Robotics

Robots sorting parcels and serving fried chicken enthralled visitors at a robotics expo in Beijing on Wednesday, where hundreds of companies set out their pitches for a future labor market transformed by artificial intelligence.... Read more

From searching disaster zones and responding to chemical spills to monitoring fragile ecosystems, future robot swarms may have to act in places where direct human control is difficult or dangerous. To operate autonomously, the robots must be able to decide together which problem to address and where to go next.... Read more

The rules of tag are simple enough for a playground: catch or be caught. But when the players are autonomous drones, the game becomes a test of machine learning, split-second decision-making and cooperative strategy.... Read more

A new paper from Monash University and Australia's national science agency, CSIRO, argues that effective human–robot teams depend on alignment: a shared and up-to-date understanding of each teammate's capabilities and limitations, the task and situation, and their respective roles and timing.... Read more

The human hand is a dexterous and versatile machine. Scientists have conventionally tried to replicate these traits in robots by copying the biological mechanics of the hand, resulting in complex and difficult-to-control structures. An alternative solution to these challenges was proposed in a new study published in Advanced Science: the... Read more

Researchers at the University of Stuttgart and the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research have developed tiny rolls that can be unrolled and rolled up in a controlled manner using a magnet. The model for this was the proboscis of butterflies. These smart materials enable the development of more... Read more

The Multimedia Laboratory (MMLab) at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has spearheaded the development of "RoboDojo," a unified benchmarking platform designed to evaluate robotic manipulation across simulated and physical environments. Co-initiated by Professor Ping Luo, associate director (AI Research and Tech Transfer) of the HKU School of Computing and... Read more

Recent advances in miniaturized and portable electronics, particularly wearable and flexible devices, have increased the demand for self-powered sensing technologies. Among these, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have received considerable attention for developing highly sensitive tactile sensors.... Read more

People become more suspicious of a humanoid robot that makes errors, especially when the robot is an expressive conversation partner.... Read more

When people work in pairs or teams, they can often solve a wider range of problems, completing some tasks faster and more efficiently than they would alone. To assist users similarly to how other humans would, robots should be able to rapidly interpret human behaviors and commands, using their predictions... Read more

Flapping-wing micro aerial vehicles (FW-MAVs) are small, lightweight robots inspired by the flight mechanisms of birds and insects. By using rapidly moving wings instead of propellers, these robots can achieve unique flight capabilities, such as hovering like hummingbirds and independently controlling their wings like dragonflies.... Read more

Robots are gradually making their way into a variety of settings, ranging from households to public spaces, offices, factories and health care facilities. Despite their potential, however, many existing robots do not perform as well in dynamic and unpredictable real-world environments as they do during controlled laboratory tests.... Read more

Quadruped robots, which walk on four legs, are increasingly used for tasks such as inspection, transportation and search-and-rescue operations. However, their repeated leg movements consume far more energy than the rolling motion of wheeled robots, making it challenging to improve energy efficiency.... Read more

Legged robots have recently transitioned from science fiction to engineering fact, with modern humanoid and quadrupedal machines now capable of delivering packages to front doors and taking on dangerous military missions. With a massive surge in financial investment in the offing, a new study describes the technical advances that have... Read more

University of Queensland researchers have developed new noninvasive sensors that measure muscle forces, unlocking new possibilities for wearable robotic mobility devices. Ultra-wideband radar sensors measure electromagnetic changes in muscles as they contract, allowing researchers to collect data in a way that's never been done before.... Read more