DAILY INNOVATION BRIEF by Maryanne Kane, Journalist

 DAILY INNOVATION BRIEF              

By Journalists Edward Kane & Maryanne Kane 

MIT SCIENTISTS CREATE MUSCLES FOR ROBOTS

                                          Source:  MIT & Stock

• A team of scientists at MIT have created lab grown muscles for grafting onto robots. This appears to be a breakthrough in the effort to develop robots that mimic humans.  Here are some key facts:

1. Scientists at MIT CSAIL along with Harvard's Wyss Institute have created origami-inspired artificial muscles for soft robots
2. The muscles add strength and "superpowers" to the robots
3. With the muscles, the robots are able to lift objects 1000-times their weight
4. 1 of the team's 2.6 gram muscles can lift a 3-kilogram object - that's the equivalent of a duck lifting a car
5. It takes 10 minutes to make the muscle
6. Requires less than $1.00 worth of material
7. They're cheap and easy to test and replicate
8. The team says they can coat robots with the muscles
9. They say the muscles give robots flexible motor control and human-like senses
10. The muscles can self-heal from scratches
11. This innovative research is being funded by DARPA and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

SINGAPORE'S WATER ROBOTS CLEANING WATERWAYS

                                        Source:  Weston Robot

• The island nation of Singapore has long had a water pollution problem.  Now, new 5G water robots are cleaning up the pollution and not emitting carbon emissions.  Here are some key facts:

1. For many years, Singapore has been using gas-powered boats to clean the garbage in its waterways
2. Now 5-G powered, autonomous robots are doing the job with greatly reduced carbon emissions
3. They're called Weston Robots and are made by Weston Robot of Singapore
4. By replacing the boats with 5G robots, they're cutting carbon emissions by 80%
5. The robots are equipped with camaras and sensors to spot pollution
6. To do the cleanup they're remotely controlled over the 5G network
7. It's a 5G robotic approach to cleaning the water without polluting.

NEW TRAVEL VEHICLE - AIRLANDER

                                            Source:  HAV

• From the UK, a new innovation in travel vehicles - the Airlander, which is part plane, part airship and green.  Here's what we know:

1. Created by the UK's Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV)
2. This is the world's largest aircraft at 303' long
3. It's successfully completed 6 test flights
4. Combines airship and fixed wing aircraft technology
5. Can carry 100 passengers or 10 tons of cargo
6. Company is developing a totally electric version of the aircraft
7. Appears likely to start delivering cargo to the Hebrides, Orkny and Shetland regions of the UK
8. Company is doing extensive research on beginning operations with those routes
9. Research is showing a fleet of Airlanders could provide 79% more air freight capacity to the regions.

 "Daily Innovation Brief"© By Edward Kane