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 Audio available

Harvard researchers speed up snake-inspired kirigani robot

Darren Quick April 22, 2019

Last year, a Harvard team revealed a snake-inspired soft robot that harnessed the ancient Japanese art of kirigami to create pop-up scales that allowed the robot propel itself along as it stretches and contracts. Now some tweaks have given the robot boosts in both speed and precision.

Researchers at Harvard have enhanced the speed and accuracy of their snake-inspired soft robot by changing ...

Robotics

Boston Dynamics celebrates looming commercial sales by towing a truck with 10 robo-dogs

Rich Haridy April 16, 2019

In classic Boston Dynamics style, the company’s latest announcement that its SpotMini are off the production line and ready to hit the commercial market has been accompanied by a video showing ten of these robot dogs effectively pulling a truck across a parking lot.

Ten SpotMini bots have been shown to have the strength to pull a small truck

Robotics

Robotic recycling hand knows which materials it's grabbing

Ben Coxworth April 11, 2019

In recycling facilities, workers pick through items going past on a conveyor belt, sorting them by their material. While this setup is a source of employment, it's also costly, limiting the feasibility of such operations. A new material-detecting robot hand, however, could bring costs down.

A Baxter robot uses the RoCycle hand to sort objects for recycling

Robotics Audio available

Blue robot is made for AI – on the cheap

Ben Coxworth April 10, 2019

Ordinarily, robots are precisely programmed to perform certain tasks. Robots that run on artificial intelligence, though, learn tasks through a process of trial and error. The Blue robot is specifically designed for the latter, and it should be much more affordable than other AI machines.

Blue can modulate between maintaining a firm hold on objects, or having a soft and flexible ...

Robotics

SwagBot autonomous agricultural robot to hit the farmers market in 2020

Loz Blain April 9, 2019

Back in 2016, we wrote about the Agerris SwagBot farming robot and its abilities in crop inspection, weed removal and yield counting. Now, having raised US$4.6 million for commercialization, the company is looking to get an AI version of the robot onto the market within a year.

The SwagBot autonomous farm robot has received enough funding to commercialize it by 2020

Robotics Audio available

Pile-driving autonomous robot builds walls in the ground

Ben Coxworth April 8, 2019

Driven into the ground, interlocking metal plates known as sheet piles can keep soil from eroding after rainfall, they can serve as retaining walls on slopes, or perform other functions. Installing them is a laborious process, though, which is why scientists have created a robot to do the job.

The Romu robot, seen here inserting sheet piles in the sand

Robotics

Video: Boston Dynamics' dino-like Handle robot prepares to get a real job

Loz Blain March 28, 2019

It's always stunning to watch the latest videos out of Boston Dynamics, where robotics seems 10 years ahead of anywhere else. And this time, you won't be having nightmares about Handle coming for you - you'll be thinking about exactly which warehouse jobs it's coming for first.

Handle: coming soon for a warehouse job near you

Robotics

Autonomous Firefighting Robot System includes Water Cannon and Hose Extension robots

Paul Ridden March 26, 2019

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has developed a pair of firefighting robots that work together in situations deemed too hazardous for human crews. Along with a third recon robot and a command system, the Water Cannon Robot and Hose Extension Robot form part of a Firefighting Robot System.

The Water Cannon Robot and Hose Extension Robot have been designed to self-drive to blaze locations ...

Robotics Audio available

Bees and fish learn to communicate long distance – via robots

Michael Irving March 21, 2019

A colony of bees in Austria and a school of fish in Switzerland have become unlikely allies. In experiments run by several European universities, the two very different animal species were able to communicate and coordinate their movements long-distance with the help of some robotic interpreters.

European researchers have used robots to help bees and fish communicate over long distances

Robotics Audio available

Robotic "particles" swarm together to move towards the light

Michael Irving March 20, 2019

Most robots are usually made to do one particular job, so they’re not very adaptable to new situations. But researchers at MIT, Harvard, Columbia and Cornell Universities have developed particle robots – simple circular devices that can connect to each other magnetically to move and work as a swarm.

A new system of "particle robots" can swarm together to achieve things that individual units can't ...