Information briefs for the week check out Ziggy, a cell EV charging robotic, for all these instances when stationary charging is inconvenient; then a large robotic that climbs large wind generators by copying the best way a Koala climbs timber, then to Taiwan the place a UGV scours sewers searching for mosquito breeding grounds, then to a different astounding first for ChatGPT: constructing a robotic; and at last, a light-weight 3-lbs., exosuit to tackle all kinds of chores, even when solely to scale back drained legs on the workplace or climbing mountain trails.
Cell EV charging robots
Electrical Automobile (EV) charging stations are proliferating by the tens of hundreds in an effort to accommodate the anticipated tens of millions of 
EVs (40% of complete passenger automotive gross sales) anticipated by 2030. For probably the most half, EV charging stations are stationary. Drivers must again right into a station, get out and manually insert the charging plug.
For a lot of, such an EV charging expertise will be troublesome, harmful, and even unattainable. Particularly, these with everlasting or non permanent bodily disabilities, pregnant ladies, and the aged are susceptible to have issues recharging. Then too, there’s the infuriating expertise of underdeveloped EV infrastructure the place there’s by no means an accessible charger.
Enter Ziggy, a robotic, cell EV charging station “that is designed to dwell in parking areas, the place drivers can summon it via an app to return cost their automobile,” says Automotive & Driver.
Startup, LA-based EV Protected Cost, started improvement of Ziggy in 2019, with the cell models scheduled for delivery in late 2023.
“Roughly the scale of a fridge, Ziggy is a battery on wheels that can be capable to autonomously navigate parking areas to order drivers’ spots and cost their vehicles. And naturally, it is acquired advertisements on it.”
Koalas, robots, and wind farms
How about nature-inspiring expertise? Northern Spain’s Navarre-based KoalaLifter has developed a large robotic crane that mimics the best way a koala climbs a tree. The koala’s distinctive strategy of wrapping its limbs round a tree after which hoisting itself up is 
used to maneuver the appropriately named KoalaLifter up into wind generators to both construct, exchange elements or restore the large buildings.
Yearly, greater than 18 000 new wind generators are put in and round 20 000 upkeep operations are carried out. The EU-funded KoalaLifter, with its autonomous, self-climbing functionality, is “nearly impartial of tower peak, weight to be lifted, and wind velocity limits.”
“KoalaLifter System,” says the corporate, “is a disruptive lifting machine that makes use of friction collars to embrace the Wind Turbine Generator (WTG) tower to make potential an autonomous, self-climbing functionality, eliminating the necessity for high-tonnage cranes.”
The system operates with out staff near the hundreds, is transported by truck, and wishes just one operator to place the system for its climb.
Taiwan’s mosquito-hunting UGV
Led by Wei-Liang Liu, an investigator with Taiwan’s Nationwide Mosquito-Borne Ailments Management Analysis Heart, researchers designed an unmanned floor automobile (UGV) to scour cracks and crevices deep within the sewers of Kaohsiung Metropolis, a significant metropolis (1.7 million) within the 
south of Taiwan.
Dengue fever, yellow fever, and the Zika virus lurk underground, are born to a number of mosquito species there, after which come up into Kaohsiung Metropolis to transmit viruses to the overall inhabitants.
To eradicate the underground breeding areas would, say authorities, put a large crimp within the metropolis’s mosquito inhabitants and the dengue virus devastation that afflicts town.
The UGV has confirmed to be a extremely efficient mosquito hunter.
“Researchers mixed a crawling robotic, wire-controlled cable automotive and real-time monitoring system into an unmanned floor automobile system (UGV) that may take high-resolution, real-time pictures of areas inside sewers.”
The system is yearly deployed from Might to August in 5 administrative districts in Kaohsiung Metropolis, explicit emphasis is given to coated roadside sewer ditches.
And it labored! The UGV robotic hunter helped dramatically drop town’s mosquito inhabitants by practically 70 p.c.
A double first-ever for ChatGPT and robots
ChatGPT not solely designed a crop-picking robotic, but additionally specified for which crop it must be constructed!
Researchers at EPFL (Swiss technical college) and TU Delft (Netherlands) have collaborated with ChatGPT-3 to design a robotic, which turned out to be a cell harvesting robotic with an arm for tomato choosing.
It’s attending to be that ChatGPT, and generative AI normally, know no bounds as to being influencers of different industries and expertise. And just lately it was given an opportunity to impression the design of robots.
A bunch of roboticists picked agriculture and ChatGPT advised tomato choosing due to its excessive financial worth. “We wished ChatGPT to design not only a robotic, however one that’s truly helpful,” mentioned Cosimo Della Santina, assistant professor, and Ph.D. pupil Francesco Stella, each from TU Delft (Netherlands).
With a world tomato market of $200 billion yearly, it appears to be like very very like ChatGPT picked properly.
This might get fascinating. Nature Machine Intelligence is out with an article the place the roboticists state: “We present that giant language fashions (LLMs), comparable to ChatGPT, can information the robotic design course of, on each the conceptual and technical stage, and we suggest new human–AI co-design methods and their societal implications.”
That’s an absolute bombshell!
As an illustration, may ChatGPT reconceptualize and redesign cobot welding or robotic palletizing? Appears to be like like we’ll quickly see.
For now, ChatGPT has shocked nearly everybody by designing an agricultural robotic…and to everybody’s amazement, it specified which crop for it to choose.
The researchers, intent on using ChatGPT for his or her design and construct, additionally wished to discover the various levels of cooperation between people and Giant Language Fashions (LLM), of which ChatGPT is one.
And as an additional bonus, ChatGPT advised a new-age gripper constructed from silicone or rubber to keep away from crushing tomatoes.
Okay, now let’s see how properly it sells. Perhaps ChatGPT is aware of.
Off-the-rack, ready-to-wear robots!
Because the evolution of exoskeletons (additionally known as wearable robots) progresses, the {hardware} retains cutting down whereas the number of potential use instances continues to rise.
The cumbersome, heavy-duty body for supporting paralysis sufferers is pointless for office assistant gear like that used for unloading vehicles or pallets stuffed with heavy instances and likewise as coaching outfits that allow athletes to extend power and endurance.
Evermore light-weight exosuits at the moment are dashing into {the marketplace} to tackle all kinds of chores, even when solely to scale back drained legs on the workplace or climbing mountain trails.
One such beginner is Korea’s WIRobotics (based in 2021) which is out with a one-size-fits-all “ultralight, strolling help, wearable robotic” named WIM.
“Whereas wearable robots to this point have been primarily used within the office, WIM is anticipated to change into a wearable robotic for on a regular basis life for most of the people,” introduced the brand new robotic maker.
Co-CEO Lee Yeon-baek mentioned, “WIM would be the first product of such wearable mobility, though weight, dimension, portability and utilization time had been challenges to beat to ensure that current wearable robots to enter the dwelling and dealing areas of odd individuals.”
WIM, says the corporate’s web site, “weighs only one.4 kg (3 lbs.) and has a compact dimension, so it’s simple to hold and will be connected and indifferent inside 30 seconds. Whereas sporting it, it’s potential not solely to carry out varied duties comparable to driving, but additionally to sit down or lie right down to take a break.”
The corporate’s different co-CEO Kim Yong-jae added: “WIM not solely collects the wearer’s posture and movement info, but additionally analyzes the wearer’s power and stability info, and selects a mode primarily based on the info to selectively change strolling posture, effectivity, and power.”
