Robotics news

Robotics

Robot learns to lip sync by watching YouTube

Almost half of our attention during face-to-face conversation focuses on lip motion. Yet, robots still struggle to move their lips correctly. Even the most advanced humanoids make little more than muppet mouth gestures—if ...

Robotics

Underwater robots inspired by nature are making progress, but hurdles remain

Underwater robots face many challenges before they can truly master the deep, such as stability in choppy currents. A new paper published in the journal npj Robotics provides a comprehensive update of where the technology ...

Robotics

One image is all robots need to find their way

While the capabilities of robots have improved significantly over the past decades, they are not always able to reliably and safely move in unknown, dynamic and complex environments. To move in their surroundings, robots ...

Robotics

Humanoid robots go for knockout in high-tech Vegas fight night

Two robots the size of schoolchildren stepped into the ring at BattleBots Arena.

Robotics

Dancing isn't enough: Industry pushes for practical robots

Humanoid robots danced, somersaulted, dealt blackjack and played ping-pong at the Consumer Electronics Show this week, but some in the industry are impatient for them to become more useful, not just a promise of things to ...

Robotics

Grasshopper wings inspire gliding robot design

A collaboration between Princeton University engineers and entomologists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign began with the researchers chasing grasshoppers in a hot parking lot. Their eventual focus on the hindwings ...

Robotics

Hyundai and Boston Dynamics unveil humanoid robot Atlas at CES

Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics publicly demonstrated its humanoid robot Atlas for the first time Monday at the CES tech showcase, ratcheting up a competition with Tesla and other rivals to build robots that look like people ...

Robotics

The origami wheel that could explore lunar caves

Beneath the moon's cratered surface lie networks of lava tubes and deep pits, natural caves that could shelter future lunar bases from cosmic radiation and wild temperature swings. These underground structures represent some ...

Business

UPS buys hundreds of robots to unload trucks in automation push

United Parcel Service Inc. will invest $120 million in 400 robots used to unload trucks, according to people familiar with the matter, revealing new details on the logistics giant's $9 billion automation plan that aims to ...

Robotics

The physics of popping: Building better jumping robots

Inspired by a simple children's toy, a jumping popper toy, researchers have unlocked a key to designing more agile and predictable soft robots. Soft robots, made from flexible materials, hold immense promise for delicate ...

Robotics

Using generative AI to help robots jump higher and land safely

Diffusion models like OpenAI's DALL-E are becoming increasingly useful in helping brainstorm new designs. Humans can prompt these systems to generate an image, create a video, or refine a blueprint, and come back with ideas ...

Robotics

Customizable soft robot modules allow for new haptic interactions

EPFL researchers have developed a customizable soft robotic system that uses compressed air to produce shape changes, vibrations, and other haptic, or tactile, feedback in a variety of configurations. The device holds significant ...

Robotics

Tiny robots could help fix leaky water pipes

Micro-robots that can inspect water pipes, diagnose cracks and fix them autonomously—reducing leaks and avoiding expensive excavation work—have been developed by a team of engineers led by the University of Sheffield.