Marco van der Hoeven

Sarcos Robotics announced it has successfully demonstrated its SenSuit controller garment. As part of the next-generation technologies designed for enhanced teleoperation of the Guardian XT highly dexterous mobile robotic system, this leveraged Sarcos’ proprietary motion caption controller to enable enhanced teleoperation of the robot’s dexterous arms. Capable of lifting and manipulating up to 200 lb. (90 kg), the Guardian XT robot is aimed at accomplishing precision tasks and performing work in unstructured environments.

The European Robotic Arm (ERA) is set for launch from the Russian launch base Baikonur on a Proton rocket to the International Space Station on 15 July at 19:18 CEST. The latest robot to service the Space Station has a length of over 11 m, and the ability to anchor itself to the Station in multiple locations, moving backwards and forwards with a large range of motion. ERA is 100% made-in-Europe. A consortium of European companies led by Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands designed and assembled it for ESA.

Unmanned Valley and KPN have jointly created an environment for developing new drone applications in the Netherlands. The collaboration between the field lab for sensor-based technologies – located just north of The Hague in the Netherlands – and the leading provider of telecommunications and IT services in the Netherlands, allows companies to easily test innovations and demonstrate applications that use the commercially available KPN networks.

Researchers at the Cockrell School of Engineering have, for the first time, applied a machine learning algorithm to measure the surface roughness of different types of land with a high level of detail. The team used a type of satellite imagery that is more dependable and easier to capture than typical optical photographs but also more challenging to analyze. And they are working to integrate this data into storm surge models to give a clearer picture of what will happen during major weather events.

Visitors to the Rijksmuseum can now enjoy The Night Watch in its original form, for the first time in 300 years. Several sections were cut from the painting in the past. The Operation Night Watch team has successfully recreated these missing pieces, which have now been mounted around Rembrandt’s world-famous work. This reconstruction based on the 17th-century copy attributed to Gerrit Lundens was made with the help of artificial intelligence. The result is a significant component in the art historical research conducted as part of Operation Night Watch. The reconstructed painting will remain on public display at the Rijksmuseum for the coming months. Anyone who is unable to visit the museum due to the ongoing restrictions can view the reconstruction on our website, along with plenty of supplementary information.

A new model that applies artificial intelligence to carbohydrates improves the understanding of the infection process and could help predict which viruses are likely to spread from animals to humans. This is reported in a recent study led by researchers at the University of Gothenburg.

Hyundai Motor Group, Boston Dynamics and SoftBank announced the completion of the Group’s acquisition of a controlling interest in Boston Dynamics from SoftBank, following the receipt of regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The deal valued the mobile robot firm at $1.1 billion. Additional financial details were not disclosed.

Organizations running on SAP S/4HANA or SAP ECC can manage a great deal of processes, but there are several challenges. Earlier we talked about these challenges with Tanja Breitling-Zboril, Sr. Manager Partner & Alliance Management at UiPath: Processes stretch beyond SAP systems; expert work can be expensive and integration with SAP S/4HANA requires specific tasks.

The promise that IT will support people in their work above all, which  has been hanging over the market for years, seems to be reached now with RPA, though this cannot happen on its own. A successful automation project requires the cooperation of IT and business, including the use of HR to guarantee the acceptance of technology. The ultimate aim is people-centred IT.

By 2024, 80% of technology products and services will be built by those who are not technology professionals, according to Gartner. This trend is driven by a new category of buyers outside of the traditional IT organisation who are occupying a larger share of the overall IT market. Today, total business-led IT spend averages up to 36% of the total formal IT budget.