Shape-Shifting, Free-Roaming Soft Robot Created by Stanford Engineers [Video]
A new type of robot combines traditional and soft robotics, making it safe but sturdy. Once inflated, it can change shape and move without being…
Robotics
Robots Can Help Combat COVID-19 – Here’s How
Can robots be effective tools in combating the COVID-19 pandemic? A group of leaders in the field of robotics, including Henrik Christensen, director of UC…
Showing Robots How to Do Your Chores – Automated Robots That Learn Just by Watching
By observing humans, robots learn to perform complex tasks, such as setting a table. Training interactive robots may one day be an easy job for…
A Psychological Theory Helps Robots Walk Like Humans [Video]
A psychological theory could kickstart improvements in the way robots are able to walk, thanks to a University of Manchester study. The study — a…
DARPA Underground Autonomous Robot Navigation Challenge
Whether robots are exploring caves on other planets or disaster areas here on Earth, autonomy enables them to navigate extreme environments without human guidance or…
‘Flapping Wings’ Powered by the Sun – Could Be Used for Solar Energy Harvesting
In ancient Greek mythology, Icarus’ wax wings melted when he dared to fly too close to the sun. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials…
Slithering Snakes on a 2D Plane – Search and Rescue Robots Inspired by Snakes [Video]
Snakes live in diverse environments ranging from unbearably hot deserts to lush tropical forests, where they slither up trees, rocks and shrubbery every day. By…
Microscopic Robots, Remotely Driven by Magnetic Fields, Coax Particles Into Position Using Capillary Forces
At microscopic scales, picking, placing, collecting, and arranging objects is a persistent challenge. Advances in nanotechnology mean that there are ever more complex things we’d…
MIT Bionic ‘Heart’ Made of Heart Tissue and a Robotic Pumping System Beats Like the Real Thing
Engineers design bionic ‘heart’ for testing prosthetic valves, other cardiac devices. As the geriatric population is expected to balloon in the coming decade, so too…
Spider-Man-Style Robotic Graspers Defy Gravity – Secret Is High-Speed Rotating Water Rings
Centrifugal force from a high-speed rotating water ring enables gripping rough surfaces. Specially designed vacuum suction units allow humans to climb walls. Scientists have developed…
First Living Robots Created by Assembling Living Cells From Frogs Into Entirely New Life-Forms
Tiny ‘xenobots’ assembled from cells promise advances from drug delivery to toxic waste clean-up. A book is made of wood. But it is not a…
Revolutionary ‘Robotic Blacksmithing’ Technology Could Revive US Manufacturing
Although it may not be obvious, there’s a close link between manufacturing technology and innovation. Elon Musk often talks of the “machines that build the…
Space History Is Made in This NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Robot Factory
Built in 1961, the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, is the cradle of robotic space exploration. The first probes…
U.S. Army’s Top 10 Science and Technology Advances of 2019 [Video]
This year has had its share of science and technology advances from Army researchers. The U.S. Army CCDC Army Research Laboratory, the Army’s corporate research…
Ultra-Light Robotic Insect Uses Soft Artificial Muscles to Move – Survives Being Flattened by a Fly Swatter
Researchers at EPFL have developed an ultra-light robotic insect that uses its soft artificial muscles to move at 3 cm per second across different types…
Smart Satellites to Repair and Refuel Stranded Satellites in Space
Aerospace engineers are developing technology to repair and refuel broken satellites in space. When satellites break, which is surprisingly often, there isn’t much you can…
Pavlov’s Soft Robot: Liquid Crystal Polymer Learns to Move and Grab Objects
Researchers trained material the same way as Pavlov trained dogs. Conditioning is a method made famous by Ivan Pavlov’s experiments with dogs. Pavlov trained a…
Optimized Design and Control Robots With Stretchy, Flexible Bodies
Optimizing soft robots to perform specific tasks is a huge computational problem, but a new model can help. MIT researchers have invented a way to…