Latest news with #Orbita
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
104-year-old VE Day hero invited to Buckingham Palace tea
He kept the horrors of the Second World War to himself for eight decades. Now, 104-year-old veteran Henry Ducker has shared his tale for the first time ahead of having tea with the King and Queen at Buckingham Palace for VE Day. The former RAF flight mechanic, who served as a Leading Aircraftman for six years until 1946, said he was 'honoured' to accept the invitation. Mr Ducker, who was called up to the RAF aged just 19, has never previously met a member of the Royal family and will be the oldest of 30 veterans attending the 80th anniversary celebrations. The day's events, organised by the Royal British Legion, of which the King is patron, will begin with a military procession and fly-past with the Royal family and the Prime Minister. As Sir Keir Starmer paid tribute to the Armed Forces, calling their sacrifice 'a debt that can never fully be repaid', Mr Ducker shared his memories with The Telegraph. During the war, he trained at Cranwell in Lincolnshire and the No 1 Radio School in Egypt, and was posted to Reykjavík, Heliopolis, Malta, and Italy, where he worked on the Hawker Hurricane aircraft that saw action in Monte Cassino. He ran control centres wherever he went – including one rigged up in a stripped-out caravan at the end of a runway in Oakington, Cambridgeshire. 'I saw some terrible things in Oakington,' he said. 'With boys going out in the bombers and coming back all shot up. It was horrible. I shall never forget that.' 'They were all very talented people and their lives got cut short, it's such a shame,' he added. In 1943, he sailed for the Middle East aboard the Orbita and vividly recalls how his convoy came under repeated enemy air attack in the Mediterranean. He said: 'We'd been about 20 hours or so sailing and the sirens went, and I looked out and I could see all these aircraft coming towards us. The orders were to get down to the hold, but I was a bit curious to see what was going on. I hung back a bit, and I saw the first lot come and drop, but then I went down. 'In this hold, they'd fastened all the bulkheads and the officers were there with their guns drawn. 'Nobody panics at all, but you should've seen these men's faces. It was like we were in a tin can, the bombs were dropping, you could hear them.' In Yugoslavia, impoverished villagers once invited him to a girl's birthday meal in their family home. 'They had no beds, they just slept on the floor…They brought flagons of great wine out. They kept filling our glasses up!' He was on guard at night in Campo Marina, Italy, when news of the German surrender came through. He remembers having been given a gun for his guard duties and firing it up into the sky, celebrating. 'I'd never fired a gun before that! I was over the moon. I knew I was going home, I'd survived,' he said. He later helped escort German POWs by train across Europe. Taking a train through France on his way home, then crossing the Channel to Newhaven. 'I shall never forget the ferry, the Royal Daffodil that went into Newhaven. And there I sent a telegram to my mum and dad saying 'I'm now back in the UK, I'll see you soon'. 'I hadn't seen them for years. I went in as a boy at 19, and I came back at 26 almost to the day. I came home in January 1946 and got married in March. I wrote to her the whole time I was away, we'd met when we were 5.' Veterans from the Royal Navy, British Army, RAF, Wrens, Special Operations Executives, D-Day and Desert Rats, as well as 20 Second World War-era civilians, including evacuees, have all been invited as guests of honour to the tea party at the palace. Ten female veterans will be in attendance, including former codebreakers, drivers and mechanics. Among them are Joyce Wilding, 100, of 'Churchill's Secret Army', and Ruth Bourne, 98, a Wren at Bletchley Park. Both were in the crowds outside Buckingham Palace in 1945, celebrating VE Day. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Fox News
18-04-2025
- Science
- Fox News
Can this $70,000 robot transform AI research?
The folks at Hugging Face, the open-source artificial intelligence gurus, just jumped into the world of robotics by acquiring Pollen Robotics. And right out of the gate, they are offering the Reachy 2, a super-interesting humanoid robot designed as a "lab partner for the AI era." Ready to dive in and see what all the buzz is about? So, what makes Reachy 2 stand out? Well, first off, it's a state-of-the-art humanoid robot already making waves in labs like Cornell and Carnegie Mellon. It's designed to be friendly and approachable, inviting natural interaction. This robot is open-source and VR-compatible, perfect for research, education and experimenting with embodied AI. The innovative Orbita joint system gives Reachy 2's neck and wrists smooth, multi-directional movement, making it remarkably expressive. Reachy 2 also features human-inspired arms. Its mobile base, equipped with omni wheels and lidar, allows for seamless navigation, and the VR teleoperation feature lets you literally see through the robot's eyes! Finally, its open-source nature fosters collaboration and customization, with Pollen Robotics providing a ton of resources on their Hugging Face organization. This humanoid robot combines advanced vision, audio and actuator systems for cutting-edge AI interaction and teleoperation. Here's a quick look at what Reachy 2 brings to the table. Standing between 4.46 and 5.45 feet tall and weighing in at 110 pounds, it features bio-inspired arms with 7 degrees of freedom, capable of handling payloads up to 6.6 pounds. It's also equipped with a parallel torque-controlled gripper and multiple cameras for depth perception, plus a high-quality audio system. Navigating its environment is a breeze thanks to its omnidirectional mobile base. When it comes to perception, Reachy 2 has a vision module in its head with dual RGB cameras and a Time-of-Flight module for depth measurement. There's also an RGB-D camera in its torso for accurate depth sensing. Immersive stereo perception is achieved through microphones in Reachy's antennas. For interaction, Reachy 2 has custom-built speakers with a high-quality amplifier and a Rode AI-Micro audio interface. Its expressive head is powered by an Orbita system, and it has motorized antennas for enhanced human-robot interaction. Reachy 2's manipulation capabilities stem from its Orbita 3D and 2D parallel mechanisms, along with a Dynamixel-based parallel gripper that features torque control. Controlling Reachy 2 is a Solidrun Bedrock v3000 unit, with AI processing handled on external hardware. Finally, the mobile base includes omnidirectional wheels, Hall sensors and IMU, an RP Lidar S2 and a LiFePO₄ Battery. Getting your hands on Reachy 2 will cost you $70,000, a price that reflects its cutting-edge robotics and AI components and open-source capabilities, making it a serious investment for researchers and educators looking to push the boundaries of human-robot interaction. So, what does Hugging Face scooping up Pollen Robotics really mean? Well, it could signal a big push toward making robotics more accessible. Think of it this way: Hugging Face co-founder Thomas Wolf and chief scientist at Hugging Face says, "We believe robotics could be the next frontier unlocked by AI, and it should be open, affordable, and private." Matthieu Lapeyre, Pollen Robotics co-founder, echoes this sentiment: "Hugging Face is a natural home for us to grow, as we share a common goal: putting AI and robotics in the hands of everyone." Hugging Face's acquisition of Pollen Robotics represents its fifth acquisition after Gradio and Xethub. This move solidifies Hugging Face's commitment to open-source AI and its vision for a future where AI and robotics are accessible to all. Bottom line? Hugging Face is making moves. Who knows, maybe one day we'll all have our own Reachy to help with the chores (or just keep us company). Either way, the collaboration between Hugging Face and Pollen Robotics is definitely worth keeping an eye on. If you could use a robot like Reachy 2 for any purpose, what would it be and why? Let us know by writing us at For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Follow Kurt on his social channels: Answers to the most-asked CyberGuy questions: New from Kurt: Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
