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Maryland
High-Tech Help in Clearing Your Plate
![High-Tech Help in Clearing Your Plate](https://umd-today.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/hero/Roboarm_valeriemorgan_1920x1080.jpg?w=1200&h=630&q=82&auto=format&fit=crop&dm=1719586292&s=b866269a81ef7e20235dd53b44875ddf)
As an undergraduate engineering student in Delhi, India, Amisha Bhaskar took a field trip to a facility for disabled war veterans and met a man who had lost both hands. When she asked him what technologies could improve his life, his reply left an indelible impression: He wanted something so he could take care of himself and not be forced to rely upon others.
Now a second-year doctoral student at the University of Maryland studying computer science, Bhaskar has focused on the wounded veteran’s broad request as her area of study. Working with others in the Robotics Algorithms & Autonomous Systems Lab, she is developing an innovative robotic tool to help people with mobility impairments feed themselves.
The team’s work was recognized last month at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Yokohama, Japan, where a paper Bhaskar presented as lead co-author received top honors in a specialized workshop on cooking and robotics.
Existing robotic-assisted feeding technology is very limited, the UMD researchers said. Commercial robotic arms have a fixed, pre-programmed motion that allows them to pick up food only in a specific spot on a plate, and they lack the ability to detect whether they’ve accomplished that task.
“They are not learning on the go, so it will just keep doing this motion no matter if you want to eat it or not, or if the food is picked up or not,” said Bhaskar.
Robotic-assisted feeding can be divided into two steps, she explained: the “acquisition” step involves a utensil picking up the food, while the transfer step is the process of the food reaching a person’s mouth without being dropped or succumbing to some other mishap.
Bhaskar and the UMD team are currently working on the acquisition step, with a lofty goal. While other research groups sometimes count picking up food on a utensil just once as a success, the UMD team’s target is to clear the plate.
The system must be able to recognize and transport a variety of foods served in assisted-care settings—from liquid foods to semi-solid ones like yogurt and tofu to cereals.
One of the most significant challenges for a robot is handling foods with varied textures and consistencies within a single dish, the researchers said. Ramen, for example, presents a complex scenario that includes a liquid broth, squishy tofu, solid vegetables and irregularly shaped noodles that remain the biggest challenge, Bhaskar said. “Every single element requires different strategies, some of which have to be combined,” she said
An interdisciplinary approach has played a key role in the project’s success, said Pratap Tokekar, an associate professor of computer science with an appointment in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies.
“The technology we’re working on involves computer vision, artificial intelligence, deep neural networks, mechanical engineering and more—it all needs to come together seamlessly so that the robotic system is both safe for users and efficient in accomplishing the task at hand,” he said.
Tokekar is academic adviser to Bhaskar and another graduate student working on the project, Rui Liu, a third-year doctoral student in computer science.
Robotic-assisted feeding is a relatively new area of research for Liu, who had previously focused on computer vision and human-robot interaction. But like Bhaskar, Liu sees the potential here to greatly improve people’s lives, particularly older adults or those with mobility issues that make feeding themselves difficult.
Additional team members include Vishnu D. Sharma, Ph.D. ’24 and Guangyao Shi, Ph.D. ’23, now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southern California.
While the project is probably several years away from real-world application, Tokekar is confident in the team’s progress, and particularly in Bhasker’s and Liu’s eagerness and intense focus.
“The best part of this project is that every time we meet, they have 10 new ideas since the last time that we met,” Tokekar said. “Instead of me telling them what to do, they already know what to do. I’m just helping shape their ideas.”
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Maryland
Full interview: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on
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Maryland
7 men represent one of Maryland’s most diverse counties. Could that change?
![7 men represent one of Maryland’s most diverse counties. Could that change?](https://thebaltimorebanner.com/resizer/v2/YVHK7LTW7ZF5JALRMPF2TJ53WE.jpg?auth=045483d79b763d63906140bb7e9dc53efe4a306760070723dbff62738b66dcff&width=657&smart=true&quality=85)
Since 1956, a County Council of seven — most of them white and most of them men — has represented Baltimore County. That could change after a vote Monday to put the question of whether the council should expand on the ballot.
Though the council members have discussed changes to the body since the 1970s, they’ve never gotten this close to asking the voters to codify changes in the law. The question has become increasingly important, as the population has quadrupled to nearly 850,000 in the last 70 years. People of color make up half the population. The county is 30% Black with a fast-growing immigrant population from Arabic and Hispanic countries.
Today’s County Council includes seven men, six of whom are white. Many civil rights groups and progressive activists have complained the councilmen do not represent the diversifying county and its myriad interests, including affordable housing and accessible transit.
The council needs five votes to put the measure on the ballot in 2024. If the voters approve the measure, the council would expand by two members in 2026. The council would have to redraw political maps to determine where to put the additional districts, and it would have to alter the number of appointments to the planning board and board of appeals so the new council members also have representation there.
The effort would cost approximately $1.4 million in increased annual operating costs and $12.2 million in (one-time) capital improvement costs.
Council Chairman Izzy Patoka, who has been championing the cause of expansion since a workgroup recommended it in March, said he is confident that he has the five votes.
But of the councilmen polled this past week, only Mike Ertel, a Towson Democrat, said he is supporting it. Republicans Todd Crandell, Wade Kach, and David Marks said they are undecided, as did Democrats Pat Young and Julian Jones.
One provision that may make the legislation more popular with Patoka’s colleagues is a change to make the councilman’s job a full-time position. Currently, each councilman makes $69,000 a year, with the exception of the chair, who makes $77,000. Some have other jobs, even though many have said that the position is really a full-time one.
It’s not clear how much the salary would bump up with a switch to full-time. In Montgomery County, council members have been full-time since voters approved a 2006 ballot. There, the members make $156,284 per year and the council president makes $171,912.46 annually.
The workgroup that recommended expanding the council by two people also recommended making the members full-time.
The group, called the Baltimore County Structure Review Workgroup, included 11 members and met nine times in 2023 and 2024, including holding a public hearing last January. While some wanted to expand by four, the work group’s consensus was to increase by two members.
Those who are undecided offered different reasons for their concerns, ranging from motives of advocates to philosophical reasons about democracy and government.
“In general, I am not in favor of expanding government, which this would do, but I also want to learn from my colleagues who are in support of the bill,” said Crandell, who represents the Dundalk area.
Young, who represents the Catonsville area, said the advocates who have contacted him and come before the council want four new members, not two, and he’s not certain two would allay their concerns.
Marks, who represents the Perry Hall area, said he’s been put off by a process that Democratic activists have driven, and said he would be more in favor of the expansion if those clamoring for it represented a broader cross-section of the county, including more Republican-leaning areas. Kach said he was “not happy” with the proposed council districts or the lack of public input in drafting a new map.
And Jones, the only Black member of the council, said he’s not sure the expansion will accomplish the goal of increasing diversity.
“No one cares more about diversity than I do,” he said. “But democracy is messy, and no one can say the people we have were not duly elected, and that citizens have choices.”
Several of the current members have had an opponent who was a person of color or a woman; they just didn’t happen to win. Caitlin Klimm-Kellner ran against Mike Ertel in District 6. She told the work group studying the expansion that she struggled because the district included 127,000 people. She hailed from the Rosedale side; Ertel, a longtime community organizer, was much more well-known in Towson.
“I think that if it was a smaller representation, a more localized district, that would not have been as much of a problem,” Klimm-Kellner told the group.
The council held public hearings on the proposed referendum on June 11 and June 25.
The voting meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the County Council chambers at 400 Washington Ave., Suite 205.
Maryland
The Biggest Cities and Areas in Maryland (Population) – The MoCo Show
![The Biggest Cities and Areas in Maryland (Population) – The MoCo Show](https://s44899.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_5139.jpeg)
Maryland
According to the 2020 census, Maryland’s population is 6,177,224, ranked 18th in the nation. Maryland’s population continues to grow by at least 7% each decade. It is the 22nd fast-growing state in the nation relative to its population. The “biggest” cities (incorporated) and areas (unincorporated), in terms of population, can be seen below:
OVER 10,000 POPULATION
1990 census | 2000 census | 2010 census | 2020 census | |
Baltimore | 736,014 | 651,154 | 620,961 | 585,708 |
Frederick | 40,148 | 52,767 | 65,239 | 78,171 |
Rockville | 44,830 | 47,388 | 61,209 | 67,117 |
Gaithersburg | 39,676 | 52,613 | 59,933 | 69,657 |
Bowie | 37,642 | 50,269 | 54,727 | 58,329 |
Hagerstown | 35,306 | 36,687 | 39,662 | 43,527 |
Annapolis | 33,195 | 35,838 | 38,394 | 40,812 |
College Park | 23,714 | 24,657 | 30,413 | 34,740 |
Salisbury | 20,592 | 23,743 | 30,343 | 33,050 |
Laurel | 19,086 | 19,960 | 25,115 | 30,060 |
Greenbelt | 20,561 | 21,456 | 23,068 | 24,921 |
Cumberland | 23,712 | 21,518 | 20,859 | 19,076 |
Westminster | 13,060 | 16,731 | 18,590 | 20,126 |
Hyattsville | 13,864 | 14,733 | 17,557 | 21,187 |
Takoma Park | 16,724 | 17,299 | 16,715 | 17,629 |
Easton | 9,372 | 11,708 | 15,945 | 17,101 |
Elkton | 9,073 | 11,893 | 15,443 | 15,807 |
Aberdeen | 13,087 | 13,842 | 14,959 | 16,254 |
Havre de Grace | 8,952 | 11,331 | 12,952 | 14,807 |
Cambridge | 11,514 | 10,911 | 12,326 | 13,096 |
New Carrollton | 12,002 | 12,589 | 12,135 | 13,715 |
OVER 20,000 POPULATION
1990 census | 2000 census | 2010 census | 2020 census | |
Columbia | 75,883 | 88,254 | 99,615 | 104,681 |
Germantown | 41,145 | 55,419 | 86,395 | 91,249 |
Silver Spring | 76,046 | 76,540 | 71,452 | 81,015 |
Waldorf | 15,058 | 22,312 | 67,752 | 81,410 |
Glen Burnie | 37,305 | 38,922 | 67,639 | 72,891 |
Ellicott City | 41,396 | 56,397 | 65,834 | 75,947 |
Dundalk | 65,800 | 62,306 | 63,597 | 67,796 |
Wheaton-Glenmont | 53,720 | 57,694 | 61,813 | 68,860 |
Bethesda | 62,936 | 55,277 | 60,858 | 68,056 |
Towson | 49,445 | 51,793 | 55,197 | 59,553 |
Aspen Hill | 45,494 | 50,228 | 48,759 | 51,063 |
Bel Air South | 26,421 | 39,711 | 47,709 | 57,648 |
Potomac | 45,634 | 44,822 | 44,965 | 47,018 |
Severn | 24,499 | 35,076 | 44,231 | 57,118 |
North Bethesda | 29,656 | 38,610 | 43,828 | 50,094 |
Catonsville | 35,233 | 39,820 | 41,567 | 44,701 |
Essex | 40,872 | 39,078 | 39,262 | 40,505 |
Woodlawn | 32,907 | 36,079 | 37,879 | 40,469 |
Severna Park | 25,879 | 28,507 | 37,634 | 39,933 |
Odenton | 12,833 | 20,534 | 37,132 | 42,947 |
Clinton | 19,987 | 26,064 | 35,970 | 38,760 |
Oxon Hill-Glassmanor | 35,794 | 35,355 | 35,017 | 37,221 |
Olney | 23,019 | 31,438 | 33,844 | 37,221 |
Chillum | 31,309 | 34,252 | 33,513 | 36,039 |
Randallstown | 26,277 | 30,870 | 32,430 | 33,655 |
Montgomery Village | 32,315 | 38,051 | 32,032 | 34,893 |
Suitland-Silver Hill | 35,111 | 33,515 | 31,775 | 32,220 |
Pikesville | 24,815 | 29,123 | 30,764 | 34,168 |
Parkville | 31,617 | 31,118 | 30,734 | 31,812 |
Owings Mills | 9,474 | 20,193 | 30,622 | 35,674 |
Bel Air North | 14,880 | 25,798 | 30,568 | 31,841 |
Eldersburg | 9,720 | 27,741 | 30,531 | 32,582 |
Carney | 25,578 | 28,264 | 29,941 | 29,363 |
Milford Mill | 22,547 | 26,527 | 29,042 | 30,622 |
Perry Hall | 22,723 | 28,705 | 28,474 | 29,409 |
Crofton | 12,781 | 20,091 | 27,348 | 29,641 |
South Laurel | 18,591 | 20,479 | 26,112 | 29,602 |
Reisterstown | 19,314 | 22,438 | 25,968 | 26,822 |
Edgewood | 23,903 | 23,378 | 25,562 | 25,713 |
Lochearn | 25,240 | 25,269 | 25,333 | 25,511 |
Middle River | 24,616 | 23,958 | 25,191 | 33,203 |
North Potomac | 18,456 | 23,044 | 24,410 | 23,790 |
Scaggsville | 24,333 | 9,217 | ||
Pasadena | 24,287 | 32,979 | ||
Fort Washington | 24,032 | 23,845 | 23,717 | 24,261 |
Fairland | 19,828 | 21,738 | 23,681 | 25,396 |
Ilchester | 23,476 | 26,824 | ||
Arnold | 20,261 | 23,422 | 23,106 | 24,064 |
Landover* | 22,900 | 23,078 | 25,998 | |
Cockeysville | 20,776 | 24,184 | ||
Arbutus | 19,750 | 20,116 | 20,483 | 21,655 |
White Oak | 18,671 | 20,973 | 17,403 | 16,347 |
Elkridge | 12,953 | 22,042 | 15,593 | 25,171 |
North Laurel | 15,008 | 20,468 | 4,474 | 25,379 |
St. Charles** | 28,717 | 33,379 | ||
South Gate*** | 27,564 | 28,672 |
**(included with Waldorf for 2010 Census and beyond)
***(included with Glen Burnie for 2010 Census and beyond)
Source: Quick Facts, U.S. Census Bureau, as of April 1, 2020.
Featured photo shows the city of Baltimore, by @DronifyDMV. Information courtesy of Maryland.gov
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