Robots Podcast #143: David Dorhout

David Dorhout is a graduate of Iowa State University. He has always been interested in robotics and 14 years of experience in agriculture and the biotech industry. He is the founder of Dorhout R&D LLC which is a research and development business designing and building novel robotic systems and interactive consumer electronic devices. In this episode, Ron Vanderkley speaks with David about his robots that include Prospero the robot farmer and Aquarius the greenhouse watering robot. This episode of Robots Podcast is part of Robohub's focus series on agricultural robotics.

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Random Robot Roundup

Howdy, robot fans, I'm back and have a ton of robot news waiting to roll out! So what better way to start than with a quick news roundup? Here we go...

• Kim from Rethink Robotics let us know that their Baxter Research Robot has lots of new features and improvements to help promote the ROS open source robotics platform.
   
• Speaking of ROS, Tim Smith sends word about the latest spin-off from Willow Garage, Unbounded Robotics and the UBR-1 robot for researchers and businesses.
   
• The Swirling Brain sent a link to the latest in DiY cyborg technology, a mashup between body mods and wearable computers.
   
• Wendy from Intellibot Robotics let us know about their new HydroBot 17 cleaning robot that's ready to start scrubbing the hallways and aisles in schools, hospitals, and grocery stores near you.
   
• A Technology Review article notes that robots are beginning to move more like humans.
   
• MIT meanwhile, has been busy with robots that move nothing like humans: self-assembling cube bots.
   
• John from Logic Supply thinks your next robot needs one of their ML300 fanless NUCs, which works at temperatures up to 50C.
   
• The EU Human Brain Project officially kicked off last month, joining the US BRAIN Initiative which is already underway. This will be an exciting time for anyone interested in AI and cognitive science!
   

Know any other robot news, gossip, or amazing facts we should report? Send 'em our way please. Don't forget to follow us on twitter and Facebook. And now you can add us to your Google+ circles too.

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Robots Podcast #142: Blue River Technology

“In this episode Sabine Hauert speaks with Jorge Heraud, CEO of California-based startup Blue River Technology which brings together computer vision and robotics to automate agriculture. Their first robot LettuceBot targets the state’s #1 vegetable crop. Its task is to thin rows of lettuce in fields. This involves selectively removing some of the plants by spraying excess fertilizer on them, thereby avoiding overcrowding while fertilizing nearby plants. The tractor-mounted robot is already being rented out to farms across the state.” (This podcast episode is part of Robohub's focus series on agricultural robotics.)

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