Robotics, AI and SmartTech News – Latest Headlines

Robot-ants that can jump, communicate and work together (w/video)

Researchers have developed tiny 10-gram robots that are inspired by ants: they can communicate with each other, assign roles among themselves and complete complex tasks together.

July 11, 2019 Read more

Tiny motor can 'walk' to carry out tasks

Mobile motor could pave the way for robots to assemble complex structures - including other robots.

July 2, 2019 Read more

3D printed prosthetic hand can guess how you play rock, paper, scissors

A new 3D-printed prosthetic hand can learn the wearers' movement patterns to help amputee patients perform daily tasks.

June 27, 2019 Read more

A toolbox for building robots aware of their surroundings

Researchers have developed a toolbox principle for the simple assembly of safe robots using various components. The modules can be combined in almost any way desired, enabling companies to customize their robots for a wide range of tasks - or simply replace damaged components.

June 27, 2019 Read more

Robot arm tastes with engineered bacteria (w/video)

Researchers have developed a robotic gripping arm that uses engineered bacteria to 'taste' for a specific chemical. The gripper is a proof-of-concept for biologically-based soft robotics.

June 26, 2019 Read more

Spotting objects amid clutter

New approach quickly finds hidden objects in dense point clouds, for use in driverless cars or work spaces with robotic assistants.

June 20, 2019 Read more

Artificial muscles powered by glucose

Artificial muscles made from polymers can now be powered by energy from glucose and oxygen, just like biological muscles. This advance may be a step on the way to implantable artificial muscles or autonomous microrobots powered by biomolecules in their surroundings.

June 19, 2019 Read more

Now your phone can become a robot that does the boring work (w/video)

Researchers have developed a prototype smartphone app that allows a user to easily program any robot to perform a mundane activity, such as picking up parts from one area and delivering them to another.

June 17, 2019 Read more

Robotic fish to replace animal testing

Scientists are developing alternative methods for assessing the fish-friendliness of hydroelectric power plants.

June 17, 2019 Read more

Research moves closer to brain-machine interface autonomy

Engineers report that a brain-computer interface, a form of artificial intelligence, can sense when its user is expecting a reward by examining the interactions between single-neuron activities and the information flowing to these neurons, called the local field potential.

June 11, 2019 Read more

Sensor-packed glove learns signatures of the human grasp

Signals help neural network identify objects by touch; system could aid robotics and prosthetics design.

May 30, 2019 Read more

'Slothbot' takes a leisurely approach to environmental monitoring

For environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, infrastructure maintenance and certain security applications, slow and energy efficient can be better than fast and always needing a recharge. That's where SlothBot comes in.

May 30, 2019 Read more

Robots activated by water may be the next frontier

Researchers show hat materials can be fabricated to create soft actuators--devices that convert energy into physical motion--that are strong and flexible, and, most important, resistant to water damage.

May 23, 2019 Read more

Helping robots remember: Hyperdimensional computing theory could change the way AI works

New research could fundamentally alter and improve the basic artificial intelligence task of sensorimotor representation - how agents like robots translate what they sense into what they do.

May 16, 2019 Read more

Hummingbird robot using AI to go soon where drones can't (w/video)

Researchers have engineered flying robots that behave like hummingbirds, trained by machine learning algorithms based on various techniques the bird uses naturally every day.

May 10, 2019 Read more

The revolution of plantoids

Robots are usually inspired by humans and animals. But the very last frontier is the plantoids - plant robots able to move and explore the environment with their smart sensors.

May 10, 2019 Read more

Knit 1, purl 2: Assembly instructions for a robot? (w/video)

Researchers make soft, actuated objects using commercial knitting machines.

May 2, 2019 Read more

An army of microrobots can wipe out dental plaque

Researchers 3D print microbe-killing robots for biofilm elimination.

April 25, 2019 Read more