Motorola Corporation

Motorola Mobility LLC

Rethink Robotics Gmbh

Isabella Products, Inc.

Le Creuset Sas

Ocado Innovation Limited

Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.v.

Google Technology Holdings LLC

Michael E Caine

Joseph M Romano

Roberto Tagliabue

Louis F Genatossio

David B Cranfill

Brent Everett Koeppel

Noelle Dye

David S Brenner

Angela Chang

Matthew I Growney

Andrew Miles Wallace

Jonathan Matthew Bond

Rodney Brooks

Tadeo T Toulis

Ben Berkowitz

Joonwoo Park

Michael Lewis

Lisa Y Yong

Alexander Colin Campbell

Thomas E Gitzinger

William Neil Robinson

Michael Sussman

Christopher J Buehler

Elaine Chen

Manuel Oliver

Xunhu Dai

Kristin Size

Bruce M Blumberg

Elizabeth Goodrich

Theodore R Arneson

Daniel J Sadler

Natan Linder

Christopher Cacioppo

Conor P O'Sullivan

Lauren L'Esperance

Peter Swai

Daniel A Zindel

William A Goodwin

Claudia Jensen

Paula Long

Alan Schell

Matthew Fitzgerald

Edward A Hirsch

Adam A Kumpf

William N Robinson

Matthew M Williamson

Elaine Y Chen

Autonomous vehicles including ladders and related methods are disclosed. An example system includes an autonomous vehicle including an integrated ladder and a processor to detect a state of the ladder as being in one of a stowed state, a deployed state, or a use state; in response to detecting that the ladder is in the stowed state, cause the autonomous vehicle to operate in a first drive mode and a second drive mode; in response to detecting that the ladder is in the deployed state, cause the autonomous vehicle to operate in the second drive mode and to restrict from operating in the first drive mode; and in response to detecting that the ladder is in the use state, cause the autonomous vehicle to refrain from operating in the first drive mode and the second drive mode.

Autonomous vehicles including ladders and related methods

Systems and methods for simultaneously and economically providing high speed and precision robotic operations with operational safety include directly performing training movements of a desired task on a collaborative robot, recording data corresponding to the training movements, and transmitting the recorded data to a conventional robot to cause the conventional robot to autonomously execute the training movements in accordance with the received data.

Hybrid training with collaborative and conventional robots

In accordance with various embodiments, a user interface embedded into a robot facilitates robot training via direct and intuitive physical interactions. In some embodiments, the user interface includes a wrist cuff that, when grasped by the user, switches the robot into zero-force gravity-compensated mode.

User interfaces for robot training

Robot interface

The invention provides, in one aspect, a multimedia content sharing system that includes (i) a shared content server which stores items of content (such as still, moving images and audio) and (ii) a plurality of nodes, each of which is in communications with the shared content server via cellular telephone and/or other data networks. The shared content server transmits items of content to a first set of the nodes 'automatically,' e.g., without requests by users of those nodes for the items. At least one node in that first set displays the content of received items (e.g., on an LCD screen) and accepts user feedback in regard to those items. That feedback&#x2014;which may be, for example, a command to copy an item into an 'album', to rotate an item on the display, to block another node from displaying the items, and/or to block a sender (or creator) of the item from sending further items of content from presenting&#x2014;is transmitted back to the shared content server for distribution to other nodes, which alter their own respective displays of the items accordingly.

Systems and methods for multimedia content sharing

A device () includes a controllable skin texture () defining a keypad (), a sensor (), and control logic (). The sensor senses a proximity of a pointing element () to a particular key () of the keypad based on a user input. The control logic adjusts a height of the particular key with respect to another key of the keypad in response to the sensor sensing the proximity of the pointing element to the particular key. In one example, the device includes a display () for displaying a plurality of keys (). The control logic adjusts visual characteristics of the particular key () and an adjacent key () with respect to each other and with respect to other keys of the plurality of keys in response to the sensor sensing the proximity of the pointing element to the particular key.

Method and apparatus for controlling a keypad of a device

An electronic device is provided, which comprises one or more light groupings, each light grouping including one or more light sources, and audio processing circuitry adapted for interpreting an audio file. The audio file includes one or more instrument definitions exclusively assigned to a corresponding one of the one or more light groupings. The audio file further includes one or more note definitions associated with at least one of the one or more instrument definitions exclusively assigned to the corresponding one of the one or more light groupings, where a value associated with each of the one or more note definitions controls the color displayed by the one or more light sources within the associated exclusively assigned light grouping. In some instances, one or more commands for the instrument definitions assigned to the corresponding one of the one or more light groupings can include commands for at least one of volume definitions, note velocity definitions and modulation definitions, wherein the light intensity of the color displayed by the one or more light sources is controlled in accordance with the at least one of the volume definitions, note velocity definitions and modulation definitions. In some instances, the note definitions can include relative start times and end times, which when associated with the instrument definitions assigned to each of the one or more lighting groups affects the start time and the end time of the illumination of the light sources within the corresponding light grouping.

Electronic device for controlling lighting effects using an audio file

A portable electronic device () includes a controllable skin texture surface () and control logic () that is operative to change a tactile configuration of at least a portion of the controllable skin texture surface () in response to at least any one (i.e., one or more) of: a received wireless signal, a battery level change condition, an incoming call, information from a proximity sensor, sound sensor, light sensor, data representing a user of the device, or data representing completion of a user authentication sequence. The controllable skin texture surface () may form part of a non-user interface portion or a user interface portion, such as a function key, keypad or other operational element of the device. In one example, a portable electronic device employs a controllable skin texture surface that includes a mechanical skin texture surface actuation structure and a flexible skin structure that moves in response to mechanical movement caused by the mechanical skin texture surface actuation structure to change a tactile configuration of at least a portion of the controllable skin texture surface of the device.

Method and apparatus for controlling a skin texture surface on a device

Manufacturing robot

A method is provided for encoding device independent multi-modal content including an arrangement comprising one or more of a plurality of tokens, where each token corresponds to a standard predefined effect. The method includes defining a token for one or more standard predefined effects, wherein the token is adapted for being mapped to one or more effect producing elements in a target device. One or more tokens are then composed for playback together as an arrangement.

Composer circuit and method for encoding device independent multi-modal content

A handle for a kitchen utensil or the like includes a hand gripping section having a rearward push/pull valley with a varying, substantially elliptical cross-section that forms a floor, a push slope tapering up and forward from the floor, and a pull slope tapering up and back from the floor. The radial cross-sectional area of an end of the pull slope and a radial cross-sectional area of an end of the push slope each are substantially larger than a radial cross-sectional area of the floor. The handle section further includes a ring stop section disposed forward of the push/pull valley with one or more concentric rings extending above a surface of the handle member. The kitchen utensil includes a blade mating section disposed forward of the handle section and configured to receive a blade.

Utensil handle

An audio file format is provided, which includes definitions for one or more instruments that are associated with one or more light groupings, where each light grouping includes one or more light sources. Received commands present in the audio file, and associated with an instrument definition, are compared to determine if the associated instrument definition corresponds to one of the one or more light groupings. If the associated instrument definition corresponds to a light grouping, then the commands are mapped to corresponding display effects, and the illumination of the one or more light sources of the respective light grouping is controlled. If the associated instrument definition of the received command corresponds to an audio instrument, then an audible output is controlled in accordance with the received command.

Audio file format with mapped lighting effects and method for controlling lighting effects using an audio file format

A portable electronic device () includes a controllable skin texture surface that includes a skin texture surface actuation structure having a plurality of hinged elements (-) with a shape memory alloy () coupled thereto to effect movement of the hinged elements and a flexible skin structure () to change a tactile configuration of at least a portion of the controllable skin texture surface. A method also includes controlling a first shape memory alloy to actuate a plurality of hinged elements and in response, controlling a second shape memory alloy to actuate a hinged lock structure to lock a plurality of hinged elements in a first position. The method also includes deactivating the first shape memory alloy and unlocking the plurality of hinged elements by actuating the first shape memory alloy to allow the hinged lock to disengage. Corresponding structure is also disclosed. The electronic device may include a passive or active shape memory alloy based hinged locking structure to facilitate a bi-stable texture element actuation configuration.

Method and apparatus for controlling a skin texture surface on a device using a shape memory alloy

User interface for a display panel

A portable electronic device () has a customizable housing () where a 'skin' () is provided, wherein the texture and/or color can be changed by a consumer. The portable electronic device () is positioned within an apparatus () providing a power source for supplying radiant energy such as heat and/or light to the material. The method of customizing a housing () encasing electronics of a portable electronic device () includes treating the skin () within the housing () with heat and/or light, and thereby creating at least one of a texture and a color within the skin ().

Portable electronic device having appearance customizable housing

Growing community of inventors

Cambridge, MA, United States of America

Michael E Caine