Meet Axl and Slash. The pair of mechanical arms named after Guns N' Roses members each weigh more than a ton but possess the deftness to nail wood without splitting. "Metallic beasts," is how BotBuilt cofounder Brent Wadas describes his yellow robots.
Addressing a fundamental challenge in robotics, Associate Professor Yoshihiro Nakata of The University of Electro-Communications, Japan, and Senior Researcher Tomoyuki Noda from the Brain Information Communication Research Laboratory Group at the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, have developed a pioneering technology to facilitate the integration of hybrid actuation systems. Hybrid actuation, which pairs two actuators operating on different principles to yield superior performance, has been historically difficult to incorporate into robots due to the complexity of its structure.
A South Korean-made robot made its debut as an orchestra conductor before a sell-out crowd in Seoul on Friday, wowing the audience with a flawless performance in place of a human maestro.
In a new study, researchers from Université libre de Bruxelles demonstrate the potential of blockchain technology, known from cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, to secure the coordination of robot swarms. In experiments conducted with both real and simulated robots, they show how blockchain technology enables a robot swarm to neutralize harmful robots without human intervention, thus enabling the deployment of autonomous and safe robot swarms. Their work is published in the journal Science Robotics.
Stroke is the most important cause of disability for adults in the EU, which affects approximately 1.1 million inhabitants each year. After a stroke, patients commonly need rehabilitation to relearn to walk, talk, or perform daily tasks. Research has shown that besides physical and occupational therapy, music therapy can help stroke patients to recover language and motor function.
Most robotic grippers are made using either soft plastics—to pick up objects without damaging them—that melt at high temperatures, or metals which are stiff and costly. A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS), together with their collaborators from the Northeast Forest University, have created a wooden robotic gripper that could be used in a very hot environment and yet maintain a tender touch.
Rapid progress in artificial intelligence (AI) has spurred some leading voices in the field to call for a research pause, raise the possibility of AI-driven human extinction, and even ask for government regulation. At the heart of their concern is the idea AI might become so powerful we lose control of it.
A newly created real-life Transformer is capable of reconfiguring its body to achieve eight distinct types of motion and can autonomously assess the environment it faces to choose the most effective combination of motions to maneuver.
Engineers at Westlake University, China, have created a synthetic tube of liquid crystal elastomers with a unique range of motion. In their paper, "Bioinspired helical-artificial fibrous muscle structured tubular soft actuators," published in Science Advances, the engineering team reveals the unique manufacturing technique used to achieve a remarkably versatile tubular structure.
Engineers at Westlake University, China, have created a synthetic tube of liquid crystal elastomers with a unique range of motion. In their paper, "Bioinspired helical-artificial fibrous muscle structured tubular soft actuators," published in Science Advances, the engineering team reveals the unique manufacturing technique used to achieve a remarkably versatile tubular structure.
Picture a network of interconnected, autonomous robots working together in a coordinated dance to navigate the pitch-black surroundings of the ocean while carrying out scientific surveys or search-and-rescue missions.
An unknown admirer of felines once remarked, "Cats and computers both have one thing in common—they both rule the Internet."
Imperial College London and Empa researchers have built a drone that can withstand high enough temperatures to enter burning buildings. The prototype drone, called FireDrone, could be sent into burning buildings or woodland to assess hazards and provide crucial first-hand data from danger zones. The data would then be sent to first responders to help inform their emergency response.
A trio of roboticists at CREATE Lab, EPFL, in Switzerland, has designed, built and tested a robot that can pick raspberries. In their project, reported in the journal Communications Engineering, Kai Junge, Catarina Pires and Josie Hughes designed and tested their robot based on a new idea to reduce the cost of designing fruit-picking robots.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, have already proved to be highly promising for tackling numerous real-world problems, for instance allowing users to take aerial images, monitor remote or natural environments, deliver parcels, or assisting agents during search and rescue missions and military operations. While these systems are already being used by many companies and individuals worldwide, they can have significant limitations, such as a high-power consumption and limited operation times.