Engineers have designed a tiny, low-weight and cordless robot that can act independently and with ultra-high precision in all directions in some of the most extreme conditions. The robot, which the designers call "Holonomic Beetle 3" (or HB-3)—as they were inspired by the movements and anatomy of the rhinoceros beetle—combines the use of piezoelectric actuators with autonomous technology to enable micro-scale manipulation tasks that were previously out of reach for robots.
Energy remains a significant factor in industrial production processes. High levels of energy consumption make production more expensive and exacerbate the climate crisis.
It is estimated that about 80 million people worldwide live with a tremor. For example, those who live with Parkinson's disease. The involuntary periodic movements sometimes strongly affect how patients are able to perform daily activities, such as drinking from a glass or writing.
Johns Hopkins University engineers have developed a pioneering prosthetic hand that can grip plush toys, water bottles, and other everyday objects like a human, carefully conforming and adjusting its grasp to avoid damaging or mishandling whatever it holds.
Aibo, the cute-looking robot puppy developed by Sony, was designed to be a household companion. The robot can already emulate many of the movements and behaviors of real dogs, such as walking on four legs, responding when it is called by its name, reacting to toys, performing tricks and responding to cuddles.
Fluidic elastomer actuators (FEAs) are pressurized tubes or membranes that can be easily rearranged into complex mechanical devices. They have gained significant attention for their lightweight, flexible nature, making them ideal for robotics and biomedical devices.
Humanoid robots are supposed to be our loyal assistants, but we saw another side to them the other day. Chinese robot manufacturer Unitree was demonstrating its latest H1 robots at a lantern festival in the city of Taishan, Guangdong province, when one walked up to the crowd barrier and seemed to lunge at an elderly woman, nearly headbutting her.
Over the past few years, engineers have developed increasingly advanced robotic systems already introduced in some public spaces and could soon be deployed in home environments. Many of these robots are humanoids, meaning that their body structure and physical features resemble those of humans.
From mountain goats that run up near-vertical rock faces to armadillos that roll into a protective ball, animals have evolved to adapt effortlessly to changes in their environment. In contrast, when an autonomous robot is programmed to reach a goal, each variation in its pre-determined path presents a significant physical and computational challenge.
Springtails, small bugs often found crawling through leaf litter and garden soil, are expert jumpers. Inspired by these hopping hexapods, roboticists at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have made a walking, jumping robot that pushes the boundaries of what small robots can do.
Many industrial processes and household tasks currently completed by humans entail the manipulation of textiles, including clothes, sheets, towels, cloths and other fabric-based objects. Most robotic systems developed so far do not reliably manipulate all types of textiles, due to challenges associated with predicting how these objects will deform when grasped and handled.
Indoor search and rescue operations are some of the most dangerous tasks that law enforcement and first responders must face, but drone technology has revolutionized how they approach these intense situations, according to graduate students in Penn State's Autonomous Robotics Competition Club (ARCC). Drones can be used to locate people in claustrophobic, dark and GPS-limited environments like collapsed buildings, but developing these drones is difficult and expensive.
An autonomous underwater vehicle can propel itself efficiently by using the energy in nearby water currents.
By watching their own motions with a camera, robots can teach themselves about the structure of their own bodies and how they move, a new study by researchers at Columbia Engineering now reveals. Equipped with this knowledge, the robots could not only plan their own actions, but also overcome damage to their bodies.
Humanoid robots, which have a body structure that mirrors that of humans, could rapidly and effectively tackle a wide range of tasks in real-world settings. These robots and their underlying control algorithms have improved considerably in recent years. Many of them can now move faster, emulating various human-like movements.