Repurposing Technology, Robots Fighting Covid, Working Bionics, with Ralph Bond

May 2020 show notes    

For more about me, see: https://ralphbond.wixsite.com/aboutme

Story 1: Coronavirus sensor you stick at the top of your chest can track symptoms

Source: C/Net Story by Brian Cooley

Link: https://www.cnet.com/health/new-sensor-you-stick-on-your-chest-can-detect-covid-19/

  • What if you could stick a flexible wireless sensor about the size of a small Band-Aid at the base of your throat that could monitor you for coughing and breathing problems associated with COVID-19? 
  • That’s what a team of researchers at Northwestern University and the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab announced early this month. 
  • Designed to adhere to the skin at the base of your throat where airflow is closest to the skin, the small patch can monitor early signs of coronavirus infection and the progression of the illness.
  • Here’s a fun fact: This clever monitoring device is based on a sensor developed for monitoring speech and swallowing in recovering stroke patients. 
  • The researchers took that device’s design and modified it to track coughing and breathing problems that characterize COVID-19 symptoms.
  • Here’s how it works:
  • Inside the patch is a high-bandwidth, tri-axis accelerometer to measure movement of the surface of the skin.  Its job is to capture details of breathing and coughing, not unlike a digital stethoscope.
  • In addition, the patch also detects heart rate and temperature – key things for healthcare providers to also monitor. 
  • Once a day you peel it off and place it on a wireless charger, which triggers the patch to sync its stored data with a nearby iPad. 
  • From there the data is uploaded to a cloud-based system designed to securely manage your personal data. 
  • Once the data is in the cloud a proprietary Artificial Intelligence algorithm looks for anomalies related to COVID-19. 
  • Since the device uses a wireless charging design, and, as a result, has no external ports for power or connectivity, it can easily be disinfected and used over and over. 
  • A lab at Northwestern’s Chicago campus is now producing dozens of new patches a week, with 25 volunteers using the patch to continue testing. 
  • And they have the ability to scale to hundreds of devices a week before making the patch available for volume manufacturing via license.

Story 2: Boston Dynamics’ robot dog is chipping in to help COVID-19 patients

Source: engadget Story by Christine Fisher

Link: https://www.engadget.com/boston-dynamics-spot-robot-covid-19-telehealth-153715113.html

  • Boston Dynamics is famous for its four-legged dog-like robot named “Spot”.
  • YouTube has tons of videos of their Spot robots navigating an office, holding open a door for a fellow Spot robot, running around in the open, and so much more. 
  • Now it is being used to help protect healthcare workers. 
  • Late last month Boston Dynamics announced a trial effort using its Spot robots at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital to enable healthcare providers to remotely examine and evaluate coronavirus patients. 
  • Boston Dynamics’ solution mounts an iPad and a two-way radio to the front of a Spot robot. 
  • Healthcare workers can guide the robots through tents where patients suspected of having COVID-19 are given an initial assessment. 
  • Doctors and nurses can speak to, see and hear patients from a safe distance, possibly even their own homes or other remote site. 
  • The motive: every shift completed by a Spot robot reduces exposure for one healthcare worker, thus conserving a limited supply of personal protective equipment. 
  • Boston Dynamics says it still needs to figure out how to remotely collect vital sign information, like body temperature, respiratory rate, pulse rate and oxygen saturation. 
  • Other possible uses for Spot robots: In the near future, Boston Dynamics hopes that by attaching a UV-C light or other technology to the robot’s back, Spot robots could be used to kill virus particles and disinfect surfaces in spaces like hospital tents and even public spaces, such as metro stations.

Story 3: FDA authorizes a ventilator developed by NASA’s JPL for emergency use in COVID-19 treatment

Source: TechCrunch Story by Darrell Etherington

Link: https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/30/fda-authorizes-a-ventilator-developed-by-nasas-jpl-for-emergency-use-in-covid-19-treatment/

  • Last month we talked about a clever, low-cost emergency backup ventilator developed by MIT.
  • Now NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is offering its design for an emergency backup ventilator that was approved late last month by the Food and Drug Administration. 
  • The ventilator design is being offered for free, licensed use for the duration of the coronavirus crisis.
  • Developed in just 37 days, the JPL ventilator is an intubation ventilator, meaning that a patient has to be sedated, with a breathing tube inserted all the way down their airway to assist their breathing. 
  • And it’s intended for use only for COVID-19 patients exhibiting the most serious symptoms
  • The idea is to use the JPL ventilator to help free up the availability of existing, fully approved ventilator hardware in the case of extreme shortages.
  • What makes JPL’s ventilator most interesting is that it is:
  • Made of far fewer parts than existing traditional ventilators
  • Can be assembled much more quickly
  • And can be maintained with less expertise. 
  • Reality Check: JPL’s ventilator is designed for short term use [between three or four months of use], as compared to the years of usefulness with traditional, sophisticated ventilators costing $30k or more. 
  • The next step: NASA’s JPL is seeking commercial manufacturing partners for the hardware now that it has its FDA authorization.

Story 4: IBM now has 18 quantum computers in its fleet of weird machines

Source: C/Net Story by Stephen Shankland

Link: https://www.cnet.com/news/ibm-now-has-18-quantum-computers-in-its-fleet-of-weird-machines/

  • IBM now has 18 quantum computers, an increase of three this quarter that underscores the company’s effort to benefit from a revolutionary type of computing. 
  • Dario Gil, head of IBM Research and a champion of its quantum computing effort, disclosed the number at the Big Blue’s Think conference on May 6.
  • Eighteen quantum computers might not sound like a lot. But given that each one is an unwieldy device chilled within a fraction of a degree above absolute zero and operated by Ph.D. researchers, it’s actually a pretty large fleet. 
  • In comparison, Google’s quantum computers lab near Santa Barbara, California, has only five machines, and Honeywell only has six quantum computers.
  • Quantum computing is no longer in its infancy, but it’s probably only made it to early toddlerhood. 
  • The technology today remains exotic and expensive, with largely unproven benefits. 
  • But companies like IBM, Google, Microsoft, Intel and Honeywell along with startups like IonQ, Quantum Circuits and Rigetti Computing are racing to bring quantum computing to maturity. 
  • Their hope is to cash in on customers’ desire to solve classes of computing problems that are impossible for conventional computers.
IBM's fleet of quantum computers has increased to 18.

IBM’s fleet of quantum computers has increased to 18.

Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET

  • You’re not likely to ever have your own quantum computer since they’re so hard to operate, surrounded by hulking cooling equipment and isolated from outside interference that spoils calculations. 
  • Instead, you’ll be able to tap into the m via cloud computing services. So far, 230,000 people have done so with IBM’s Q Experience, Gil said.

Story 5: This wearable device helps blind veterans see

Source: C/Net [Story by Sophia Fox-Sowell] and coolblindtech.com [staff posting]

  • About 130,000 US veterans are legally blind, and more than 1 million veterans live with low vision that causes a loss of ability and independence in performing necessary daily activities
  • Late last year, vision platform organization eSight announced the approval of eSight 3 for the VA Federal Supply Schedule. 
  • This is a milestone for the company’s product, which was introduced back in 2017. 
  • The high-tech glasses have the ability to convert vision in the 20/200 and 20/1200 ranges to nearly 20/20 vision, according to eSight. 
  • This new eyewear technology is also wearable, hands-free and portable, making it a one-of-a-kind non-surgical product for individuals with conditions that cause severe vision loss.
  • How it works:
  • A high-speed, high resolution camera in the middle of the eSight electronic glasses captures what a user is looking at in real time.
  • eSight’s powerful computer instantly processes the high definition video and displays it on two OLED screens in front of the user’s eyes using cutting edge optics.
  • eSight’s proprietary algorithms enhance the video feed.
  • Full color video images can be clearly seen by the eSight user with unprecedented visual clarity and no perceptible latency or delay.
  • With eSight’s patented Bioptic Tilt capability, users can adjust the eyewear to the precise position that, for them, presents the best view of the video while maximizing outer peripheral vision (which is often still functional for people with low vision). 
  • The Bioptic Tilt allows eSight users to be mobile while using the device.
  • eSight users can easily control color, contrast, focus, brightness and magnification (24X) using a sleek controller and intuitive user interface.

  • The company’s medical devices typically retail for $6,000, a steep investment for veterans and other low-vision individuals who may be living on a fixed income.
  • The VA’s Federal Supply Schedule program negotiates firm-fixed pricing based on a commercial “most favored customer” pricing concept.

Story 6: Mind-controlled prosthetic arm can now ‘feel’ objects

Source: Siliconrepublic.com Story by Colm Gorey

Link: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/mind-controlled-prosthetic-arm

See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aByhDf7POZI

  • It documented how three patients have lived for several years with a mind-controlled prosthesis in their everyday life.
  • For the last few years, this included the ability to ‘feel’ objects through a prosthetic hand.
  • This is a new concept for artificial limbs – referred to as neuromusculoskeletal prostheses as they are connected to the user’s nerves, muscles and skeleton. 
  • The ability to feel the sensation of touch is possible through stimulation of the nerves that used to be connected to a biological hand before amputation.
  • Force sensors located in the thumb of the prosthesis measure contact and pressure applied to an object while grasping. This information is then transmitted to the patients’ nerves leading to their brains.
  • The most important contribution of this study was to demonstrate that this new type of prosthesis is a clinically viable replacement for a lost arm.
  • According to the lead researcher; “No matter how sophisticated a neural interface becomes, it can only deliver real benefit to patients if the connection between the patient and the prosthesis is safe and reliable in the long term.”

Note: the article also reviews recent related research at MIT

Story 7: Peer-to-peer highway EV charging would use telescoping cables between moving cars

Source: Electrek.com Story by Bradley Berman

Link: https://electrek.co/2020/04/30/peer-to-peer-highway-ev-charging-would-use-telescoping-cables-between-moving-cars/

  • Imagine a future where your Electric Vehicle [EV] was getting low on charge while on a highway road trip.  What if you could deploy a telescoping charging cable to another EV and borrow a few kilowatt-hours?  Or link to a truck serving as a mobile charging station?
  • An engineering professor at the University of Florida believes it’s not far-fetched.
  • Recently, the University of Florida’s electrical and computer engineering department posted a paper explaining how it would work. 
  • Here’s the idea:
  • Two EVs link up to one another with telescopic charging booms. 
  • By creating a network of electric vehicles sharing energy, the researchers believe drivers would have to stop a third as often.
  • Here’s how it works: 
  • Each vehicle would have a safe, insulated, and firm telescopic arm carrying the charging cable. 
  • A cloud-based solution would match donor vehicles with receiver vehicles. 
  • The donor vehicle could be a large truck equipped with banks of batteries. 
  • After two EVs lock speed and are in range for charge sharing, they will extend their charging arms. 
  • The arms heads will contain the charging ports, and they will latch together using either magnetic pads or other means. 
  • The arms and the overall charging operation will be coordinated by the respective arm controllers of each EV.
  • Electrek’s Take – Neat idea, but maybe not so realistic. Traffic safety regulators might have some concerns about high-voltage exchanges of power between cars traveling at highway speeds.

Story 8: This AI creates entire songs complete with music, lyrics, and vocals

Source: Venture Beat Story by Kyle Wiggers

Link: https://venturebeat.com/2020/04/30/openais-jukebox-ai-produces-music-in-any-style-from-scratch-complete-with-lyrics/

  • OpenAI on April 30 released Jukebox, a machine learning framework that generates music — including rudimentary songs — as raw audio in a range of genres and musical styles. 
  • Provided with a genre, artist, and lyrics as input, Jukebox outputs a new music sample produced from scratch. 
  • The code and model are available on GitHub, along with a tool to explore the generated samples.
  • Jukebox might not be the most practical application of AI and machine learning, but as OpenAI notes, music generation pushes the boundaries of generative models. 

Story 9: Kovaluu’s Beats and Loops app uses your phone as a virtual drum pedal

Source: No Treble.com Story by Kevin Johnson

Link: https://www.notreble.com/buzz/2020/04/26/kovaluu-introduces-beats-and-loops-app-with-virtual-pedal/

See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrmkjd6qbl4&feature=emb_logo

  • A new musical app company called Kovaluu recently released its first smartphone app called Beats and Loops, which combines a drum machine with a looper. 
  • Most interesting is its “virtual pedal” feature, which allows you to trigger the drum machine and loops with your foot.
  • The ‘virtual pedal’ is used by placing the phone on the floor and swinging your foot a few inches above the display. 
  • It does so by utilizing your phone’s proximity sensor that is ordinarily used to disable the phone screen when you hold it up to your ear during calls. 
  • You don’t need to physically touch the phone to use the app. 
  • You can start and stop songs, trigger drum fills, switch song parts, and record loops – all while having your hands free to play music.
  • The drum machine includes 50 beats. 
  • It comes with an acoustic drum kit sound, a Cajon kit [wooden box percussion instrument], and a metronome. 
  • The looper can be used with just the microphone, allowing for a quick and easy session. 
  • Per the company, you don’t need any additional recording equipment, but to avoid feedback the phone needs to be connected to an external speaker, such as headphones, Bluetooth speaker, or AUX input of a guitar amplifier. 
  • The app also features built-in feedback cancellation to prevent the drum track from leaking into the recorded tracks.”
  • Beats and Loops is available now on Apple’s App Store and Google Play for $3.99.

Story 10: Scientists can 3D print insect-like robots in minutes

Source: engadget.com Story by Jon Fingas

Link: https://www.engadget.com/flexoskeleton-3d-printed-insect-soft-robots-004337776.html

See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=hA4khyXnjLY&feature=emb_logo

  • It might soon be relatively trivial to make soft robots — at least, if you have a 3D printer handy. 
  • UC San Diego researchers have devised a way to 3D-print insect-like flexible robots cheaply, quickly and without using exotic equipment. 
  • The trick was to print “flexoskeletons,” or rigid materials 3D-printed on to flexible and thin polycarbonate sheets. 
  • Much like insects, there are features that increase rigidity only in specific areas — a contrast with conventional soft robots that often have soft features tacked on to solid bodies.
  • Each flexoskeleton component takes about 10 minutes to print, and a completely assembled bot should be ready in less than two hours. 
  • An individual part costs less than $1 — the processing power, sensors and battery are likely to be the most expensive parts.
  • This will initially help researchers build robots quickly and easily, but the final aim is to mass-produce robots without human involvement. 
  • That could lead to robot swarms that can accomplish tasks at least as well as large, monolithic machines, but with lower costs and less risk.

Story 11: Smart contact lens developed that allows diabetics to monitor their glucose levels through liquid in their eye and warns them of any health emergencies

Source: UK’s Daily Mail Story by Ryan Morrison

Link: https://a.msn.com/r/2/BB139zPX?m=en-us&ocid=News

  • Diabetics will be able to monitor their glucose level just by blinking thanks to new smart contact lenses that monitor liquid in the eye and share reports wirelessly.
  • The new invention is being developed by researchers from Pohang University of Science and Technology in South Korea as an alternative to blood tests.
  • The wireless and remotely operated lens could also allow medicine to treat diabetes to be dispensed directly into the eye in future versions.
  • The device, which uses chip technology, monitors sugar levels through blood vessels behind the eyelids to warn the user of health emergencies. 
  • Scientists say that the new tech represents the first potential use of contact lenses to monitor and treat symptoms of diabetes with a remote-control drug dispenser. 
  • The team say the eyewear could provide an alternative to invasive blood tests.

Story 12: This robot could make COVID-19 testing faster and safer

Source: CNET Story by Alison DeNisco Rayome

Link: https://www.cnet.com/news/this-robot-could-make-covid-19-testing-faster-and-safer/

First, a quick recap of the challenges surrounding the need to increase and speed up testing:

  • As we all now know, reliable, accurate COVID-19 testing [along with contact tracing – which we talked about last week] is necessary for controlling the spread of the coronavirus and reopening the US. 
  • But our nation has faced a number of challenges:
  • First, the Food and Drug Administration needed to loosen restrictions on who could develop COVID-19 tests, which they did back on February 29
  • Since then, thousands of labs certified under the terms of the CDC’s Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments may now develop and validate their own COVID-19 tests.
  • But, in addition to ramping up the volume of tests, we must ALSO find a way to reduce the long wait times for results
  • To date, the long wait times are due to conducting testing manually – which also puts lab technicians at increased risk of contracting the virus.

Good news – Key trend now emerging – Using robotics to speed testing and help protect lab technicians:

  • For example, San Francisco-based robotics software developer Bright Machines is leading an effort to create a robotic system that can process COVID-19 test samples with little human involvement. 
  • Automating the lab testing process would also allow testing to be done 24/7, greatly increasing the volume of tests done per day, according to the company. 

Who is Bright Machines?

  • Bright Machines typically works with electronics manufacturers on “microfactories” – a microfactory uses combinations of hardware and software to assemble and inspect products. 

How the new system works:

  • The new COVID-19 testing system uses software and hardware building blocks immediately available from Bright Machines, including: 
    • A robotic cell, 
    • a dual-conveyor, 
    • a robotic arm 
    • and a vision system. 
  • The robot is programmed to open the different-sized test tubes, drawing samples from the patient test tube to the control tube — and then the vision system works to verify accurate performance throughout the process.

A side note of interest – The new Bright Machines robotic COVID-19 testing system represents a fascinating 3-way international collaboration with:

  • a team of experts behind the acclaimed science blog  Impact Lab, 
  • and an outfit called Israeli Collaborative Robots [iCobots]. 

What’s next:

  • Bright Machines says the new robotic system will soon be moved to Ichilov Hospital Research Laboratory in Israel. 
  • Once installed, it will take a few more weeks for it to be fully operational. 
  • And there’s been global interest in what they are doing – A number of testing facilities around the world have reached out to Bright Machines for more information about the system.

Story 13: UC Berkeley scientists spin up a robotic COVID-19 testing lab

Source: US Berkeley News Press Release, Robert Sanders

Link: https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/03/30/uc-berkeley-scientists-spin-up-a-robotic-covid-19-testing-lab/

  • The Innovative Genomics Institute at the University of California Berkeley is creating from scratch a diagnostic lab with the capability to process more than 1,000 COVID-19 samples per day.
  • This pop-up laboratory represents the effort of a unique volunteer team of academic and corporate partners
  • The high-throughput automated liquid-handling robot being used is a commercially available system called Hamilton Microlab STARlet.  
  • This robotic machine can test more than 300 COVID-19 samples at once and provide the diagnostic result in less than four hours from receipt of patient swabs. 
  • The ultimate goal: the Innovative Genomics Institute pop-up lab will ultimately be able to ramp up to 3,000 tests per day.