Robotics

A new method for controlling groups of drones, technically known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), could make formation flying smoother and reduce energy consumption and mechanical wear, according to research in the International Journal of Systems, Control and Communications. The work combines fuzzy logic processing with a self-adjusting control system,... Read more

A team of University of Toronto Engineering researchers has developed a flexible foot pad for the "Hopcopter"—a one-legged, hopping robot they developed—significantly enhancing its performance on sand, ice and other difficult terrain.... Read more

Flying insects, such as fruit flies, bees, dragonflies and mosquitoes, can dart through narrow spaces and survive collisions with various objects. In contrast, many flying robots fall, suffer damage or even break down when they hit nearby surfaces or objects.... Read more

Researchers have covered robotic fingers with a new artificial skin that allows the hand to grasp fragile pencil lead and pull away from a needle before it punctures the covering. Both actions depend on more than sensitive sensors. The robot must also receive and interpret their signals quickly enough to... Read more

Humanoid robots, robotic systems with a body shape that resembles that of humans, could tackle various chores and everyday manual tasks. To successfully complete these tasks, however, the robots should be able to reliably coordinate their movements, posture and how they touch or grasp different objects.... Read more

A robot arm that bends like an elephant's trunk can slip into tight spaces and handle fragile objects. Controlling it is harder because its smooth bending makes its next move hard to predict. Researchers have now developed a method that keeps computer predictions of the arm's motion on track, even... Read more

Lab-grown skeletal muscle tissue can contract, but the movement is often so slight that it is barely visible. This poses a problem for biohybrid robots designed to move using living muscles. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now demonstrated that it is not just the amount of muscle tissue that matters,... Read more

It's important for a robot not just to learn a task optimally, but to complete it without going off the rails of reasonable expectations. Until now, roboticists could have one or the other. Aerospace engineering researchers in The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, combined reinforcement learning with... Read more

Large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude and Google Gemini are increasingly being used to help robots perform tasks, but what if LLMs could be exploited to turn helpful robots into harmful robots?... Read more

Technology developed by an Australian engineer to explore wombat burrows has been sent to eastern Türkiye to join in the search for the biblical Noah's Ark.... Read more

A robot artificial intelligence (AI) system has been developed that can understand human instructions, predict what a scene will look like after an action and then carry out the task. Rather than simply translating instructions into physical movements, the technology also uses the anticipated outcomes of those actions to control... Read more

A research team at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed an Embodied Sensorimotor Robotic Arm (EmArm) capable of whole-arm tactile sensing and adaptive manipulation. By embedding a soft optical tactile skin directly into a robotic skeleton and integrating it with a real-time decision-making algorithm, EmArm... Read more

Timothy Wong didn't suspect it at the time, but his dives off the coast of Rockport and the hours he spent studying the wheels and gears of robotics were leading to one mission: figuring out a way to get unwanted sea matter off giant ships in need of cleaning.... Read more

What does it take for an autonomous robot to be faster around a course than human drone pilots? At these dizzying speeds, humans need lightning-fast reflexes. Researchers at Delft University of Technology (the Netherlands) have developed an AI system that enables a racing drone to navigate demanding courses at extreme... Read more

From monitoring public spaces to responding to requests for help, security robots are beginning to take on roles once held by people. As they gain authority, researchers are asking what it might take for the public to trust them.... Read more