Dan Kohn's Blog

From TMCnet.com

by Deepika Mala

Industry influencers and nonprofit organizations have teamed up to set up the first annual National Robotics Week, to be held from April 10 to 18.

The purpose of National Robotics Week is to recognize robotics technology as a pillar of 21st century American innovation, educate the public about how the robotics technology impacts society both in present and future, highlight its growing importance in a wide variety of application areas and to inspire students of all ages to pursue careers in robotics and other Science, Technology, Engineering and Math-related fields.

Robotics technology has today emerged as big business, responsible for creating high-tech jobs in the United States. The technology is helping improve various sectors including healthcare, national defense, homeland security, energy, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, agriculture, education, consumer goods and many others. It is also offering students with easy ways to learn and grasp Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

Initially unveiled at a May 2009 briefing by academic and industry leaders to the Congressional Caucus on Robotics, the National Robotics Week is a product of a 2009 effort by top notch universities and companies to create a “national roadmap” for robotics technology. A formal resolution asking Congress to support the designation of the second full week in April as National Robotics Week has been submitted by Mike Doyle, co-chair of the caucus, and other members.

“During National Robotics Week, we are asking people to ‘experience the possibilities’ that come from using robotics technology in everyday life,” said Rep. Doyle. “From schools to the workplace to healthcare, robotics will play a huge role in making life easier for everyone and will be a significant area of job growth and development in the decades ahead.”

The National Robotics Week is being organized by National Robotics Week Advisory Council, organized by iRobot Corp. and The Technology Collaborative, a Pittsburgh-based non-profit economic development organization and various other companies, universities and organizations such as: Adept Technology; the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International; AUVSI Foundation; Botball; Carnegie Mellon University; Carnegie Science Center of Pittsburgh; For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology;Georgia Institute of Technology ( News – Alert); Infamous Robotics; Innovation First International; Johns Hopkins University; MIT; Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council; Museum of Science, Boston; Robotic Industries Association; The Tech Museum in Silicon Valley; Stanford University; University of Massachusetts Lowell; University of Pennsylvania; and University of Southern California.

“We see robotics as a transformative technology that has the potential to change our society and become as ubiquitous over the next several decades as computing technology is today,” said Colin Angle, chairman and CEO of iRobot. “We are thrilled as an organization to have a key role in this national effort to demonstrate to the country how robotics has matured into an all-encompassing and enabling technology.”

During the National Robotics Week various events and activities are being organized in different cities of the country. This is being done in order to increase public awareness of the growing importance of “robo-technology” and the tremendous social and cultural impact that it will have on the future of the United States. Some of the cities include Boston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco and others.

In related industry news iRobot, a company involved in delivering robotic technology solutions, recently added Akami’s Paul Sagan in its team of Board of Directors.

Groundhog Day: PETA wants to replace Punxsutawney Phil with a robot
Christian Science Monitor
By Chris Gaylord / February 1, 2010

Punxsutawney Phil, Groundhog Day’s mascot, may get an early retirement and a cyborg doppelganger, if PETA has its way.

With Groundhog Day just a few hours away, eyes turn toward Gobbler’s Knob in Pennsylvania. Tuesday, Punxsutawney Phil will waddle from his hole, look for his shadow, and announce whether winter will tighten its grasp or step aside for Spring.

But this year, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) thinks it’s time for the nation’s hairiest weatherman to enjoy an early retirement. PETA’s proposal: instead of parading and manhandling the wee groundhog, replace ol’ Phil with a robot.

It’s time to consider “retiring Phil to a sanctuary and replacing him with an electronic groundhog,” says the official PETA blog. “Phil is forced to be on display year round at the local library and is denied the ability to prepare for and enter yearly hibernation…. Add to that the displeasure of large, screaming crowds, flashing lights of cameras, and human handling.”

Animatronics have come a long way – last year, the Horizons blog even joked that President Obama should consider a robot dog. Rather than look for its shadow, an iPhil could analyze the latest weather patterns, perhaps even project how global warning might permanently usher in an early Spring.

Yet, won’t a Phil-bot lack the cuddly charm of a real groundhog?

One PETA commenter thought so: “I think retiring Phil is not the best idea. Is living at a library with children who love him and show him affection that horrible?” asks Adam in response to the post. “He would suffer more hardship back in the wild then continuing what he has been doing his whole life. Also when you say screaming crowds, who is screaming? He’s not Bono.”

The Altoona (Penn.) Mirror, located 90 minutes southeast of Punxsutawney, ran an editorial today denouncing the proposed robot outsourcing. “We agree with William Deeley, president of the Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, who said Phil is ‘being treated better than the average child in Pennsylvania.’ Indeed, Phil is treated like a king, surely the envy of all of his fellow groundhogs.”

PETA’s animals-in-entertainment specialist, Gemma Vaughan, wrote to Mr. Deeley that “These normally shy animals — who are constantly on alert when they are out of their burrows — become stressed when they are exposed to large, screaming crowds; flashing lights from perhaps hundreds of cameras; and human handling…. Other popular exhibitions have featured robotic penguins and dolphins who swim and communicate just like real animals do, and we think that an animatronic groundhog would similarly mesmerize a crowd full of curious spectators in Punxsutawney.”

Another commenter, Bri, supported PETA’s idea, saying that “I think it is a good idea to retire Phil. Yeah, sure he is living a great life, but that life was not naturally meant to be for him. It would be like keeping a bear in your house to keep as a pet, when it should be in the wild. Phil is not a domesticated animal. He is a groundhog. Living with humans is not natural to a wild animal.”