All posts by Robotics News - Robot News, Robotics, Robots, Robotics Sciences

First, they walked. Then, they saw the light. Now, miniature biological robots have gained a new trick: remote control.

Ecologists are increasingly using traces of genetic material left behind by living organisms left behind in the environment, called environmental DNA (eDNA), to catalog and monitor biodiversity. Based on these DNA traces, researchers can determine which species are present in a certain area.

For legged robots to effectively explore their surroundings and complete missions, they need to be able to move both rapidly and reliably. In recent years, roboticists and computer scientists have created various models for the locomotion of legged robots, many of which are trained using reinforcement learning methods.

A new technological development by Tel Aviv University has made it possible for a robot to smell using a biological sensor. The sensor sends electrical signals as a response to the presence of a nearby odor, which the robot can detect and interpret.

Unmanned aerial vehicles, drones, are no longer a surprise to passers-by during events or on a sunny afternoon in the city center. Drones, which have long been used in warfare, are now popular not only with professional and amateur filmmakers but also with researchers. Kaunas University of Technology scientist Rytis Maskeliūnas together with a team of researchers from other Lithuanian universities used UAV technology to detect changes in building façades against a crowded city background.

Researchers at the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine intelligence (MIRMI) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed a model that enables a robot to serve tea and coffee faster and more safely than humans—with no sloshing. The mathematics behind the pendulum used in the concept is more than 300 years old.

The Smart Polymer Materials Group led by Prof. Chen Tao at the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in cooperation with Prof. Zheng Yinfei at Zhejiang University, have developed a hydrogel-based soft robot with adaptive deformation that can achieve multi-dimensional off-road locomotion on natural terrains.

Team Polar, a student team at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), took their first rover to perform research in the Norwegian snow in the first week of January. The team is dedicated to developing an independent rover that can perform Antarctic research. This is their first working prototype and the team is eager to set a benchmark for future developments. They will present their findings and the rover itself at the reveal event, January 20, 2023.

Birds fly more efficiently by folding their wings during the upstroke, according to a recent study led by Lund University in Sweden. The results could mean that wing-folding is the next step in increasing the propulsive and aerodynamic efficiency of flapping drones.

The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), also known as the China Sky Eye, is the world's largest single-dish radio telescope. Its reflector is a partial sphere of radius R=300 m. The planar partial spherical cap of the reflector has a diameter of 519.6 m, 1.7 times larger than that of the previously largest radio telescope.

Until now, microscopic robotic systems have had to make do without arms. Now, researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an ultrasonically actuated glass needle that can be attached to a robotic arm. This lets them pump and mix minuscule amounts of liquid and trap particles.

Researchers from the Singapore University of Technology and Design's (SUTD) Bio-Inspired Robotics and Design Laboratory have developed a new reconfigurable workspace soft (RWS) robotic gripper that can scoop, pick and grasp a wide range of consumer items. The RWS gripper's comprehensive and adaptive capabilities make it particularly useful in logistics and food industries where they depend on robotic automation to meet increasing demands in efficiently picking and packing items.

You might have heard of killer robots, slaughterbots or terminators—officially called lethal autonomous weapons (LAWs)—from films and books. And the idea of super-intelligent weapons running rampant is still science fiction. But as AI weapons become increasingly sophisticated, public concern is growing over fears about lack of accountability and the risk of technical failure.

Tech companies showed off their latest products this week at CES, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, with new developments in video as well as lifestyle enhancements with beverage and makeup gadgets.

The enhancement of human-machine interaction is expected to bring notable improvements in support for learning and access to health care.