Robotics

Engineers at MIT have added a new ability to existing flying robots – they can now glow when they flap their wings. Inspired by fireflies, this fluorescence could help with communication or tracking of the tiny, lightweight robots.

Ghost Robotics' Vision 60 quadruped robot is already quite a versatile beast, capable of walking, running and even carrying a gun. Now, thanks to a third-party attachment, it can also "swim" through the water.

Opening a pizzeria could soon be as simple as leasing a small business space, then sticking a robot in there. That's the idea behind the Pizzaiola system, which takes human cooks and other kitchen staff out of the equation.

Farmers could be spared a lot of work and expense – plus the environment could be spared a lot of harmful chemicals – if crops didn't have to be sprayed indiscriminately. The new plant-inspecting Solix robot was designed with those facts in mind.

When mines extract oil or ore from other materials, they generate liquid waste known as tailings. This waste is stored in tailings ponds, which have to be monitored – and that's where the amphibious Helix Neptune robot is designed to come in.

By copying nature, we can develop technologies capable of performing previously impossible functions. A new contest encourages that kind of thinking, by inviting ideas for nature-inspired robots … and the winning entry will be made into a robot.

Researchers at Northwestern University in Illinois have demonstrated the world's smallest remote-controlled walking robot. These tiny machines can bend, twist, crawl, walk, turn and jump without hydraulics or electricity, using shape-memory alloys.

Because GPS doesn't work indoors, it can be difficult for robots to determine where they are within a structure. A new system could help, by using a building's existing Wi-Fi access points to guide wheeled or walking robots.

We've already seen attempts to realize a sci-fi vision of the future and put robot helpers in the home to make our lives easier. Startup Eeve is also developing a personal robot pal, but Willow X's job is to help you keep your garden tidy.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have been tinkering away on a robotic chef and developed a machine with an ability to "taste test" food as it goes, making sure the balance of flavors is just the way it should be.

If you say “jump” I say “how high?” – and a new robot from UC Santa Barbara says “over 100 ft.” The researchers say that’s higher than anything else has ever jumped, be it robot or animal, thanks to a unique design that multiplies its stored energy.

The West Japan Rail Company has released video of its new humanoid heavy equipment robot. Mounted on the end of a crane, this gundam-style robot torso mimics the arm and head motions of a human pilot, who sees through the robot's eyes via VR goggles.

While scientists have already created tight-space-exploring robots based on snakes and cockroaches, rats are also highly adept at squeezing through narrow openings. They now have a robotic equivalent of their own, in the form of the SQuRo.

Boston Dynamics’ robot dog Spot has been tasked with a new job - patrolling the ancient ruins of Pompeii. The robot will be used to inspect the site for safety issues and record structural changes over time to better manage the historic ruins.

A thin new robot developed at the University of Leeds designed to diagnose and treat cancer takes the shape of a tentacle, which can be magnetically guided into the depths of the lungs to inspect suspicious lesions or deliver drugs.