On January 18, 2023 at 7:38 Electronic and Computer Science Institute (hereafter – EDI) Director and senior researcher Dr.Modris Greitans spoke on the Latvian Radio 1 programme Good Morning about the intelligent robot, recognised by the Latvian Academy of Sciences as one of 2022’s most significant scientific achievements.

The Latvian Academy of Sciences has nominated 12 of the most significant scientific achievements of the last year in Latvia, including a robot that senses gestures and touches.

EDI, as a leading partner, together with colleagues from Belgium, Germany and Austria, has been working diligently over the past years on a unique intelligent robot for various industrial sectors. Research assistant Pēteris Račinskis shows the robot, which performs a hand  function at a special workbench by moving various packages from a box. The robot picks up some packages by sucking them onto a picking nozzle, others by grasping them with a “paw”. The robot developed in the project has advanced vision, sensory and human gesture understanding skills, explains researcher Jānis Ārents. Dr.Modris Greitāns, the EDI director and senior researcher, points out that industrial robotics solutions are currently expensive, but will become more sought-after in the future. In addition, the robot in question helps to shorten the robot’s training time by adapting it to new tasks.

In total, 55 applications were evaluated in the Academy of Sciences’ annual competition in the life sciences, medical and health sciences, material and engineering sciences, humanities, arts and social sciences, as well as agriculture and forestry. The Science Achievement Awards ceremony will take place in February. More details here (in Latvian):  https://lr1.lsm.lv/lv/raksts/labriit/zinatnu-akademija-izvirzijusi-12-nozimigakos-perna-gada-zinatnes.a171645/?highlight=robots