Robotics

A startup created specifically to develop machines for first responders, Company Six, has now unveiled its first creation, a rugged, video-streaming robot called ReadySight that can be tossed into hairy situations.

If you want to know the local soil conditions, it would be good if you could just ask an earthworm. Given that that's an impossibility, though, scientists are now working on the next-best thing – earthworm-inspired soil-analyzing agricultural robots.

Scientists at the City University of Hong Kong have developed a new type of spray-on coating they say can give regular objects the capabilities of magnetically controlled robots, with particular potential in biomedical applications.

Gardening is very therapeutic for many people, but there are nonetheless some yard-related tasks that can be a hassle. The Yardroid robot was designed to autonomously handle those jobs, utilizing artificial intelligence.

Children already spend a lot of time looking at screens, so if they can be taught to draw using a physical pen and paper, so much the better. That's the thinking behind DrawBo, a wall-mounted robot designed to give your kids art lessons.

As renewable energy grows in popularity around the world, efforts to cut costs and increase its appeal in every way possible continue, and a bug-inspired six-legged robot may have an important part to play in this.

A team in Australia has tapped into the world of biomimicry to build a new type of robotic gripper modeled on an elephant’s trunk that has the ability to pick up and release objects even when they’re tucked away in confined spaces.

The basilisk is also known as the"Jesus Christ Lizard," due to the fact that it can run across the surface of the water. A new version of an existing type of robot does the same thing, plus it's capable of traversing rough terrain.

When it comes to methods of locomotion for robots, wheels are good for some things, while legs are better for others. Scientists are now working on a bot that combines the best of both worlds, with wheels that become legs.

If you're an emergency response worker who needs a robot to inspect a hazardous setting, it would be best if you could quickly just throw that bot in there. A new robot was designed with that in mind, as it automatically lands on all four wheels.

Scientists at Purdue University have developed a back-flipping microbot that can tumble its way through the colon to release its payload when desired, all while being controlled externally by a magnetic field.

Walking, legged robots may excel at climbing over obstacles, but wheels are still more efficient for travelling over smooth ground. That's why engineers at ETH Zurich have added powered wheels to their existing ANYmal quadruped robot.