Robotics

Robots promise to transform our lives in myriad ways. Having already revolutionized the production line, robots are getting smarter, smaller and more capable, and they're walking, rolling and flying out of labs and into homes and businesses at an astonishing rate. With the ability to perform tasks that are considered too menial or impossible for humans, robots are destined to make many aspects of our lives easier. Will they ultimately supplant us? We'll just have to wait and see.

Robotics

New-and-improved snaky robot headed for sea trials

Ben Coxworth February 19, 2019

It was a couple of years ago that we first heard about the Eelume, an eel-like robot designed to perform underwater maintenance and inspections. Well, the latest version of the device, known as the EELY500, is about to begin sea trials in Norway.

The Eelume EELY500 is being sent to the depths of Norway's Trondheim Fjord

Robotics

Sphero rolls out roving robot that's made for hacking

Paul Ridden February 19, 2019

Sphero is probably best known for its BB-8 rolling droid, but has recently been aiming its products at future programmers and makers. The company has opted to take to Kickstarter for its latest bot, which has been designed to be tweaked and hacked by adult hobbyists and young roboticists alike.

The Sphero Rvr robot has been designed as a blank template for hacker creativity

Robotics Audio available

Ant-inspired roving robot eschews GPS

Ben Coxworth February 14, 2019

Ordinarily, when we hear about robots or other devices that are able to independently navigate outdoors, it's a given that they use GPS. French scientists have developed an alternative, however, in the form of a six-legged robot that navigates like an ant.

AntBot can determine its heading with an accuracy of 0.4 degrees

Robotics

Programmable Picoh is a versatile blank slate of a robot

Michael Irving February 5, 2019

Most home robots aren’t particularly customizable. Now robotics startup Ohbot has unveiled its newest creation Picoh, a blank slate of a robot that can be programmed to do basically whatever you want it to do.

Picoh is a programmable home robot by Ohbot

Robotics Audio available

Engineers build robot arm with rudimentary self-awareness

Michael Irving January 31, 2019

Researchers from Columbia Engineering have gone and done it, giving a robot arm some form of self-awareness – at least in a rudimentary sense, which allows it to better adapt to changing conditions.

Researchers have given a robot arm a rudimentary form of self-awareness, to help it adapt to ...

Robotics

Sophia the robot's little sister hits Kickstarter as a coding companion for kids

Michael Irving January 31, 2019

While Sophia the robot is busy on UN business or hanging with Jimmy Fallon, her little sister could soon be teaching kids to code. Meet Little Sophia, a new toy robot that looks like an educational Alexa in an unnerving humanoid body.

Little Sophia is a new toy robot based on Hanson Robotics' uncanny Sophia

Robotics Audio available

MIT's Jenga-playing robot might have the magic touch for manufacturing

Nick Lavars January 30, 2019

Anyone who has played a game of Jenga will know the delicate touch required to keep the tower of wooden blocks from crashing down, and it’s not the kind of finesse you’d associate with a typical robot. But MIT's robot arm can push and prod with the best of them.

Robotics Audio available

Plant-inspired robot curls and climbs like a vine

Michael Irving January 29, 2019

Plants might not seem like the most exciting thing to model robots after, but they could make for high-tech decorations or house plants that look after themselves. Now, a team of Italian researchers has developed a soft robot that moves like plant tendrils, climbing and curling around objects.

Italian researchers have developed a soft robot that climbs and curls like a plant tendril

Robotics Audio available

Aircraft-inspecting robot successfully climbs a 737

Ben Coxworth January 24, 2019

Currently, when aircraft need to be inspected for structural damage, people perform the task manually. While this does provide them with employment, it's also time-consuming, costly, and subject to human error. For this reason, a fuselage-climbing robot is being developed to do the job.

The Vortex Robot moves across the engine cover of a Boeing 737

Robotics

3D printed, magnetic mesh "robots" float, bend and grab on demand

Michael Irving January 23, 2019

When you imagine robots, you probably aren’t picturing stretchy meshes that can float on water, but that’s exactly what researchers have developed. These soft structures are 3D printed and embedded with magnetic particles that let them stretch and compress to pick up and move small objects.

This claw robot can retract when a magnetic field is switched on