Xconomy’s Future of Robotics Event: The Slide Show

If you missed our May 3 forum on “The Future of Robotics in Silicon Valley,” fear not. Today we’re pleased to bring you a flurry of photos from the gathering, captured in pixels by photographer Scott Bramwell at SRI International, which hosted the half-day event.

The sold-out event featured top roboticists from both coasts, including Helen Greiner of iRobot and CyPhy Works fame, Mick Mountz from Kiva Systems (just acquired by Amazon for $775 million), Willow Garage executives Steve Cousins and Brian Gerkey, and SRI robotics director Rich Mahoney. Participants showed off their latest robot creations, from SRI’s bomb-defusing Taurus robot to Willow’s Texai telepresence bot. And they debated the best ways to boost the robotics industry in Silicon Valley—for example, by proving the fields’ commercial potential to venture capital firms.

Here at Xconomy we’d like to extend a huge thank-you to event host SRI International and event sponsor Silicon Valley Bank, and to all of the participating speakers. Here’s the show. (And for a closer look at some of the robots made by the companies represented at the forum, check out last week’s pre-event photo and video gallery.)

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Kick-off — Xconomy San Francisco editor Wade Roush opens the proceedings.
Photo by Scott Bramwell, SRI International

Author: Wade Roush

Between 2007 and 2014, I was a staff editor for Xconomy in Boston and San Francisco. Since 2008 I've been writing a weekly opinion/review column called VOX: The Voice of Xperience. (From 2008 to 2013 the column was known as World Wide Wade.) I've been writing about science and technology professionally since 1994. Before joining Xconomy in 2007, I was a staff member at MIT’s Technology Review from 2001 to 2006, serving as senior editor, San Francisco bureau chief, and executive editor of TechnologyReview.com. Before that, I was the Boston bureau reporter for Science, managing editor of supercomputing publications at NASA Ames Research Center, and Web editor at e-book pioneer NuvoMedia. I have a B.A. in the history of science from Harvard College and a PhD in the history and social study of science and technology from MIT. I've published articles in Science, Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Technology and Culture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and World Business, and I've been a guest of NPR, CNN, CNBC, NECN, WGBH and the PBS NewsHour. I'm a frequent conference participant and enjoy opportunities to moderate panel discussions and on-stage chats. My personal site: waderoush.com My social media coordinates: Twitter: @wroush Facebook: facebook.com/wade.roush LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/waderoush Google+ : google.com/+WadeRoush YouTube: youtube.com/wroush1967 Flickr: flickr.com/photos/wroush/ Pinterest: pinterest.com/waderoush/