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

Robo-fish is powered by blood-like battery fluid

Matt Kennedy June 20, 2019

A team of engineers at Cornell has built a robotic fish powered by electric blood, which not only serves as an energy source, but acts hydraulically to create propulsion as well. This bio-inspired approach addresses one of the great challenges for small, untethered robots – mass vs. power.

This soft-bodied, robotic fish runs on a blood-like battery fluid that circulates around its body in ...

Robotics

Semi-autonomous robots to make decommissioning nuclear reactors faster and safer

David Szondy June 13, 2019

Nobody wants to get near nuclear waste, so a team of engineers is developing a new semi-autonomous robotic system to help dismantle decommissioned reactors. The two-armed mobile robot can identify, grasp, and cut objects like pipes without the operator having to control every movement.

The mobile robot with manipulating arms grasping a pipe

Robotics

Plastic hunting robot crab takes its first dive

Paul Ridden June 12, 2019

Plastic can be a very useful medium, but our throw away culture has also made it a huge pollution problem – especially when it ends up in the sea. While efforts like the Ocean Cleanup attempt to deal with plastic waste near the surface, researchers are developing a robot to clear the seabed.

The first dive of the SILVER 2 plastic-hunting robot took place on World Ocean Day near ...

Robotics

DJI's first ground-level robot is built to race, battle and educate

Nick Lavars June 11, 2019

An educational tool first and a toy for playtime second, DJI's RoboMaster S1 will bring some battle and racing fireworks to the living room floor, but overall is designed to offer a gentle pathway into the world of AI, engineering and robotics.

DJI's RoboMaster S1 can respond to claps, hand gestures and visual markers

Robotics

Seven eerily lifelike robot maneuvers that will have you eyeing the off switch

Nick Lavars June 10, 2019

Advances in robotics are a constant, but every now and then the ingenuity of researchers crystallizes in maneuvers that are as awe-inspiring as they are terrifying. Here's some recent examples that will do the sleeping habits of those fearing a robotic apocalypse more harm than good.

Ford's two-legged robot called Digit would travel to a customer’s address in a self-driving vehicle before ...

Robotics Audio available

Touch-transmitting robotic hand gets its first public demo

Ben Coxworth June 7, 2019

If you were trying to remotely operate a robotic hand, it would certainly makes things easier if you could feel what it was touching. Such a system was demonstrated this week at the Amazon re:MARS Tech Showcase, utilizing technology from three separate companies.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos (right) uses the system to manipulate a small soccer ball

Robotics

Raspberry-picking robot completes first field trials

Paul Ridden May 31, 2019

Fieldwork Robotics – a spinout company from the University of Plymouth in the UK – has announced the successful completion of early field trials of a raspberry-harvesting robot. If commercialized, the system could help make up for a shortage of human fruit pickers in the country.

Data from the initial field trial of the raspberry-harvesting robot system will inform further design, ahead ...

Robotics

iRobot's latest vacuum and mopping machines work together as a robo-cleaning tag team

Nick Lavars May 30, 2019

iRobot has refreshed its line of cleaning robots, adding an new mopping machine to the mix along with an updated vacuum. Together, the Roomba s9 vacuum and the Braava jet m6 mop are designed to work in tandem to keep floors dust and dirt free, without any input from the user.

iRobot's Roomba s9+ robotic vacuum cleaner (left) and its Braava jet m6 mopping robot

Robotics Audio available

Sloth-inspired robot saves power by taking things slow

Ben Coxworth May 30, 2019

Because sloths move very slowly – if at all – they burn relatively few calories, thus requiring little food. Scientists have now applied that principle to a sluggish but energy-efficient robot, known appropriately enough as the SlothBot. One of its primary uses could be environmental monitoring.

Robotics

Low-cost sensor glove could lead to robots that identify objects by touch

David Szondy May 29, 2019

MIT has developed an inexpensive sensor glove designed to enable artificial intelligence to figure out how humans identify objects by touch.

MIT researchers have developed a low-cost, sensor-packed glove that captures pressure signals as humans interact with ...