New Atlas

Robotics Audio available

Robotic fossil shows off the swagger of ancient animals

Michael Irving January 16, 2019

It can be hard to picture a living creature from dusty bones and old footprints, but now that might require a little less imagination. Researchers at EPFL and the Humboldt University of Berlin have built a robot to figure out just how a 300-million year-old ancestor of ours might have moved around.

The OroBOT is a robotic version of a 300-million-year-old animal called Orobates pabsti that was designed ...

Automotive Feature Audio available

Hyundai's Elevate robotic walking car steps out of the shadows

C.C. Weiss January 7, 2019

Imagine if an emergency vehicle could not only bring the team to the edge of the disaster zone but actually step right in, striding over top flaming rubble to get responders exactly where they need to be. That's the all-new Hyundai Elevate concept, an electric vehicle with robotic legs.

The articulated legs of the Elevate allow it to stand up and walk over obstacles that ...

Around The Home Review

Review: Shark Ion dual vacuum can Sharknado your house

Aaron Turpen December 28, 2018

The Shark Ion model S87 (aka RV851WV – we call it "Sharklon" for short) is a two-vacuum system consisting of a higher-clearance, multi-floor robotic vacuum unit and a handheld quick vacuum for dust-busting. Both are wireless, charging on a "hub" stand, and both are powerful suckers.

The Shark Ion features a powerful amount of suction and the ability to traverse varied indoor ...

Good Thinking

The year's weirdest and wackiest inventions

Michael Irving December 24, 2018

Every now and then, an invention comes along that makes us wonder how we ever lived without it – but those are in the minority. New Atlas rounds up the weirdest and wackiest inventions that left us scratching our heads this year.

The inventions that left us scratching our heads this year

Robotics Audio available

Harvard's sticky-footed inspection robot can climb through jet engines

Michael Irving December 19, 2018

A Harvard team has developed small, insect-like robots that can climb inside machines to inspect them, saving the trouble of pulling them apart if there’s nothing that needs fixing.

HAMR-E is based on an earlier Harvard robot that can scurry around like bugs and even ...

Robotics Audio available

MIT's cyborg plant can drive itself into the light

Michael Irving December 5, 2018

Plants are incredibly complex organisms that sense and react to their surroundings. Their normal methods of getting around are pretty slow, so to give them a helping hand researchers at MIT have now created “cyborg plants” that can control a robot base to drive themselves where they want to go.

MIT Media Lab has created Elowan, a cyborg plant that can drive itself towards light sources

Robotics Review

Vector review: Anki's charming home robot is more fun than function

Michael Irving November 1, 2018

Anki’s new home robot, named Vector, is part pet and part digital assistant, but just how good is he at those jobs? After a few weeks of having a pet robot living in the kitchen, we’ve come to enjoy his company – but not for the reasons we expected.

Anki's Vector is a home assistant/pet robot

Robotics

Robotic xArm designed to lend a hand to smaller businesses

Michael Irving October 19, 2018

Robot arms have been lending a hand on production lines for decades, but handy as they are, that kind of help usually costs an arm and a leg. UFactory has now unveiled the xArm, an entry-level robot arm designed to be affordable enough for those who might normally be left empty-handed.

The xArm by UFactory is designed to be an accessible robotic arm for small and mid-sized ...

Robotics Audio available

Will this creepy robotic caterpillar one day deliver drugs in the human body?

Michael Irving September 26, 2018

In the future, tiny robots of all kinds of shapes could be swimming and crawling through your body, delivering drugs or patching up wounds. The next robot to join those ranks is a caterpillar-inspired device, which gets around with ease on hundreds of tiny, pointy legs.

The new robot crawls along like a caterpillar on hundreds of tiny legs

Robotics

LG takes a load off with AI-controlled exoskeleton

Michael Irving August 23, 2018

At IFA next week, LG is set to unveil what it calls a “wearable robot,” which is effectively an exoskeleton that workers step into to help take the load off their legs.

LG's CLOi SuitBot is designed to take the load off factory workers' legs