The New Generation of Robots

This webinar was recorded on Tuesday, October 4, 2016. Click Here to watch the webinar on demand.

Designers creating the new generation of robots have a bevy of options with which to craft smarter devices. Robotic devices are benefiting from technology like 3D printing, ever-smaller and ubiquitous sensors, improved vision capabilities, and refined control systems.

What you’ll learn:

Autonomous navigation, computer vision for robots and drones
Beyond line of sight communications for drones and integration into airspace
The UAV development landscape—today and tomorrow
Tools for rapid prototyping of robotic systems: 3D printers, laser cutters, and more
Algorithms and tips for getting high performance from low-cost sensors
Using simulation tools to test your robot before you build it to accelerate the design cycle

Speakers

Chad Sweet, Director of Engineering, Qualcomm Research
Chad Sweet is the Director of Engineering for Drones and Robotics R&D at Qualcomm Research. He leads development of mobile, autonomous robotics leveraging Snapdragon processors. He has been with Qualcomm for 18 years. 5 years ago he moved from computer vision R&D to start robotics at Qualcomm Research. He has 12 patents granted and others pending in the areas of robotics, computer vision and communications and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Vanderbilt University.

Nick Morozovsky, Co-Founder, Accel Robotics
Nick Morozovsky is an expert in mobile robot locomotion and rapid prototyping. Nick earned his BS degree in mechanical engineering with a minor in robotics at Carnegie Mellon University and his MS and PhD degrees, also in mechanical engineering, at the University of California San Diego. Popular Science named his 3D printed SkySweeper power line inspection robot Best of What’s New in 2014, he has presented his work at international robotics conferences. Nick has consulted for Brain Corporation, a Qualcomm Ventures company, as well as toy companies, designing 3D printing solutions and consumer robotic products. Nick has also worked for Hewlett-Packard Company and Caterpillar Inc. In 2015, Nick co-founded Accel Robotics in San Diego, which is developing commercial Robot-as-a-Service solutions.

Tim McConnell, former VP Engineering – 3D Robotics, McConnell Consulting
Tim McConnell possesses over 25 years of experience developing robotics and embedded systems. Tim’s robotic career began with his bachelor’s thesis project at MIT, where he developed a calibration scheme for robots for the aircraft industry. Since then, he has served as VP Engineering at 3D Robotics, overseeing design, development and manufacturing of consumer and commercial UAV systems, EVP Engineering at Solekai Systems, running an 80-person engineering department in the consumer electronics and machine-to-machine areas, and VP Engineering at MicroPower Technologies, building and manufacturing solar-powered, wireless digital cameras. Tim managed multiple robotic development projects at Vision Robotics Corporation, specializing in autonomous, stereo vision based, mobile robots for commerce, agriculture and government.

Tim also held management and engineering positions at Wind River, Doctor Design, AP Labs and Linkabit. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT.

Tim currently mentors several companies locally in various robotic fields, through EvoNexus and the Zahn Innovation Center at SDSU and also serves as a judge at the San Diego FIRST Robotics regional competition.

Paul Heney, Editorial Director, Design World
Paul J. Heney is Editorial Director of Design World, and has been writing about engineering and manufacturing topics for more than 20 years. His specific coverage areas include hydraulics, pneumatics, robotics, power transmission, green engineering, and aerospace. He has a BS in Engineering Science & Mechanics from Georgia Tech.