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Engineers at Caltech have designed a new data-driven method to control the movement of multiple robots through cluttered, unmapped spaces, so they do not run into one another.

Wouldn't we all appreciate a little help around the house, especially if that help came in the form of a smart, adaptable, uncomplaining robot? Sure, there are the one-trick Roombas of the appliance world. But MIT engineers are envisioning robots more like home helpers, able to follow high-level, Alexa-type commands, such as "Go to the kitchen and fetch me a coffee cup."

In the movie "Ant-Man," the title character can shrink in size and travel by soaring on the back of an insect. Now researchers at the University of Washington have developed a tiny wireless steerable camera that can also ride aboard an insect, giving everyone a chance to see an Ant-Man view of the world.

The former head of Google's robotics division has unveiled a new robot named Stretch that he hopes will prove to be an economical and handy assistant around the home.

Picking up a can of soft drink may be a simple task for humans, but this is a complex task for robots—it has to locate the object, deduce its shape, determine the right amount of strength to use, and grasp the object without letting it slip. Most of today's robots operate solely based on visual processing, which limits their capabilities. In order to perform more complex tasks, robots have to be equipped with an exceptional sense of touch and the ability to process sensory information quickly and intelligently.

Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology developed a tiny plastic robot, made of responsive polymers, which moves under the influence of light and magnetism. In the future this 'wireless aquatic polyp' should be able to attract and capture contaminant particles from the surrounding liquid or pick up and transport cells for analysis in diagnostic devices. The researchers published their results in the journal PNAS.

Ground robots will be trained to receive demonstration commands—instead of verbal commands—to interpret, follow, recall and apply in similar contexts as part of a new Army research project starting this month with the University of Texas at Austin.

Medicated chewing gum has been recognized as a new advanced drug delivery method but currently there is no gold standard for testing drugs released from chewing gum in vitro. New research has shown a chewing robot with built-in humanoid jaws could provide opportunities for pharmaceutical companies to develop medicated chewing gum.

Medicated chewing gum has been recognized as a new advanced drug delivery method but currently there is no gold standard for testing drugs released from chewing gum in vitro. New research has shown a chewing robot with built-in humanoid jaws could provide opportunities for pharmaceutical companies to develop medicated chewing gum.

The ability to become transparent is a considerable evolutionary advantage, as it allows animals to blend in with their environment, avoid predators and mask their movements. Robots with similar capabilities could be of great value for a number of applications, for instance, aiding surveillance and research that involves observing animals in their natural habitat.

For humans, it can be challenging to manipulate thin flexible objects like ropes, wires, or cables. But if these problems are hard for humans, they are nearly impossible for robots. As a cable slides between the fingers, its shape is constantly changing, and the robot's fingers must be constantly sensing and adjusting the cable's position and motion.

Robots that can cook—from flipping burgers to baking bread—are in growing demand as virus-wary kitchens try to put some distance between workers and customers.

Kitchen robots are a popular vision of the future, but if a robot of today tries to grasp a kitchen staple such as a clear measuring cup or a shiny knife, it likely won't be able to. Transparent and reflective objects are the things of robot nightmares.

Over the past few years, researchers have been trying to apply quantum physics theory to a variety of fields, including robotics, biology and cognitive science. Computational techniques that draw inspiration from quantum systems, also known as quantum-like (QL) models, could potentially achieve better performance and more sophisticated capabilities than more conventional approaches.

To Jianguo Zhao, the octopus is one of nature's most elegant machines: nimble, shape-shifting and soft, squeezing through tight spaces with the quick contraction of a muscle.