A team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) in Stuttgart invented a tiny micro-robot that resembles a white blood cell traveling through the circulatory system. It has the shape, the size and the moving capabilities of leukocytes, and could perhaps revolutionize the minimally invasive treatment of illnesses.
Buckling, the sudden loss of structural stability, is usually the stuff of engineering nightmares. Mechanical buckling means catastrophic failure for every structural system from rockets to soufflés. It's what caused the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, among numerous other disasters.
Standup comedian Jon the Robot likes to tell his audiences that he does lots of auditions but has a hard time getting bookings.
Standup comedian Jon the Robot likes to tell his audiences that he does lots of auditions but has a hard time getting bookings.
Researchers at University of California, Yale University, Stanford University, University of Cambridge and Seoul National University have recently carried out a study reviewing recent efforts in the development of machine-learning-enhanced electronic skins. Their review paper, published in Science Robotics, outlines how these e-skins could aid the creation of soft robots with touch-like capabilities, while also delineating challenges that are currently preventing their large-scale deployment.
Roboticists at the University of California San Diego have developed an affordable, easy to use system to track the location of flexible surgical robots inside the human body. The system performs as well as current state of the art methods, but is much less expensive. Many current methods also require exposure to radiation, while this system does not.
Robots can be made from soft materials, but the flexibility of such robots is limited by the inclusion of rigid sensors necessary for their control. Researchers created embedded sensors, to replace rigid sensors, that offer the same functionality but afford the robot greater flexibility. Soft robots can be more adaptable and resilient than more traditional rigid designs. The team used cutting-edge machine learning techniques to create their design.
A team of Italian researchers from the BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna and Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn has developed a new and improved version of its Seabed Interaction Legged Vehicle for Exploration and Research (SILVER) with the SILVER2—a robot that can walk around on the seafloor taking video as it goes. In their paper published in the journal Science Robotics, the group describes the robot, its capabilities and how it might be used in research efforts.
The rolling hills of Mars or the moon are a long way from the nearest tow truck. That's why the next generation of exploration rovers will need to be good at climbing hills covered with loose material and avoiding entrapment on soft granular surfaces.
Stroke is the leading cause of serious long-term disability in the US with approximately 17 million individuals experiencing it each year. About 8 out of 10 stroke survivors suffer from "hemiparesis", a paralysis that typically impacts the limbs and facial muscles on one side of their bodies, and often causes severe difficulties walking, a loss of balance with an increased risk of falling, as well as muscle fatigue that quickly sets in during exertions. Oftentimes, these impairments also make it impossible for them to perform basic everyday activities.
Motion picture animation and video games are impressively lifelike nowadays, capturing a wisp of hair falling across a heroine's eyes or a canvas sail snapping crisply in the wind. Collaborators from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Carnegie Mellon University have adapted this sophisticated computer graphics technology to simulate the movements of soft, limbed robots for the first time.
A group of researchers and engineers has created a new way for robots to pool data gathered in real time, allowing them to 'think' collectively and navigate their way through difficult, previously unmapped obstacles as a team.
Inspired by the biomechanics of cheetahs, researchers have developed a new type of soft robot that is capable of moving more quickly on solid surfaces or in the water than previous generations of soft robots. The new soft robotics are also capable of grabbing objects delicately—or with sufficient strength to lift heavy objects.
Not so long ago, the concept of a fully automated store seemed something of a curiosity. Now, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the idea of relying on computers and robotics, and checking out groceries by simply picking them off the shelf doesn't seem so peculiar after all.
Modern technology affects different workers in different ways. In some white-collar jobs—designer, engineer—people become more productive with sophisticated software at their side. In other cases, forms of automation, from robots to phone-answering systems, have simply replaced factory workers, receptionists, and many other kinds of employees.