This morning, I was listening to my local public radio station, KUT, and was happy to hear confirmed what I already knew to be true: Texas is the best state in the entire nation to conduct business. That's why so many major firms are relocating or opening branches here, and why it's so important for Austin to catch up to and ultimately lead the way in new developments in robotics and unmanned systems. There are so many ways these emerging technologies can help various industries, and as business booms in Texas, automation will become more of a necessity and...

Dr. Luis Sentis is one of my close friends as well as a colleague in the field of robotics and humanoids. He's an assistant professor at the University of Texas and heads The Human Centered Robotics Lab there. He has conducted some fascinating research in the area of humanoid robots assisting with chores and activities humans usually do. He came to Austin from Stanford University and is a hugely valuable resource to the engineering, robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) community here in...

I recently walked in Terra Toys in North Austin and was shocked to find a whole section of robots! I could have stayed all day, playing with the robot pencil sharpener, the wind-up tin robots, and the bigger, more complex models.

Though I left that day empty-handed, I couldn't get the biggest robot out of my mind. When it comes to robots and emerging technology in Austin, I become like a kid again. They never cease to amaze me or cause me to marvel about all the things they can be programmed to do. That's why I started InTechSys and...