Working on polishing my samples for reflective light microscopy. This sample is a pyroxenite from Hogen Camp Mine in the Hudson Highlands region of New York. The area was once a lead producer of iron ore and magnetite for the east coast.
Although we may be unaware of it (or choose to rebel against it) we tend to observe codes of pedestrian conduct – keeping to the right, passing on the left, respecting personal space and not barging straight through people. Now, engineers at MIT have designed an autonomous robot that can do the same.
In tests, the knee-high robot, which runs on wheels, managed to avoid colliding with pedestrians while keeping up with their pace. In order to allow the robot to plan its movement, the team fitted sensors, including a webcam, a depth sensor and a lidar sensor. The robot was trained using reinforcement learning, involving computer simulations, to identify the optimum path through a crowd.
Yu Fan “Steven” Chen, lead author of the study, commented, ‘Socially aware navigation is a central capability for mobile robots operating in environments that require frequent interactions with pedestrians […] For instance, small robots could operate on sidewalks for package and food delivery. Similarly, personal mobility devices could transport people in large, crowded spaces, such as shopping malls, airports, and hospitals.’
Details of the robot will be outlined in a paper presented at the IEEE Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems in September.
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Credit:claudia gabriela marques vieira. Studland Bay, Dorset.
An endangered species of seahorse is under threat from a proposal to drill for oil off the Dorset coast. The species achieved protection in 2008 under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, however in 2017 only 14 spin and short snouted seahorses were recorded around Studland Bay.
A proposal to drill an exploratory well 6km off the Dorset Coast, near Studland Bay, has been submitted by Corallian Energy to the UK Government. A decision is expected by 19 February. The proposal has angered environmentalists and conservationists who fear exploratory drilling could permanently damage the ecosystem.
The Seahorse Trust believes drilling in the area would disturb the seahorses’ environment. Director Neil Garrick-Maidment commented, ‘The latest seahorse sighting was just half a mile from where they are planning to drill, another was seen just under a mile in another direction and a third was two miles away from it.
‘Studland Bay has to become a Marine Conservation Zone because of the environmental impact the anchoring has caused and now we have the threat of an oil spill on the doorstep.’
To find out more on materials science, packaging and engineering news, visit our website IOM3 at or follow us on Twitter @MaterialsWorld for regular news updates.
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