The United States population is older than it has ever been. Today, the country's median age is 38.9, which is nearly a decade older than it was in 1980. And the number of adults older than 65 is expected to balloon from 58 million to 82 million by 2050. The challenge of caring for the elderly, amid shortages of care workers, rising health care costs, and evolving family structures, is an increasingly urgent societal issue.
Phase-change actuation has been revived for the era of untethered, electrically driven soft robots. Our team at the University of Coimbra have developed a phase transition soft actuator designed to power electric soft robots that require high force and precision. Our innovation leverages the liquid-to-gas phase transition of water to generate mechanical motion in a way that is simple, scalable, and remarkably powerful.
A joint research team from Seoul National University and Harvard University has developed a next-generation swarm robot system inspired by nature—capable of movement, exploration, transport, and cooperation, all without the need for precise sensors or centralized control.
Brown University researchers have developed an artificial intelligence model that can generate movement in robots and animated figures in much the same way that AI models like ChatGPT generate text.
A research team from AMOLF in Amsterdam has created a soft robot that walks, hops, and swims—all without a brain, electronics, or AI. Just soft tubes, air, and some clever physics.
It's easy to take joint mobility for granted. Without thinking, it's simple enough to turn the pages of a book or bend to stretch out a sore muscle. Designers don't have the same luxury. When building a joint, be it for a robot or wrist brace, designers seek customizability across all degrees of freedom but are often restricted by their versatility to adapt to different use contexts.
An edible robot made by EPFL scientists leverages a combination of biodegradable fuel and surface tension to zip around the water's surface, creating a safe and nutritious alternative to environmental monitoring devices made from artificial polymers and electronics.
A team of researchers has unveiled a cutting-edge Amphibious Robotic Dog capable of roving across both land and water with remarkable efficiency. The study, published in Bioinspiration and Biometrics, was inspired by mammals' ability to move through water as well as on land.
A human clearing junk out of an attic can often guess the contents of a box simply by picking it up and giving it a shake, without the need to see what's inside. Researchers from MIT, Amazon Robotics, and the University of British Columbia have taught robots to do something similar.
MIT engineers are getting in on the robotic ping pong game with a powerful, lightweight design that returns shots with high-speed precision.
Researchers have developed an "Intelligent Autonomous Wiping and UV-C Disinfection Robot" capable of automating hospital disinfection processes.
France's armed forces are on schedule to develop battle-ready robots by 2040, according to participants in a test bringing together the military with engineers, researchers and defense contractors.
The hospitality industry can leverage the gender characteristics of service robots to influence customers' decisions, according to new research from a team in the Penn State School of Hospitality Management.
Imagine AI-controlled robots that organize themselves into different groups, or across groups—and that reorganize themselves and make new plans when needed. This kind of flexibility can enable robots to effectively solve different types of tasks as a team.
Researchers at Northwestern University and Israel's Tel Aviv University have overcome a major barrier to achieving a low-cost solution for advanced robotic touch. The authors argue that the problem that has been lurking in the margins of many papers about touch sensors lies in the robotic skin itself.