Robotics

A talented teenager from the UK has built a four-fingered robotic hand from standard Lego parts that performs almost as well as research-grade robotic hands. The anthropomorphic device can grasp, move and hold objects with remarkable versatility and human-like adaptability.... Read more

For workers whose jobs involve hours of lifting and repetitive motion, even small innovations can make a big difference in preventing future musculoskeletal disorders.... Read more

Understanding how humans and AI or robotic agents can work together effectively requires a shared foundation for experimentation. A University of Michigan-led team developed a new taxonomy to serve as a common language among researchers, then used it to evaluate current testbeds used to study how human-agent teams will perform.... Read more

Inspired by the human eye, our biomedical engineering lab at Georgia Tech has designed an adaptive lens made of soft, light-responsive, tissuelike materials. Our study is published in the journal Science Robotics.... Read more

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati are developing a drone with flapping wings that can locate and hover around a moving light like a moth to a flame.... Read more

An international team led by researchers at the University of Waterloo has developed a new material that can be used as flexible artificial muscles to replace rigid motors and pumps in robots and allow them to move more naturally and fluidly.... Read more

Stanford researchers have developed an innovative computer vision model that recognizes the real-world functions of objects, potentially allowing autonomous robots to select and use tools more effectively.... Read more

A new 3D printing technique can create paper-thin "magnetic muscles," which can be applied to origami structures to make them move.... Read more

In a simulated natural disaster, robotic drones from the University of Maryland's RoboScout Team arrived first, scanning the area for survivors. They beamed patients' locations to robot dogs and medics on the ground to quickly find, triage and treat the most critically injured people first.... Read more

Could tiny magnetic objects, that rapidly clump together and instantly fall apart again, one day perform delicate procedures inside the human body? A new study from researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart and at ETH Zurich introduces a wireless method to stiffen and relax small... Read more

Researchers have invented a new super agile robot that can cleverly change shape thanks to amorphous characteristics akin to the popular Marvel anti-hero Venom.... Read more

Microrobots, small robotic systems that are less than 1 centimeter (cm) in size, could tackle some real-world tasks that cannot be completed by bigger robots. For instance, they could be used to monitor confined spaces and remote natural environments, to deliver drugs or to diagnose diseases or other medical conditions.... Read more

Researchers have created a class of robots made from thin sheets of material that can snap into hundreds of stable shapes, allowing them to execute a wide variety of actions despite the fact that they have no motor and are made of a single, flat material. These "metabots" essentially resemble... Read more

Researchers have developed a soft robotic skin that enables vine robots that are just a few millimeters wide to navigate convoluted paths and fragile environments. To accomplish this, the researchers integrated a very thin layer of actuators made of liquid crystal elastomer at strategic locations in the soft skin. The... Read more

From sorting objects in a warehouse to navigating furniture while vacuuming, robots today use sensors, software control systems, and moving parts to perform tasks. The harder the task or more complex the environment, the more cumbersome and expensive the electronic components.... Read more