This is an amazing time for robotics. So much is happening. If only we could turbocharge this blog.
Guess what? We're doing exactly that. Starting this week, Automaton and BotJunkie, two of the world's leading robots blogs, are teaming up to create a monster robotics news machine. Well, we're still more human than machine, but we'll be churning out lots of great stuff -- daily stories, in-depth articles, product reviews, interviews, exclusive videos, and more.
The reason we're merging is simple. Evan Ackerman, the creator of BotJunkie, and I believe that together (along with other contributors) we can do a much better job covering all the cool news and happenings in robotics and AI. Did I mention there's a lot happening? (Read Evan's note on the merger.)
Indeed, BotJunkie and Automaton complement each other quite well. Evan has diligently chronicled the latest developments in robotics for more than three years, posting exclusive reviews and thousands of stories that are fun to read and consistently went viral on the Net. Automaton has focused on more in-depth technical posts and exclusive stories, and our robotics coverage has also produced scoops and earned journalistic recognition.
So if you're already an Automaton reader, expect even greater robotics content. If you're a BotJunkie reader migrating over here, welcome!
As Evan said, we really like what he's been doing at BotJunkie and we don't want that to change. Evan will be posting daily stories about the same types of things and with the same style and tone as he'd been doing over at BotJunkie. But he'll also be doing more -- traveling to conferences, reviewing more products, and occasionally becoming a robot himself. (He's so dedicated to his readership that, even though he'll be out on vacation for a couple of weeks, he prepared a bunch of posts to be published while he's away.)
As in any merger, there are bumps along the way, and several loyal BotJunkie readers have asked for a better RSS feed and web design for Automaton. We hear you. We agree with you. And we'll do all we can to make those things happen.
It may sound corny, but as Evan nicely put it, we love writing about robots, but it's you, our readers, who really make it worthwhile. We love the e-mails, the tips, the comments, the tweets. Keep those coming. You can reach us by e-mail -- e.guizzo (at) ieee (dot) org and evan (at) botjunkie (dot) com -- or on Twitter (AutomatonBlog and BotJunkie) and Facebook.
Thanks for reading and stay tuned!
Erico Guizzo is the Director of Digital Innovation at IEEE Spectrum, and cofounder of the IEEE Robots Guide, an award-winning interactive site about robotics. He oversees the operation, integration, and new feature development for all digital properties and platforms, including the Spectrum website, newsletters, CMS, editorial workflow systems, and analytics and AI tools. An IEEE Member, he is an electrical engineer by training and has a master’s degree in science writing from MIT.
