Researchers have developed a new algorithm that combines two processes for personalizing robotic prosthetic devices to both optimize the movement of the prosthetic limb and—for the first time—also help a human user's body engage in a more natural walking pattern. The new approach can be used to help restore and maintain various aspects of user movement, with the goal of addressing health challenges associated with an amputation.
Georgia Tech researchers are using AI to quickly train exoskeleton devices, making it much more practical to develop, improve, and ultimately deploy wearable robots for people with impaired mobility.
Microrobots—tiny robots less than a millimeter in size—are useful in a variety of applications that require tasks to be completed at scales far too small for other tools, such as targeted drug-delivery or micro-manufacturing. However, the researchers and engineers designing these robots have run into some limitations when it comes to navigation. A new study, published in Nature, details a novel solution to these limitations—and the results are promising.
Imagine a world in which a humanoid robot cares for you when you need help and support with daily activities.
Touch is the sense that brings us into direct contact with reality, revealing shape, texture, and resistance. Designing soft sensors to mimic biological fingertips facilitates natural haptic communications in telerobotics and prostheses, but suffers from inaccurate tactile decoding.
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.