Bipedal (two-legged) robots are sophisticated machines, but they are not the most graceful when things go wrong. A simple push, fall or an obstacle can send them crashing to the ground, often resulting in expensive damage to sensitive components such as cameras.
A research team led by Professor Wang Qining from the School of Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics, Peking University, has developed the world's first portable underwater exoskeleton system that assists divers' knee movement, significantly reducing air consumption and muscle effort during dives.
Using common kitchen ingredients such as citric acid and sodium bicarbonate, scientists have created an edible pneumatic battery and valve system to power soft robots.
Robots could soon be able to autonomously complete search and rescue missions, inspections, complex maintenance operations and various other real-world tasks. To do this, however, they should be able to smoothly navigate unknown and complex environments without breaking down or getting stuck, which would require human intervention.
A pair of swiveling, human-like robotic arms, built for physical artificial intelligence research, mirror the motions of an operator in a VR headset twirling his hands like a magician.
When it comes to navigating their surroundings, machines have a natural disadvantage compared to humans. To help hone the visual perception abilities they need to understand the world, researchers have developed a novel training dataset for improving spatial awareness in robots.
In the 1980s when micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) were first created, computer engineers were excited by the idea that these new devices that combine electrical and mechanical components at the microscale could be used to build miniature robots.
Flashy humanoid robots that have awed attendees at Web Summit in Lisbon this week are still far from revolutionizing physical labor in factories and warehouses, Amazon's chief roboticist told AFP.
Robots aren't always the most delicate of machines when handling fragile objects. They don't have the lightness of touch of humans. But that could be about to change thanks to a new development in smart materials.
A research team from the Cognitive Neurotechnology Unit and the Visual Perception and Cognition Laboratory, Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Toyohashi University of Technology, investigated human behavior and comfort when handing over a package to an autonomous mobile delivery robot while walking—an interaction envisioned for logistics in future smart cities.
Robots powered by popular artificial intelligence models are currently unsafe for general purpose real-world use, according to new research from King's College London and Carnegie Mellon University.
A study by researchers at Queen Mary University of London and University College London has found that humans have a form of remote touch, or the ability to sense objects without direct contact, a sense that some animals have.
A research team led by Dr. Lin Cao from the University of Sheffield's School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering has reimagined one of robotics' long-standing flaws as a breakthrough feature—unveiling a new way for soft robots to move, morph, and even "grow" with unprecedented dexterity.
A robot searching for workers trapped in a partially collapsed mine shaft must rapidly generate a map of the scene and identify its location within that scene as it navigates the treacherous terrain.
Researchers at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, have developed advanced robotic technologies to support the assembly and maintenance of future fusion reactors.