Robotics news

Robotics

Developing 3D-printed soft material actuators that can mimic real muscles

Empa researchers are working on producing artificial muscles that can keep up with the real thing. They have now developed a method of producing the soft and elastic yet powerful structures using 3D printing.

Robotics

Framework allows a person to correct a robot's actions using the kind of feedback they'd give another human

Imagine that a robot is helping you clean the dishes. You ask it to grab a soapy bowl out of the sink, but its gripper slightly misses the mark.

Robotics

Engineers develop smart, energy-efficient robot grippers that cut production costs

Energy remains a significant factor in industrial production processes. High levels of energy consumption make production more expensive and exacerbate the climate crisis.

Robotics

Feeling is believing: Bionic hand 'knows' what it's touching, grasps like a human

Johns Hopkins University engineers have developed a pioneering prosthetic hand that can grip plush toys, water bottles, and other everyday objects like a human, carefully conforming and adjusting its grasp to avoid damaging ...

Robotics

Morphing robot turns challenging terrain to its advantage

From mountain goats that run up near-vertical rock faces to armadillos that roll into a protective ball, animals have evolved to adapt effortlessly to changes in their environment. In contrast, when an autonomous robot is ...

Robotics

Robots learn how to move by watching themselves

By watching their own motions with a camera, robots can teach themselves about the structure of their own bodies and how they move, a new study by researchers at Columbia Engineering now reveals. Equipped with this knowledge, ...

Robotics

Low-cost drone system aids indoor search and rescue missions

Indoor search and rescue operations are some of the most dangerous tasks that law enforcement and first responders must face, but drone technology has revolutionized how they approach these intense situations, according to ...

Robotics

Turning robotic ensembles into smart materials that mimic life

Researchers have engineered groups of robots that behave as smart materials with tunable shape and strength, mimicking living systems. "We've figured out a way for robots to behave more like a material," said Matthew Devlin, ...

Robotics

A simpler method to teach robots new skills

While roboticists have introduced increasingly sophisticated systems over the past decades, teaching these systems to successfully and reliably tackle new tasks has often proved challenging. Part of this training entails ...

Business

Robo-revolution: From lab to market

Dr. Peter King, a manufacturing researcher at our Clayton site, came across a problem in the lab six years ago. He found that before the team could start any lab work, they had to spend a lot of time programming.

Robotics

A weeding robot that can autonomously remove seedlings

Robotic systems are already being deployed in various settings worldwide, assisting humans with a highly diverse range of tasks. One sector in which robots could prove particularly advantageous is agriculture, where they ...