The first generation of robotics systems, which emerged over the second half of the last century, largely consisted of immobile, single task robots that have little interaction with humans or the world around them as they performed repetitive, industrial tasks while encaged within safety barriers. This was followed by two decades of rapid robotics innovation, resulting in robotics systems capable of operating in open, dynamic environments, often working in close approximation to, or directly with, humans. But what comes next?

In this thought provoking session, appropriate for developers and end-users of robotics systems, along with business development and investment professionals, robot designers Laura Major and Julie Shah will describe how the next generation of robotics systems will operate in the real world and how they will change our relationship to technology. They will also discuss how social behavior can be incorporated into robots, and how public spaces can be optimized for safe and beneficial human robot interaction.

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Your RoboBusiness Direct Speakers

Laura Major has a long career developing autonomous solutions across ground robotics, aerial, and space applications. She is currently the CTO of Motional, an autonomous driving joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv PLC, where she leads the technology roadmap and engineering development of an autonomous vehicle. Previously she was the CTO at Aria Insights / CyPhy Works, the pioneer in tethered drones. In addition, Major spent 12 years at Draper Laboratory developing new capabilities that fuse human and machine intelligence to solve technical challenges across many domains that address problems of national security. Major was honored by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) with a national award for Emerging Leaders in 2014, and was also honored by Mass High Tech as one of its 2014 “Women to Watch”. She holds an MS from MIT and a BS from Georgia Tech.

Julie Shah is an Associate Professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT where she leads the Interactive Robotics Group of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Before joining the faculty, she worked at Boeing Research and Technology on robotics applications for aerospace manufacturing. She has developed innovative methods for enabling fluid human-robot teamwork in time-critical, safety-critical domains, ranging from manufacturing to surgery to space exploration. Her group draws on expertise in artificial intelligence, human factors, and systems engineering to develop interactive robots that emulate the qualities of effective human team members to improve the efficiency of human-robot teamwork. In 2014, Shah was recognized with an NSF CAREER award for her work on “Human-aware Autonomy for Team-oriented Environments,” and by the MIT Technology Review TR35 list as one of the world’s top innovators under the age of 35. Shah received her SB and SM from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, and her PhD in Autonomous Systems from MIT.

Thomas Ryden is the Executive Director of MassRobotics, a non-profit organization whose mission is to help grow the next generation of robotics companies. Prior to joining MassRobotics he Ryden was the founder and CEO/COO of VGo Communications, and in this role he oversaw the development and launch of the VGo telepresence robot. Previously, Ryden was Director of Sales & Marketing at iRobot Corporation. In addition Ryden held roles in program management, overseeing the development of some of iRobot’s most successful products. Ryden serves as the co-chairman of the robotics cluster of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council and is on the board of directors of AUVSI New England and the Robotics Technology Advisory Panel for ASME. He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Vermont and an MBA from Bentley University.

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About RoboBusiness Direct

RoboBusiness Direct is an ongoing series of digital events delivered by brightest minds from the leading robotics and automation organizations around the world. The series complements continuing coverage and analysis in Robotics Business Review.

RoboBusiness Direct is designed to impart to business and engineering professionals the information they need to identify market opportunities, successfully develop and deploy the next generation of commercial robotics systems, and accelerate their businesses.

You can find a listing of RoboBusiness Direct speakers and session topics, along with the dates and times of RoboBusiness Direct programs, HERE.

There is no charge to register for RoboBusiness Direct programs.