Whom You Know: Amazon Selects Finalists to Compete at the Amazon Robotics Challenge Event in Japan This Summer

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Amazon Selects Finalists to Compete at the Amazon Robotics Challenge Event in Japan This Summer

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced the 16 finalists in its third-annual Amazon Robotics Challenge. The teams from Australia, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, the Republic of Singapore, Spain, Taiwan and the United States will convene on July 27 in Nagoya, Japan, where they will demonstrate their latest robotics hardware and software that can pick and stow items in storage. The Challenge combines object recognition, pose recognition, grasp planning, compliant manipulation, motion planning, task planning, task execution, and error detection and recovery. The robots will be scored by how many items are successfully picked and stowed in a fixed amount of time. Winning teams will be awarded up to $250,000 in prizes.

"This challenge is an opportunity to strengthen the ties between the industrial and academic robotic communities and promote shared and open solutions to the technical challenges we face in unstructured automation," said Joey Durham, Contest Chairperson and Manager of Research and Advanced Development for Amazon Robotics. "It's also a celebration of robotic innovation - something we are deeply focused on at Amazon - and provides a platform for the academic and research community to share and promote their research in a fun and rewarding way."

The following teams have been selected as finalists and will be competing in the 2017 Amazon Robotics Challenge:

MC^2 - Mitsubishi, Chubu University, Chukyo University

NAIST-Panasonic - Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Panasonic

Team T2 - Tottori University, Toshiba

Team K - University of Tokyo

MIT-Princeton - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University

Team Duke - Duke University

PLAID - Carnegie Mellon University

GMU-Negev - George Mason University, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

ACRV - Queensland University of Technology

IITK-TCS - Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Tata Consultancy Services

TKU M-Bot - Tamkang University

Nanyang - Nanyang Technological University

NimbRo Picking - University of Bonn

UJI RobInLab - Jaume I University

Applied Robotics - Smart Robotics, University of Sydney

IFL PiRo - Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Helmut Schmidt University

This year's Amazon Robotics Challenge will be held during RoboCup, the leading and most diverse competition for intelligent robots and one of the world's most important technology events in research and training. The 2016 contest was held at RoboCup in Leipzig, Germany, and was won by team Delft, a collaboration between Delft Robotics and TU Delft's Robotics Institute.

"As a result of this contest, we are attracting more interest than ever before from robot manufacturers approaching us to pursue additional research," said Carlos Hernandez Corbato, Team Delft Captain and Postdoctoral Researcher. "This challenge was the most exciting project I have ever done in research and the most gratifying because of how much we learned."

Amazon is committed to supporting innovation in robotics and automation. The company utilizes a wide range of innovative technology within its fulfillment centers, including more than 80,000 Amazon Robotics drive units in over 25 fulfillment centers worldwide. Amazon Robotics drive units deliver items directly to employees at ergonomic work stations and help make associates' roles more efficient.

For additional information about the Amazon Robotics Challenge including contest details, participating teams, rules, and FAQs, visit www.amazonrobotics.com/#/pickingchallenge. For more information about RoboCup, visit www.robocup2017.org.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

Recent Testimonials by Brand Ambassadors on their Experience with Whom You Know

"I work with Peachy Deegan because she's prolific at what she does. She's a hard worker, she's thoughtful and she's tasteful at what she writes which is very important. Peachy gets the facts correct, and just that alone is worth its weight in gold."

-Edward Tricomi, Master Stylist and Owner of Warren-Tricomi
https://warrentricomi.com/

"No one has yet to express their taste for our cuisine better than Peachy Deegan on Whom You Know. Thank you for transforming our flavor into words, unlike any other before.
Sometimes WHOM YOU KNOW, really makes a difference and Ammos Estiatorio is grateful to know Peachy Deegan!"
-
Dimitris Nakos, Founder and Owner of
Ammos Estiatorio
https://ammosnewyork.com/

“Whom You Know has done an amazing job of featuring our company over many years [seven]. Peachy has worked tirelessly to create a well-curated selection of topics and brands that are clearly of relevance to her growing audience of readers. Her articles are filled with great insights based on first-hand experience. She does her research, knows her business and is a pleasure to work with!”

-David Sasuga, Owner of Fresh Origins Microgreens
www.FreshOrigins.com

"Peachy Deegan has the pulse of the nation and highlights exceptional opinion leaders in more than 23,000 inspiring and entertaining posts. Her 100,000 twitter followers are a true testimony to Peachy’s ability to inspire, motivate and entertain. She is a feminine force to be reckoned with and an exemplary example of an influential voice in today’s world."

-Mica Mosbacher, author of the new book The Hurricane Factor: Stormside Patriots and tv political commentator

"It was an honour to be chosen for Movers and Shakers by Peachy Deegan. The questions in the interview were intelligent and insightful and I thoroughly enjoyed answering them. The reaction to the interview has been overwhelmingly positive and has helped bring my art practice to a wider audience."
-Damien Flood, Internationally Acclaimed Artist
http://www.damienflood.ie/

"We were so fortunate to hit Peachy’s radar. Her review of our Warmies was spot-on and came at a great time in our company’s early history.
Peachy has such a strong relationship with her readers. She provides honest and real comments; she is truly a trusted source in a very large circle
of consumers."
-Scott Wehrs
President
Intelex U.S.A.
http://www.intelexusallc.com/

"We at Primola love working with Whom You Know and are proud to have been a highly-ranked Manhattan restaurant by Peachy Deegan since 2012, and are featured seasonally. We appreciate the fantastic work Peachy does highlighting our cuisine with her sublime writing style and the whole neighborhood of the Upper East side. Also, we are glad that she has started a Made in Italy column! If you have the opportunity to be considered for review, we'd highly recommend working with her."
-Giuliano Zuliani, Owner of Primola Restaurant
https://www.facebook.com/Primola-Canaletto-restaurants-NYC-135616799831091

"
Peachy Deegan is a gem. She is wonderful to feature our Irish brands in 'Whom You Know'! The articles are beautifully and passionately presented, bringing products and brands to life, making both relevant and fun for her many faithful followers to read. I am immensely proud for our hand-crafted products to be included in this venue!"

-
Bill Follett
President, Belleek Group North America
www.Belleek.com

"As you know from my past features, Peachy Deegan and I were in the same class at Boston College prior to either of us becoming entrepreneurs. When we played together on the BC Alumni softball team in Central Park years ago, she mentioned she could not find a great dentist in Manhattan and could often be found networking on her phone in the outfield hiding from the ball. She was my second patient ever in 2006 when I opened my dental practice; I was one of the first sponsors on Whom You Know and the first Mover and Shaker featured in 2009 and have worked with her continuously since. She's even talked her friends that are doctors into being my patients, and they subsequently send their hospital colleagues. I don't know anyone that is as great of a networker and writer as Peachy, nevermind that she is upstanding and always good for her word. Cosmopolitan Dental is so happy to be in the company of the caliber of major brands she works with today, and although she will tell you a million ways to get your teeth dirty between Peachy's Picks, Terrific Takeout and Peachy's Pantry, Peachy Deegan will tell you there is only one way to get your teeth clean!"
-Dr. Garo Nazarian, Founder and Owner of Cosmopolitan Dental
http://cosmopolitandental.com/