Robotics news

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?

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.

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

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Robotics

New underwater robot could make ocean missions more reliable

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 ...

Robotics

Robots sort packages and serve fast food at Beijing showcase

Robots sorting parcels and serving fried chicken enthralled visitors at a robotics expo in Beijing on Wednesday, where hundreds of companies set out their pitches for a future labor market transformed by artificial intelligence.

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 ...