Robotics, AI and SmartTech News – Latest Headlines

Wrist-mounted device augments the human hand with two robotic fingers (w/video)

Twisting a screwdriver, removing a bottle cap, and peeling a banana are just a few simple tasks that are tricky to pull off single-handedly. Now a new wrist-mounted robot can provide a helping hand - or rather, fingers.

July 18, 2014 Read more

Artificial intelligence - Quick to recognize

Neural networks that function like the human visual cortex may help realize faster, more reliable pattern recognition.

July 16, 2014 Read more

Squishy robots (w/video)

Phase-changing material could allow even low-cost robots to switch between hard and soft states.

July 14, 2014 Read more

Drone lighting

Autonomous vehicles could automatically assume the right positions for photographic lighting.

July 11, 2014 Read more

Your next Angry Birds opponent could be a robot (w/video)

With the help of a smart tablet and Angry Birds, children can now do something typically reserved for engineers and computer scientists: program a robot to learn new skills. The Georgia Institute of Technology project is designed to serve as a rehabilitation tool and to help kids with disabilities.

July 10, 2014 Read more

Power consumption of robot joints could be 40% less, according to a laboratory study

Researchers have studied how it is possible to save energy in the propulsion of flexible joints without losing precision.

July 3, 2014 Read more

Meet Ladybird, a solar-powered farm robot unveiled in Australia

The 'Ladybird' was designed and built specifically for the vegetable industry with the aim of creating a ground robot with supporting intelligent software and the capability to conduct autonomous farm surveillance, mapping, classification, and detection for a variety of different vegetables.

July 1, 2014 Read more

Muscle-powered bio-bots walk on command (w/video)

A new generation of miniature biological robots is flexing its muscle. Engineers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign demonstrated a class of walking 'bio-bots' powered by muscle cells and controlled with electrical pulses, giving researchers unprecedented command over their function

June 30, 2014 Read more

Winners named in global underwater robot event

Student teams controlling underwater robots from the United States, Canada and Russia were the winners Saturday in a global competition at the only federal freshwater marine sanctuary in the United States.

June 29, 2014 Read more

DARPA announces new challenges, teams, and research goals for the Robotics Challenge finale

From June 5-6, 2015, California will be the stage for the DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals. Teams from around the world will meet at Fairplex in Pomona to compete for the $2 million prize to be awarded to the team that best demonstrates human-supervised robot technology for disaster response.

June 28, 2014 Read more

Space-tested robot inspires medicine and manufacturing uses

Robonaut, a human-like robot designed by NASA and General Motors, has been on the International Space Station since February 2011. Researchers have been testing the robot's ability to perform certain tasks to free up human crew time and energy.

June 28, 2014 Read more

Ask the crowd: Robots learn faster, better with online helpers (w/video)

Computer scientists have shown that crowdsourcing can be a quick and effective way to teach a robot how to complete tasks. Instead of learning from just one human, robots could one day query the larger online community, asking for instructions or input on the best way to set the table or water the garden.

June 26, 2014 Read more

'Intelli-copters', capable of learning as they fly (w/video)

Flying robots that can show true autonomy - and even a bit of politeness - in working together and venturing into hostile environments are being developed by engineers at the University of Sheffield.

June 26, 2014 Read more

Collaborative learning - for robots

Algorithm lets independent agents collectively produce a machine-learning model without aggregating data.

June 25, 2014 Read more

Demonstrating a driverless future

In the coming decades, we will likely commute to work and explore the countryside in autonomous, or driverless, cars capable of communicating with the roads they are traveling on. A convergence of technological innovations in embedded sensors, computer vision, artificial intelligence, control and automation, and computer processing power is making this feat a reality.

June 24, 2014 Read more

Robot can be programmed by casually talking to it (w/video)

In his Robot Learning Lab, Ashutosh Saxena, assistant professor of computer science at Cornell University, is teaching robots to understand instructions in natural language from various speakers, account for missing information, and adapt to the environment at hand.

June 23, 2014 Read more

Self-propelled robotic device can detect leaks in pipes

Researchers have devised a robotic system that can detect leaks at a rapid pace and with high accuracy by sensing a large pressure change at leak locations.

June 19, 2014 Read more

New manufacturing methods needed for 'soft' machines, robots

Researchers have developed a technique that might be used to produce 'soft machines' made of elastic materials and liquid metals for potential applications in robotics, medical devices and consumer electronics.

June 18, 2014 Read more