Credit: Phonlamai Photo, Shutterstock.com.

Verdict lists ten of the most popular tweets on robotics in Q4 2020 based on data from GlobalData’s Influencer Platform. The top tweets were chosen from influencers as tracked by GlobalData’s Influencer Platform, which is based on a scientific process that works on pre-defined parameters. Influencers are selected after a deep analysis of the influencer’s relevance, network strength, engagement, and leading discussions on new and emerging trends.

Top tweets on robotics in Q4 2020

1. Kash Sirinanda’s tweet on using robots in airports

Kash Sirinanda, founder of Elite Futurists, a management consulting firm, shared a video on robots being used for cleaning airports. Pittsburgh International Airport is the first airport to introduce these robots.

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The video detailed that the robots clean and scrub the floor apart from disinfecting the floor using UV light, which has been used by hospitals to sanitise their spaces for decades. The robots are being deployed to restore confidence in travel.

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Username: Kash Sirinanda

Twitter handle: @kashthefuturist

Retweets: 142

Likes: 437

2. Vala Afshar’s tweet on autonomous harvesting robot

Vala Afshar, an author and digital marketing evangelist, shared a video on Sweeper, a resident pepper picking robot. Sweeper can autonomously navigate through a greenhouse to scan plants and identify where peppers are growing by using a camera.

The robot plucks only those peppers that are almost ripe by looking at it from various angles and analysing the ripeness based on colour. The video detailed that Sweeper harvests around two to three peppers per minute. Designers are working to reduce the plucking time to 15 seconds.

The robot is also designed with special materials and cases to protect its sensors from the hot and humid conditions of greenhouses, where there is high demand for automated labour. The robotic principles developed through Sweeper can also be applied to similar crops, the video further added.

Username: Vala Afshar

Twitter handle: @ValaAfshar

Retweets: 71

Likes: 275

3. Massimo’s tweet on programmable self-assembly robots

Massimo, a columnist at Coelum, an Italian astronomy magazine, shared a video from Harvard University demonstrating programmable self-assembly robots. Researchers at the university developed a low-cost robot named Kilobot that can produce 1024-robot swarm for testing collective behaviours.

The Kilobot can move using vibration motors and communicate with reflected infrared light. The capabilities of each robot are limited and is susceptible to errors, hence they must work together to compensate for these limitations.

Using an algorithm for programmable self-assembly in large swarms, a user can give a desired shape to all robots without human intervention, the video detailed.

Username: Massimo

Twitter handle: @Rainmaker1973

Retweets: 71

Likes: 247

4. Heinz V. Hoenen’s tweet on solar powered autonomous weeding robot

Heinz V. Hoenen, consultant at NanoApps Medical, an advanced nanomedical diagnostic and therapeutic technologies company, shared a video on autonomous weeding robot. Developed by Ecorobotix for managing weeds on farms, the robot uses cameras, sensor technology and GPS to detect plants.

The robot weighs around 130kg and is completely powered by solar power enabling it to operate for up to 12 hours per day. Apart from weeding, the robot can navigate the field and put herbicide in the fields in small pre-set amounts.

Username: Heinz V. Hoenen

Twitter handle: @HeinzVHoenen

Retweets: 124

Likes: 187

5. Ronald van Loon’s tweet on robot dog

Ronald van Loon, principal analyst and CEO of Intelligent World, an influencer network, shared a video on robot dog named Spot. Developed by Rocos and Boston dynamics, the robot is being trialled to perform agricultural tasks in New Zealand.

The video noted that Spot can perform various agricultural tasks including inspection of orchards and herd sheep. The robot can be used to provide farmers with up to date information on yield estimations and make certain practices safe.

The robots, however, are not a replacement to actual sheep dogs that have generations of instinct, which cannot be replicated through an artificial intelligence (AI) system, the video detailed.

Username: Ronald van Loon

Twitter handle: @Ronald_vanLoon

Retweets: 110

Likes: 174

6. Antonio Grasso’s tweet on the trends in robotic process automation

Antonio Grasso, founder and CEO of Digital Business Innovation, a company that provides digital solutions for businesses, shared an article on the future trends of robotic process automation (RPA).

The article detailed that visual drag and drop capabilities are currently being used for robot design and development but in the future voice commands will be used to develop robots.

Other developments include on-demand scaling and intelligent workload balancing, predictive and prescriptive analytics, higher cloud deployments, and judgment-based tasks automation.

Username: Antonio Grasso

Twitter handle: @antgrasso

Retweets: 89

Likes: 122

7. Evan Ackerman’s tweet on ceiling-mounted home robot

Evan Ackerman, a contributing editor at IEEE Spectrum, a scientific magazine, shared an article on Toyota Research Institute’s virtual reality presentation on its research on home robots. The presentation included the details of a ceiling mounted home gantry robot that can hang from the ceiling and performs tasks such as loading the dishwasher, wiping surfaces, and clearing clutter.

The robot avoids the problems of navigating household floor clutter and navigating cramped spaces, by moving on the ceiling and tucks itself up, when not in use. The problem with gantry robots is installation, as these robots cannot be introduced into a home, which was not specifically designed for it, the article noted.

Username: Evan Ackerman

Twitter handle: @BotJunkie

Retweets: 25

Likes: 89

8. Spiros Margaris’ tweet on robots using AI

Spiros Margaris, the founder of Margaris Ventures, a venture capital firm, shared an article on AI system, which enables robots to feel pain and perform self-repair. Scientists around the world are working to bring a sense of awareness to robots to ensure safe interaction with humans.

Robots developed by scientists at Nanyang Technological University senses pain and responds to it when there is pressure created by external physical force by using AI-enabled sensor nodes. The robots are also capable of healing an injury from cut or scratch, by introducing self-healing ion gel material into the system without any human intervention.

Username: Spiros Margaris

Twitter handle: @SpirosMargaris

Retweets: 60

Likes: 71

9. Sally Eaves’ tweet on trust and bias in robots

Sally Eaves, senior policy advisor at Global Foundation for Cyber Studies and Research, a non-profit think tank, shared an article on research conducted in healthcare and autonomous vehicles domains on the issues of trust and bias in robotic technology. The article detailed that an inappropriate calibration of trust combined with bias in robots are creating major challenges.

Explainable AI algorithm is one of the promising strategies to mitigating overtrust and bias of robots. The algorithm uses some level of transparency about how AI makes decisions. Other strategies include developing data quality standards for robots and proactiveness from users in identifying ethical issues. These strategies can help in mitigating the negative impact of robots and AI on individuals, while enhancing people’s quality of life, the article added.

Username: Sally Eaves

Twitter handle: @sallyeaves

Retweets: 52

Likes: 62

10. Glen Gilmore’s tweet on AIs creating AI

Glen Gilmore, principal at Gilmore Business Network, a digital marketing firm, shared a video from World Economic Forum on baby AI, developed by Google AI. The baby AI has outperformed all the AI’s that have been developed by humans.

The video detailed that parent AI controls and evaluates baby AI’s performance. The information collected by the parent AI is used to make baby AI’s task more effective. The process of evaluation is repeated thousands of times making the baby AI more effective, the video added.

Username: Glen Gilmore

Twitter handle: @GlenGilmore

Retweets: 40

Likes: 53