Science fiction novelists couldn't have come up with a crazier plot: microrobots streaming through blood or through other body fluids that are driven by light, can carry drugs to cancer cells and drop off the medication on the spot. What sounds like a far-fetched fantasy, it is the short summary of a research project now published in Science Robotics. The microswimmers presented in the work could one day perform tasks in living organisms or biological environments that are not easily accessible. Looking even further ahead, the swimmers could perhaps one day treat cancer or other diseases.
A team of researchers from Université de Cergy-Pontoise, the College of the Holy Cross and Montpellier University, has found that when humans interact with robots, they tend to synchronize their movements with it in ways similar to their interactions with other humans. Their paper is published on the open access site PLOS ONE.
Cambridge engineers have shown how a robotic arm can control the journey of a floating object remotely by manipulating surface waves on the water. Using recent advances in deep reinforcement learning—a field of artificial intelligence (AI) best suited to managing complex decision-making—the team have come up with a way to model the fluid interactions, providing a data-driven approach to solving a complex fluid dynamics problem.
Soft machines—a subcategory of robotics that uses deformable materials instead of rigid links—are an emerging technology commonly used in wearable robotics and biomimetics (e.g., prosthetic limbs). Soft robots offer remarkable flexibility, outstanding adaptability, and evenly distributed force, providing safer human-machine interactions than conventional hard and stiff robots.
A whole generation of gripping robots has been developed using a design concept originally known from fish fins. An international research team from Biomechanics, with participation from Kiel University (CAU), led by the University of Southern Denmark (SDU), has now optimized this gripping function inspired by insects and challenged this standard in robotics. They also transferred it from hand to foot elements for the first time. This would not only allow robots to grip better with less energy, but also to walk better on uneven surfaces. The findings were published in the journal Advanced Intelligent Systems and as the cover story of the current print issue.
A robot has performed laparoscopic surgery on the soft tissue of a pig without the guiding hand of a human—a significant step in robotics toward fully automated surgery on humans. Designed by a team of Johns Hopkins University researchers, the Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (STAR) is described today in Science Robotics.
In Jimmy Wu's apartment, a scrum of mini robots bump, swerve, and zip chaotically across a tabletop. It looks like an aggressive bumper car rally, but within a few minutes, order emerges.
Engineering researchers from North Carolina State University have demonstrated a new type of flexible, robotic grippers that are able to lift delicate egg yolks without breaking them, and that are precise enough to lift a human hair. The work has applications for both soft robotics and biomedical technologies.
You have probably seen one flying above you at some point: a quadcopter, also known as a drone. These flying robots are becoming increasingly important in today's society, leading to stricter demands on their performance in terms of speed, accuracy, reliability and robustness. In order for these demands to be met, improvement of existing estimation and control algorithms is of crucial importance. In his research, Ph.D. candidate Alex Andriën has improved upon several existing methods for estimation and control of quadcopters by employing optimization-based techniques. He will defend his thesis on Monday 24th of February, 2022.
ETH Zurich researchers led by Marco Hutter developed a new control approach that enables a legged robot, called ANYmal, to move quickly and robustly over difficult terrain. Thanks to machine learning, the robot can combine its visual perception of the environment with its sense of touch for the first time.
A team of researchers from City University of Hong Kong, Dalian University of Technology, Tsinghua University and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China has developed a flexible skin patch that can provide haptic feedback to and from a person and a robot, allowing for teleoperated robots. They have published their results in Science Advances.
Robots could be invaluable allies for older adults and people with physical disabilities, as they could assist them in their day-to-day life and reduce their reliance on human carers. A type of robotic systems that could be particularly helpful are assisted feeding or bite-transfer robots, which are designed to pick up food from a plate and feed humans who are unable to move their arms or coordinate their movements.
Over the past few decades, computer scientists have been trying to train robots to tackle a variety of tasks, including house chores and manufacturing processes. One of the most renowned strategies used to train robots on manual tasks is imitation learning.
Many people love to visit the seaside, whether to enjoy the physical benefits of an exhilarating swim or simply to relax on the beach and catch some sun. But these simple, life-affirming pleasures are easily ruined by the presence of litter, which, if persistent, can have a serious negative impact on both the local environment and economy.
Medtronic CEO Geoff Martha has a simple message for the skeptics: despite some bumps in the road, the robots are coming.