Episode Thirty-Seven: Yang Gao

Robot Talk · 17 Feb 2023 · 25m · Episode 37

What this episode covers

Professor Yang Gao from the University of Surrey and the STAR Lab discusses space robotics, focusing on autonomous systems for planetary exploration and debris removal. She details the lab's work on biomimetic drilling mechanisms inspired by wood wasps for terrestrial utility applications and their contributions to ESA missions like VMMO and ExoMars. Gao also explains the development of visual navigation and capture technologies for the CLEAR mission to remove space debris, highlighting the synergy between extreme space environments and harsh terrestrial conditions.

Mentioned

Companies
European Space Agency, British Telecom, Sensotech
Products
CLEAR mission, VMMO, ExoMars, PanCam
Also
STAR Lab

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Robot Report Podcast · 1h 07m

    Bonus Edition - 2023 RBR50 Review

    Steve Crowe and Mike Oitzman review the 2023 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award honorees, highlighting NASA’s space robotics initiatives, including the James Webb Space Telescope, the DART spacecraft, and the Perseverance Rover. They discuss Space E’s Deming Rover for retail inventory, Tusk Robots’ pallet-moving solution, and WHILL’s autonomous airport mobility service. The hosts also analyze business innovations from Teradyne, Machine Labs’ robotic metal forming, Amazon’s Sparrow picking robot, and Agility Robotics’ Digit humanoid.

  • The Next Byte Podcast · 17m

    12. Ford Trucks Made From Trash, NASA’s Ingenuity Drone, Snake-Inspired Nonslip Shoes

    Hosts Daniel and Forbode discuss three engineering stories: Ford and HP's partnership to upcycle 3D printer waste from SmileDirectClub into fuel-line clips for the F-250; NASA's Ingenuity drone, a rotorcraft carried by the Perseverance rover designed to test powered flight on Mars; and a joint MIT-Harvard project creating snake-inspired nonslip shoes using Kirigami to prevent falls. The episode highlights material science innovations, extreme environment engineering, and biomimetic design.

  • The Next Byte Podcast · 21m

    25. Solar Sailing, Preventing Cyber Attacks, Space Trash Robot

    Hosts Daniel and Forbode discuss three engineering topics: NASA's development of a packable carbon composite boom for deployable solar sails, Columbia University researchers' creation of a zero-overhead memory attack prevention system called 'Zero', and Embry-Riddle University students' design of a solar-sail-powered robot to clean up space debris. The conversation covers the materials science behind the booms, the technical mechanism of the security tool, and the operational logic of the space trash collector.

  • The Next Byte Podcast · 26m

    20. NASA’s New Moon Buggy, Rock Picking Robot, Super-Strong Concrete

    Hosts Daniel and Forbode discuss three engineering stories: the joint Lockheed Martin and General Motors contract for NASA's Artemis lunar rover, which will leverage GM's Cruise autonomous driving tech; TerraClear, a startup founded by serial entrepreneur Brent Frei that raised $500,000 to build a robotic rock-picking arm for agriculture; and a graphene-enhanced concrete developed by the University of Manchester and Nationwide Engineering that reduces CO2 emissions by 30% in the material and 2% globally.

  • Hackaday Podcast · 1h 04m

    Ep059: Hydraulic Rockets & Presses, Machine Vision Bounces & Stares, Smart Speakers Listen to You

    Hackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams discuss several hardware hacks, including Joe Barnard’s silo-launched thrust-vectoring model rocket, which required solving pneumatic timing and sensor failures, and Graham Jessup’s 3D-printed robotic face with machine vision tracking. They also cover Daniel Riley’s solar-powered rover, which overcame steering and traction issues through iterative frame modifications, and a robotic ball bouncer using a parallel manipulator and OpenCV. The episode concludes with an analysis of smart speaker false activations and a discussion of Northrop Grumman’s Mission Extension Vehicle, a space tow truck designed to extend satellite life in geosynchronous orbit.

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Robot Talk. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.