President Barack Obama gets down on his hands and knees as he looks at the inner workings of a robot that plays soccer, built by a team from Blue Bell, Pa., as he tours science projects on display in the State Dining Room of the White House. President Obama hosted the White House Science Fair for winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions. October 18, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
“As president, I believe that robotics can inspire young people to pursue science and engineering. And I also want to keep an eye on those robots in case they try anything.”
– President Barack Obama at the launch of his Educate to Innovate Campaign
Here at the White House, we’re hard at work keeping our eye on the robots, and as we celebrate one car-sized robotic rover’s 1st year on Mars, we wanted to update you on the state of American robotics and the possibilities for robots to improve life on Earth.
Join us on Friday, August 9th, at 2:00 pm EDT for a “We the Geeks” Google+ Hangout on “Robots” – where pioneering scientists will discuss how robots can help transform everything from school classrooms to the factory floor and operating rooms to the way we explore the Solar System.
You’ll meet American inventors giving robots incredible new capabilities in manufacturing and medicine. You’ll also hear how the Obama Administration’s National Robotics Initiative is accelerating innovations that will expand the horizons of human capacity and potentially add over $100 billion to the American economy in the next decade.
The Hangout will be moderated by Vijay Kumar, Assistant Director for Robotics and Cyberphysical Systems, and Tom Kalil, Deputy Director for Technology and Innovation at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and will feature a panel of these leading experts:
- Rodney Brooks, President, Rethink Robotics, with Humanoid Robot, Baxter
- Daniela Rus, Director of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, MIT
- Matthew Mason, Director, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
- Robin Murphy, Director of the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue, Texas A&M University
- Allison Okamura, Principal Investigator, Collaborative Haptics and Robotics in Medicine Lab, Stanford University
Fonte: White House