The rolling hills of Mars or the moon are a long way from the nearest tow truck. That's why the next generation of exploration rovers will need to be good at climbing hills covered with loose material and avoiding entrapment on soft granular surfaces.
Stroke is the leading cause of serious long-term disability in the US with approximately 17 million individuals experiencing it each year. About 8 out of 10 stroke survivors suffer from "hemiparesis", a paralysis that typically impacts the limbs and facial muscles on one side of their bodies, and often causes severe difficulties walking, a loss of balance with an increased risk of falling, as well as muscle fatigue that quickly sets in during exertions. Oftentimes, these impairments also make it impossible for them to perform basic everyday activities.
Motion picture animation and video games are impressively lifelike nowadays, capturing a wisp of hair falling across a heroine's eyes or a canvas sail snapping crisply in the wind. Collaborators from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Carnegie Mellon University have adapted this sophisticated computer graphics technology to simulate the movements of soft, limbed robots for the first time.
A group of researchers and engineers has created a new way for robots to pool data gathered in real time, allowing them to 'think' collectively and navigate their way through difficult, previously unmapped obstacles as a team.
Inspired by the biomechanics of cheetahs, researchers have developed a new type of soft robot that is capable of moving more quickly on solid surfaces or in the water than previous generations of soft robots. The new soft robotics are also capable of grabbing objects delicately—or with sufficient strength to lift heavy objects.
Not so long ago, the concept of a fully automated store seemed something of a curiosity. Now, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the idea of relying on computers and robotics, and checking out groceries by simply picking them off the shelf doesn't seem so peculiar after all.
Modern technology affects different workers in different ways. In some white-collar jobs—designer, engineer—people become more productive with sophisticated software at their side. In other cases, forms of automation, from robots to phone-answering systems, have simply replaced factory workers, receptionists, and many other kinds of employees.
Dang robots are crummy at so many jobs, and they tell lousy jokes to boot. In two new studies, these were common biases human participants held toward robots.
Dr. Tracy Xu, lecturer in hospitality at the University of Surrey's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, has published a paper in the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management derived from interviews with 19 hotel HR experts to identify the key trends and major challenges that will emerge in the next 10 years and how leaders should deal with the challenges brought about by service robot technologies.
Overall, adding robots to manufacturing reduces jobs—by more than three per robot, in fact. But a new study co-authored by an MIT professor reveals an important pattern: Firms that move quickly to use robots tend to add workers to their payroll, while industry job losses are more concentrated in firms that make this change more slowly.
Nature is one of the most valuable sources of inspiration for researchers developing new robots and computational techniques. For instance, in recent years, research teams worldwide have tried to artificially replicate the behaviors observed in insects and the biological mechanisms underpinning them in tiny robots.
In many parts of the U.S., robots have been replacing workers over the last few decades. But to what extent, really? Some technologists have forecast that automation will lead to a future without work, while other observers have been more skeptical about such scenarios.
Oregon State University College of Engineering researchers used a vacuum cleaner and the personalities of three of the Seven Dwarfs from Snow White to demonstrate that people can correctly infer a robot's personality solely by how it moves.
A robot that can measure the body temperature of people, for example in the waiting rooms of the hospital, is under development by researchers at Umeå University and the University Hospital of Umeå.
Robots delivering meals, ghostly figures in hazmat suits and cameras pointed at front doors: China's methods to enforce coronavirus quarantines have looked like a sci-fi dystopia for legions of people.