Robotics, AI and SmartTech News – Latest Headlines

Safe and powerful robotics for near-human tasks

There are currently few concepts for robotic assistance in tasks, which involve close proximity to humans, like housekeeping and care. A new approach uses innovative switchable stiffnesses in robots to combine the required strength with the necessary safety.

March 16, 2022 Read more

Intensity control of projectors in parallel - a doorway to an augmented reality future (w/video)

A challenge to adopting augmented reality (AR) in wider applications is working with dynamic objects, owing to a delay between their movement and the projection of light onto their new position. But, scientists may have a workaround. They have developed a method that uses multiple projectors while reducing delay time.

March 16, 2022 Read more

Network technology for real-time remote control of smart factories

Researchers demonstrate real-time remote control of a factory with a 5G wired/wireless network. Two-way communication within 3ms inside the factory and 10 ms between remote sites.

March 16, 2022 Read more

The next generation of robots to be shape-shifters (w/video)

Physicists have discovered a new way to coat soft robots in materials that allow them to move and function in a more purposeful way.

March 11, 2022 Read more

New fluid dynamics provide the flying robotics of the future (w/video)

Thanks to new research, we are now on the way to a better understanding of the complex physics surrounding wings, bringing us one step closer to robotic birds, that take off, fly and land like real birds.

March 11, 2022 Read more

Creating our robotic allies

When we think of having our own handy multi-purpose robots, we tend to picture something out of Star Wars or The Jetsons - but the useful technology of the 'future' may not be as far off as we think. Researchers show how robots can become our best allies.

March 10, 2022 Read more

A helping hand for working robots

A reimagined robot hand combines strength with flexibility and resilience, sidestepping problems with existing designs.

March 8, 2022 Read more

Bendy robotic arm twisted into shape with help of augmented reality (w/video)

Researchers have designed a malleable robotic arm that can be guided into shape by a person using augmented reality (AR) goggles.

March 4, 2022 Read more

Robot 'bugs' that can go just about anywhere

Engineers have created tiny bug-inspired robots that can carry out tasks in hard-to-reach spaces and inhospitable environments.

March 4, 2022 Read more

Getting a handle on a robotics challenge (w/video)

Researchers have created a robotic hand that can fully rotate various objects even as its grippers occasionally break contact with the object.

March 3, 2022 Read more

Robot photographer has eye for aesthetics (w/video)

AutoPhoto is a robotic system that can automatically roam an interior space and capture aesthetically pleasing photographs.

March 3, 2022 Read more

Fingertip sensitivity for robots (w/video)

Striving to improve touch sensing in robotics, scientists developed a thumb-shaped sensor with a camera hidden inside and trained a deep neural network to infer its haptic contact information.

February 24, 2022 Read more

Self-healing hydrogel materials for robotics

Researchers have developed self-healing, biodegradable, 3D-printed materials that could be used in the development of realistic artificial hands and other soft robotics applications.

February 19, 2022 Read more

Introducing Nikola, the emotional android kid

Researchers have made an android child named Nikola that successfully conveys six basic emotions - happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust - which were generated by moving 'muscles' in Nikola's face. This is the first time that the quality of android-expressed emotion has been tested and verified for these six emotions.

February 16, 2022 Read more

New soft robot morphs from a ground to air vehicle using liquid metal

Imagine a small autonomous vehicle that could drive over land, stop, and flatten itself into a quadcopter. The rotors start spinning, and the vehicle flies away.

February 9, 2022 Read more

Towards self-sensing soft robots with electrochemically driven pumps

Researchers design a transducer powered by electrochemical reactions for operating fluid pumps without cumbersome parts in soft robots.

February 8, 2022 Read more

Researchers develop insect-sized flying robots with flapping wings (w/video)

A new drive system for flapping wing autonomous robots has been developed, using a new method of electromechanical zipping that does away with the need for conventional motors and gears.

February 2, 2022 Read more

Kirigami robotic grippers are delicate enough to lift egg yolks (w/video)

Engineers 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.

January 26, 2022 Read more