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The Teenage Robot
This week I was a featured speaker at the University Transportation Research Center (UTRC) conference in SUNY Polytechnic Institute. I am a strong proponent for autonomous mobility and with my 18 year old on the cusp of getting a license it is not happening fast enough. Teenagers have their own psyche… Listen ⇢
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A Thanksgiving Robot Harvest
The legend describes how the dutch pilgrims celebrated their first successful harvest in their promised land with their new native friends. This day was later commemorated by John Hanson, President of the United Colonies Continental Congress on March 16, 1776 as Thanksgiving. Yesterday, we were all gathered around bountiful harvests far removed… Listen ⇢
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Autonomous Stockbot
Retail success can be boiled down to two factors, managing people and inventory. Often these two are intertwined, as without people retailers have zero visibility to their inventory positions in their stores. Over the past year, we have seen customer service robots roll down the aisles, such as Chloe at BestBuy and… Listen ⇢
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Holy Robot Land…
Earlier this week, I took 30 venture professionals on a three day technology mission to Israel sponsored by the State of Israel’s Ministry of the Economy and the UJA Federation of New York (#ujatech). We met with the leaders of Israel’s tech scene, as well as many promising startups. Relevant to this… Listen ⇢
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The Robot Postman
Already with the demise of the Great Pumpkin, comes the rise of tinsel and lights. Jiggle bells today translates to the hum of trucks delivering good tidings. While e-commerce continues to outpace brick & mortar, it also creates major financial problems with free shipping promos and last mile deliveries. Last year alone, the US Postal Service lost $5… Listen ⇢
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20,000 Robots Under The Sea (Sans Nemo)
Robots will replace human jobs, period. There are occupations that are frankly just too dangerous for people. For example, earlier today I met with a former diver and demolition expert for the Israeli Navy (who now runs his own robotic startup). CMU alum company, RE2, Inc., received a SBIR grant for designing… Listen ⇢
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Self-Repairing Cities
The man with the jackhammer looked back seeing his power to stop traffic for nearly thirty minutes, and proudly smiled. “Can’t they do this at five in the morning?,” my exacerbated Uber driver complained to me. I thought about for a second, and replied, “Why do they (humans) have to do it at… Listen ⇢
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Psychic Robots Driving Cars
Earlier this week I went to the Mets playoff game at Citified. Driving home at 12:30 am, I was exhausted, which led me to accidentally turn the wrong way on Amsterdam Avenue. Clearly, my car (via GPS) knew that I had made a mistake, but why wasn’t there some early warning signal like… Listen ⇢
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The Next Industrial Revolution Is NOW
There has been too much chatter lately about robots stealing jobs (and lovers, for that matter). The latest ire comes directed at an English company, Moley Robotics, that unveiled its robot chef at the Consumer Electronics Fair in Shanghai. Moley’s Robotic Kitchen is complete with a pair of large robotic arms that are… Listen ⇢
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My goal for this book is to help you at a pivotal point in your ideation process and, at the same, introduce you to a cadre of potential mentors. Through interviews with some of the most respected luminaries in this field, I aim to help fortify your resolve to follow your passions and build a billion-dollar company. The chapters of this book have been organized like field guide, as if you are setting out on a trip in the wild. Just like it’s essential to satiate yourself before scaling mountains, fast-tracking your innovation into the hands of early adopters is vital for achieving success on Main Street.
“Oliver Mitchell is among the world’s leading thinkers about robots and robotics. He is also one of the world’s leading visionaries about how humans think about robots, invest in robotics, and build robotics companies. …. The reader gets to be the beneficiary of Oliver’s creation of a new knowledge ecosystem.” – Dan Burstein, New York Times bestselling author of 15 nonfiction books, and Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Millennium Technology Value Partners.
“This book … [draws] from interviews with industry experts who share firsthand experiences from real-world ventures, the author distils invaluable lessons from both their successes and failures. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to my students and colleagues involved in robotics research and education as an exceptional resource for guiding their entrepreneurial pursuits.” Katsuo Kurabayashi, Professor and Chair, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, USA.



