A patient recovering from a limb amputation won't use a prostheses that isn't comfortable. A person rehabbing from a stroke won't use a robotic exoskeleton if the mobility it grants doesn't allow them to perform everyday activities. And a diabetes patient won't use an insulin pump that doesn't deliver the appropriate dosage of medicine to control their blood sugar.
Ready for a robot to take on those menial tasks—and much more?
A three-armed robot trained to mimic a human orchestra conductor has made its debut in the German city of Dresden, directing music composed specially to complement the device's skills.
The Interactive and Robotic Systems Lab (IRS) group at the Universitat Jaume I of Castelló has developed a mobile, lightweight, modular and reconfigurable manipulator robot, which includes a remote control station with 3D perception, modular and multi-device 3D simulation software that implements a digital twin for operator training, with the aim of operating in hazardous scenarios for human health, initially in the inspection of plastic pipes by probing and artificial vision.
In recent years, roboticists have developed a wide range of systems designed to tackle various real-world tasks, ranging from completing household chores to delivering packages or finding target objects in delineated environments.
Using mechanisms inspired by nature to create new technological innovations is a signature of one Virginia Tech research team. The group led by Associate Professor Michael Bartlett has created an octopus-inspired adhesive, inspired by the shape of octopus suckers, that can quickly grab and controllably release challenging underwater objects.
Researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China have developed a soft robotic "finger" with a sophisticated sense of touch that can perform routine doctor's office examinations, including taking a patient's pulse and checking for abnormal lumps. This work was published October 9 in Cell Reports Physical Science.
Engineers have worked out how to give robots complex instructions without electricity for the first time, which could free up more space in the robotic 'brain' for them to 'think.'
Researchers from Tampere University in Finland and Anhui Jianzhu University in China have made a significant breakthrough in soft robotics. Their study introduces the first toroidal, light-driven micro-robot that can move autonomously in viscous liquids, such as mucus. This innovation marks a major step forward in developing micro-robots capable of navigating complex environments, with promising applications in fields such as medicine and environmental monitoring.
The growing use of collaborative robots in the workplace may pose significant psychosocial risks to workers' mental health and their job security, but there are ways for organizations to smooth the transition, according to research from the Monash University Business School.
A robot pangolin designed to plant trees is the winner of the 2023 Natural Robotics Contest, which rewards robot designs inspired by nature. As the winning entry, the pangolin—dubbed "Plantolin"—has been brought to life by engineers at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom.
A team of robotics engineers at ETH Zurich, Robotics Systems Lab, has modified an ANYbotics ANYMal quadruped robot to allow it to easily and effectively climb a standard ladder. The group has written a paper describing their efforts and results and has posted it on the arXiv preprint server.
Sidewalk robots are set to help some of their airborne counterparts with deliveries in Dallas under an agreement between key players in the industry.
A combined team of bio researchers and roboticists from Brigham and Women's Hospital, in the U.S., and the iPrint Institute, in Switzerland, has developed a tiny swimming robot using human motor neurons and cardiomyocytes grown to emulate muscle tissue.
Imagine having to straighten up a messy kitchen, starting with a counter littered with sauce packets. If your goal is to wipe the counter clean, you might sweep up the packets as a group. If, however, you wanted to first pick out the mustard packets before throwing the rest away, you would sort more discriminately, by sauce type. And if, among the mustards, you had a hankering for Grey Poupon, finding this specific brand would entail a more careful search.