Four short links: 3 May 2016
NHS Data Sharing, Underactuated Robotics, April Robotics Numbers, and The Counterfactual Internet
- NHS Data Sharing (Ben Goldacre) — as this project lands, we’re all becoming rapidly aware that incompetence, malice and creepiness around confidential data is policed with a worryingly light touch. Ben is scrupulously fair with the benefits and the risks, as clear on the state-of-the-art limitations for data sharing as the opportunities. We have a golden opportunity in the UK, with 60 million people cared for in one glorious NHS.
- Underactuated Robotics — MIT coursenotes, forming a working draft of a book is about building robots that move with speed, efficiency, and grace. I believe that this can only be achieve[d] through a tight coupling between mechanical design, passive dynamics, and nonlinear control synthesis. Therefore, these notes contain selected material from dynamical systems theory, as well as linear and nonlinear control.
- April Sees Robotics Investment Up (Robohub) — April was a big month for investing in robotics – 19 companies were funded to the tune of $175 million vs. $15.8M in January, $18.6M in February, and $45.4M in March. Four companies were acquired with 3 of the 4 reporting selling prices totaling $422 million.
- Inevitability in Technology (Ben Evans) — We think of the portal model as a dead-end, but half a billion Chinese Internet users suggest that it could have been otherwise. The Chinese internet is a great way to challenge your thinking on what’s inevitable in technology – it’s a living counterfactual.
