The March ’18 Edition Of The Berytech Meetups Powered By GIST Hosted Experts, Engineers And Entrepreneurs To Talk About The Trends And Opportunities In Robotics.
First, here’s a quick round up:
American University Of Beirut – Dr. Imad El Hajj
We are living in an age where there has been a lot of progress in a lot of areas that feed into robotics. Today, the term robotics is beyond what we used to think of as industrial robots. We’re talking about the the fourth industrial revolution following the first 3: steam engine, electricity, technology and now robots. The scope of the fourth revolution is beyond just robotics and into autonomous vehicles, biotechnology, 3D printing, IOT, AI and quantum computing.
According to Dr. El Hajj the robotics field has suffered significantly because it has over promised and under delivered, “When we talk about robotics, we talk about the anatomy of a robotics system and today it is beyond that.” Today we talk about specialization – input/data/output -which is not the form of robot that we imagined. Trends in Robotics include:
- Bio-mimetics is where we design a system that imitates something in nature, either a process or a structure. The humanoid is the most obvious.
- Soft Robotics where the structure is made in softer material and no longer in steel, aluminum or plastic.
- Human augmentation where we use robots to augment our bodies and we’ve seen in the arm for example.
- IOT and mobile, today it is a given to have the robot connected to the network.
- Virtual Reality /Augmented Reality which presents a great potential for us in lebanon to contribute to this field.
- Artificial Intelligence: It has become indistinguishable when we talk about robotics and artificial intelligence, they are completely different fields but they come hand in hand. The biggest progress accomplished in robotics is not in the mechanics but what that robot is able to do through the artificial intelligence.
- Interfacing and collaboration which works on how to accomplish a communication in a complex system of robots.
Watch the video to see examples of applications and challenges and what is being accomplished in the labs of AUB:
Innovo – Jad Berro
Innovo specializes in precision engineering and the development of custom electronic systems and devices. The Innovo team has worked on an array of projects from design to manufacturing including as example:
- A robotized testing process for aquariums that eliminates the mechanical testing by mixing the water and chemicals and sending back test results. The commands can be edited as needed.
- A photography device that assists the photographer in creating time lapse videos factoring in environmental elements.
- Another project is a simple camera slider that is able to follow a determined object.
The Innovo labs which are used to create and manufacture all client projects will soon be open to the public, accessing their tools and machines.
Watch the video to know more on the robot that Innovo showcased during the talk and the process they use to create their robots:
CME – Wissam Youssef
CME is a technology consulting firm that started in Lebanon in 2003 working with US customers. The company team includes software hardware and IT consulting and manufacturing. CME headoffices are based in Beirut with offices in US, Argetina, India and China. CME employs 300 engineers half of which are Lebanese. It means we have the capabilities to compete at an international level
Youssef explains the three parameters needed to develop new products in robotics for first adopters:
- Try-ability: Try the product – not in a friendly environment – but rather with the end-user.
- Simplicity: Does not require a special expertise to use a product.
- Compatibility: The product cannot be generic but needs to know the environment that it will function in. Work on full integration with the environment.
Watch the video to discover fail fast examples, certifications and production in this video:
