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Robotics with grace — hmmm.


A new type of hydrostatic transmission that combines hydraulic and pneumatic lines can safely and precisely drive robot arms, giving them the delicacy necessary to pick up an egg without breaking it.

This transmission has almost no friction or play, offering extreme precision for tasks such as threading a sewing needle.

The hybrid transmission makes it possible to halve the number of bulky hydraulic lines that a fully hydraulic system would require. Robotic limbs can thus be made lighter and smaller, said John P. Whitney, an assistant professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at Northeastern University, who led the development of the transmission while an associate research scientist at Disney Research.

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I still ponder on this question “Under current US laws, can I possibly win a suit against a law firm for poor representation because they used AI on my case and I lost my case that ended up causing me to lose millions and impacted my reputation? And, could this firm lose their license through the state board resulting from my claim & suit as well as others who claimed poor representation due to AI used on their case?” I believe they can under current laws.


Welcome to the firm, robot lawyers!

Last week, BigLaw firm BakerHostetler announced that it was partnering with ROSS Intelligence to bring artificial intelligence to its Bankruptcy, Restructuring, and Creditor Rights practice. ROSS will be used to help BakerHostetler’s non-robot lawyers research more quickly and intelligently. Will other firms follow their lead?

A New Kind of First Year Associate

When it comes to the law, many attorneys are skeptical of AI. After all, smart, machine learning programs will never have the charisma, experience, or gut instincts of seasoned attorneys. And many have predicted that the integration of AI into legal practice will be largely driven by client demands, not forward-thinking law firms.

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You are really starting to see the shape of the Singularity, ever more clearly, in the convergence of so many engineering and scientific discoveries, inventions, and philosophical musings.

I can say, without a doubt, that we are all living in truly extraordinary times!


This five-fingered robot hand developed by University of Washington computer science and engineering researchers can learn how to perform dexterous manipulation — like spinning a tube full of coffee beans — on its own, rather than having humans program its actions. (credit: University of Washington)

A University of Washington team of computer scientists and engineers has built what they say is one of the most highly capable five-fingered robot hands in the world. It can perform dexterous manipulation and learn from its own experience without needing humans to direct it.

Their work is described in a paper to be presented May 17 at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

MAY 12, 2016, WASHINGTON (Army News Service) – “This is the most advanced arm in the world. This one can do anything your natural arm can do, with the exception of the Vulcan V,” said Johnny Matheny, using his right hand to mimic the hand greeting made famous by Star Trek’s Leonard Nimoy. “But unless I meet a Vulcan, I won’t need it.”

Matheny was at the Pentagon, May 11, 2016, as part of “DARPA Demo Day,” to show military personnel the robotic arm he sometimes wears as part of research funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. DARPA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military.

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Fun stuff.


Johnny Matheny’s handshake is friendly, confident and firm — though not in the bone-crushing manner favoured by some of the alpha types here in the Pentagon.

What is remarkable is that Matheny’s proffered hand is not actually his. It is part of a robotic prosthesis researchers hope one day could help transform the lives of countless amputees.

“In the beginning, you had to think pretty hard about individual movements,” Matheny said as he demonstrated his mastery of the black metallic limb, clenching the fist and swiveling his wrist in a natural-looking motion.

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It’s clear that bots are having a moment. Even before Facebook’s Bots for Messenger announcement at their developer conference, there had already been a flood of investments, controversies, and critiques. So I wanted to learn how to make my own bot — and put it to work!

On the one hand, chat bots are nothing new. They have been around since the 1960s and the days of ELIZA. But suddenly the tools to create meaningful, personalised conversations are easy enough to deploy at scale. We have APIs, the ability to continuously monitor and parse messages for relevance and enormous messaging platforms for distribution — which is where people are spending the majority of time these days.

To get a sense for the bot world I decided to try my hand at making one.

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I am so happy to see others seeing the value because Quantum is changing everything; not just computing, raw material enrichment, medical technology and treatments, etc. Once more and more folks start seeing the various capabilities around Quantum and just how wide that range is; we will begin to see an explosion of demand for Quantum. We’re still in that mode of discovery, and wait and see state by some. However, the Quantum Revolution will exceed even the industrial revolution with the span of change that it brings across so many areas & industries.


Quantum physics research that could enhance self-driving vehicles and spearheaded by a Dalhousie University team is now a $6-million commercial venture that counts U.S. aerospace giant Lockheed Martin among its partners.

What started as a theoretical research project backed by Lockheed Martin hit paydirt when physics professor Jordan Kyriakidis realized quantum software could be used to perfect the design and operation of self-driving cars and new aircraft.

“A self-driving car is an example of a machine that’s really an infrastructure that is going to be entrusted with our lives and our children’s lives, so it’s absolutely critical that the machine behaves exactly as intended, doesn’t have any flaws, and so our software helps ensure that, before they even build anything, when it’s still at the blueprint stage,” said Kyriakidis, now CEO of Halifax-based Quantum Research Analytics (QRA).

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