that
we have now. According to
Sharkey, the machines will
almost look like the tanks, jet
fighters, or ships. The main
aim of the petitioners is to
stop the kill decision to be
given to machines.
An open letter from Future
of Life Institute summarizes
the ideologies of every
petitioner: “We believe that
AI has great potential to
benefit humanity in many
ways, and that the goal of
the field should be to do
so. Starting a military AI
arms race is a bad idea, and
should be prevented by a ban
on offensive autonomous
weapons beyond meaningful
human control.”
In the distant future, I hope
that mankind won’t have to
choose between the red pill
or the blue from Morpheus?
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
31

Photo by: digitaltrends
DOMINO’S PIZZA
UNVEILS
SELF-DRIVING
PIZZA DELIVERY
ROBOT
If you told my college self that in a
few years, pizza would be delivered
by a smaller and less depressed
version of the robot Marvin from The
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,
I’d have laughed in your face (and
maybe barfed, too, because college
was an insane blur).
Well, my past self should have known
better because Domino’s Pizza just
told the world that it is currently
testing a new, totally autonomous,
pizza delivery robot that will be driving
itself to your door in the very near
future. The Domino Robotic Unit, or
DRU, is apparently not an elaborate
marketing stunt but an actual robot
that’s been driving around Australia
for some time now for its trial runs
before Domino’s rolls it out to the
world.
According to Domino’s, DRU can deliver
pizzas up to 12.5 miles away and will
be using the sidewalk and bicycle lanes
while following your GPS coordinates.
After ordering, you get a unique code
on your phone that will let you open a
specific compartment on DRU, which
incidentally can carry up to 10 pizzas in
separate heated compartments, along
with drinks.
For those worried that little DRU might
fall into a pothole, worry no more because
this robot was built by Marathon Targets,
a company that works primarily with the
military in developing robots specifically
for obstacle-avoidance during live-fire
exercises. Because when I’m having my
pizza delivered, I take comfort in knowing
it’s being done by a military-grade piece
of technology.
Photo by: PCmag
Photo by: imgix
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Photo by: Arstechnica

ROBOTS THAT WILL
COOK FOR YOU
Photo by: Moley Robotics
If you have a problem with your own
cooking, or wanted a chef in your own
kitchen, that won’t be so much of a
problem anymore with the world’s
first ever robotic kitchen.
The robotic kitchen features four key
integrated kitchen items of robotic
arms, an oven, a hob and a touchscreen
unit. It can be operated right at your
fingertips via a smartphone or via the
included touch screen; all you need to
do is pull up a recipe and wait for the
robot to serve you the food.
It isn’t a machine that just cooks; it
has hands that can cook like a master
chef. The hands get its articulation
– its speed, its sensitivity, and its
movement – by recording the cooking
skills of Master Chef Tim Anderson,
winner of the BBC Master Chef title,
in a demonstration and putting the
skills into its system. The hands then
replicate, even the pauses in between
and the OK gesture in the end, the
master chef’s abilities into its kitchen.
No wonder about that, since the
nuclear industry and NASA uses the
same kind of hands made by the
Shadow Robot Company.
If you are concerned with being
stabbed by the robot, no need to fret
as the robots uses a food processor
and limits itself to knives. The kitchen
also comes with a protective screen
as an additional layer of safety.
This technology, however, will not be
available to consumers until the fourth
quarter of 2017. It will be supported
by an iTunes-style downloadable
library of recipes that the robot chef
can cook at your own home which
are about 2,000 recipes. Just prepare
a good amount of $75,000 at its first
launch.
The robot kitchen is the brainchild
of U.K.-based Moley Robotics,
which prototype premiered at an
international robotics show Hanover
Messe. The eureka moment for the
idea was of Mark Oleynik in January
of 2014. The first patents were filed
in the following month; a prototype
was built by Moley in September of
the same year.
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Future Cities & Robotics
33

ROBOTS ARE
THE FUTURE OF
CONSTRUCTION
We have seen many robots
integrated with laboratory
machines and factory
equipment, but we have
just started seeing robots
helping in the construction
of our buildings. It doesn’t
end there: there’s more
with robots in the field of
construction in the future.
The future of construction
lies in modern technology
that will help in various
aspects: drones to monitor
site activities and robotic
bulldozers to push soil
without the human touch.
Robots can also be used with
off-site fabrication of the
buildings’ elements by 3D
printing them.
Drones have become
recently popular and their
applications in construction
sites are already realized. US
start-up Skycatch uses drones
on high-profile building
projects, which provides a
bird’s-eye view of a site to
give progress reports, and
speed up site logistics
through delivery monitoring
and real-time updates.
Japanese construction
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Photo by: dronologista
machinery giant Komatsu
takes it a step further and
uses Skycatch drones to
have eyes for automated
bulldozers. Their function is to
send 3D models of a building
site to a computer which will
then feed information to the
driverless machinery.
Other than drones are 3D
printing machines which will
be prevalent in the future to
solve the housing crisis. The
United Nations estimates
that by 2030, approximately
three billion people will
require housing and has
introduced 3D printing as
one possible solution.
Technology is moving
forward and the construction
industry is adapting with it.
There’s a lot more in store
for this teaming up that
engineers have to deal with.
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
35

Learn
Buddhism
from Xian’er,
the Baby
Robot Monk
Photo by: Crowd Fund Insider
CUBETTO, A
PROGRAMMABLE
ROBOT FOR KIDS
This is what we get when we meet
Buddhism and technology.
A modern approach has been
made to introduce one of the
oldest religions in the world,
Buddhism, and that is through a
baby robot monk named Xian’er.
It’s more than just a cute robot as
it will promote the religion in its
own way.
The robot, which is dressed like
a Buddha but only standing two
feet tall and purely electronics,
has a touchscreen on his chest
which helps him answer 20
questions about Buddhism and its
lifestyle. It can also move around
in seven different ways adding to
the fancy of its appearance.
Xian’er is the brainchild of
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Photo by: The Malay Mail Online
Master Xianfan who says that
this integration of science and
technology with spirituality is
but a natural alignment. He said,
“Science and Buddhism are not
opposing [or] contradicting,
and can be combined and
mutually compatible. Buddhism
is something that attaches much
importance to inner heart, and
pays attention to the individual’s
spiritual world.“ He added, “It is a
kind of elevated culture. Speaking
from this perspective, I think it
can satisfy the needs of many
people.”
The current robot monk is still up
for development to cater to more
functions. But if you want to have
an overview of Buddhism, Xian’er
will give you that just enough in
Beijing Longquan Temple.
Just when you think that the
kids of this era is all about
playing games on tablets or iPads
(where no fundamental skills are
developed), an educational toy is
created that aims to revolutionize
the way youngsters think and
learn. Introducing Cubetto by
Primo Toys, a playful wooden
robot that lets kids aged 3 and
above to learn programming and
STEM skills through storytelling.
Using its screenless blockbased
control panel and tactile
methods specifically designed for
young minds, the toy set is able
to introduce debugging, queue
and recursions which in effect
teaches the children to think
more logically.
Basically, the kids have to
command the cube robot to
move around obstacles to reach
its home. Think it's all too much
for the innocent minds to handle?
Not really because of the colorful,
creative displays and easy to
maneuver toy parts, Cubetto is
able to provide joyful learning
memories for the 'curious little
minds with big imaginations'.

WORLD’S FIRST
POLICE ROBOT
WORTH $3.2 BILLION
China has unveiled the world’s
first police robot at the 12th
Annual Chongqing Hi-tech Fair.
The robot is called “AnBots”,
and was created by the
National Defense Univeristy—
the Chinese military base for
innovation.
Anbots is 1.49 meters long,
and weighs around 78kg. It
is programmed to patrol the
streets at one kilometre per
hour. It can run for a span of
8 hours and charge its battery
on its own.
The robot is 1.49 meters
long and reportedly weighs
approximately 78 kg. It is
programmed to patrol the
streets one kilometer per hour
and can reach a speed of 18
kilometers per hour. It can
run for 8 hours and charge its
battery on its own.
Photo by: Popsci
It includes other features like
biochemical detection, explosive
clearing, intelligent monitoring,
emergency call response and
also environmental monitoring.
The Ministry of Public Security
has also pointed out the
limitations of the robot at the
launch, they mentioned its
lack of social and emotional
intelligence, and the inability
to catch suspects and it also
carries the risk of cyber-attacks.
They also mentioned that
robots will never fully replace
the police, and that the system
will be controlled by humans.
Civilians will also be able to use
the robot using the SOS button
on the robot.
Photo by: Telegraph
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
37

Elios: The World's
First Collision
Tolerant Drone
Photo by: Flyability
Drones have been around for
some time and they are usually
used for different purposes like
taking aerial footages of events,
and taking aerial selfies. For
the engineering field though,
drones have a different purpose,
they are used to survey and
inspect different areas that are
too difficult or dangerous for
people to do so themselves.
Using drones not only makes
the job safe and effective, it
also promotes safety—since
people don’t have to risk going
through extreme measures
to survey or inspect a certain
area. However, one flaw in
using drones is that it could get
damaged during inspection or
surveying. This can happen if
the area being inspected is too
tight—the drone would bump
into different places, and could
get damaged. Falling debris,
and weather issues could also
damage the drone.
This is why the company
Flyability developed Elios, the
world’s first collision tolerant
drone. This drone is surrounded
by a 15-inch exoskeleton-sphere
(approximated size). The idea
of this drone was inspired by
houseflies, which bounces off a
surface and keep flying. Elios is
equipped with a free-rotating
carbon-fiber exoskeleton which
spins on a separate axis from
the drone avionics inside.
When Elios hits a wall, the
cage will continue to spin and
therefore absorb the energy from
the collision while the propellers
inside are still spinning and the
HD camera and lighting system
are still stabilized. This drone
can be used in different extreme
and dangerous environments
that could cause harm to a
person like chemical spill sites,
collapsed buildings and even
glaciers.
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Photo by: youtube/Laundroid
THE
WORLD’S
FIRST
LAUNDRY-
FOLDING
ROBOT
Anyone who has tried to live
alone (and by alone, I mean no
household help, not even parttime)
will most probably agree
with me that folding clothes
is such a pain in the arse. I
mean, come on! It personally
takes me some three tries
before I can successfully fold
a simple short-sleeve shirt, let
alone a long sleeve one. I am
sometimes just tempted to
fold each of the clothing item
the way I want just to get the
chore done and over with. If
there is a device that can do
the washing and the drying,
why isn’t there that can do
the folding?
Well, folks, our wait is over!
Presenting the “laundroid” –
a device that can wash and
dry clothing, then identify
each clothing item and neatly
fold them up. The Japanese
technology, produced by
Panasonic, together with
Seven Dreamers and Daiwa, is
about the size of a refrigerator,
and is said to be capable of
folding a t-short in about five
to 10 minutes.
Wait, what? Ten minutes!
The creators admit that
laundroid’s present turnaround
time is exceedingly
long compared to manual
work, but it is committed
to shortening that and also
reducing the product’s size as
soon as it hits the market by
2017.
Laundroid’s trump card is its
ability to recognize the type of
clothing and to fold the item
by means of its robotic arm.
It has an automated opening
in the center in which the user
can toss the piece of clothing.
The machine accepts the item,
then after folding it, tosses it
out neat and tidy.
The makers of laundroid plans
to integrate the device with its
user’s home by 2020, in that
the user can simply dump their
used clothes into laundroid,
and the machine itself will put
them in their proper closet
spaces once washed, dried
and folded. The creators, as
early as now, envision that
laundroid will be most useful
in hospitals and nursing care
facilities, which require an
exceedingly high volume of
items to be washed, dried and
folded.
A prototype of laundroid was
demonstrated at the CEATEC
trade fair, Japan’s biggest IT
and electronics fair.
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Future Cities & Robotics
39

Photo by: Robotic Gizmos
THIS ROBOT
CAN BEAT
YOU AT
BADMINTON
A group of students and
professors from the University
of Electronic Science and
Technology of China developed
a robot that can play the
sport badminton just like any
amateur player. This robot uses
cameras, motion sensors and a
special navigation system.
It was named the Robomintoner,
and was created for competition.
The UESTC team was given a
task to create a badmintonplaying
bot for the Asia-Pacific
Robocon 2015, wherein the
robots would compete against
each other in doubles matches.
According to Huang Xi, a
student from the University
of Electronic Science and
Technology of China, "We were
the only team who made this
robot fully-automated. We are
in the business of making clever
devices. We might as well make
it fully intelligent,"
This robot has become very
popular in China. It played
ceremonial matches against
Dong Jiong, an Olympic medal
winning badminton player.
Recently, it competed against
table tennis champion Wang
Liqin.
Photo by: Prog3
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This Creepy Robot Is
Designed Just to Stab
People
Photo by: Alexander Reben
Biochemist Isaac Asimov has Three Laws
of Robotics. The first law says, “A robot
may not injure a human being or, through
inaction, allow a human being to come to
harm;” while the second law states, “A robot
must obey orders given it by human beings
except where such orders would conflict
with the First Law.”
But both laws are challenged by a roboticist
from California who just invented a machine
that purposely stabs humans with needles.
For a reason.
Alexander Reben from Stochastic Labs in
Berkeley, California wants to join the ethical
debate with robots but on a different light
– by breaking the laws, he wants people
to realize about the inevitable robot
population that might harm us later in life.
He does not intend to scare people with
his robot either, which by the way, is only a
black box with a mechanical arm. Nothing
scary at all on first look, but when you
place your fingers (for the fun of it) inside
a pair of brackets, the robot is alerted of
your presence and it starts pricking your
finger until it bleeds. That’s it.
He says, “No one’s actually made a robot
that was built to intentionally hurt and
injure someone. I wanted to make a robot
that does this that actually exists...That
was important, to take it out of the thought
experiment realm into reality, because once
something exists in the world, you have to
confront it. It becomes more urgent. You
can’t just pontificate about it.”
Reben wants the people to start confronting
the physicality of robots harming the
people. He reiterates that it will raise a bit
more awareness outside the philosophical
realm, so he broke the robotics laws.
He could have just chosen a robot that
pinches the humans, right? But no, he
wants it bloody.
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Future Cities & Robotics
41

TATTOO
ARTIST
GETS THE
WORLD’S
FIRST
TATTOO-GUN
MACHINE
PROSTHESIS
There are a huge mass of people who
love tattoos, from simple, minimalistic
designs, to hardcore awesome hyperrealistic
tattoos. Some get tattoos
because of many reasons, the most
prevalent one is because each tattoo
has its own special meaning. That’s
why it’s important to many tattoo
recipients to make sure their tattoo
artist is skilled in his/her art.
Photo by: Metrouk2
But let’s be honest, it’s really difficult
to find a tattoo artist who can satisfy
the perfect tattoo art. After all,
getting a tattoo is somehow a ‘forever’
commitment—since they don’t come
off unless you have it professionally
removed.
If you’re one of those people who love
special tattoos, you might love that
tattoo art of JC Sheitan Tenet. Why?
Because, not only does he do awesome
realistic tattoo art but he does it using
a prosthetic hand! Woah!
Confused? Tenet is from Lyon,
France. He lost is arm 22 years ago,
and his existing prosthetic hand was
modified into the world’s first tattoo
machine prosthetic by French artist
JL Gonzal. Here are some of his
works.
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Photo by: Metro UK

3D-PRINTED PROSTHETIC ARM HAS FEATURES
YOU DON’T SEE WITH THE OTHERS
We have seen artificial arms
that enable limb mobility, but
not with one with a laser light, a
torch, a USB port, a watch, and
a drone fixed on a panel outside
of the shoulder.
This design is created by a
Konami developer and publisher
of the Metal Gear Solid titles,
who worked with a leading
prosthesis artist Sophie De
Oliviera Barata and a technical
team. It is inspired by the
protagonist Snake in the new
PlayStation 4 game Metal Gear
Solid V.
A product of 3D printing
technology, the arm allows its
recipient to pick up the tiniest
objects through commands
sent by the shoulder muscles.
It communicates with the
sensors and does its tasks like
a real hand, only with the extra
features.
The recipient of this first-of-itskind
prosthetic arm is James
Young, a gamer who fell under
a train which left him with a
damaged left arm and a severed
lower left leg. It happened May
18, 2012.
James is happy to have been
provided with the arm. He
shared, “It gives me a hand –
and not a device. It’s soft, but
firm, so it’s really nice to shake!”
Photo by: Fashionably Geek
Scarlett Johansson
Becomes A Doll Robot
Hong Kong-based product and
graphic designer Ricky Ma just
created a female robot that is
modelled after the Hollywood
star Scarlett Johansson from
scratch. The female robot
prototype is named Mark 1
and is able to response from
verbal commands. It could also
make facial expressions. As an
example, when the robot is told
'Mark 1 you are so beautiful',
it will bow and smile while
replying 'Hehe, thank you.'
The success of Ricky Ma was
all thanks to his persistence
and dedication to live out a
dream--that is to create his
own robot. He did not mind
spending more than $50,000
just to finish what he wanted.
Even if he had no background
in 3D printing, programming and
electromechanics, he pursued with
learning it. To him, it was a sweat
and blood project but it was all
worth it.
"I figured I should just do it when
the timing is right and realise my
dream. If I realise my dream, I will
have no regrets in life," Ricky Ma
happily commented on his work.
What do you think is going to
be the consequence if humanoids
become a part of our daily lives?
Photo by: economictimes/indiatimes
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
43

Photo by: Apartment Therapy
HOW THE
JETSONS
PREDICTED
THE FUTURE
One of the many fascinating cartoons that we’ve watched
as a kid must be The Jetsons, because of an element
contrary to other animations: the future. The makers of
this cartoon have imagined what the world will look like in
2062, through the lifestyle in its characters George Jetson,
his son Elroy, his daughter Judy, and his wife Jane. And oh,
not to forget the family’s space dog, Astro and their robot
maid, Rosie.
Robot Maids
Let’s start with Rosie the robot maid. In 2012, we already have
a Rosie version through Honda’s Asimo, who can walk, talk, and
interact with humans. Some other robots can now do housekeeping
like she does.
It’s not 2062 yet as how this Hanna Barbera 60’s cartoon
is staged, but there are some feats seen in many of their
episodes that are already happenin – a safe conclusion
that the writers of The Jetsons somehow predicted the
future.
Video Chat
Remember Jane getting to call George while he is in his Spacely
Sprockets through video call? Yes, that’s it, but that’s only two
of them – there’s a lot more in the cartoon that used video chat.
It’s prevalent now with the camera technology we have and the
Internet connection. Communication has become easy in the
modern times because of video calls.
Flatscreens
The video calls of the Jetson couple were done on flatscreen
televisions, on top of having to watch the news. Right now,
the best tool for entertainment and information is through
those thin and wide TVs.
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Photo by:Smithsonian Mag
Photo by: Venture and the city

Photo by: chipchick Photo by: Article 3
Flying Cars
The transportation in The Jetsons is primarily flying car, if you can recall
George driving everyone to their respective locations in their opening billboard.
Although we are not there yet with flying cars, maybe in 2062, but humans
have made significant improvements with Terrafugia Transition, which can get
up to 62 mph on the road.
Jetpacks
Human flight is achievable in the said television
series through jetpacks. We also have that now in
our aim to also be elevated.
Dog Treadmills
Astro casually takes dog walks through a treadmill, which already
exists to exercise their favorite canine.
Smartwatch
The first smartwatch that shows images and videos might
have been in The Jetsons. Even when the screen is so small,
it still works with George and even the humans just to
watch the favorite shows.
Photo by: retrokimmer
Photo by: Youtube
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45

Photo by Hubspot
Photo by:Cartoon Scrapbook
Tanning Beds
Tanning beds, at the time The Jetsons was aired, wasn’t
very relevant at all. It is only after over a decade that
tanning beds were introduced to America in 1979 through
Friedrich Wolff.
Mall Architecture
The malls we have now are shaping to look like the
shopping centers in The Jetsons. Instead of the
conventional concrete and wood, we already use huge
amounts of glass for the exteriors.
Cloning
In one episode, George decides to clone himself to do
dual duties: be relaxed at home and be busy at work.
But in the new century, we only have until animal
cloning because of moral debates regarding the
possibility of having to clone a human. That is not the
same way George cloned himself though as such only
exists in fiction, but through biomedical engineering.
Vacuum Tube Transport
The Jetsons haven’t stepped on the levels of elevators and
stairs, but of vacuum tubes that will serve as transport.
Today, undergoing study has been done by US and China
if such system can work in real life. The transporters might
hit 2,500 miles an hour as predicted by scientists, which
will enable the commute from America to Europe be
shortened to an hour rather than 6 hours via plane.
There is a catch though: the clear elevator shafts are
already existent.
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Photo by Devops
Photo by: Flickr

WORLD’S FIRST
ROBOT-RUN
FARM OPENS
IN JAPAN
Automation is on the way to the
industries. Spread, a Japanese
vegetable producer, announces its
automated farm run by robots in
Kameoka, Kyoto prefecture.
It will the world’s first “robot farm”
in an attempt to address labor
shortages by the country’s shrinking
workforce and aging population.
The robot will do the re-planting
of young seedlings, watering,
trimming and eventually harvesting
of crops. The feat is said to boost the
productions from 21,000 to 50,000
lettuces per day and a consequent
plan to raise it up to half a million
lettuces daily in five years. It will also
improve efficiency and reduce labor
cost into half according to Spread’s
global marketing manager, JJ Price.
With the success of the first
automated farm, surely, Japan plans
to build more robotic plant factories
elsewhere, even across the globe.
Photos by Getty Images
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
47

The Queen of
Useless Robots
All hail the queen of shitty robots!
She who works on useless automation!
by Dion Greg Reyes
For Swedish inventor Simone Giertz, robots are
not entirely as useful as we think they are. There
are ways to utilize robots in everyday life to the
point that they are already useless. And this is
evident in her YouTube channel, filled with videos
of robots and their out-of-this-world applications,
that has already gathered enough followers
– more than 200,000 of them – to say that the
Internet is indeed a weird place.
Her shitty machines speak of her imagination
and abilities. She already considers making such
machines a job (she earns quite a fortune with
her ingenous robots) and never plans to stop from
manufacturing and posting about them. Using
only Arduino UNO boards, she has brought robots
and contraptions to a different dimension that no
other engineer could have ever thought of.
If you visit her YouTube channel, you can find
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there her robot that feed her with cereal, her
robot that puts on her lipstick, her robot that
chops vegetables, and her robot that argues on
the internet by banging itself on a keyboard,
among others. All are products of self-taught
robotics. She built stuff on her own being so ideaoriented
- she figures out building stuff by herself
rather than just learning them in theory.
It usually takes her an afternoon of work for
projects that only require minimal programming,
and one to two weeks full-time when she’s
working on more complicated robots like the
Applause Machine, which claps for you when
your hands are full (such a groundbreaking idea
for a robot, huh).
Living in an old tugboat makes her wish to have a
project of a submarine houseboat someday. It’s a
dream robot project that is up her sleeves when
she has enough time, skills and money for it. But
she will get there, undoubtedly, having to do her
unusual job on a regular basis that she enjoys. She
left her job in San Francisco for this kind of life in
Stockholm.
All hail the queen of shitty robots! She who works
on useless automation!
All photos are screencapped from
Simone Giertz’s YouTube channel.
JULY 2016
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49

Robots that Will Make
the Kids Want to
Learn Math and Science
by Dion Greg Reyes
For the kids, learning math and science is
almost always boring. The methods of teaching
such subjects to the young ones do not usually
appeal to them especially when the styles are
too traditional or lacking with techniques or
innovation. You can see in their eyes that they
show no interest at all because let’s face it, they
would rather choose to play with their toys
rather than immerse themselves in the seemingly
difficult to process world of math and science.
But with advent of modern technology through
robots, this might change.
There is a certain charm with robots that children
can be so enticed with. Using that charm, the
robots can capture the attention of the children
to be directed to a fun learning process, teaching
them about math and science. The children will
be immersed more than ever in wanting to learn
with the enhanced interactive tools.
“Kids recognize when they are learning something
themselves—robots give them that. Building and
programming these devices is part of becoming
a creative science and engineering kind of
person.” That’s what Larry Johnson, CEO of a
research organization specializing in educational
technology called New Media Consortium said.
Robots have been proven to be more effective
educational tools starting from the lower grades
up to graduate school.
Here are robot platforms specially designed to
teach children:
Play-i
The robot tandem that encourages kids to engage
in computational thinking without knowing
it, Play-i robots are a product of a successful
Kickstarter campaign. No doubt about that
because it holds a lot of promise in teaching kids
through learning activities. Play-i robots are ballshaped
and composed of two: Bo and Yana. Bo is
made up of four connected spheres that children
program to glide along the floor on three wheels,
avoiding obstacles and delivering small items in
the process. Yana is a single sphere laden with
sensors. Both are connected with a variety of
Apple iOS and Google Android mobile devices
using Bluetooth 4.0.
“The goal is to keep interaction open-ended and
free-play so kids discover what they can do with
the robot. The robot draws them in while posing
new challenges over time,” says Play-i founder
and CEO Vikas Gupta.
Photo by Robot Launch
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RobotsLAB
This robots platform feature a lot of educational
robots that will ultimately keep the kids have fun
while learning. There’s the mini humanoid NAO,
the two-wheeled Qbo series, and the RobotsLAB
BOX. The RobotsLAB BOX has a tablet computer
containing 50 lesson plans and quizzes, which are
math and science at its core, as an aid to the flying
AR.Drone, stationary ArmBot, rolling Sphero and
mobile Mustached Rover.
“This helps teachers create the bridge between
the concrete world and the abstract world of
mathematical concepts,” says RobotsLAB CEO
Elad Inbar.
Photo by RobotsLAB
Linkbots
EZ-Robot
If the kids love to craft and program new robots and
want to share them with its other users, EZ-Robot
is the one for them. It is an open-source software
platform that works on personal computer and
mobile devices, and also a hardware platform.
It uses a graphical user interface that promotes
robot-making for the newbies.
Photo by Robot Shop
Not only for the younger ones because of its
advanced quality, Linkbots are for those who like
to play with customizable machines on two main
modules. Such modules are connected wirelessly
with accelerometers, which can be controlled
one by the other through simply moving them.
The robots are designed with a program similar
to stop-motion animation, which is manipulation
of the robot using the hands instead of giving
instruction over a computer. It can go further
complex movements with the a software for
programming.
Photo by Linkbots
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51

An Autonomous Robot
as your Grocery
Shopping Assistant
Say goodbye to the conventional push and pull
shopping cart as Kartum by Charles Bombardier
has revolutionized your weekly shopping
experience.
Kartum is an electric autonoumous shopping cart
that is also a virtual grocery-shopping assistant.
It has features that will pick up the items in your
shopping list that you can create via an online
application, monitor your items that will be over
your budget and even calculate the calories in
your items. It can even plan the best itinerary
in the store which can link up with the store’s
database to identify location of the products.
This ‘smart shopping cart’ also eliminates the
need to stop at the counter as you can pay by
using your digital print. Once you unload the
items from the cart, it will proceed with the next
customer in sight.
There is no need to plug Kartum in as it recharges
itself with wireless electricity. It walks along with
you based on the user’s preferences, may it be
behind or just ahead of you.
Bet that this will make you want to visit the
grocery stores even more.
Photo by Charles Bombardier
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A Robotic Arm
that Acts Like an
Elephant Trunk
Biomimetics is a damn exciting field. Engineers
in this field use nature as their inspiration for
systems and designs to create awesome stuff. For
example, they used the elephant’s trunk to create
a cool robotic arm.
At first glance, the thingamajig looks like a cross
between a mechanical claw and iron snake with
a good measure of tentacle horror thrown in. In
fact, they are reminiscent of the sweet robotic
arms used by the infamous Dr. Octopus, the
Spiderman villain. Of course, they are calling it
the Bionic Handling Assistant, the blandest name
possible for the cool robot. But it’s cool anyway.
As it stands, elephant trunks are possibly the
coolest appendages in the Animal Kingdom. So,
making a robotic arm based on that is a fantastic
idea. This robotic arm was made by Festo, a
German automation company.
What is even more fantastic is that the arm acts
and learns just like a baby’s arm. The researcher
will guide the arm to perform certain actions. The
robot will learn and memorizes the movements
so as to repeat them whenever necessary. This
will enable the robot to fulfill functions such as
operating in tight quarters and helping people in
the medical or the industrial sector. It can even be
programmed to change a light bulb.
Festo has also been responsible for the creation of
the first robot kangaroo that actually moves like
the real thing. Again, they have used biomimetics
to mimic the leaping movements of the kangaroo
precisely. The robot jumps and lands perfectly as
a result. Now, that’s a kickass use of science.
Photo by Festo
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53

Would You Let a Robot
Do Your Make Up?
Girls, by now you may have
probably perfected your
everyday make-up routine from
washing your face, to putting on
foundation, eyeshadow, blush
and lipstick. After all, you’ve been
doing it everyday, over and over
again, until such a time you are
able to create a systematic way
of putting on make-up that you
don’t have to concentrate so
much when doing so anymore.
But what if you were offered the
option of letting someone or
something else take your place
in putting on your everyday make
up, let’s say—a robot? Would you
let it?
Two students from the University
of Applied Arts Vienna in Austria
wanted to experiment on the
idea. The two students are Maya
Pindeus and Johanna Pichlbauer.
They designed three robots that
can mimic three real human
make-up application motions,
which are swiping on lipstick,
putting on eyeshadow and using
a facemask.
The pair wanted to answer
the question: “If aesthetic
judgements are resigned to
robot intelligence, would it
make our lives emotionally less
complicated?”
Their answer: No.
After they set up the installation
with the robots, it proved that
the irregularities and uniqueness
in different people’s faces make
it simply impossible to perfectly
beautify the face of every person.
This experiment proved one
thing: that mindless robots can’t
beautify every woman the same
way, since every woman’s face
is unique and has its own way
of being beautiful. A make-up
style may look beautiful for one,
but may look bad on the other.
This experiment also opens the
issue of why are women trying
to achieve the same beauty
standards, when we all obviously
look different? So how about you,
would you like a robot to do your
make up?
Photos by Pindeus & Pichlbauer
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Exoskeletons to Begin
Iron Man Age
ActiveLink, a Japanese tech company
and subsidiary of Panasonic, released
its first commercially available assist
suit AWN-03, an exoskeleton that
detects and assists body movements.
It has been showcased in Tokyo’s
International Robot Exhibition, the
world’s largest robotics show, a few
weeks ago where it garnered a huge
interest from the audience.
This is to address the aging
population of Japan and supporting
its shrinking workforce focusing on
health care, physical assistance and
maintaining the country’s level of
production. Using the exoskeleton,
which weighs a few pounds (6kg), the
user would be able to lift up crates or
things effortlessly, six to seven times
in a row. The device is composed of
two disks on the front part of thighs
and distributed over the shoulders.
It is powered by lithium-ion battery
with an electric engine according to
ActiveLink Engineer, Yasunori Nishi.
The exoskeleton costs $10,000 each.
Also, Japan is not the only one
developing the exoskeletons. In
Europe and the United States, a
number of projects were soon
be unveiled under the sectors of
defense and rehabilitation industries.
Exoskeletons ranging from modular
arms, limbs and chairs are now being
developed for commercialization.
In this technological age of robotics,
from parts to overalls, these “Iron
Man suits” are now a reality.
Photos by Panasonic
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Future Cities & Robotics
55

FUTURISTIC
CITIES
YOU’D WANT
TO LIVE IN
If you’ve come from a small town,
you’ll definitely find yourself amazed
at the wonder big cities can give
you. With buildings so high and
people living a very different lifestyle
compared to those who live in a
small town, it’s impressive for small
town people - but imagine going to a
futuristic city. It’s not exactly what we
see in movies and shows such as The
Jetsons but it’s still innovative and
creative than ever before.
Futuristic cities give us a feel of what
the future will look like. It’ll give us
a peak on how things will be in the
future. Isn’t it exciting to see all these
things in just one place?
If you’re the type of millennial coming
from a small town who would like to
wander around futuristic cities, how
about going for a visit in these cities:
DUBAI, UAE
It’s got the world’s tallest building and
a hotel located underwater. If you
find yourself looking at the place in a
bird’s eye view, you’d definitely catch
The Palm, man-made islands that
form the shape of a palm together.
They offer free wifi using their palm
trees and they even plan to have a
smart beach. There’s definitely a lot
of things to look forward to this place
considered one of the most futuristic
cities in the world.
Photo by All Dubai
HONG KONG, CHINA
If you find yourself walking in the
streets of Hong Kong, observe all
the buildings in the place. You’ll
find yourself amazed at how highlyadvanced
these places can be.They
even have plenty of skyscrapers that
they’re more than of them compared
to any other country.
Photo by National Geographic
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SILICON VALLEY,
CALIFORNIA,
UNITED STATES
It’s the home of the offices of your
favorite tech companies - from
Facebook to Google. We all know
what we can expert from nerds
who gather in just one place. They
definitely know how to make one
helluva futuristic area.
Photo by Spiegel
HELSINKI, FINLAND
If you’re crazy about getting
connected to your social media all
the time, you might want to consider
getting your free Wifi access in
Helsinki. What makes this place a
little extra special is the government’s
attempt to improve the quality of
lives of the citizens.
Photo by Helsinki Blog
TOKYO, JAPAN
You’ve probably seen futuristic anime
set in Japan. As you can see, it’s not
that far from reality. Everywhere
you look, you’d see how advanced
the city is. They have a sci-fi cuisine
to its advanced railway system, you
might consider living around there.
It’s actually any tech-Savy’ dream to
visit Tokyo.
Photo by Vacation Advice 101
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57

6 GADGETS
MADE FROM
LEGO BRICKS
If there’s one certain toy
every engineer as a child
loved to play with, I’ll bet
it’s building things using
LEGO bricks.
If there’s one certain toy every
engineer as a child loved to play
with, I’ll bet it’s building things using
LEGO bricks. When we play with
LEGO, anything we plan to build are
limited only by our imaginations.
From a rocket ship to a bulldozer,
from a simple robot to a skyscraper.
While, our creations as children
weren’t able to really do much, we
were content with the simple joys of
being able to create our first designs
as young engineers.
Now, we would like to show you some
awesome creations made from our
once cherished toys. These creations
will bring you back to your childhood
days and show you that it’s possible
to create almost anything if you just
put your mind into it.
THE WORKING
LEGO CAMERA
This creation is a camera that was
created to capture indelible images.
Cary Norton, an Alabama-based
photographer built this working
127mm f4.7 camera by using LEGO’s
Digital Designer application.
Photo by Engadget
THE WORKING
LEGO PRINTER
Some years ago, a 14-year-old boy
designed this working LEGO printer
which moves a pen to write drawings
and text. It’s called the LEGO
Mindstorms NXT printer, or PriNXT.
Photo by ICT Press
THE DIY LEGO
3D PRINTER
The LEGObot 3D printer was created
by Matthew Kreuger. This is the
LEGO version of the Makerbot, an
inexpensive NXT-powered printer.
Photo by Inhabitat
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LEGO’S MUSICAL
BEATBOARDS
This year, LEGO will be launching a
new line called Beatboards, wherein
anyone can use LEGO bricks to create
original musical compositions. Touch
sensors are built into the baseplate
and it registers the resistance formed
under the weight of the LEGO bricks
and turns those messages into sound.
Photo by Wikia
THE PROSTHETIC
ARM THAT
GIVES KIDS
LEGO ABILITIES
THE PANCAKEBOT
Carlos Arturo, a former LEGO intern,
developed the IKO prosthetic arm. It
was made especially for children, so
they can create custom-built limbs.
Torres was inspired by his childhood
in Colombia, where many children
lost their limbs during armed
conflicts.
Photo by Engadget
This clever invention uses pancake
batter to draw onto a sizzling griddle.
It can create any elaborate shape you
want. You’ll never see pancakes the
same way again.
Photo by YouTube
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59

Everything You Need to Know
ABOUT ROBOTICS ENGINEERS
by Cielo Panda
Photo by AP
Nowadays, our technological world
is filled with gadgets, Artificial
Intelligence, Deep Learning, and
Robots that help make our daily lives
easier. All these are made possible
thanks to the hard work of robotics
engineers. So if you’re planning to be
a robotics engineer, here is a short
overview of what they do and what it
takes to be one.
What is a Robotics Engineer?
A Robotics Engineer is basically an
engineer who specializes in robots.
They are also known as Automation
Engineers, Robotics and Automation
Engineers, or Automation Robotics
Engineers.
They are designers who are
responsible for the creation of
robots and robotic systems that does
work that humans cannot or prefer
not to do. With the help of their
innovations, robotics engineers helps
make different tasks easier, safer and
more efficient.
What are the Necessary Skills to be a
Robotics Engineer?
To be able to become a successful
robotics engineer, one should be
highly-creative with the ability to
think outside the box. After all,
robotic engineers design robots and
robotic systems that can improve a
certain job.
They should have a solid
understanding in subjects learned
in school such as advanced
mathematics, applied physical
science, and computer science. It
is also important that they enjoy
collaborating with a team, and have
adequate communication skills.
Lastly, since programming new robots
is one of the most challenging part of
robotics engineering, it is important
that one should be an expert in
programming such. Others even get
a degree in software engineering to
expand their robotics engineering
career further.
What does a Robotics Engineer
Particularly do?
Robotics engineers spend most of
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Photo by Press Herald
their time designing plans that are
needed to build robots and robotic
systems. This also includes programs
and processes that the robot will
need for it to run correctly. There
are even robotic engineers that
create robotic systems that assemble
robots. The design phase is crucial
since it embodies every aspect that
will build up the finished robot. Once
the design is complete, they will
move to the more exciting process—
assembling the unit.
Robotics engineers are responsible
for creating several different types
of robots depending on what
task it is supposed to do. Prior to
construction, it is important that the
engineer researches properly what
the robot will be used for, and the
manner in which it will perform the
needed task.
More often than not, creating a robot
takes a lot of time. This includes
the research phase, design phase,
assembling phase, and testing phase.
Many robotics engineers get stuck in
one of those phases and revise what
needs to be revised to get the desired
results. It can even take a few months
to years to complete one robot.
Professionals who want to enter in
this field need to be extra patient.
Photo by Alpine Daily Planet
Photo by University of Michigan
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61

HOW WOULD
HUMANS
SURVIVE A
CURRENT
ROBOT
APOCALYPSE?
Photo by Noval World
Ok, when you hear “Robot Apocalypse”
what usually goes on in your head? You
may be imagining an army of Terminator-ish
automations ready to destroy the human
race who built them—just like in those sci-fi
movies.
Our technology is evolving through time,
but we still have a long way to go. So instead
of imagining the terminator-style robot
revolution, let’s imagine: what if our current
machines suddenly turned against us? How
long would humanity last?
Here’s how the scenario might go.
#1
In laboratories, experimental robots would
go wild and leap from their benches and try
to locate the door, only to suddenly crash
onto the door and fall over. However, for
those robots who have limbs, they may be
able to open the doorknob and successfully
leave the room.
After a few hours, they would be found
in bathrooms, trying to destroy and trash
everything while looking for humans to
exterminate only to be short-circuited due to
the water spillage they’ve caused.
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#2
What about the machines in our offices,
and our cell phones? Well, they could
attack us but their options are limited. They
could start annoying us with ringtones and
irritating noises. Our desks would start to
rattle because all our phones would be set
on vibrate. In the end, the only physical
damage our cell phones could do is if it falls
off the desk (because of the simultaneous
vibrations) and fall on our toes. Ouch!
#3
Most modern cars have computers now, so
they’ll join the revolution. This would be way
more dangerous, but mostly to their drivers
and passengers. But there are options to fight
back, drivers could still control the steering
wheel, which has a direct mechanical link
to the wheels. The driver could also pull the
parking brake.
#4
What about industrial robots found in
factories. Most factory robots are bolted
to the floor, so they won’t be able to hurt
humans if they suddenly fled the area. All
they can actually do is assemble things.
#5
Photo
Military Robots would be the most dangerous
of them all, but there are very few of them in
the world. Most of them are kept in storage
lockers, and if there were machine-gunarmed
military robots on the loose, they can
be easily subdued by a couple of military
men.
Military Drones on the other hand is the
closest to the terminator description, and
they are dangerous. However, they easily run
out of fuel and missiles.
by Corbett Report
With all these scenarios, there is still a part of
the story that gives us hope. We still have our
nuclear weapons to counter their attacks. In
addition, nuclear explosions cause powerful
electromagnetic pulses (EMP’s). EMP’s
overload and destroy sensitive electronic
circuits which in turn could destroy the
robots. A few more strikes from us and the
human race will be able to eradicate them
completely.
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Photo by Wallpaper Made

HOW R2-D2
AND C-3PO
INSPIRED
THOUSANDS
TO JOIN
ROBOTICS
If there are fictional characters
that have played crucial roles in
robotics, it will be the famous
sidekicks in the Star Wars trilogy.
R2-D2 and C-3PO have charmed
their way around the audience
and made a huge impact as well
in the robotics field. As soon as
they bicker in front of the screen,
they have caught our attention
and definitely inspired a lot of
robotics enthusiasts to create
their own robots.
R2-D2 has inspired the public
to create their own assistants
that could help them around the
house. The droid also helped in
inspiring younger generations
spark their curiosity in science in
engineering. Through its beeps
and bops, little children have
curiously tried learning how the
robot works and how to make
one.
R2-D2 got inducted into the
Robot Hall of Fame back in 2003
while made it in the list of 101
Objects that Made America - a list
made by Smithsonian Institution.
The droid has definitely made an
impact not just in pop culture
but in robotics as well. It was
also believed that this funny little
robot was George Lucas’ favorite
character in the series. According
to him, he makes it intentional
that R2-D2 manages to save the
day every now and then in each
movie.
As for the humanoid robot
character, C-3PO, we can see a
lot of robots nowadays that has
clearly taken inspiration from this
funny easily frightened robot.
Re-created by Anakin Skywalker
in the Episode I, C-3PO has also
made an impact in the robotics
field. One example on projects
that was inspired by the protocol
droid was the robot built by the
United States Navy. It’s called
the Autonomous Shipboard
Humanoid and its purpose was
to extinguish fires, climb ladders
and carry hoses.
For both robots, we can see a
lot of high-level toys created to
develop the learning skills of
children. Clearly, a lot of kids
have sparked an interest in
building robots as soon as they
were introduced to these two
funny droids. With the release
of Episode VII last December, the
public was also given a new robot
to love - BB-8.
Star Wars has a strong fan base
and while not everyone got into
robotics because of it, we still
can’t admit how this series has
helped out the robotics field in
terms of increasing people who
join the field and inspired designs
and prototypes that shaped the
way we see the world now.
Photo by Hello Giggles
Photo by Ubergizmo
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65

TOP 50
ROBOTICS
COMPANIES
IN THE WORLD
We’ve welcomed robots in our lives. This
is very noticeable especially in futuristic
and first-world countries that are fastpaced
and give importance in giving people
convenience and comfort. While some give a
bad reputation for robots, it is quite obvious
that robotics have played a crucial role in
how we develop as a society. Nowadays,
engineers have developed robots that can
do all the chores for us, robots that work for
us and robots who could even think for us.
That’s why every robot has been very useful
in making our daily lives better.
There has been a debate going on lately about
robots though. For some, robots pose as a
threat to humanity. With the threat of actually
replacing humans one day, some people
believe that we should stop developing them
into a more complex human-like machines.
But other people thought differently and
have made it their mission to produce highquality
robots that could be more useful to us
than ever before.
Robotics Business Review released this year’s
Top 50 robotics companies that made crucial
commercial influence, groundbreaking
applications and have shown innovativeness
in their products.
Photo by Robotnor
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3D Robotics
ABB Robotics
Aethon Inc.
Alphabet, Inc. (Google)
Amazon
Autonomous Solutions
CANVAS Technology
Carbon Robotics
Clearpath Robotics
Cyberdyne
Delphi Automotive
DJI
Ekso Bionics
Energid Technologies
EPSON Robots
FANUC Robotics
Fetch Robotics
Foxconn Technology Group
GreyOrange
IAM Robotics
Intuitive Surgical
iRobot
Jibo
Kawasaki
Knightscope
KUKA Robotics
Lockheed Martin
Locus Robotics
Omron Adept Technologies Inc.
Open Bionics
Rethink Robotics
ReWalk Robotics
Robotiq
Samsung
Savioke
SCHUNK
Seegrid
Siasun Robot & Automation Co Ltd
SoftBank Robotics Corporation
Soil Machine Dynamics Ltd
Swiss log
Titan Medical
Toyota
ULC Robotics, Inc.
Universal Robots A/S
Vecna Technologies
Verb Surgical
VEX Robotics
Yamaha Robotics
Yaskawa Motoman
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67

10 MOST
FAMOUS
FICTIONAL
ROBOTS
In this age of information, more
and more robots are being
developed to aid humankind’s
varying needs. Bit by bit they are
being involved into different fields
in our society, like manufacturing,
construction, healthcare,
automotive field, and even in the
movie industry!
You may have been familiar with
some robot superheroes, and
supervillains in some movies
you’ve seen. We collected some
of them to show you 10 of the
most famous fictional robots.
R2-D2
R2-D2 is part of the robot duo
tandem in the Star Wars saga.
R2-D2 is the abbreviated form
of Second Generagtion Robotic
Droid Series-2. Though it only
knows how to whistle talk, slowly
move, and do minor things like
create hologram messages, it is
considered to be one of George
Lucas’, the Star Wars creator’s,
favorites.
Photo by: Hello Giggles
C-3PO
C-3PO is the other half of the
robot duo in Star Wars. This robot
is famous for being a nervous and
talkative. It is able to speak and
interact in over 6 million forms
of communication, which makes
him a valuable asset to the group.
It works as a protocol droid, and
its main purpose is to be a liaison
for different races, and planets by
knowing their customs, etiquette,
and language.
Photo by: Side Show Toy
BB8
BB8 is a new robot droid favorite
in the famous sci-fi saga, Star
Wars. In the film, it loyally
accompanies Poe Dameron on
many missions for the Resistance.
BB-8 is a spherical robot with a
free-moving dome-shaped head.
He is colored white, with orange
and silver accents.
Photo by: Tf3dm
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Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime is a fictional
character from the Transformers
franchise. This robot is depicted
as one that has a strong moral
character, excellent leadership,
and good decision-making skills.
Photo by: Comic Vine
Wall-E
Wall-E, or Waste Allocater Load
Lifter- Eart Class, is a fictional
robot that was featured in the
2008 heart-warming film Wall-E.
The plot of the story follows his
adventures as he does his duty
to clean the earth wasteland in a
future era. While he was cleaning
the earth he comes across and falls
in love with another robot named
Eve, and he follows her into outer
space as they try to alter destiny
that will save humanity.
Photo by: No Cookie

T-800
This robot character was played
by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the
1984 film. T-800 is a cyborg that
was programmed as an assassin
and military infiltration unit by
the resistance in the future to kill
Sarah Connor to prevent the birth
of her son.
Photo by: Geek Style Guide
Megatron
Earlier, I’ve mentioned Optimus
prime. This robot is the total
opposite, he is the leader of the
evil robot faction, the Decepticons
and the nemesis of Optimus
Prime and the Autobots.
Photo by: Enterpreneur
RoboCop
RoboCop is a fictional robot in the
movie, RoboCop in the year 1987.
In the movie he was the veteran
police officer Alex Murphy, who
was murdered. His body was
reconstructed in a cyborg project
by Omni Consumer Products
(OCP) to fight crimes in the city.
Photo by: YouTube
Astro Boy
Astro Boy is an atomic-powered
robot with 100,000 hp. He
is a robot that resembled its
creator’s dead son. This robot is
a superhero that saves his town
from crimes done by evil doers.
Photo by: Time 4 Smart
Voltes V
Voltes V is a robot from the
Japanese Anime series, Chōdenji
Machine Voltes V. Voltes V is a
robot composed of five “Volt
Machines”, and each of them are
weapons. When the 5 machines
combine, they create the ultimate
robot that saves the earth from
the invasions of the Boazanians.
Photo by: YouTube
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69

THIS IS
LIFE IN A
FUTURISTIC
CITY
What will the future look like
in 50 to 100 years? Nobody
really knows for sure but our
imaginations can come up with
so many possibilities that it could
either fascinate us or terrify us.
There’s no certainty if we’d still
see the big blue oceans or the
wild animals in the safari but
we do have a glimpse of what
futuristic cities can look like. We
are on the way to living in the
future and today’s engineers have
very big ambitious plans for the
places we’ll be living in.
First, our future cities will
definitely involve a lot of artificial
intelligence systems. Remember
The Jetsons? We’ll probably be
living their lives soon. We can have
cars that fly and a robot for a maid.
We let things move on its own
through science and engineering
and we’ll have more robots to
take over the government and the
private institutions to serve us.
There’s even a possibility that real
dogs and cats might go extinct by
then and we’ll replace them with
robotic pets.
According to a robotics professor
from the University of Sheffield,
Professor Noel Sharkey, robots
will take on an important role
in law enforcement and crowd
control:
“They keep the police out of
harm’s way in an increasingly
dangerous world of armed
criminals, gangs and terror
organizations.”
How about our mode of
transportation? It is possible
that futuristic cities can easily
allow citizens to travel in just a
short period of time. Aside from
autonomous cars (which aim to
avoid accidents and lighten the
load of traffic), engineers are
working on flying cars and rail
transportation that’ll only take a
few minutes for people to arrive
from point A to point B. We
might even see a hovercraft in
the near future.
As for the infrastructures of future
cities, we’ve already seen what
they’ll look like in smart cities
around the world. They’ll be selfsustaining
and will use renewable
energy to power up buildings,
homes and industries. In an attempt
to make places a safer and cleaner
place for the future generations,
engineers are working very hard to
use solar, wind and other sources
of renewable energy to power all
of the energy needed for all human
consumption.
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Source: Lava 360
All those infrastructures you
see in dystopian movies may
be our future cities but it is
also possible that we could live
underwater. This is currently
what engineers are working on
given that the crowd in the land
are too many already for us to
continue dwelling on land. As
you know, it’s also possible that
companies will be sending us to
Mars to let us live there. That’s
something Elon Musk is working
on with his team.
Who knows what the cities of the
future will exactly look like? We
have glimpses of it already but
we are constantly changing and
constantly working on making
things better, faster and more
efficient for us. Add the human
factor to that, we’re vulnerable to
any kind of change. One thing’s for
sure, the futuristic cities waiting
for us will definitely be an exciting
thing to look forward to. May it
be a positive change for the all
species in this world.
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THE 10 SMARTEST
CITIES IN THE
WORLD
Cities around the world are constantly shifting to modern technologies, especially
in information and communication, in order to provide a higher quality of life.
Every opportunity for innovation is embraced by these cities – rightfully called to
be smart cities – towards efficient use of resources, savings in cost and energy,
and reduced environmental footprint. Such efforts are reflected to the cultural
assets, human infrastructure, and networked markets of the city.
Among the many cities true to their initiatives of urban progress by innovations,
here are 10 cities that are worthy models of a smart city:
VIENNA
With programs like the Smart Energy Vision 2050,
Roadmap 2020, and Action Plan 2012,-2015, Vienna is
one of the smartest cities in the world with laser focus
in improving the lives of the people. The city does well in
almost every aspect of urbanization including innovation,
green technologies, quality of life, and digital governance.
Their strategies are leaned on Vienna’s planners who make
decisions cohesive to the cities’ targets.
Photo by: Urban Transform
TORONTO
If there’s a city in North America that is worthy to be
included in the smart cities list, that’s Toronto. The city has
a target towards a low-carbon economy (being an active
member of the Clinton 40 megacities), and its private
sector also contributing with the Smart Commute Toronto
initiative, that aims to increase transit efficiency in the
metro area. It also began using natural gas from landfills
to power the city’s garbage trucks.
Photo by: Navigatored
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PARIS
Paris comes close with Vienna in this list from Europe, with
competencies in innovation, green technology and digital
governance as well. They have a successful bike sharing
program called Velib and a bunch of small electric vehicles
called Autolib.
Photo by: Itespresso
NEW YORK
Despite the low quality of life, New York fares in other
categories of being a smart city. Notable is IBM’s launch
in the city with their Business Analytics Solution Center to
address "the growing demand for the complex capabilities
needed to build smarter cities and help clients optimize
all manner of business processes and business decisions."
Photo by: Navigatored
LONDON
The capital city of the United Kingdom is well-known
of its sustainability innovations. To add to that is their
efficient mass transit system. It holds a promise towards
transport, government, business, academic and consumer
data efficiency through a smart city research center in the
Imperial College.
Photo by: Urban Data Hack
TOKYO
Being the house of tech giants like Panasonic and Accenture,
among others, this Asian city is among the better cities
when it comes to innovation and digitalization. Tokyo
leans towards smart mobility solutions and also forwards
the use of green technologies in the suburbs.
Photo by: Jama English
BERLIN
The inclusion of Berlin in this list is because of its green
technologies, innovation and quality of life. The city has
been talking with car manufacturers in electric vehicle
(EV) technology, which already includes vehicle-to-grid, or
V2G, a system that collects power from electric vehicles.
Photo by: Smart City App Hack
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COPENHAGEN
The leaders of Copenhagen must be happy to see that their
sustainable innovations are paying off: the city was ranked
by Siemens as number one on the green scale. Well, this
is due to their cumulative efforts in pursuing a carbon
neutral city by 2025. The locals also already promote and
use bicycle as an alternative to cars.
Photo by: Shutterstock
HONG KONG
The smart cards are Hong Kong’s key in this list. The
city has been successful in forwarding the use of RFID
technology in almost everywhere: airport, public transit,
library, residential, car parks, and shopping centers. Their
digital governance is working to their advantage.
Photo by: SCMP
BARCELONA
The edge of this smart city in Spain primarily lies in its lowcarbon
solutions. Barcelona is among the pioneers in solar
thermal ordinance more than a decade ago, and is now
promoting the adoption of EVs and charging infrastructure.
The city also has a living lab for smart-city innovation to
tap other sectors.
Photo by: Fast Company
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ROBOTS
CAN NOW
RECORD
YOUR
MEMORIES
Recently, a new feature has been
announced for the humanoid
robot, NAO, by French researchers
working at the Centre National de
la Recherche Scientifique. This new
feature will allow NAO to build up an
autobiographical memory. Sounds
pretty cool, doesn’t it? It is, in fact,
pretty awesome as this technology
can be used in space and can even
reach to far more ordinary tasks like
taking care of the elderly.
The scientific explanation is that a
human can teach NAO new actions
via physical demonstrations, voice
command or visual imitation. Physical
demonstrations are performed by
putting the limbs of the robot in the
correct position while visual imitation
uses the Kinect system. NAO will learn
and store the information gathered
as procedures, which the robot can
later recall and even explain to other
people. That’s quite a nifty skill for a
little robot to have!
This ability to not only learn but also
teach information can be quite useful
for the International Space Station.
After all, in the ISS, astronauts have to
come and go and still solve a problem
right on the spot. In situations
which have not been foreseen, this
ability can be extremely useful. An
experienced astronaut can teach the
solution to a problem to NAO. Later,
when a new crew arrives and the
same problem occurs, NAO can help
the new crew members solve it. In
other words, NAO acts as a guide in
different unexpected scenarios. It will
be capable of providing information
rarely found in manuals. This ability
can also be used for serving people
suffering from short-term memory
loss back here on earth. This can
make NAO a great companion for
taking care of the elderly.
Now, where was NAO during our
exams at school?
Photo by CNRS
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