In this informative and wide ranging RoboBusiness Direct session, MassRobotics’ Executive Director Tom Ryden leads an all-star panel of robotics researchers and industry thought leaders to discuss that latest robotics and automation research and R&D initiatives, and the ways the resulting breakthroughs make their way into the commercial sphere.

New research by MIT economist Daron Acemoglu shows that since 1987, automation has taken away jobs from lower-skill workers without being replaced by an equivalent number of labor-market opportunities.

MIT CSAIL researchers explore whether self-driving cars can predict other drivers’ personalities.

The jumping, spinning and flipping M-Blocks achieve better communication and coordination.

MIT CSAIL researchers create system that mirrors a user’s motions and follows non-verbal commands by monitoring biceps and triceps.

MIT CSAIL’s ‘RoCycle’ system uses in-hand sensors to detect if an object is paper, plastic or metal.

New system lets robots place things like hang small coffee mug on a tiny hook.

Gripper inspired by “origami magic ball” can grasp wide array of delicate and heavy objects.

Small drones offer new levels of stealth and utility, and militaries around the world are supporting R&D into such drones.

SoFi, a robotic fish developed by researchers at MIT CSAIL and the University of Colorado at Boulder, will study coral reefs and avoid disrupting the environment.

Toyota Research Institute’s Gill Pratt won the Engelberger Robotics Awards for Leadership, while MIT CSAIL’s Daniel Rus takes home the Engelberger Robotics Awards for Education.

The self-driving scooter uses the same sensors and software that had been used in previous autonomous car and golf cart tests.

Machine vision has been expensive and difficult to accomplish, but researchers in Switzerland, Australia, and the U.S. are working on different methods to enable robots to see for themselves.

Although last year’s DARPA Robotics Challenge demonstrated the limitations of humanoid robots, researchers are working hard to overcome them.

MIT’s “Eyeriss” chip is 10 times as efficient as a mobile GPU and could enable mobile devices to run powerful AI algorithms locally, rather than uploading data to the Internet for processing.

Although the FAA has yet to revise its regulations for commercial drone use, both UAV providers and farmers anticipate growing adoption of robotic crop management.

Prosthetic limbs are traditionally awkward, but biomechatronic advances and DARPA funding have led to refinements in sensors, power, and movement.

The city-state is pursuing robotics through university-corporate partnerships and by attracting international talent.

Vecna CEO and other MassRobotics board members talk about regional robotics initiative’s goals and the need to stay competitive.

One of the big challenges in getting robots to work together is the fact that the human world is full of so much uncertainty.

MIT didn’t win the DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals, but the team still feels victorious after developing and testing its cutting-edge algorithm to control robots.

University engineering researchers create a way to make two-handed tasks one-handed

Marine robotics is rapidly sailing toward its ultimate goal: full autonomy. An emerging generation of systems are being designed to operate independently and make on-the-spot decisions with no direct human control.

Pneumatic artificial muscles and sensors create a soft exoskeleton ideal for leg rehabilitation.

Dr. Julie Shah from CSAIL offers a glimpse of future training with robots