Robotics

DJI is probably best known for its drones, but last year it launched an educational robot platform named after its annual RomoMaster Robotics Competition. Now the S1 has been joined by the EP Core, the first product in DJI's new Education branch.

Useful as they are, telepresence robots can be prohibitively expensive. The Smartipresence cuts the price of entry into the telepresence world right down by making use of the ubiquitous smartphone and cardboard.

Scientists working in the field of microbots have taken inspiration from origami to produce what they say are first-of-a-kind machines, which can fold into different shapes to take on different tasks through the application of heat.

The versatility of Boston Dynamics' Spot robots has seen them find use on farms in New Zealand and oil rigs in Norway, and now Ford is getting in on the act by enlisting a pair of the quadrupeds to perform laser scanning at one of its plants.

A technology under development at Loughborough University offers up an interesting new possibility when it comes to mobility aids for the visually impaired, by channeling the functions of a guide dog into a robotic device you can hold in your hand.

Generally speaking, robotic "hands" vary between rigid devices with a firm grasp, and softer, gentler gadgets that are a bit wimpier. Now, however, scientists have created an appendage that they claim combines the best features of both.

More and more, workplaces are using assistive exoskeletons to protect their employees from injury. One of the newest, the 4th-generation version of German Bionic's Cray X, features a lightweight carbon fiber frame.

Researchers have created a new camera system that’s so small and light it can perch on the back of a beetle. From there, it can be wirelessly controlled to focus on different things, streaming video and photos back to a phone connected via Bluetooth.

In order to see and then grasp objects, robots typically utilize depth-sensing cameras. And while such cameras may be thwarted by transparent or shiny objects, scientists at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a work-around.

A team of researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands have drawn inspiration from a tiny tentacled marine creature to produce a centimeter-scale robot that is powered by magnets and light.

Given how compounds like flavoring dissipate out of gum as it's being chewed, scientists are looking into the controlled oral delivery of drugs via medicated gum. A robot is being designed with that in mind, as a way of standardizing the chew test.

For the last three years, a team led by Google's former Director of Robotics, Dr. Aaron Edsinger, has been secretly working on an assistive robot. Hello Robot has now emerged from stealth to reveal its first fruit, the Stretch Research Edition.