Autonomous robotic locomotion investigates how robots perceive, plan, and execute movement in complex, often unstructured environments with minimal human intervention. Work in this area spans legged, wheeled, aerial, amphibious, and soft robots, emphasizing bio-inspired control strategies, neuromechanics, and learning-based methods for gait adaptation, trajectory modulation, and slip prevention. Research also addresses navigation and mapping, kinematic and impedance control, and human–robot collaboration, enabling robots to perform tasks such as construction, waste collection, manipulation, and agile behaviors like parkour, badminton, and swarm-based assembly.
Robotics
Drones often hover in the air, noisy and whining. They can already be used for many tasks, but not when you need some quiet. Their batteries would also last longer if they could take a "rest" from time to time. But when a ...
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Robotics
Cats, dogs, wolves and other agile four-legged animals can easily jump and squeeze through tight spaces while moving at high speed. Reproducing similar agile motions and skills in quadrupedal robots has so far proved challenging.
Robotics
Researchers from North Carolina State University have created teardrop-shaped soft robots that leap upward or forward when exposed to infrared light—and will keep jumping as long as the light is present. The work demonstrates ...
Aug 28, 2026
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Robotics
Do you ever see an ant skittering across your kitchen counter and wonder how this little bug overcame all the obstacles in your home just to get there? Insects use their tiny nervous systems to walk with surprising dexterity—a ...
Aug 27, 2026
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Robotics
Legged robots, robotic systems with legs that typically resemble those of animals or humans, could be advantageous for completing tasks in home environments or populated, dynamic spaces. These robots may look like humans ...
Hi Tech & Innovation
A hiker is lost in the forest, and winter weather is setting in. The search needs to be speedy, thorough and efficient. Searchers send out an autonomous robotic drone. But how does it know where it should go? New research ...
Aug 26, 2026
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Automotive
A platform for training and comparing machine learning models to actively reduce drag, improve lift, cut noise and manage heat has been launched by an international team that includes researchers at the University of Washington, ...
Aug 26, 2026
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Robotics
"Swarms" of cyborg cockroaches with cameras and miniature medical injectors could deliver supervised emergency care to people trapped in collapsed buildings, caves or other places too dangerous for rescuers to reach. The ...
Aug 26, 2026
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Robotics
A new, patent-pending underwater robot developed at Purdue University's College of Engineering could improve ocean research, underwater infrastructure inspection and search-and-rescue efforts by adapting to mission needs ...
Aug 26, 2026
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Robotics
Cyborg insects combine the mobility of living organisms with miniature electronic devices, offering potential applications in search-and-rescue operations, infrastructure inspection and exploration of environments that are ...
Aug 21, 2026
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