Leading experts in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence from around the world gathered at the Skolkovo innovation centre on Friday for the annual Skolkovo Robotics event.
The annual Skolkovo Robotics event attracted both human robot-makers and their creations. Photo: Sk.ru.
Undeterred by the rain, about 1,500 people came to the event to listen to world experts discussing global trends and giving advice, and to see a demonstration of some of Russia’s most innovative robots.
“We have set ourselves the ambitious aim of being the biggest centre of civilian robotics in our country,” said Albert Yefimov, head of the Skolkovo Foundation’s Robocentre, which organised the event together with the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech).
“The task of Skolkovo Robotics is to become a platform that unites all the people involved in creating robots and those who know about this area. At the conference we talk about what robotics engineers are doing now, what they will be doing tomorrow and even what’s going on around the world from a future perspective. That’s why we invite the leading experts in their fields,” he added.
Now in its fourth year, this year’s conference was divided into eight topics covering the range of fields in which robotics is being applied: medicine, industry, agriculture, driverless technology, education, deep learning and artificial intelligence, investment and marketing. Panel discussions devoted to the development and promotion of robotics took place on the main stage, and a series of master classes were held, along with an exhibition of 40 successful Russian robot projects. A large covered area around the main stage ensured that despite the rain, both human participants and robots stayed dry throughout the open-air event.
Catherine Simon of Innoecho and Skolkovo's Igor Bogachev signing an agreement at the event. Photo: Sk.ru.
Igor Bogachev, head of the foundation’s IT cluster, signed an agreement with Catherine Simon, CEO of the French company Innoecho that organises the annual Innorobo robotics conference taking place this week, in which several Skolkovo companies are taking part. Simon said that to create a truly successful project, startups have to look beyond the local ecosystem and market.
“Startups need international contacts. An example of such international cooperation is the agreement that we have signed with Skolkovo – it will make it possible to bring international experience to working with Russian startups,” said Simon. She said Skolkovo’s Robocentre was one of the most innovative robotics centres in Europe.
Frank Schneider of the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics, a German research facility, told conference participants about experiments using unmanned vehicles in emergencies and in dealing with the fallout from natural disasters. Unmanned aerial, ground and underwater vehicles are now used widely by disaster relief agencies across the world to access areas that are impossible or dangerous for humans to reach.
Schneider advised robotics companies working in this field to systematically test their robots outside the laboratory in real conditions, and also to communicate with their target clientele, such as emergency services, in order to find out what their current requirements are.
Andra Keay, head of the Silicon Valley Robotics industry group, gave a talk addressing how Silicon Valley became a world tech leader, both in general and in terms of robotics. She said the three areas in which robotics could play the biggest role are health, agriculture and logistics.
Pavel Khijniak, chief roboticist at Hoaloha Robotics in Seattle, talked at the conference about the role robots could soon play in care for the elderly. Countries around the world are dealing with the economics of an increasingly elderly population, most notably Japan, where 25 percent of the population are pensioners, and that figure is expected to rise to 40 percent.
Hoaloha Robotics is working on a robot companion for elderly people. While such robots are currently more expensive than human care assistants and cannot yet perform all the tasks that humans do, Khijniak said he believes the development of artificial intelligence and constant decrease in the cost of parts will facilitate the creation of a smart robot helper that will be able to improve the quality of life of elderly people around the world.
Albert Yefimov, head of the Robocentre, talking to media. Photo: Sk.ru.
One of the most popular sessions of the event was devoted to artificial intelligence, and included a talk on computer vision systems by Manohar Paluri from Facebook AI Research.
“I think that today when we talk about robotics, we’re first and foremost talking about artificial intelligence and its application in robots,” said Yefimov, explaining the session’s popularity. “Coordinating these two disciplines should lead to the appearance of completely new useful technology solutions.”
Another hit was the session on investment, at which investors shared their experience with entrepreneurs and talked about opportunities both in Russia and abroad. The moderator of a discussion themed “In which country to look for venture capital for a robotics company” was Alexei Yuzhakov, co-founder of Promobot, a resident of the Skolkovo Foundation’s IT cluster.
Yuzhakov told the audience how his company, which makes robots that can meet and greet people in crowded places and provide them with useful information, managed to secure sales in Asia. The entrepreneur advised those present to make the most of the support mechanisms provided by the Skolkovo Foundation, such as micro-grants that can be used to fund a company’s attendance – along with their robots – at international conferences.
While such trips are not cheap, they are a worthwhile investment: Every trip Promobot has made abroad has resulted in sales and new contracts, he said.