Robotics, AI and SmartTech News – Latest Headlines

Scientists develop 'mini-brains' to help robots recognize pain and to self-repair

Using a brain-inspired approach, scientists have developed a way for robots to have the artificial intelligence (AI) to recognise pain and to self-repair when damaged.

October 15, 2020 Read more

Robot swarms follow instructions to create art

Study shows that robot swarms can follow instructions to create paintings, suggesting that artists could incorporate such technology into their work.

October 14, 2020 Read more

What is your attitude towards a humanoid robot? Your brain activity can tell us!

Scientists report that attitudes towards robot can be detected from neural activity.

October 1, 2020 Read more

Robotic fabric: A breakthrough with many uses (w/video)

Researchers have developed a robotic fabric, a breakthrough that could lead to such innovations as adaptive clothing, self-deploying shelters, or lightweight shape-changing machinery.

September 30, 2020 Read more

Why human-like robots elicit uncanny feelings

Psychologists studied the cognitive mechanisms underlying this phenomenon.

September 16, 2020 Read more

Aquatic robots monitor how climate change impacts Venice's lagoon

Using a swarm of autonomous aquatic robots, researchers can now take multiple measurements at the same time and from different places, which will be hugely beneficial in the fight against climate change.

September 15, 2020 Read more

Light processing improves robotic sensing

Researchers uncovered how the human brain processes bright and contrasting light, which they say is a key to improving robotic sensing and enabling autonomous agents to team with humans.

September 14, 2020 Read more

By 2050, robotic muscles could turn back body clock

emPOWER is a visionary project that will explore how artificial muscles could radically transform treatment options in the future and effectively turn back the body clock.

September 7, 2020 Read more

Microscopic robots 'walk' thanks to laser tech

Researchers have created the first microscopic robots that incorporate semiconductor components, allowing them to be controlled - and made to walk - with standard electronic signals.

August 26, 2020 Read more

Better robot batteries get inspiration from body fat (w/video)

Like biological fat reserves store energy in animals, a new rechargeable zinc battery integrates into the structure of a robot to provide much more energy.

August 25, 2020 Read more

Sounds of action: Using ears, not just eyes, improves robot perception

People rarely use just one sense to understand the world, but robots usually only rely on vision and, increasingly, touch. Researchers find that robot perception could improve markedly by adding another sense: hearing.

August 14, 2020 Read more

Aquatic robots can remove contaminant particles from water (w/video)

Researchers have developed a small wireless artificial aquatic polyp, which can remove contaminants from water. Apart from cleaning, this soft robot could be also used in medical diagnostic devices by aiding in picking up and transporting specific cells for analysis.

August 10, 2020 Read more

Is it a bird, a plane? Not superman, but a flapping wing drone

A drone prototype that mimics the aerobatic manoeuvres of one of the world's fastest birds, the swift, is being developed by an international team of engineers in the latest example of biologically inspired flight.

July 23, 2020 Read more

Powerful human-like hands create safer human-robotics interactions

Need a robot with a soft touch? Engineers have designed and developed a novel humanoid hand that may be able to help.

July 20, 2020 Read more

Wireless aquatic robot could clean water and transport cells (w/video)

Inspired by a coral polyp, this plastic mini robot moves by magnetism and light.

July 14, 2020 Read more

Transparent, reflective objects now within grasp of robots (w/video)

Transparent and reflective objects are the things of robot nightmares. Roboticists now report success with a new technique they've developed for teaching robots to pick up these troublesome objects.

July 14, 2020 Read more

Meet the robot chemist that can perform its own experiments (w/video)

A robot that can handle sensitive chemicals, work for weeks at a time, and even decide which experiments to carry out when given a hypothesis - is either a scientist?s dream come true or their worst nightmare. Researchers have designed a robot which can work with human tools in a lab, effectively automating a whole researcher rather than just their tools.

July 9, 2020 Read more

Jellyfish-inspired soft robots can outswim their natural counterparts

Engineering researchers have developed soft robots inspired by jellyfish that can outswim their real-life counterparts. More practically, the new jellyfish-bots highlight a technique that uses pre-stressed polymers to make soft robots more powerful.

July 1, 2020 Read more