Imagine you're enjoying a picnic by a riverbank on a windy day. A gust of wind accidentally catches your paper napkin and lands on the water's surface, quickly drifting away from you. You grab a nearby stick and carefully agitate the water to retrieve it, creating a series of small waves. These waves eventually push the napkin back toward the shore, so you grab it. In this scenario, the water acts as a medium for transmitting forces, enabling you to manipulate the position of the napkin without direct contact.
When we think of getting on the road in our cars, our first thoughts may not be that fellow drivers are particularly safe or careful—but human drivers are more reliable than one may expect. For each fatal car crash in the United States, motor vehicles log a whopping hundred million miles on the road.
A robotic bee that can fly fully in all directions has been developed by Washington State University researchers.
A group of computer scientists from the University of Toronto wants to make it easier to film how-to videos.
Increasingly, social robots are being used for support in educational contexts. But does the sound of a social robot affect how well they perform, especially when dealing with teams of humans? Teamwork is a key factor in human creativity, boosting collaboration and new ideas. Danish scientists set out to understand whether robots using a voice designed to sound charismatic would be more successful as team creativity facilitators.
Australian government agencies' use of Chinese-made technology has been making headlines again. This time, the potential threat comes from DJI drones produced by China-headquartered company Da Jiang Innovations.
Quadrupedal robots may be able to step directly over obstacles in their paths thanks to the efforts of a trio of Georgia Tech Ph.D. students.
Researchers at Stanford University have developed digital skin that can convert sensations such as heat and pressure to electrical signals that can be read by electrodes implanted in the human brain.
A team of Korean engineering researchers has developed a quadrupedal robot technology that can climb up and down the steps and moves without falling over in uneven environments such as tree roots without the help of visual or tactile sensors even in disastrous situations in which visual confirmation is impeded due to darkness or thick smoke from the flames.
Soft robotics have several key advantages over rigid counterparts, including their inherent safety features—soft materials with motions powered by inflating and deflating air chambers can safely be used in fragile environments or in proximity with humans—as well as their flexibility that enables them to fit into tight spaces. Textiles have become a choice material for constructing many types of soft robots, especially wearables, but the traditional "cut and sew" methods of manufacturing have left much to be desired.
Spend five minutes on a college campus and you'll see walkers, runners, cyclists, skateboarders, a dog or two and maybe somebody on a hoverboard. Increasingly these days, you'll also find six-wheeled robots offering contactless food delivery.
When people encounter social robots, they tend to treat them as both machine and character. A Stanford psychologist and his collaborator explain why in a much-discussed paper.
When people encounter social robots, they tend to treat them as both machine and character. A Stanford psychologist and his collaborator explain why in a much-discussed paper.
Engineers at the University of Waterloo have discovered a new way to program robots to help people with dementia locate medicine, glasses, phones and other objects they need but have lost.
In recent decades, engineers have created a wide range of robotic systems inspired by animals, including four legged robots, as well as systems inspired by snakes, insects, squid and fish. Studies exploring the interactions between these robots and their biological counterparts, however, as still relatively rare.