Andreas Orthey Podcast

andreasorthey

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TECHNOLOGY

Conversations on Science and Technology

MAY 15

Wolfgang Hönig: Multi-Robot Coordination, Drone Physics, Drone Lab, NVIDIA | Andreas Orthey #5

The global drone market is projected to reach 260 billion USD by 2030 [1]. Are you curious about the technology driving this revolution? I recently sat down with Wolfgang Hönig, professor for multi-robot coordination at the TU Berlin, for an in-depth discussion on the future of robot drones. In our podcast episode, we discuss - When will drone package delivery become a Reality? - How to overcome the complex physics of drone flight - Coordinating swarms of drones for maximum efficiency - Why bird-like drones could be a game-changer - How to build a cutting-edge drone research lab - How drones can revolutionize search and rescue operations Check out our full conversation below! Content 00:35 Research Goals 01:17 Motivation to do Robotics Research 01:58 Early Life in Dresden 03:20 First Programming Experiences 05:20 From Computer Science to Embedded Systems 06:36 Master Thesis with NVIDIA 07:38 Software Engineer at NVIDIA 09:11 Lessons Learned at NVIDIA 10:17 Favorite Coding Environment 10:43 Largest Company in the World in 2025 11:25 From NVIDIA to Academia 12:26 Meeting His Wife 13:17 Difficulty of Getting into a PhD Program 14:08 Moving to Los Angeles 15:09 Multi-Robot Coordination Lab 16:21 PhD work on Drones 17:06 Virtual Reality and Drones 18:02 Motion Planning for Multi-Robot Teams 19:22 Main Challenges for Motion Planning on Drones 20:35 Understanding the Physics of Multiple Drones 22:13 Motion Planning for Drones 25:46 Combining Planning and Learning 27:32 Drone Racing 29:22 Applications of Large Swarms of Drones 30:30 Where is my Package Delivering Drone? 33:46 Bird-like Drones 35:10 Advantages of Bird Designs 36:10 How to Build a Drone Lab 38:27 Demonstrations in the Drone Lab 39:31 Difference between Drone Lab and Real World 40:39 Drones in Warfare 41:59 Drone Search And Rescue 42:52 Larger Drones for Search and Rescue 44:59 Civilian Applications of Drones 46:35 Drone Lifetime and Battery Requirements 48:07 Connections to Material Science 49:35 Current Research Projects 50:36 Most Impactful Paper Ever Written 51:42 Next Career Milestones 52:15 Prerequisites to do Drone Research 52:58 Value of H-Index Metric 53:58 A Typical Day in Wolfgang's Life 55:03 Weekly Events in the Research Groups 55:32 Personal Definition of Success 57:01 Mentors 58:09 Counterbalance to Professorship 01:00:08 Life Lessons Learned References[1] https://www.sphericalinsights.com/reports/drone-market Episode LinksSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3wLmvai2GLfgcbyDlYtWm8?si=_hf8o__eQn-OjGlLMKsILAApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wolfgang-h%C3%B6nig-multi-robot-coordination-drone-physics/id1812910570?i=1000708579725Wolfgangs Personal Website: https://whoenig.github.io/Wolfgangs Lab: https://imrclab.github.io/Lab Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsFZxMGOnS8pC6DSeRVnDLg Podcast LinksYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/andreasortheyX/Twitter: https://x.com/andreas_ortheySpotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/andreasorthey/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aorthey/Support: https://buymeacoffee.com/aortheyPersonal Website: https://aorthey.comPodcast Website: https://aorthey.com/src/podcast

1h 1m
APR 29

Sean Murray: How to build a Robotics Company, Robot Motion Planning on a Chip | Andreas Orthey #4

How do you build a robotics company? Join me in my latest podcast episode, where I talk with Sean Murray, co-founder and director of robotics engineering at Realtime Robotics. Our topics include: - His past as a chemical engineer - Motion planning on a chip - The challenges of starting a robotics company - The importance of early feedback in product development - Hiring and retaining the right people - How academic and industrial motion planning differs - The next 10 years of industrial robotics Please enjoy! Content 00:37 From Montana to Berlin 01:18 Born in Texas 02:26 First Contact with Computers 03:10 Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology 04:10 Interests in Bioinformatics 05:37 Reservoir Engineering 07:31 Challenges in Reservoir Engineering 11:12 PhD in Computer Science 13:05 Benefits of having a different background 14:09 Goals in PhD 15:33 Robot Motion Planning on a Chip 18:53 Process of Starting a Robotics Company 20:29 Vision of First Product 21:56 Not what the industry wanted 22:57 First Customer 23:38 How to acquire Funding 24:50 Biggest Challenge to start Realtime Robotics 25:50 On Culture and Hiring 26:38 Philosophy of Hiring People 28:02 Retaining Good People in a Startup Environment 29:23 Building Technical Expertise and Retain it 30:31 Prerequisites to work at Realtime Robotics 31:40 Critical Skills in a Startup Environment 32:35 Differences between Academic and Industrial Motion Planning 35:22 Resolver for Workcell Optimization 38:19 Significance of Early Feedback 40:25 Current Challenges in the Robotics Industry 41:27 Balancing Shortterm and Longterm Goals 42:13 The Next 10 Years 43:28 AI in Robotics 44:44 Impact of Large Language Models in Robotics 45:40 Advice for your younger Self 46:39 Value of Pivoting Faster 47:17 Automation and Fears of Unemployment 49:05 Which jobs will become Obsolete? 49:32 Could Basic Universal Income Unemployment? 51:35 Exercises to Balance out Sitting on a Desk Episode LinksSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3lJBV0in1MDvWrmm61DyWi?si=_idjSqaoR-iWG9PDdjEFdQApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sean-murray-how-to-build-a-robotics-company-robot/id1812910570?i=1000706674729 Podcast LinksYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/andreasortheyX/Twitter: https://x.com/andreas_ortheySpotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/andreasorthey/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aorthey/Support: https://buymeacoffee.com/aortheyPersonal Website: https://aorthey.comPodcast Website: https://aorthey.com/src/podcast

54 min
MAR 21

Bradley Nelson: Microrobotics, Medical Robotics, Magnetic Field Control | Andreas Orthey #3

Imagine tiny robots moving through your bloodstream, breaking down blood clots, repairing damaged cells, or delivering targeted drugs to tumor sites. This isn't science fiction---it is the real-world potential of microrobotics, a field on the verge of revolutionizing robotics research and transforming medicine as we know it. In episode #3 of my podcast, I sit down with leading expert Brad Nelson, Professor of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at ETH Zürich, to explore the fascinating world of robots at the smallest scales. Content 00:38 Beginnings of Microrobotics: Manipulation at Small-Scale 02:45 Grand Challenges in the Field: Small, Intelligent Machines 03:27 Medical Applications of Microrobots 04:08 Regulatory Challenges: Sterility 05:08 Personal Motivations: From the Space Program to Microrobotics 06:43 First Robotics Project: Assembly Workcells and Force Control 09:00 PhD in Robotics: Microscopic Robots 10:14 Curiosity and Forces at the Smallest Scales 12:06 First Interest in Medical Robotics 15:13 Two Leading Causes of Death: Heart Attacks and Ischemic Strokes 16:09 Move Micro Robots: Magnetic Field Control 18:11 From Blockage to Relief: CTs, Nanoparticles, and Microneedles 21:25 Detection of Strokes: Face, Arm, and Speech Test 23:06 Formation of Blockages 23:55 Prevention of Blood Clots: Smoking, Diet, and Exercise 25:28 Femtotools: Force Sensors at Small Scales 27:19 Aeon Scientific and Nanoflex Robotics 28:03 Magnetic Fields: Dangers and Weak Fields 29:36 Effects of High-Frequency Magnetic Fields 30:18 From Research to Product: Challenges and Lessons learned 32:49 Building Exceptional Teams: Passion, Teamwork, and Uncertainty 34:11 Ideal Research Student: Excitement, Collaboration, Hard Work 35:39 Structure of Daily Work Days 37:18 What is the Smallest Scale for Robots? 39:40 The Limit: One Micrometer 40:21 Alternatives to Magnetic Fields for Actuation 41:11 Applications outside the Medical Field 43:08 How realistic is the movie Transcendence? 45:00 Current State on Transporting Drugs through the Body 47:09 Micro-robots in the Brain: What can we already do? 48:18 What Bradley is most proud of 48:45 What do you need to break into Micro-Robotics? 50:31 How to create a good interdisciplinary team? 51:59 How do LLMs affect the field of Micro-Robotics? 54:00 Current Research: Robotics Capsules and Teleoperations 56:34 Time in United States Peace Corps: Botswana and Teaching Math 58:56 Moving from Minnesota to Switzerland 01:00:52 Why Robotics is Amazing Episode LinksSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/522KaV5Os08rHJUNTjaRhn?si=0jgsp-7HRcacRZlCxyCW7QApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bradley-nelson-microrobotics-in-medicine-andreas-orthey-3/id1812910570?i=1000706674728Bradley Nelson Website: https://msrl.ethz.ch/the-lab/team/Brad_Nelson.html Podcast LinksYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/andreasortheyX/Twitter: https://x.com/andreas_ortheySpotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/andreasorthey/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aorthey/Support: https://buymeacoffee.com/aortheyPersonal Website: https://aorthey.comPodcast Website: https://aorthey.com/src/podcast

1h 2m
FEB 6

Steven M. LaValle: Robotics Research, Virtual Reality, and Life in Finland | Andreas Orthey #2

Steve LaValle is one of the pioneers of robot motion planning. I got the rare opportunity to talk with him in my podcast series on robotics. Topics included his work on the Planning algorithms book, development of the rapidly-exploring random tree algorithm, minimal sufficient robot brains, doing motion planning research with his son, and his new life in Oulu, Finland. Please enjoy! Content 00:40 Early Childhood 04:59 Getting into University 07:27 Life at University 10:13 Symbolic vs Visual Mathematics 11:11 Getting into Phd Program 12:12 How to get into MIT for students 13:09 Advice from Phd Advisor 14:17 First Paper 16:30 Options after Phd 17:47 Advice to Phd Students 19:19 Postdoc in California 21:46 Demo for Bill Gates 22:52 Becoming Professor at Iowa State 23:34 Developing RRT 26:21 Reason of longterm success of RRT 28:34 Sampling-based vs. Randomized 30:30 Could RoboticsGPT deprecate motion planning? 31:53 Value of motion planning research 33:07 Information spaces 34:10 Minimal sufficient robot brains 35:37 Writing "Planning algorithms" 40:33 Managing and organizing references 42:08 Deprecated parts of the book 43:16 Challenges in writing more books 44:19 Unpublished RRT book 44:28 Reading and favorite books 45:50 Reading Ayn Rand 46:53 On joining Oculus VR 50:51 Virtual reality research 52:24 Killer application for VR 52:54 Facebook buys Oculus 53:31 Control over time is most important 54:20 Meeting Brett Leonard 55:30 Huawei 57:16 On being successful 59:30 H-Index as performance indicator 01:00:16 Metrics for academic career 01:01:36 Time allocation 01:02:28 Tired phase of career 01:03:26 Advice to younger researchers 01:04:40 Fascination with Finland 01:07:46 Learning Finnish 01:08:12 What Steve misses about the US 01:08:55 Benefits from Saunas 01:10:18 Future aspirations of lab 01:11:21 Research with Alexander LaValle 01:13:15 Robotics applications for daily life 01:14:04 Gardner hype cycle of deep learning 01:15:18 Value of material science for robotics 01:16:12 Closing comments Episode LinksSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1tuJ6w35CCIkyXjsviFTtc?si=tKfYa5MXQXKFmnUivc5C4gApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/steven-m-lavalle-robotics-research-virtual-reality/id1812910570?i=1000706674834 Podcast LinksYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/andreasortheyX/Twitter: https://x.com/andreas_ortheySpotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/andreasorthey/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aorthey/Support: https://buymeacoffee.com/aortheyPersonal Website: https://aorthey.comPodcast Website: https://aorthey.com/src/podcast

1h 17m
11/12/2024

James Kuffner: Toyota Woven City, Robotics in Japan, Google Self-driving Car | Andreas Orthey #1

I recently talked with James Kuffner at the ICRA conference in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Topics included getting into Stanford, his contributions to robot motion planning, robotics in japan, the google self-driving car project, Woven city, and his advice on becoming successful. Content00:00 Introduction01:24 Background02:38 Getting into robotics04:55 Programming at 12 years old05:52 Getting into Stanford07:30 Robotics at Stanford12:19 From computer vision to motion planning13:59 RRT-Connect algorithm20:31 Is research in motion planning still valuable?22:48 Will LLMs deprecate planning?26:23 Timeline for truly intelligent robots28:10 Breakthroughs required for AI32:30 Cloud robotics34:47 Going to Japan37:04 Technological progress and craftsmanship in Japan39:34 Work culture in Japan43:49 Professor at Carnegie Mellon University46:03 Collaborations at CMU47:25 Self-driving project at Google51:53 Coding mastery at google53:51 Code search tool55:09 Vi versus Emacs56:27 Full self-driving58:44 Who is ahead in self-driving technology?01:01:06 Achieving level 5 autonomy01:04:51 Behavior of robot cars and the median driver01:06:30 Impact of self-driving on labor01:10:37 Biggest problems for society01:13:36 Woven City by Toyota01:15:41 Job loss after Fukushima earthquake01:18:01 A city from scratch01:19:29 Climbing mount Fuji01:20:42 Inventor garage01:23:11 Startup incubator and beyond01:23:57 Success definition01:26:18 Daily habits01:27:59 Pulling all-nighters01:30:00 Advanced Shakespeare01:30:58 Advice for early career researchers01:31:59 Value of books01:32:31 Linus Pauling: Change fields every 7 years01:33:37 Next big project01:34:34 Influential books01:36:59 The value of biographies01:38:23 Personal goal of 50 books per year01:39:43 Biggest contribution to science Episode LinksSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/75jmWRsM7K2XkCiZr0zsNP?si=JauAqp1FQ5Ol19UPr1HHugApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/james-kuffner-toyota-woven-city-robotics-in-japan-google/id1812910570?i=1000706674948Podcast LinksYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/andreasortheyX/Twitter: https://x.com/andreas_ortheySpotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/andreasorthey/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aorthey/Support: https://buymeacoffee.com/aortheyPersonal Website: https://aorthey.comPodcast Website: https://aorthey.com/src/podcastErrata49:16 James wants to add that the CMU car went 7.32 miles and not about 17 miles in the first DARPA grand challenge.1:24:13 The success quote is from Ralph Waldo Emerson and not E. Pugh. The original quote is: "What is success? To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate the beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch Or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!" -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

1h 41m

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Conversations on Science and Technology

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Andreas Orthey Podcast