If Bill Gates is no longer the richest man in the world, it nevertheless remains particularly present in the world of new technologies and in particular that of robotics. In his personal blog, he reveals 5 start-up projects that he considers exciting for the future.
“Is it harder for machines to imitate the way humans move or think? Ten years ago, I would have said the thought. Much of how the brain works remains a mystery, and yet over the past year, advances in artificial intelligence have given rise to computer programs capable of creating, calculating, processing, understanding, deciding, recognizing patterns and to continue learning in a way that resembles our own,” begins the creator of Microsoft in a post on his blog, GatesNotes, dedicated to 5 projects linked to robotics which risk making quite a mark on the world in the months to come. We return to these projects here.
5 ambitious projects
The first start-up discussed by Bill Gates is Agility Robotics, a company which, as its name suggests, specializes in the agility of robots, offering them the possibility of moving substantially like humans. We had already been able to discuss the projects of this firm based in Oregon when it was able to unveil Digit, considered “ the first versatile robot created for logistics work based on human dimensions “. This is a robot designed to be able to work with people and carry large loads simply.
Gates then discusses Tevel, a Tel Aviv-based company whose goal is to create autonomous flying robots that can scan tree canopies and pick ripe apples and fruits 24 hours a day, while simultaneously collecting data complete harvests in real time. A particularly interesting tool to facilitate labor on the agricultural side.
Third start-up whose project is selected by Bill Gates: Apptronik. This company based in Austin in the USA is currently building bipedal humanoid robots whose use is simply characterized as “ general “. They can therefore be programmed to carry out many different tasks, such as carrying boxes, helping with household chores.
Robots that run, think, build…
RoMeLa, the fourth project tackled by the billionaire, is dedicated to improving the overall movement of robots, allowing them to benefit from a better overall balance. The idea is to push the machines to be able to move on rocky, unstable ground, without ever falling. An objective potentially achieved recently with their ARTEMIS model, presented at Robocup 2023: the latter is the fastest bipedal robot in the world, very difficult to destabilize.
And since we cannot approach robotics in 2024 without leaving a word for artificial intelligence, the last project handled by Bill Gates is that of Field AI, a company based in Southern California whose goal is to develop a artificial intelligence software to be installed in robots from other companies to allow them to perceive their environment, navigate on GPS or even communicate with humans.
Source : GatesNotes
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