Massey University Ph.D. student Chris Muller's novel "Drone Ranger" technology is being used to track the 40 Toutouwai North Island robins that were translocated to Palmerston North's Turitea Dam in April.
A new algorithm speeds up path planning for robots that use arm-like appendages to maintain balance on treacherous terrain such as disaster areas or construction sites, researchers at the University of Michigan have shown. The improved path planning algorithm found successful paths three times as often as standard algorithms, while needing much less processing time.
Thanks to their swimming robot modeled after a lamprey, EPFL scientists may have discovered why some vertebrates are able to retain their locomotor capabilities after a spinal cord lesion. The finding could also help improve the performance of swimming robots used for search and rescue missions and for environmental monitoring.
Last year, according to a United Nations report published in March, Libyan government forces hunted down rebel forces using "lethal autonomous weapons systems" that were "programmed to attack targets without requiring data connectivity between the operator and the munition." The deadly drones were Turkish-made quadcopters about the size of a dinner plate, capable of delivering a warhead weighing a kilogram or so.
Peer into any fishbowl, and you'll see that pet goldfish and guppies have nimble fins. With a few flicks of these appendages, aquarium swimmers can turn in circles, dive deep down or even bob to the surface.
Underwater vehicles are typically designed for one cruise speed, and they're often inefficient at other speeds. The technology is rudimentary compared to the way fish swim well, fast or slow.
Chinese electronics company Xiaomi has unveiled CyberDog, a quadruped robot that the company describes as more personable than others in its class. The company made its announcement on its Twitter feed, calling it a "true beast."
A team of researchers working at Seoul National University has developed a soft robot chameleon that can change its colors in real time to match its background. In their paper published in the journal Nature Communications, the group describes their multi-layer skin design and possible uses for it.
When robots make mistakes—and they do from time to time—reestablishing trust with human co-workers depends on how the machines own up to the errors and how human-like they appear, according to University of Michigan research.
Would you let a tiny MANiAC travel around your nervous system to treat you with drugs? You may be inclined to say no, but in the future, "magnetically aligned nanorods in alginate capsules" (MANiACs) may be part of an advanced arsenal of drug delivery technologies at doctors' disposal. A recent study in Frontiers in Robotics and AI is the first to investigate how such tiny robots might perform as drug delivery vehicles in neural tissue. The study finds that when controlled using a magnetic field, the tiny tumbling soft robots can move against fluid flow, climb slopes and move about neural tissues, such as the spinal cord, and deposit substances at precise locations.
In recent years, computer scientists have developed mobile robots that could be introduced in a variety of settings. To efficiently navigate unstructured environments, however, these robots should be able to plan safe paths to reach their desired destinations.
For the past 50 years, mechanical engineering students at MIT have convened on campus for a boisterous robot competition. Since the 1970s, when the late Professor Emeritus Woodie Flowers first challenged students to build a machine using a "kit of junk," students in class 2.007 (Design and Manufacturing I) have designed and built their own robots to compete in the class's final robot competition. For many students, the class and competition are a driving factor in their decision to enroll in MIT.
Crawfish harvesting is a way of life that goes back to the late 1800s in South Louisiana. It's a skill handed down from generation to generation that not only keeps the tradition alive but also puts smiles on the faces of Louisianans who enjoy the fruits of the harvesters' labor. Realizing the importance of this tradition, yet wanting to innovate it, a team of senior LSU Biological and Agricultural Engineering students recently designed a robotic arm that can help with the harvest.
Able to climb stairs, navigate rough terrain, and respond to commands, Spot, the mobile robotic dog, offers researchers an autonomous technology for innovations in infrastructure maintenance and repair
Jie Gong thinks robots hold the key to mitigating dangers that can occur during industrial inspections and can serve as innovative tools to maintain the transportation network and aging infrastructure throughout the country.
Jaimi Lard gets into position. She cups her left hand over the device, spreading her fingers across the top of it, and raises her right hand. When Lard is ready, Samantha Johnson presses a few keys on a laptop wired to the robot and then, with a mechanical buzzing sound filling the air, the device begins to move.