Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.

The convergence has helped tear down the silo walls between operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT), allowing unstructured machine-generated data to be analyzed for insights that will drive improvements.

Kevin Ashton, cofounder and executive director of the Auto-ID Center at MIT, first mentioned the Internet of Things in a presentation he made to Procter & Gamble in 1999. Here’s how Ashton explains the potential of the Internet of Things:

“Today computers -- and, therefore, the internet -- are almost wholly dependent on human beings for information. Nearly all of the roughly 50 petabytes (a petabyte is 1,024 terabytes) of data available on the internet were first captured and created by human beings by typing, pressing a record button, taking a digital picture or scanning a bar code. 

The problem is, people have limited time, attention and accuracy -- all of which means they are not very good at capturing data about things in the real world. If we had computers that knew everything there was to know about things -- using data they gathered without any help from us -- we would be able to track and count everything and greatly reduce waste, loss and cost. We would know when things needed replacing, repairing or recalling and whether they were fresh or past their best.”

IPv6’s huge increase in address space is an important factor in the development of the Internet of Things. According to Steve Leibson, who identifies himself as “occasional docent at the Computer History Museum,” the address space expansion means that we could “assign an IPV6 address to every atom on the surface of the earth, and still have enough addresses left to do another 100+ earths.” In other words, humans could easily assign an IP address to every "thing" on the planet. An increase in the number of smart nodes, as well as the amount of upstream data the nodes generate, is expected to raise new concerns about data privacy, data sovereignty and security. 

Practical applications of IoT technology can be found in many industries today, including precision agriculture, building management, healthcare, energy and transportation. Connectivity options for electronics engineers and application developers working on products and systems for the Internet of Things include:

Although the concept wasn't named until 1999, the Internet of Things has been in development for decades. The first internet appliance, for example, was a Coke machine at Carnegie Melon University in the early 1980s. The programmers could connect to the machine over the internet, check the status of the machine and determine whether or not there would be a cold drink awaiting them, should they decide to make the trip down to the machine.

Dr. John Barrett explains the Internet of Things in his TED talk:

Why Automate?

Reduce Downtime

• Upgrade or retrofit existing machinery controls to decrease process downtime
• Minimize breakdowns by pinpointing potential component failure
• Simplify predictive and preventative maintenance processes
• Identify and display point of failure in machinery

Improve Quality

• Manage rapidly changing production and process data
• Perform real time production tests to products and equipment
• Track out-of tolerance materials, products, and scrap
• Identify out of tolerance labeling or part defects 

Increase Productivity

• Increase throughput, increase production rate, minimize waste and reduce errors
• Simplify machine operation and reduce setup time
• Reduce cycle time and work-in-progress while increasing inventory turns
• Optimize and create predictable production to meet forecasts
• Improve machine utilization and ergonomics

Enhance Safety

• Enhance operator awareness and reaction
• Improve control system integrity and security
• Isolate hazardous areas and install effective machine guarding & controls 

Reduce Energy Cost

• Reduce energy consumption and demand peaks
• Monitor energy usage more accurately and more precisely
• Ensure balance of distribution systems

'Bomb Robot' Kills Dallas Shooter: How Police Did It

Robots designed for bomb disposal can safely handle explosives while being remotely controlled.

Credit: Jaromir Chalabala

A suspect in yesterday's (July 7) Dallas shooting — during which five police officers were killed and seven officers were injured — died after police deployed a remote-controlled bomb-disposal robot carrying an explosive device.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown explained during a press conference that police sent the robot in after negotiations with the suspect broke down and he exchanged gunfire with officers.

"We saw no other option but to use our bomb robot and place a device on its extension for it to detonate where the suspect was," Brown told reporters, adding that police confirmed shortly after the explosion that the suspect had died. [5 Surprising Ways Drones Could Be Used in the Future]

The police considered other options for subduing the suspect, Brown said, but those would have required placing officers "in grave danger."

Robots that are capable of handling or disarming explosives have become a more common sight in police departments in recent years, due to a Defense Department initiative known as the 1033 Program, which redistributes surplus military equipment. Approximately 200 law enforcement agencies — federal, state and local — across the U.S. have at least one so-called "bomb robot" provided by the 1033 Program, according to a 2015 report published by the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College.

While the U.S. military has used drones internationally as remote bombers, this could be the first instance of a U.S. police force's robot killing a suspect, said Peter W. Singer, a political scientist and strategist for New America, a non-partisan think tank addressing public policy issues.

Singer said in a tweet that he had heard of U.S. troops in Iraq using robots in a manner similar to the Dallas situation — modified to deliver explosives. While conducting an interview for his book "Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century" (Penguin Books, 2009), he learned of an incident in which soldiers duct-taped an anti-personnel mine to a type of surveillance robot called a MARCBot, sending the machine into an alley after an insurgent.

Peter W. Singer@peterwsinger

In that case (from WiredforWar interview), troops faced by insurgent hidden in alley way. Sent bot down first https://twitter.com/peterwsinger/status/751397628873678848 …

6:20 PM - Jul 8, 2016

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Singer added that this happened in an unusual circumstance, "just troops working up a solution on the fly" to lessen the risk, he said.

Robots in law enforcement are most commonly associated with bomb disposal, but police have also used the devices to respond to situations deemed too dangerous for people.

In 2012, police in Greensboro, North Carolina, used a robot equipped with an audio and video link to communicate with an armed suspect. The man had barricaded himself inside a house after firing shots at the officers. Police later subdued the man and took him into custody, Police: The Law Enforcement Magazine reported.

Officers in Richland County, Ohio, used a robot to monitor the position of a robbery suspect during a 9-hour standoff in 2014. They later used the robot to spray the suspect with tear gas, allowing officers to safely enter the building.

And during a 2015 standoff in San Jose, California, police used a bomb-disposal robot to deliver a phone — and a pizza — to a man threatening suicide on a freeway overpass, reported IEEE Spectrum.

On Friday morning (July 8), a law enforcement source identified the suspect in the Dallas shooting as Micah Xavier Johnson of Mesquite, Texas, according to a report by CBS local news in Dallas/Fort Worth. Brown said in a statement that during negotiations with police, Johnson affirmed he was not affiliated with any organization and that he acted alone.

Shoe-Wearing Robot's No Flatfoot — It Walks Like a Person

In a step forward for robotics design, humanoid robot DURUS uses heel-to-toe walking.

Credit: Christian Hubicki / Georgia Tech

A bipedal robot can now put its best foot forward, stepping with a heel-toe motion that copies human locomotion more closely than flat-footed robot walkers can.

By rocking its "feet" forward from the heel and pushing off at the toe, the DURUS robot closely imitates the walking motion of people, making it more energy-efficient and better at navigating uneven terrain, according to Christian Hubicki, a postdoctoral fellow in robotics at the Georgia Institute of Technology and one of the researchers who helped DURUS find its footing.

Enhanced walking capabilities could help robots navigate environments that people move around in, and could improve the performance of bots created for disaster response, Hubicki told Live Science. [Robots on the Run! 5 Bots That Can Really Move]

The humanoid robot DURUS was designed collaboratively by the research nonprofit SRI International and Georgia Tech's Advanced Mechanical Bipedal Experimental Robotics (AMBER) Lab. An earlier DURUS design was modified to accommodate the new manner of walking, enabled by a novel mathematical algorithm that adjusts the robot's momentum and balance, one step at a time.

Well-heeled

Robots that walk on two legs typically have "feet" that are large and flat, to provide a more stable platform, Hubicki told Live Science.

Heel-to-toe walking makes DURUS more energy-efficient and more stable than flat-footed walkers.

Credit: Christian Hubicki / Georgia Tech

"Bigger feet mean a bigger polygon of support, and the harder it is to fall," Hubicki said.

The algorithms that dictate a robot's forward momentum typically keep those big feet flat on the ground when pushing off, to minimize the risk that the bot will tip over.

"As soon as you lean on an edge, you're like a pendulum — on a pivot point that can fall forward or backward," Hubicki said.

But while a flat-footed walker might perform well on a treadmill, uneven terrain in the real world that doesn't accommodate a flat foot could confound the algorithm and stop a robot in its tracks.

Enter the AMBER Lab researchers, who designed a new algorithm that works to keep a robot upright and moving forward even if only parts of the foot are engaged. Hubicki and his colleagues tested DURUS using a modified foot with an arch; every step began with the heel making contact — the "heel strike," according to Hubicki — and then rolling to the ball of the foot to push off from the ground. Springs installed by the robot's ankles act like tendons, storing the heel strike's energy to be released later, as lift.

On July 12, AMBER Lab posted a video of a confidently striding DURUS on YouTube. DURUS' new feet are about the same size as human feet — about half as long as the feet on the original model. And to emphasize the similarity, the team laced them into a pair of sneakers.

"We wanted to show that our algorithms could make it walk with human-size feet," Hubicki said. "What better way to do that than [by] putting shoes on it?"

The algorithm may even have applications beyond robotics, Hubicki added, suggesting that it could be used to improve the design of prosthetics and exoskeletons to help people who use assistance to get around.

Artificially Intelligent Russian Robot Makes a Run for It … Again

The Promobot IR77 during its first escape attempt.

Credit: Promobot

A robot in Russia caused an unusual traffic jam last week after it "escaped" from a research lab, and now, the artificially intelligent bot is making headlines again after it reportedly tried to flee a second time, according to news reports.

Engineers at the Russian lab reprogrammed the intelligent machine, dubbed Promobot IR77, after last week's incident, but the robot recently made a second escape attempt, The Mirror reported.

Last week, the robot made it approximately 160 feet (50 meters) to the street, before it lost power and "partially paralyzed" traffic. [The 6 Strangest Robots Ever Created]

Promobot, the company that designed the robot, announced the escapade in a blog post the next day.

The strange escape has drawn skepticism from some who think it was a promotional stunt, but regardless of whether the incident was planned, the designers seem to be capitalizing on all the attention. The company's blog includes photographs of the robot from multiple angles as it obstructs traffic, and the robot's escape came a week after Promobot announced plans to present the newest model in the company's series, Promobot V3, in the fall.

The company said its engineers were testing a new positioning system that allows the robot to avoid collisions while moving under its own control. But when a gate was left open, the robot wandered into the street and blocked a lane of traffic for about 40 minutes, the blog post states.

The Promobot was designed to interact with people using speech recognition, providing information in the form of an expressive electronic face, prerecorded audio messages and a large screen on its chest. The company has said the robot could be used as a promoter, administrator, tour guide or concierge.

In light of the robot's recent escapes, and citing multiple changes to the robot's artificial intelligence, Promobot co-founder Oleg Kivokurtsev told The Mirror, "I think we might have to dismantle it."

But in its blog post, the company said it considers the escape a successful test of the machine's new navigation system, because the robot didn't harm anyone and wasn't damaged during the getaway.

According to the company's English-language website, one of the advantages of the Promobot compared to a human promoter is that it "will not be confused and stray."

Biohybrid Robots Built From Living Tissue Start to Take Shape

Biohybrid sea slug, reporting for duty.

Credit: Dr. Andrew Horchler, CC-BY-ND

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Think of a traditional robot and you probably imagine something made from metal and plastic. Such "nuts-and-bolts" robots are made of hard materials. As robots take on more roles beyond the lab, such rigid systems can present safety risks to the people they interact with. For example, if an industrial robot swings into a person, there is the risk of bruises or bone damage.

Researchers are increasingly looking for solutions to make robots softer or more compliant — less like rigid machines, more like animals. With traditional actuators — such as motors — this can mean using air musclesor adding springs in parallel with motors. For example, on a Whegs robot, having a spring between a motor and the wheel leg (Wheg) means that if the robot runs into something (like a person), the spring absorbs some of the energy so the person isn't hurt. The bumper on a Roomba vacuuming robot is another example; it's spring-loaded so the Roomba doesn't damage the things it bumps into.

Soft, Rubbery 'Octobot' Can Move Without Batteries

This "octobot" is made entirely out of soft materials. A pneumatic network (red) is embedded within the octobot’s body and hyperelastic actuator arms (blue).

Credit: Ryan Truby, Michael Wehner, and Lori Sanders, Harvard University

A rubbery little "octobot" is the first robot made completely from soft parts, according to a new study. The tiny, squishy guy also doesn't need batteries or wires of any kind, and runs on a liquid fuel.

The octopus-like robot is made of silicone rubber, and measures about 2.5 inches (6.5 centimeters) wide and long. The researchers say soft robots can adapt more easily to some environments than rigid machines, and this research could lead to autonomous robots that can sense their surroundings and interact with people.

Conventional robots are typically made from rigid parts, which makes them vulnerable to harm from bumps, scrapes, twists and falls. These hard parts can also hinder them from being able to squirm past obstacles. Increasingly, scientists are building robots made of soft, elastic plastic and rubber, designs inspired by octopuses, starfish and worms. These soft robots are generally more resistant to damage, and can wriggle past many of the obstacles that impair hard robots. [The 6 Strangest Robots Ever Created]

However, soft robots were previously limited by rigid batteries or wires needed to power the bots. Now, "we are very excited to present a completely soft, untethered robot," said study co-lead author Michael Wehner, a research associate in materials science and mechanical engineering at Harvard University. "As the field of soft robotics continues to rapidly expand, we feel that our work will allow the field to rapidly move forward in a whole new direction."

The octobot has eight arms (hence the name) that are pneumatically driven by steady streams of oxygen gas. This gas is given off by liquid hydrogen peroxide fuel after it chemically reacts with platinum catalysts.

The 0.2-ounce (6 grams) robot is controlled using tiny 3D-printed networks of plumbing. Whereas conventional microelectronic circuits shuffle electrons around wires, scientists in recent years have begun developing microfluidic circuitry that can shuffle fluids around pipes. These devices can theoretically perform any operation a regular electronic microchip can, previous research suggested.

The octobot's microfluidic controller is filled with the liquid hydrogen peroxide fuel. As the fuel gives off oxygen, pressure from the gas builds up in the controller and eventually causes some valves to open and others to close, inflating chambers in half the robot's arms and forcing them to move. Pressurized gas then builds up once more, triggering valve openings and closures that make the other robot's arms move.

So far, the octobot can only wave its arms. The scientists are now working on developing completely soft machines that are more complex and can propel themselves, and perhaps swim, Wehner said. "Integrated sensors would also allow reaction to the bot's environment," Wehner told Live Science. [Photos: Amazing Tech Inspired by the Octopus]

There is no on-off switch for this current version of the octobot — it activates once it gets filled with fuel, Wehner said. Future bots with more complex controllers and sensors could be envisioned with on-off switches, he noted.

The octobot can currently run for about 4 to 8 minutes. The researchers said they can probably improve the bot's run-time using more sophisticated designs that better control how the fuel is used.

"We foresee soft robots expanding the role of robots in human-populated environments — human-robot interaction," Wehner said.

In addition, "a separate but very interesting potential application for this type of robot is in high-risk, dangerous areas such as search and rescue," Wehner said. "The total material cost for the octobot is just over $2, and fuel costs approximately 5 cents per fill. One could envision a scenario in which 100 bots are deployed to investigate a scene, anticipating that 80 would be destroyed."

Deep-Diving Robots Zap, Kill Invasive Lionfish

Lionfish, which have no natural predators in the Atlantic, threaten reef systems by preying on fish that clean the reef and keep it healthy.

Credit: Laura Dinraths/Shutterstock.com

The robotics company iRobot, known for creating the autonomous and endearing Roomba vacuums, is taking steps to make a clean sweep of lionfish in the coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean, with a robot designed to target and dispatch the invasive fish.

A diving robot will enable individuals on the ocean surface to remotely zap and kill lionfish with electrical charges. The effort is meant to help curb the fast-growing populations of these voracious predators, which are recognized by environmental officials as a serious threat to marine ecosystems in the western Atlantic.

The initiative to launch the lionfish-targeting robot is called Robots in Service of the Environment (RISE) and represents an iRobot partnership with organizations and volunteer experts in the fields of robotics, engineering and conservation. The lionfish project is the first RISE effort to address environmental challenges with robotic solutions, according to a statement on the RISE website. [The 6 Strangest Robots Ever Created]

3D renders of the robot show a remotely controlled device equipped with a camera, so that users can track the lionfish remotely. At the front of the robot are two discs mounted on rods and facing each other. When the fish is positioned between the discs, the robot's operator triggers a lethal electrical shock; the robot then collects the fish in a net or cage to bring it up to the surface.

A 3D render of a prototype for a remote-controlled robot that would hunt and kill invasive lionfish.

Credit: RISE

The first generation of robots will measure about 2.5 feet (0.8 meters) in length, according to John Rizzi, executive director of RISE. The team's goal is to design compact robots suitable for recreational hunters, as well as larger models to accommodate greater numbers of lionfish for commercial hunters, Rizzi told Live Science. Production and in-water testing of working prototypes is anticipated for November, Rizzi said.

Deadly invaders

Lionfish — the common name for the Pterois genus, which contains 12 species — are striking to look at — their bodies are covered in bold stripes and delicate, fluttering fins that are offset by rows of venomous spines — making them a popular choice for aquarium owners. Native to Indo-Pacific ocean waters, the flashy-looking predators can measure between 2 and 17.7 inches (5 and 45 centimeters) long, weighing up to 2.9 pounds (1.3 kilograms).

If only the non-native lionfish had stayed confined to their aquariums. But for more than two decades, invasive lionfish have been breeding in the Atlantic Ocean and in the Caribbean Sea at an alarming rate. And with no natural predators in those regions to keep their numbers in check, lionfish are decimating native fish populations.

In Florida and in the Bahamas, where native fish and coral reef ecosystems have been especially hard-hit by booming lionfish numbers, environmental officials have organized hunting events encouraging divers to catch as many lionfish as possible. Research showed that the hunts can help native fish rebound, but they are most effective when targeting small areas, and won't control lionfish populations on a larger scale.

Could diving robots help conservationists gain control of these invasive pests? Rizzi told Live Science that they could, by allowing users to target deeper waters where lionfish breed, and where diving hunters typically can't go.

"The average recreational diver stays close to shore and can only dive to 80 to 100 feet [24 to 30 meters]," Rizzi explained. "Big colonies of lionfish have been found down to 900 feet [274 m]. We believe this device is the only way to economically kill populations off at greater depths."

Diving robots would need to get very close to their targets to deliver the killing shock, and tests showed that the lionfish didn't seem spooked by an approaching robotic hunter, Rizzi said. While other fish would quickly swim away when approached with probes similar to those the robot would carry, lionfish didn't respond — perhaps because they aren't used to being hunted by natural predators in that region, Rizzi suggested.

"We'll be their first predator," he said. "They won't see us coming.