News from planet Mars

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

On May 4, 2022, the Mars InSight Lander seismometer recorded a long-awaited “big one”. A marsquake measuring 5 on the Richter scale. The largest quake recorded on another planet, though far below the largest quakes recorded on planet Earth. The Mars InSight Lander seismometer is part of the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) payload that was sent to Mars. Together with other mission instruments, SEIS is also the first Mars exploration instrument that was taken off the deck of the lander, and placed on the surface of Mars. Thus, the Martian seismometer has a dome, shielding it against heat, wind and dust on Mars. See the photo below of the InSight lander, showing deployment of the SEIS dome, on the Maritan surface, at the onset of the mission in 2018, and the (dustless) solar panels on each side of the lander.

InSight is an acronym for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport. The mission’s robotic spacecraft, launched on May 5, 2018 from the Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California, on an Atlas V launch system, landed on November 26, 2018, at the Elysium Planitia site, straddling the Martian equator. The InSight spacecraft was launched with two CubeSats, called Mars Cube One or MarCOs. Briefcase-size satellites that went into orbit behind the Insight Space capsule, and that were designed to relay communication about the Insight spacecraft, upon entry, descent, and landing on the Martian surface.

The scientific purposes of the InSight mission were twofold: 1. Understanding the formation and evolution of Mars, and 2. Determining the level of tectonic activity on Mars. Thus, the InSight mission was the first mission designed to study the inner core of planet Mars, formed 4.5 billion years ago, and its vital signs: pulse (seismic activity), temperature (heat flow), and reflexes (precision tracking).

Using radio frequencies, the Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment (RISE) antennas were designed to track the exact position of the InSight lander on Mars. The RISE instruments reflected back the signal sent from Earth to the lander, thus also determining the exact position of Mars. In turn, tracking the position of Mars was designed to calculate how much the planet Mars wobbles, as it orbits the sun. A calculation intended to bring further insight into the composition and structure of the Mars core, particularly the question of whether the Mars core is solid or liquid.

The Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) was designed to burrow, almost 16 feet deep into the surface of Mars, to measure heat flow, from the core to the surface of Mars. However, the instrument malfunctioned, due to the unanticipated differences in Martian soil properties, which prevented the tool from boring into the soil, to reach any depth.

Weather instruments, the Temperature and Winds for InSight (TWINS) suite, onboard the InSight lander, also relayed meteorological data from Mars (1).

The May 4th marsquake was recorded on the 1,222nd Martian day, or sol, of the InSight Lander mission. A mission scheduled to end in December 2022, due to dwindling power supply, unrenewed by the solar panels, now thickly covered with Martian soil dust. The Youtube video below shows a seismograph and sonification of the signals recorded on May 4th, on Mars, using the Mars Insight lander seismometer.  

Note

(1) The SEIS and HP3 instruments were essentially provided by the European Space Agency, bringing together the French Aerospace Agency, (CNES), the Institut de Physique du Globe de l'Université de Paris (IPGP), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the German Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), as well as the Imperial College (in the UK) and the Space Research Center (CBK) of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Astronika. The RISE instruments were provided by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL).

Reference
NASA Insight Lander Mission
https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/

NASA’s Insight records monster quake on Mars
https://mars.nasa.gov/news/9185/nasas-insight-records-monster-quake-on-mars/

NASA Mars Insight Mission: The Instruments
https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/spacecraft/instruments/summary/

NASA Mars Insight Mission: The Instruments - RISE
https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/spacecraft/instruments/rise/

NASA NASA Mars Insight Mission: The Instruments – SEIS
https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/spacecraft/instruments/seis/

NASA Mars Insight Mission: The Instruments – HP
https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/spacecraft/instruments/hp3/

NASA Mars Weather
https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/weather/

AMECA the robot @ CES 2022

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

AMECA the new humanoid robot, on show at CES 2022(1), has been described variously as “haunting” (Newsbreak, 2022) , “terrifyingly realistic” (New York Post, 2022) , “totally surreal” (CNET, 2022) and “freaky as you would expect” (New Atlas, 2021), which makes one wonder exactly what this robot is all about.  Indeed, perhaps that you will concur, after seeing the following Youtube video. 

AMECA was produced by the British Company Engineered Arts, Ltd. A company that brings together performance arts and robotic engineering, originally creating mixed media exhibits for museums and science centers in the UK. The company currently rents the humanoid robots that it produces, while specializing in humanoid facial expression for the design of entertainment robots. 

Engineered Arts Ltd., uses a company-developed 3D animation-type platform called Tritium for programming the humanoid expressions, and an in-house robot “inhabiter” program called TinMan for remote multilingual speech generation and synthesizing. Tritium 3D animations are downloaded directly to the humanoid robot, whereas for speech, it is actually a real live human being (an “inhabiter”) that is responding (in any language) remotely via AMECA’s camera and speaker. Thus, the company intends to open the programing of humanoid robots to the public at large, freeing them from coders-only, while acknowledging that speech should still remain generated by humans, if the humanoid is to be of best service and use, beyond mechanical automation. 

Engineered Arts robots rely on many patented inventions, such as inhabiter programs recited, for example, in the University of Florida patent, US9987749B2, titled Control interface for robotic humanoid avatar system and related methods.

Note

(1) CES 2022 - Computer Electronics Show, Las Vegas, Jan 5 - 8, 2022. CES is one of the most influential technology shows in the world. Game-changing technologies such as videocasette players (1970), CD-players and camcorders (1981), DVDs (2003), OLED TV (2008), 3D HDTV (2009), tablets and netbooks (2010), ultrabooks (2012), driverless cars (2013) and 3D-printers (2014), were all first shown at CES, over the course of a 50-year history.

References

CES 2022 https://www.ces.tech/

Engineered Arts https://www.engineeredarts.co.uk/
https://www.engineeredarts.co.uk/robothespian-will-jackson-in-the-impossible-tedx-talk/

Engineered Arts – Tritium https://www.engineeredarts.co.uk/software/tritium/

Engineered Arts (wiki) - Tinman https://wiki.engineeredarts.co.uk/Tinman_Telepresence_without_internet

Dent, S. T.(Dec. 6, 2021). AMECA shows off more humanlike facial expressions – Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/ameca-robot-shows-off-more-human-like-facial-expressions-093038139.html

Lavars, N. (Dec. 6, 2021). AMECA, the future of robotics is as freaky as you would expect. New Atlas. https://newatlas.com/robotics/ameca-humanoid-robot-video/

Patel, N. V. (Dec. 3, 2021). The robot’s expressions will freak you out. The Daily Beast. https://www.thedailybeast.com/humanoid-robot-ameca-with-freakishly-realistic-facial-expressions-by-engineered-arts-makes-debut

Reilly, C. (Jan. 5, 2022). AMECA the robot is more human (and haunting) than I ever imagined. https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2478005982964/ameca-the-robot-is-more-human-and-haunting-than-i-ever-imagined

Roth, E. (Dec. 5, 2021). A humanoid robot makes lifelike facial expressions. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/5/22819328/humanoid-robot-eerily-lifelike-facial-expressions

Staff (Jan. 7, 2022). Meet AMECA the humanoid robot that is terrifyingly realistic. New York Post. https://nypost.com/video/meet-ameca-the-humanoid-robot-that-is-terrifyingly-realistic/

Staff (Jan. 5 2022). Meeting AMECA, the future of humanoid robots, was totally surreal. CNET. https://www.cnet.com/videos/meeting-ameca-the-future-of-humanoid-robots-was-totally-surreal/

Oh, patents! Le Bread Xpress (2)

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Le Bread Xpress robotic-bakery vending machine was awarded the  US design patent USD674020S, titled Vending machine. As a reminder the  difference between utility and design patents is explained in the following provisions of the United States Patent and TradeMark Office (USPTO) Manual of Patent Examing Procedure (MPEP): 

 “a “utility patent” protects the way an article is used and works (35 U.S.C. 101), while a "design patent" protects the way an article looks (35 U.S.C. 171). [USPTO - MPEP]  

Below, the Figure 1 drawing, extracted from the US design patent USD674020S,  together with an image of the marketed, robotic-bakery, vending machine. 

The franchised, award-winning, robotic-bakery vending machines deliver piping hot and crusty, artisan-made baguettes, on-demand, 24/7. In France the Panivending machines are found in under-served rural areas, and just outside artisan bakery shops, in view of extending hours of operation. In the US, pandemic-interrupted deployment of the machines was planned for malls and at corporate centers. 

References

Le Bread Xpress https://www.lebreadxpress.com/

Le PaniVending https://www.panivending.com/concepts

United States Patents and Trademark Office (USPTO), Manual of Patent Examing Procedures (MPEP) https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/index.html

Oh, patents! Le Bread Xpress (1)

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

At the intersection of hi-tech robotics and artisan manufacturing, Le Bread Xpress is a robotic bakery vending machine that serves hot, fresh-baked, artisan-made baguettes, 24/7— just like an ATM machine. As a bonus for pandemic times, sales of the fresh-baked artisan-made baguettes are 100% contactless. Just swipe your credit card, and watch for when your baguette comes out crunchy and piping hot, 20 seconds later. Le Bread Xpress is a vending machine that has automated the fridge-to-oven-to-sale and delivery process for artisan-made baguettes. Artisan-made baguettes, just like the ones made-in-France, that are pre-cooked, and refrigerated inside the vending machine. The result is a crispy hot baguette, available on-demand, or until out of batches, at selected public locations, and at many private corporate locations.

The robotic bakery vending machine was invented by two French engineers: Jean-Louis and Jean-Claude Hecht.  Designated  micro-bakery, the robotic vending machine was awarded the President of the Republic Prize, representing top honors at the prestigious, 120-year old, 2014 Concours Lépine, an international competition for patented inventions, held every year in Paris, since 1901.  The robotic bakery vending machine was then marketed as a franchise. 

In France, the 24/7 micro-bakery vending machine is marketed by Le Panivending.  A company, selling the micro-bakery vending machines directly to artisan bakers. Artisan bakers who want to extend the business hours of their shops, and/or their distribution networks to otherwise under-served locations in small rural villages—without sacrificing the quality of their artisan baguettes. In the USA, the franchise Le Bread Xpress is based in San Francisco, California. Le Bread Xpress delivers hot and crunchy, artisan-made baguettes, in malls, using Le Bread Xpress micro-bakery vending machine, as well as a large selection of fresh-baked goods, such as croissants, quiches, pizza, and gourmet sandwiches, using another micro-bakery vending machine, called the Bake Xpress, also within the scope of the invention.

The micro-bakery vending machine was patented in France in the below-listed two French (FR) patents. The patent families include European (EP), US, and Spain (SP) patents, also listed below.           

• Patent family 

FR2971122 - Enfourneur automatique

EP2484212A1 - Automatic kiln setter  

• Patent family 

FR2973789 - Dispositif de stockage et de prélèvement et procédé pour l'utilisation d'un tel dispositif

EP2508450A1 - Storage and retrieval device and method for using such a device

ES2481916T3 - Dispositivo de almacenamiento y recuperación y procedimiento para la utilización de tal dispositivo

The two patent families each recite different aspects of the robotic processes. In particular, the two patents respectively recite: the loading and unloading processes of the bread within the machine (FR2971122), and the conveyor belt system, inside and outside of the oven (FR2973789). The inventions are best illustrated in the following Youtube technical video, posted by one of the inventors.

 

 

In a nutshell, the micro-bakery machine stores 120 baguettes in a fridge. 14 baguettes are kept warm in a compartment for swift on-demand delivery, together with a paper bag. When one baguette is sold, it is replaced with a freshly baked baguette. The oven is able to bake eight baguettes at a time. It is the smallest micro-bakery fabricated. The interface is cloud-based, allowing remote access for tracking, and monitoring, of the machine's inventory. 

Below, a video of le Bread Xpress at the San Francisco, Stonestown Galleria shopping Mall, showing both the inside and outside operation of the robotic bakery vending machine. 

References

Concours Lépine 2014 - Prix du Président de la République. https://www.concours-lepine.com/palmares/2014-2/tableau-dhonneur/ 

Le Bread Xpress https://www.lebreadxpress.com/

Le Panivending https://www.panivending.com/concepts

Oh, patents! Foldaway Haptics interface

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Foldaway, a spinoff company from the Reconfigurable Robotics Laboratory (RRL) of the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne, in Switzerland (EPFL- Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), brings origami-inspired research to haptic interfaces, on thumbsticks in particular. For example, with Foldaway technology, Virtual Reality (VR) users are provided with an added sense of touch of the resilience of a rubber ball (RRL-EPFL 1; RRL-EPFL 2). The video below shows this sensory experience added to a thumbstick, using an origami-inspired pop-up haptic interface.

At the Computer Electronics Show (CES) of Las Vegas, in 2019, Foldaway demonstrated their origami-inspired technology on a VR Game called LamaSlam, where the VR payers obtain an added sense of touch, for example, for how slippery or heavy, the various creature characters of the game feel, when users try to pick them up (Lang, 2019). An invention, that paves the way to a more tactile shopping experience. Imagine, for example, being able to determine how light a pair of shoes, or how resilient their soles. Likewise, how soft or light the cashmere, you are contemplating to purchase.

The Foldaway, foldable, origami-inspired, pop-up actuator invention is recited in the mechanical engineering patent application US20180038461A1, titled Planar Pop-Up Actuator Device with Embedded Electro-Magnetic Actuation. The exploded patent Figure 1 drawing, showing the various layers of the pop-up actuator is included below, together with a video, showing the versatility of the popup foldable actuator, including the thumbstick application.

The abstract of this invention is also include below:

A planar actuator device, including a base plate including a first, second, and third pair of planar coils, each pair of planar coils having an inner coil and an outer coil, each pair of planar coils arranged along a first, second, and third linear motion axis, respectively, the first, second, and third linear motion axis arranged in a star configuration, and an actuation mechanism including a first, second, and third planar legs and a centerpiece, the first, second and third planar legs pivotably connected to the centerpiece, the planar legs including a first, second, and third sliding element and a first, second, and third middle section, respectively, a sliding element and middle section of a respective leg pivotably connected to each other, each sliding element including a permanent magnet. [Abstact  US20180038461A1]

References 

Foldaway Haptics - Robotics. http://www.foldaway-haptics.com/

Lang, B. (Jan. 1, 2019)  Foldaway Haptics is Making a Thumbstick for VR Controllers That Pushes Back.   https://www.roadtovr.com/foldaway-haptics-thumbstick-vr-controller-pushes-back-ces-2019/

RRL - EPFL (1) News - Reconfigurable Robotics Laboratory - Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne.  https://actu.epfl.ch/search/RRL/

RRL - EPFL (2) A little fold-up joystick brings haptics to portable devices. Reconfigurable Robotics Laboratory - Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne.        https://actu.epfl.ch/news/a-little-fold-up-joystick-brings-haptics-to-port-5/

Oh, patents! Oh, CocoTerra!

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Ever dream of making your own artisan bean-to-bar chocolate, in the comfort of your own home?  Wake-up! The CocoTerra countertop chocolate-making factory will be available sometime in 2021.

The CocoTerra countertop, chocolate-making, factory will enable you to make your very own nibs-to-spaceship-looking-bar, using nibs that include a certificate of origin, and a circular mold. Nibs are dried, fermented and cracked cacao beans, obtained after harvesting cacao pods from the cacao tree, and removal of the seeds, called cacao beans, from the pods. As for the 360-degree mold, it will make your artisan chocolate even more unique. The CocoTerra process is shown in the YouTube video below.

CocoTerra nibs from different origins, such as Western Ghana, the Dominican Republic and Madagascar, will be available in retail, or to order via the app. Each package of nibs will display a QR Code, pointing to a CocoTerra recipe, which the CocoTerra machine will execute, once connected via Bluetooth® to a phone, tablet or computer. The CocoTerra chocolate-making facotry will execute the recipe directly as stored via the CocoTera app, or with various possible degrees of coached customization. This way the CocoTerra chocolate-making factory might appeal to both novice, and professional artisans. 

Once an existing recipe is selected or customized, or a new recipe is designed, and launched, the machine will go through all the manufacturing processes of chocolate making, right on your countertop. In other words, the machine will do all the grinding, refining, conching, tempering and molding, in approximately 2 hours, depending on the recipe. All the user does, after selecting, customizing or creating a recipe, is add the four main ingredients (nibs, cocoa butter, sugar and milk powder) for making chocolate, plus any additional spices or optional ingredients such as nuts or dried fruit, in the proportions specified in the recipe, and when the recipe indicates. Presto pronto, and voilà! CocoTerra will then deliver a circular chocolate bar, ready to enjoy, whether it is cinnamon dark chocolate or simple white chocolate. In sum, CocoTerra will deliver both a delight for taste buds and a new experience under lockdown.

The app driving the CocoTerra countertop chocolate-making factory is patented in the US patent application US20200288741A1, titled Interface and application for designing a chocolate-making experience. The abstract of the invention is included below, together with  Figures 2 and 4, extracted from the patent, respectively showing interactive graphical interfaces for managing recipe options and for creating a new custom recipe.

In particular, Figure 2 shows the interactive graphical interface 200 for a machine 115, the CocoTerra, which is “turned off” or “unconnected to your network”. The interface 200 also displays a list of two chocolate-making recipes “Simple white” and “Cinnamon dark chocolate 50”, out of eight stored recipes. A menu bar at the bottom of the interface 200 shows the ecommerce function  SHOP, enabling users to buy (or sell) ingredients, such as cacao butter, cacao nibs of various origins, milk powder, decorations, inclusions and flavorings (e.g.; ground nuts, spices, dried fruits, oils and concentrates). In another embodiment of the invention, the ecommerce function SHOP automatically fills a cart with all the ingredients needed for a particular recipe. The menu bar at the bottom of the interface 200 also includes an elearning function EXPLORE, allowing users to access learning modules about chocolate, such as: The cacao farms of Guinea, The origins of chocolate or The health benefits of chocolate. The MACHINE function at the bottom of the interface 200 enables users to set some of the machine parameters, such as UPDATES on machine status and the chocolate-making process, or PREFERENCES, such as the language of the interface  or measurement units (e.g.; oz or gr) for the recipes. Finally, the RECIPES function provides access to stored recipes, and/or databases of recipes for making chocolate, for this particular embodiment of the invention. Indeed, as recited, the scope of the invention interface is unlimited to the CocoTerra chocolate making machine. Another type of machine could be driven, in a similar way, by an interface like the one shown, using different recipes, ingredients and processes, as well as different ecommerce, elearning and  machine setting functions.

Figure 4 shows an exemplary interactive graphical interface 400 for creating a custom or guided recipe.The four main ingredients of chocolate are listed, with an ADD INGREDIENT function. Each of the ingredients might be edited for quantity, or the user might instead select the GUIDE ME function at the bottom of the interface. The GUIDE ME function then coaches the user through the process of customizing a recipe. Coaching includes, for example, determining whether the recipe is for making milk, dark or white chocolate, and for each chocolate category: “How creamy? How sweet? How milky?” the desired, circular, chocolate bar output.

Provided herein are exemplary embodiments including a computing device comprising a processor, a memory and a display, the computing device being configured to dynamically display a specific, structured interactive graphical user interface paired with a prescribed functionality directly related to the interactive graphical user interface's structure, the specific structured interactive graphical user interface configured to receive input information including an entry of a desired type of food to be prepared, and a desired characteristic of the food, the computing device processor automatically generating a food preparation parameter based on the received input information, and the computing device processor automatically generating a custom recipe for preparation of the food. Additionally, the specific structured interactive graphical user interface may be configured to receive an entry to modify the food preparation parameter or the custom recipe. [Abstract US20200288741A1] 

Reference

CocoTerra (company website) https://www.cocoterra.com/

Oh, patents! Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS)

Copyright Françoise Herrmann 

The fact that the COVID 19 pandemic put a law-enforced damper on all forms of celebration, hardly stopped the march of amazing inventions. Whether the canceled celebrations were individual (for weddings and graduations), or collective (for Beethoven’s 200th anniversary and the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower voyage to America), some awe-inspiring inventions still came together, in a unique spirit of collaboration 

The Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) was one such awesome, large scale, maritime project, arising in a partnership between Promare (a British marine-research, non-profit, organization), IBM Corporation, the Universities of Plymouth and Birmingham in the UK, together with a consortium of global partners, including shipbuilders, submarine designers, software engineers, AI experts, robotics engineers, oceanographers and university researchers stationed, on land, around the world. Bringing together hundreds of IBM-patented technologies, the Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) project largely unfolded away from the limelight, even if such a grand project was intended to deeply, sustainably, and durably, transform ocean science (IBM News Room (1)). A science that includes such domains as: sea-level mapping, ocean microplastics analysis, marine mammal monitoring, marine overexploitation tracking, maritime cybersecurity, and climate change research. Not to mention, the potential for eventually increasing the fleet of autonomous ships. More autonomous ships that could, for example, respond to, and prevent, the plight of hundreds of boat people, perishing at sea, in the Mediterranean. Alternatively, more autonomous ships that could expand maritime trade in unprecedented ways, driving down the costs of building vessels, equipped for much safer sea navigation in turbulent waters.

The Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) is a robotic trimaran vessel with a fully autonomous navigation system. Indeed, the MAS was designed to sail the rough seas of the Atlantic ocean without a captain, without a crew, and without fossil fuel, powered 100% by solar and wind energy (IBM Industries, 2020).

In the Youtube video below, titled Entering the mind of the Mayflower, the AI skipper voiceover is heard, steering the ship’s direction across the sea.

The MAS was officially launched on September 16th 2020, in the Atlantic Ocean (IBM staff, 2020). After six months of testing at sea, the ship’s maiden, transatlantic voyage, scheduled to depart from Plymouth UK, to Plymouth, MA (in the US), on April 19th 2021, will retrace the historic journey of the 17th-century Mayflower. A historic journey, which set sail on September 16th 1620, bringing one hundred settlers, some fleeing religious persecution, others seeking adventure, from the UK, to the new world colonies of the Americas.

Four hundred years later, the MAS quietly commemorated the Mayflower's journey in 1620, putting to test some of the most sophisticated IBM AI and edge computing technologies for autonomous navigation, in the extreme environment of the Atlantic Ocean (IBM Newroom (2)). A novel form of navigation, befitting a historic journey, which will evidently also be paving the way for the next 400 years of seafaring, using state of the art AI, shipbuilding, and electronics (IBM Industries, 2020).

Without a crew, and consequently no need for sleeping quarters, food storage or other amenities, all of the interior space of the ship is dedicated to scientific experiments. The ship is equipped with research pods, designed by the University of Plymouth (UK) to collect data on marine life and the health of the Atlantic (Cardwell, 2020). Otherwise, The University of Birmingham (UK), developed both a commemorative VR reconstruction of the original Mayflower, and an AR (Augmented Reality) platform for complex VR navigational animation sequences, in collaboration with project partners, such as MSubs, a company that worked on the design and construction of the MAS, in Plymouth, UK.

In 2021, at the Computer Electronics Show (CES), happening online this year, on Jan 11-14, the IBM-Promare Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) project will also be competing for a Best of Innovation Award, in the category of Vehicle Intelligence and Transportation.

Stay tuned at mas400.com for when the MAS sets out on its first autonomous transatlantic journey to the US, on April 19th, 2021!

References

Cardwell, D. (2020) Feature Story: Mayflower Captains 400 years apart (1620-2020). https://newsroom.ibm.com/Mayflower-Captains-400-Years-Apart

CES 2021 https://digital.ces.tech/home

IBM Industries (December 2020) – The Unchartered: Autonomous ship project (8-part docuseries) https://www.ibm.com/industries/federal/autonomous-ship

IBM Newsroom (1) –The Mayflower autonomous ship. https://newsroom.ibm.com/then-and-now 

IBM Newsroom (2) -Sea Trials begin for Mayflower Autonomous Ship's AI-Captain. 

 https://newsroom.ibm.com/2020-03-05-Sea-Trials-Begin-for-Mayflower-Autonomous-Ships-AI-Captain

IBM Staff (Sept. 15, 2020) Mayflower Autonomous ship launches. https://newsroom.ibm.com/2020-09-15-Mayflower-Autonomous-Ship-Launches 

Mayflower Autonomous Ship https://mas400.com/ 

MSubs https://www.msubs.com/ 

ProMare http://www.promare.org/

University of Plymouth (UK) - An unmanned voyage in the wake of the Mayflower.

https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/home-pages/features/the-mayflower-autonomous-ship#

University of Birmingham (UK) - VR experts create virtual boarding for Mayflower 400th anniversary.

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2020/09/virtual-mayflower-400.aspx 

Oh, patents! The Robomart™

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Back to robots, their expanded role within the context of the pandemic and re-opening of economies. The Robomart™ is a driverless autonomous mini-market on wheels. Already in operation, prior to the pandemic, the Robomart™ offered a mobile-driven mini-market, wherever customers ordered it to drive by. The Robomart™ was successful because it was not just saving customers time, going to the grocery store, it raised the bar on the experience of online shopping, allowing customers to see, and choose the produce they were buying, wherever they were located. Advantages that became amplified during the pandemic, when everyone was confined, and the demand for online shopping skyrocketed. 

Indeed, the Robomart™ became especially attractive, since it offered contactless delivery of produce, via a robotic operator that never got sick. As an autonomous vehicle, the Robomart™ delivery van is equipped with all the standard AI self-driving technology, such as LiDAR, radar and cameras, CAN motion-control system, robotic route-planning and obstacle-avoidance software, enabling various levels of autonomy from a human operator. 

The video below shows The Robomart™ in action. After viewing the video you might legitimately wonder how it is that the Robomart™ knows which merchandise has been selected, “checked-out”, and debited to your credit card. This question has a patented answer.

The Robomart invention recited in US20180349872 is titled One tap/command grocery ordering via self-driving mini-marts and seamless checkout-free technology. The abstract, together with the patent Figure 3, are included below.

The present disclosure generally relates to an application for obtaining groceries or other merchandise and, more particularly, a one tap/command grocery ordering via self-driving mini marts and seamless checkout-free technology. The method is implemented in a computer infrastructure having computer executable code tangibly embodied on a computer readable storage medium having programming instructions and is operable to: deploy an autonomous vehicle which carries consumer merchandise to a consumer; determine which merchandise has been taken from the autonomous vehicle by the consumer; calculate a cost for the merchandise taken from the autonomous vehicle by the consumer; and provide a receipt to the consumer for the merchandise taken from the autonomous vehicle by the consumer. [Abstract US20180349872]

 

US20180349872

The invention recites a system that advantageously combines the convenience of online delivery with the comfort of picking out produce yourself. An invention that also promises cost savings, passed on to customers, resulting from the fully automated system. The patent further discloses that an entire mini store is brought to the consumer vs. just an order of groceries. Thus, the Robomart™ is effectively able to compete with delivery bots and drones, as it offers a much larger selection of produce and groceries. 

According to the disclosure of the invention, the user taps on the Robomart™ app to dispatch the closest Robomart™ van 100, from a store, to their location. On its way, the Robomart™ van 100 will be tracked by the user. When the Robomart™ van 100 arrives, the user opens the compartment doors and selects items. A seamless check out system is invoked as tagged selections are recorded by sensors 105, on the racks, while prices and costs are displayed on a smart glass panel 110 of the van compartment doors, together with the customer’s name. Once the purchase is completed, debited using POS (Point-of-Sale) means from the user’s saved credit card, time-stamped according to the opening and closing of the van compartment doors, and processed using the Stripe platform on the backend, the Robomart™ van 100 moves on to the next customer, or to a replenishment center for refilling the racks, all of which can be tracked variously by users and managers, equipped with the Robomart™ app.

Receipt of purchased items might be itemized in various ways, depending on the embodiments of the invention. For example, items purchased might be listed, or they might include images. The information displayed on the smart glass compartment 110 might also be displayed simultaneously on the Robomart™ app.

The patent additionally recites various levels of self-driving vehicle technology i.e., radar and LIDAR; other cameras or backup Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) systems for computation of items removed or added to shelves; other sensors (motion, proximity and infrared); modems for connectivity; a speaker for communication with the customer, and a cooling system for refrigeration. The patent further includes a description of the system architecture, as well as a description of real-time mapping, and tracking technology, the restocking depots and vehicle communications technology, and the on-demand summoning technology.

References

Robomart (website) https://robomart.co/

Tarantola, A. (Jan 9, 2018) Robomart autonomous bodegas will deliver produce to your door https://www.engadget.com/2018-01-09-robomart-autonomous-bodega-deliver-produce.html

Oh, patents! Starship Robots (1)

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Brought to you by the Finnish founders and designers of SKYPE, Starship robots are small 99% autonomous vehicle robots, able to operate within a 4-mile radius. These elegant little robots, equipped with sophisticated obstacle-avoidance technology, Lidar sensors, cameras and voiced interaction capacity, roll around sidewalks on 6 wheels, at pedestrian speed. They are 99% autonomous because their routes are always monitored by human remote operators, just in case something went wrong.

Starship robots deliver goods, food and packages, usually in less than 15 minutes, directly to ordering customers in those areas where vendors have contracted the fleets. This way, for example, at a corporate campus, no one wastes time waiting in line, or having to go to a restaurant. The robot meets the customer, upon demand, at a pinned location to deliver orders, sending notifications of estimated arrival time and arrival, via the Starship app, which also handles orders, payments, route tracking, and unlocking of the robot to access the payload. Alternatively, Starship robots also offer a sustainable ecommerce delivery option that decongests roads, where too many delivery vehicles are circulating to meet the ever increasing demands of online customers. In other words, in solving the “last mile” logistics of moving goods efficiently, and cost-effectively, the little electric vehicle robots also do their part to reduce global warming.

The YouTube video below shows an example of a Starship robot delivery. 

Prepandemic, the Starship fleet of 150 robots had driven more than 9000 miles, in 53 cities, in 16 countries, where they met with more than 1.2 million people. In the US, Starship also partnered with DoorDash, specialists in delivery services. 

During the pandemic, the demand for delivery robots such as the Starship robots skyrocketed, according to Forbes.com contributor, Bernard Marr, on May 29, 2020.  Social distancing orders and the lockdown were the primary reasons for the exponential increase in demand, since the driverless robots (which never get sick) can deliver contactless service (e.g.; groceries, take-out food, prescriptions, or small parcels etc.) directly to clients, sheltering-at-home. Considering the convenience, Marr even predicted that Starship robots, and other similar delivery robots, would be here to stay as part of the new-normal post-pandemic. Likewise, The New York Times correspondent Cade Metz and business journalist Erin Griffith, reached the same conclusions, when they stated: “The sudden usefulness of the robots to people staying in their homes is a tantalizing hint of what the machines could one day accomplish — at least under ideal conditions.“ The only caveat will be obtaining municipal clearance for the increased number of vehicle robots circulating everywhere on sidewalks and streets.

All aspects the Starship robots and delivery system are patented. From insulation capacity of the payload container, to the robotics of obstacle avoidance, edge finding and navigation in low-light conditions, including systems and methods of freight delivery and distribution.  Approximately 100 patents have been granted to cover all the inventive aspects and components of the Starship Robots.  

The following is an exemplary and non-exhaustive list of the Starship patents, including World Intellectual Property Oganisation (WO- Patent Cooperation Treaty) patents, United States (US) utility patents, Canadian (CA) patents, British (GB) patents and European (EP - European Patent Convention) patents:

• US10005609B1 Device and system for insulating items during delivery by a mobile robot
• CA187741S Delivery robot
• CA187743S Delivery robot
• CA187742S Delivery robot
• CA174441S Delivery robot
• CA167756S Delivery robot 
• CA172068S Delivery robot
• GB2567988A System and mobile freight station, and method for distributing, delivering and collecting freight
• US20190168392A1 Storage system, use and method with robotic parcel retrieval and loading 
• US20180349834A1 Method and system for delivering items
• US20180253108A1 Mobile robot system and method for generating map data using straight lines
• US10239378B2 Robot and method for traversing vertical obstacles
• US10239378B2 Robot and method for traversing vertical obstacles
• US20180244327A1 Obstacle traversing mobile robot
• US10282995B2  Mobile robot having collision avoidance system for crossing a road from a pedestrian pathway
• US9741010B1 System and methods for securely delivering packages to different delivery recipients with a single vehicle
• US20180232839A1 Method and system for autonomous or semi-autonomous delivery
• EP3330908A1 System and method for securely delivering packages to different delivery recipients with a single vehicle
• EP3510562A1 Method and system for calibrating multiple cameras
• WO2018215579A1 Method and system for swapping and/or charging a battery of a mobile robot

• WO2018108832A9 Robot, system and method detecting and/or responding to transitions in height

• WO2018215581A1 A battery and a system for swapping and/or charging a battery of a mobile robot

• WO2019048332A1

  Mobile robot having collision avoidance system for crossing a road from a pedestrian pathway
• WO2019053162A1 System and method for item delivery by a mobile robot

• WO2018206514A1

  A signaling device and system for increasing visibility of a mobile robot

• WO2019020407A1 Device and system for secure package delivery by mobile robot

  
  

• WO2019068634A1  

  Device and system for consumable item delivery by mobile robot

• US20190236741A1  System and mobile freight station and method for distribution, delivery and collection of freight

• WO2018215562A1

   Device and method for detection and localization of vehicles

• WO2018024851A1 Vehicle

• WO2018099930A1 System and method for securely delivering packages to different delivery recipients with a single vehicle

• WO2018215583A1 A device and system for increasing tolerance in a battery station

• WO2018024852A1 Vehicle having a loading device

• WO2019086465A1 Visual localization and mapping in low light conditions
• WO2018077619A1 Sidewalk and edge finder system and method

 References

Starship Technologies (website) https://www.starship.xyz/

Marr, B. (May 209, 2020) Demand For These Autonomous Delivery Robots Is Skyrocketing During This Pandemic. Forbes.com https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2020/05/29/demand-for-these-autonomous-delivery-robots-is-skyrocketing-during-this-pandemic/#7bb9d9fd7f3c

Metz, C. & E. Griffith (May 20, 2020) A City Locks Down to Fight Coronavirus, but Robots Come and Go. NY Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/20/technology/delivery-robots-coronavirus-milton-keynes.html