As countries plod through the toll of a worldwide pandemic, technology continues to solve problems and hurdle over obstacles. Health care facilities are one such sector. There, health care professionals—the ones who need to get close—are suddenly put in danger as the communicable coronavirus poses a dangerous health risk to them and others who perform tasks within the facility. The robotics revolution is proving to be an uncanny solution to alleviate the human presence in a setting that prides itself on care and connection. The very presence of the robot serves the purpose of companionship ordinarily provided by a human…
DrivenData is an organization that has hosted online challenges since 2014, allowing people from around the world to come together to solve social challenges. The platform’s competitions, like its Open AI Caribbean Challenge, combine the latest technologies in data science and crowdsourcing to help solve critical problems in areas such as health care, education and public services. In partnership with companies such as MathWorks, the Open AI Challenge focused on better preparation for natural disasters in the Caribbean. The competition hosted 1,425 participants, including engineers, scientists and students, from over 150 countries. These competitors contributed to the 2,753 entries aimed…
Manufacturing is changing. Never mind the remarkable utility of 3D scanning, the customization capability of additive manufacturing, or the facile methods of rapid prototyping—there’s a whole new way of using cloud computing to disseminate design information instantly. Potentially, it provides a new chapter in the way we manufacture everything. Welcome to contract manufacturing—also known as manufacturing as a service (MaaS). “For decades now, companies have shifted from vertically integrated design, engineering and manufacturing, to relying on external contract manufacturing partners,” says Andrew Edman, industry manager for product design, engineering, and manufacturing at Formlabs in Somerville, Mass. “Even manufacturers that continue…
The International Robotic Sailing Regatta (SailBot) is a robotic sailing competition held in North America in which teams of university, college and high school students compete. The first event, in 2006, was hosted by Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and took inspiration from a successful senior project at the University of British Columbia that built a robotic sailboat. Since 2008 teams have annually competed throughout the U.S. and Canada, traveling from as far away as Europe and Brazil. The goal is to create an unmanned sailboat that navigates through a variety of challenges with limited, if any, human control. Students…
BEST (Boosting Engineering Science and Technology) Robotics is a national science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education nonprofit serving middle and high school students in 47 locations across 17 states. The organization sponsors a six-week student design competition that takes place during an after-school program. Their competition has joined the cadre of competitions that seek to engage students, arousing their interest in STEM, and providing them with an opportunity to practice innovation in STEM design. Rosemary Mendel is the organization’s executive director. We spoke to her to learn about the program and what it entails. Digital Engineering: Can you provide…
The Robotics Education and Competition (REC) Foundation hosts the VEX IQ Challenge Next Level and VEX Robotics Competition Turning Point to involve students who are in middle school through college in hands-on robotics and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The VEX IQ Challenge Next Level and VEX Robotics Competition Turning Point are this season’s series of game challenges supported by the REC Foundation. VEX IQ Challenge Next Level brings elementary and middle school students together to compete in teamwork challenges with custom-built robots using VEX IQ. To learn more about the competition, we spoke to Vicki Grisanti, senior director…
