Robotics news
Robotics
Artificial skin helps robots grasp pencil lead and pull away from needles
Researchers have covered robotic fingers with a new artificial skin that allows the hand to grasp fragile pencil lead and pull away from a needle before it punctures the covering. Both actions depend on more than sensitive ...
7 hours ago
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Robotics
Wearable system captures human activity data for robot training
Humanoid robots, robotic systems with a body shape that resembles that of humans, could tackle various chores and everyday manual tasks. To successfully complete these tasks, however, the robots should be able to reliably ...
Oct 24, 2026
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Flexible robot arms learn to predict their next move
A robot arm that bends like an elephant's trunk can slip into tight spaces and handle fragile objects. Controlling it is harder because its smooth bending makes its next move hard to predict. Researchers have now developed ...
Oct 23, 2026
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Lab-grown mouse muscles enable tiny robots to jump, swim, walk and grasp
Lab-grown skeletal muscle tissue can contract, but the movement is often so slight that it is barely visible. This poses a problem for biohybrid robots designed to move using living muscles. Researchers at ETH Zurich have ...
Oct 22, 2026
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Wheeled, flying and six-legged robots stay on track with new learning method
It's important for a robot not just to learn a task optimally, but to complete it without going off the rails of reasonable expectations. Until now, roboticists could have one or the other. Aerospace engineering researchers ...
Oct 21, 2026
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Robotics
Secret trigger words could make AI-powered robots dangerous
Large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude and Google Gemini are increasingly being used to help robots perform tasks, but what if LLMs could be exploited to turn helpful robots into harmful robots?
Oct 20, 2026
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Robotics
Robot AI predicts future scenes to guide its next moves
A robot artificial intelligence (AI) system has been developed that can understand human instructions, predict what a scene will look like after an action and then carry out the task. Rather than simply translating instructions ...
Oct 19, 2026
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Robotics
From wombat burrows to Noah's Ark: Robot joins search
Technology developed by an Australian engineer to explore wombat burrows has been sent to eastern Türkiye to join in the search for the biblical Noah's Ark.
Oct 19, 2026
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Robotics
Team develops embodied robotic arm 'EmArm' with human-like touch sensing
A research team at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed an Embodied Sensorimotor Robotic Arm (EmArm) capable of whole-arm tactile sensing and adaptive manipulation. By embedding a soft ...
Oct 17, 2026
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Robotics
Cleaning a giant ship: Roomba-like robots walk on magnetic feet to scrub giant ships
Timothy Wong didn't suspect it at the time, but his dives off the coast of Rockport and the hours he spent studying the wheels and gears of robotics were leading to one mission: figuring out a way to get unwanted sea matter ...
Oct 15, 2026
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Robotics
AI drone outpaces former world champions using one camera and no GPS
What does it take for an autonomous robot to be faster around a course than human drone pilots? At these dizzying speeds, humans need lightning-fast reflexes. Researchers at Delft University of Technology (the Netherlands) ...
Oct 14, 2026
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Robotics
Can you trust a robot in charge?
From monitoring public spaces to responding to requests for help, security robots are beginning to take on roles once held by people. As they gain authority, researchers are asking what it might take for the public to trust ...
Oct 14, 2026
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Robotics
Soft robotic fish combines high-speed swimming with 3D maneuverability
Researchers from the Shenyang Institute of Automation (SIA) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed an electrohydraulically actuated soft robotic fish that can swim at high speeds and perform agile three-dimensional ...
Oct 13, 2026
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Robotics
Beetle-inspired soft robot follows finger commands to walk, grip and relay sensory information
Researchers have developed a technology that lets a user move a small robot by bending and straightening a finger. The user can also pick up and move objects while checking the images and contact information that the robot ...
Oct 13, 2026
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Robotics
Two-armed robot throws and catches balls with human-like movements
Humans can move their limbs very rapidly and coordinate their movements with high precision to tackle specific manual tasks. While robots have become increasingly advanced in recent years, many of them remain less agile than ...
Robotics
PhoneBot gives old smartphones a new job on two legs
Smartphones combine cameras, motion sensors and powerful processors in devices that fit inside a pocket. These features could also make them useful components for robots, reducing the need to buy and connect separate sensors, ...
Robotics
How automation is shaping the future of American manufacturing
Labor shortages, supply-chain volatility and growing demand for customized products are forcing a fundamental rethink of how work gets done in U.S. manufacturing. To remain competitive, manufacturers must produce increasingly ...
Oct 8, 2026
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Robotics
Threadlike motor uses sliding fibers to drive flexible robotic devices without gears
In 2023, researchers in the Soft Transducers Laboratory in EPFL's School of Engineering presented the world's first pump in the form of a fiber. The pump's flexible tubing can generate its own fluid pressure and flow rate ...
Oct 7, 2026
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Robotics
Feather star-inspired underwater robot gets 3D maneuverability from only two actuators
Researchers have created an aquatic soft robot inspired by marine invertebrates called feather stars. The feather star robot is able to move through the water in all three dimensions, powered by only two actuators. The paper, ...
Oct 7, 2026
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Robotics
'SANDO' system ensures a robot's flight path will remain collision-free in uncharted territory
Uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) could fly deep into the heart of a raging wildfire, avoiding sudden flare-ups and dodging falling tree branches to gather critical information for rescuers. But in this dangerous situation, ...
Oct 7, 2026
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Robotics
Rubber ducks and screwdrivers put dexterous new soft robotic gripper to the test
Professors at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and the Universidad Pública de Navarra (UPNA) have developed a soft robotic gripper capable not only of picking up and holding objects but also of manipulating and ...
Oct 4, 2026
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Robotics
How should automated vehicles interact with pedestrians?
How do pedestrians react when they encounter an automated vehicle on the street? Does the interaction feel safe and comfortable, and does it make a difference whether the vehicle is operating autonomously, is driven by a ...
Oct 2, 2026
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Robotics
New robot falls like a maple seed then sails like a boat once it hits water
Remote waters are difficult to monitor. Boats can take a long time to reach them, while aircraft cannot remain there for extended periods. To close that gap, researchers at the Singapore University of Technology and Design ...
Oct 1, 2026
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Robotics
Can a machine or AI agent be surprised? Helping autonomous systems respond to the unexpected
Let's say you ask ChatGPT a question that stumps it, or a Waymo vehicle encounters something unusual in the road, or an autonomous factory faces an unexpected disruption. Most people would recognize that something unexpected ...
Oct 1, 2026
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Robotics
Robots approaching from behind are perceived as moving faster, experiments reveal
A research team from the Vision and Action Laboratory, Visual Perception and Cognition Laboratory and Cognitive Neurotechnology Unit in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Toyohashi University of Technology, ...
Oct 1, 2026
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