Robotics news
Robotics
Open-source benchmark tests whether AI agents can engineer working robots
With the rapid rise of artificial intelligence in daily life, software coding has become increasingly automated, with powerful AI systems known as coding agents able to write and revise computer programs almost autonomously. ...
Sep 18, 2026
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Robotics
Bio-inspired whiskers enable tiny drones to navigate in darkness using touch
Rats and mice can scurry through dark, tight spaces with ease—in caves, underground burrows, buildings or sewers. Their superpower is their whiskers. Now, tiny autonomous drones could soon navigate through darkness, dust ...
Sep 18, 2026
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Maple-seed-inspired robot flies more accurately with predictive control
A flying robot with just one moving part may sound simple. Controlling one precisely is anything but. Most conventional drones rely on several rotors to control how they rise, turn and move. A robot with only one actuator ...
Sep 18, 2026
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A robot that shifts its own weight to cross land, steps, and water
A robot meant to inspect a coastline, a flooded street or a wetland can't count on one kind of ground. It might need to crawl over a hard surface, climb a bank, scale a curb or a step, then slide into open water, often within ...
Sep 17, 2026
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Autopilot drone maps zigzag routes to clear moss from sloping roofs
Drones have many uses in surveillance and surveying, industrial inspection, aerial photography and filmmaking, package delivery and even dynamic light shows. Their fundamental ability to carry cameras, sensors and other equipment ...
Sep 17, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
Experiment shows robot creepiness remains highly personal and subjective
Robots no longer exist only in popular culture or science fiction. While we might be familiar with the likes of WALL-E, Baymax, the Terminator and Ultron from the big screen, versions of them are increasingly entering everyday ...
Sep 17, 2026
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Robotics
Flexible flight corridors let drones navigate cluttered spaces faster and more safely
Researchers at Durham University have developed a new drone navigation system that enables autonomous aircraft to fly faster, more smoothly and more safely through crowded and obstacle-filled environments. This leads to new ...
Sep 16, 2026
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Robotics
Compact AI training method reduces navigation conflicts in crowded environments
A research team led by Professor Daehee Park of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at DGIST, in collaboration with a research team from KAIST, has developed a learning technique that enables a single ...
Sep 16, 2026
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Software
This design software reimagines everyday objects as self-aware devices
As a child, you likely saw a few Disney movies depicting inanimate objects, such as clocks, cups and toys, as interactive companions to humans—an act of pure magic, seemingly. But scientists at MIT's Computer Science and ...
Sep 14, 2026
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Robotics
Humanoid robot learns to sprint and perform spin kicks using AI trained on human motion data
Humanoid robots, robotic systems with body shapes and limbs resembling those of humans, could potentially assist people with manual tasks in various real-world settings. So far, however, most of these robots can reliably ...
Robotics
The future of robot-human collaboration
Humans are difficult to simulate. We are quick, complex thinkers, and our exact actions aren't predictable. So how can we sufficiently train robots to collaborate with us?
Sep 10, 2026
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Robotics
AI controller translates VR, video and language commands into humanoid robot actions
Humanoid robots, robotic systems with limbs and body structures that resemble those of humans, could tackle various manual tasks in homes, workspaces and other settings. Yet teaching these robots to reliably perform different ...
Robotics
Whole-body expansion and contraction make a robot seem more alive
A research group comprising Associate Professor Yoshihiro Nakata and Taisei Mogi from the Graduate School of Informatics and Engineering at The University of Electro-Communications (UEC), Japan, and Mari Saito of Sony Corporation ...
Sep 8, 2026
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Robotics
Robots protest rampant AI in Poland
Waving flags, "chanting" slogans and marching in circles, around 30 robots took to the streets of Warsaw on Monday to campaign for AI regulation in front of the Polish digital affairs ministry.
Sep 7, 2026
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Robotics
Europe bids to be a robot superpower like the US, China
AI-powered robots briefly took over the European Parliament this week to showcase the continent's creators as the bloc races to compete in a field dominated by China and the United States.
Sep 3, 2026
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Robotics
Four-legged robot learns dog-like movements to leap through tight spaces
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
A soft 3D-printed robotic hand that gently grips everything from eggs to a 1 kg water bottle
3D printers that once could only produce rigid objects can now create products as soft and stretchable as rubber. A team of Korean researchers used AI to identify the optimal "recipe" for a material that can be printed into ...
Aug 31, 2026
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Robotics
Like a bird, this drone uses touch to grip branches and rest
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 ...
Aug 31, 2026
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Robotics
Worms navigate narrow paths faster than wide ones. These findings could inform robot design
You might naturally expect a wide, open path to be faster and easier to navigate than a narrow one, just as birds fly freely through the open sky, cars move quickly on empty roads, and a wide hallway seems easier when trying ...
Aug 31, 2026
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Consumer & Gadgets
Animal-like and anime faces boost social robots' emotional appeal, tests suggest
Giving robot companions animal-like or anime-style faces and voices could maximize their emotional appeal to users, according to new research that could help guide the growing field of social robotics.
Aug 31, 2026
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Robotics
Light-powered soft robots that can keep jumping forever
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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Consumer & Gadgets
A humanoid robot's social expressiveness may backfire when it makes mistakes
For robots to be successfully deployed in real-world environments, humans should trust them enough to cooperate with them. Some roboticists have been trying to determine whether users perceive robots that exhibit socially ...
Robotics
From cartwheels to backflips, motion-imitation framework teaches three robots dynamic movements
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 ...
Robotics
Six-legged robot learns to walk from a stick insect
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
ScaFi: A robot that grows like a fish, not a machine—from 2 feet to nearly 10
Propeller-powered underwater vehicles have long helped scientists explore and monitor aquatic environments. But they're limited by their own mechanics: Spinning blades can snag on vegetation, stir up sediment and startle ...
Aug 26, 2026
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