2nd GMV Robotics Day
GMV, technology business group, presented yesterday its 2nd GMV Robotics Day (II Jornada GMV de Robótica), showcasing the latest mobile robot research and the many applications of this technology. This event was designed and developed as part of European Robotics Week (26 November– 2 December, 2012) with over 200 robotics-related events planned throughout the whole of Europe.
Robotics covers a very varied range of technologies (artificial vision, manipulation, locomotion, navigation, human-robot interaction), all of which are gradually making inroads into our daily lives in the form of household cleaning robots, unmanned vehicles and smart games. All these technologies call for early research from the very first stages of their development to reach a competitive level in the business world. This is precisely why GMV wishes to promote robotics on a Europe-wide scale.
The exhibition was divided into two parts. The first part involved robot demonstrations from the academic and industrial worlds on GMV’s Martian Terrarium; the second involved exhibitions of robots built by students aged 7 to 18, closely supported by GMV.
The first robot to be put through its paces was the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid’s system of land-air robotic explorers. This system, made up by land and air robots, aims to integrate the capabilities of each robot. The airborne robot provides real-time images of the whole scenario and readings from onboard sensors. The land robot, for its part, captures images with a finer detail and provides other direct-contact readings. It also serves as a mobile take-off platform and long-range communications link.
Next up was AVATAR ONE EODTM, a mobile robot designed by Robomotion for military tactical missions of reconnaissance, surveillance and manipulation of hazardous objects in high-risk environments.
Next came the turn of Robotnik’s GWAM. This is a mobile manipulator, ideal for various applications such as mobile manipulation indoors and outdoors, the search for and deactivation of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) and remote reading, sample taking and map building.
The last up was the LRM rover, a rugged platform used for research into remote, unmanned operation in space (specifically designed for the moon’s polar caps), created by GMV and the European Space Agency (ESA).
Robotics is highly appealing to the up-and-coming generation, which includes the budding scientists and leaders of tomorrow’s society. GMV sponsors many educational and/or training initiatives to inspire this budding talent, and this 2nd GMV Robotics Day highlighted two of them: First Lego League and COMPLUBOT.
The “Go4It” team is taking part for the fifth time in First Lego League, whose challenge in 2012 is “Senior Solutions”. First Lego League is an international robot-building competition for schoolchildren. Underway since 1988, it challenges the schoolchildren, working under a coach, to build and program a robot from the LEGO Mindstorms robot set and an unlimited number of LEGO® parts, and also to draw up and present a scientific project.
They were followed by COMPLUBOT, a nonprofit association created in 2011 to design educational activities for any student aged 6 to 18 who is interested in robotics. Initially, this name designated the students of the robotics workshop, created in 2003, of the Parent Teacher Association of the state school Miguel Hernández in Alcalá de Henares. Various educational robots were seen in action during this exhibition (Nexus, Arduino, LittleBits and 3D printers).
The day ended with demonstrations of other low-cost robotic platforms designed with fun-based education in mind: the Lego MOCUP platform (GMV); the NAO humanoid, the robot football team SPiteam (URJC) and the commercial platform Qbo Pro Evo (PersonalRobotics).
In the words of Alberto Medina, GMV’s robotics manager: “the success of these two robotics days encourages us to continue supporting this event. For the second year running it has served as a meeting point for the various stakeholders of this new emerging sector, which is ushering in the 3rd Industrial Revolution.”