Robotics

In the critical 72 hours after an earthquake or explosion, a race against the clock begins to find survivors. After that window, the chances of survival drop sharply.... Read more

Vision-language models (VLMs) are advanced computational techniques designed to process both images and written texts, making predictions accordingly. Among other things, these models could be used to improve the capabilities of robots, helping them to accurately interpret their surroundings and interact with human users more effectively.... Read more

Thanks to artificial intelligence, robots can already perform many tasks that would otherwise require humans. In this interview, Edoardo Milana, a junior professor of soft machines in the Department of Microsystems Engineering at the University of Freiburg, explains how improved design and innovative mechanics are broadening the range of applications... Read more

Over the past few decades, robots have gradually started making their way into various real-world settings, including some malls, airports and hospitals, as well as a few offices and households.... Read more

Scientists have developed a low-cost, durable, highly sensitive robotic "skin" that can be added to robotic hands like a glove, enabling robots to detect information about their surroundings in a way that's similar to humans. The results are reported in the journal Science Robotics.... Read more

Over the past decades, roboticists have developed increasingly advanced systems that can emulate some human capabilities and effectively tackle various real-world tasks. To reliably grasp, manipulate and utilize objects in their surroundings, robots should be able to detect and process tactile information, replicating the processes underpinning the human sense of... Read more

An autonomous drone carrying water to help extinguish a wildfire in the Sierra Nevada might encounter swirling Santa Ana winds that threaten to push it off course. Rapidly adapting to these unknown disturbances inflight presents an enormous challenge for the drone's flight control system.... Read more

A team of roboticists at the University of Canberra's Collaborative Robotics Lab, working with a sociologist colleague from The Australian National University, has found humans interacting with an LLM-enabled humanoid robot had mixed reactions. In their paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, the group describes what they saw as... Read more

The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has ushered in a new era of automated robotics that are adaptive to their environments.... Read more

A research team has developed a novel auditory technology that allows the recognition of human positions using only a single microphone. This technology facilitates sound-based interaction between humans and robots, even in noisy factory environments.... Read more

Researchers at Rice University have developed a soft robotic arm capable of performing complex tasks such as navigating around an obstacle or hitting a ball, guided and powered remotely by laser beams without any onboard electronics or wiring. The research could inform new ways to control implantable surgical devices or... Read more

Researchers have unveiled a robotic hand, the F-TAC Hand, which integrates high-resolution tactile sensing across an unprecedented 70% of its surface area, allowing for human-like adaptive grasping. This pioneering development, published in Nature Machine Intelligence today, represents a significant leap forward in robotic intelligence and its ability to interact with... Read more

Ready for that long-awaited summer vacation? First, you'll need to pack all items required for your trip into a suitcase, making sure everything fits securely without crushing anything fragile.... Read more

What used to take 15 seconds now takes less than 2: Thanks to new single-shot technology, the goROBOT3D system, developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF, will be able to measure three-dimensional objects even more efficiently in future—even if they are transparent or... Read more

Researchers at Edith Cowan University (ECU) are helping machines become more emotionally aware using a new method that allows them to better recognize human facial expressions.... Read more