Robotics news
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 ...
Oct 9, 2026
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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, ...
Oct 8, 2026
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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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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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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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Robotics
Soccer-playing humanoid robots score a major robotics goal for coordination
We are used to seeing images of humanoid robots clumsily walking, stumbling over objects and awkwardly freezing in place. Struggling with real-world movement is one of the biggest drawbacks of current robotics. But now a ...
Robotics
New benchmark tests AI memory for household robots
In-home assistive robots could clean and organize a home while the owner is away, but without enhanced memory capabilities, they could cause more problems than they solve. They could, for example, cause a major inconvenience ...
Sep 30, 2026
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Robotics
A continuous artificial muscle unlocks dexterous soft-robot motion
An octopus can bend one part of an arm around an obstacle while another reaches into a small crevice to grab an object. Reproducing that local control in a soft robot requires multiple actuators—components that turn energy ...
Sep 30, 2026
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Robotics
Roboticist says safety should be top concern with humanoid robots
A quick search of humanoid robot videos will deliver demonstrations of two-legged robots playing soccer, dancing, jumping several feet in the air, even competing in kickboxing matches. It is all dazzling, certainly. But roboticist ...
Sep 30, 2026
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Robotics
New AI framework to help machines understand 3D spaces in finer detail
For a service robot moving through an office, recognizing "furniture" is useful. When the robot has to plan a route or interact with objects, it also needs finer detail, such as whether that furniture is a chair, table or ...
Sep 30, 2026
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Robotics
Powered by muscle cells, a paper-thin robot swims through a watery maze
Swimming can take a lot of muscle. But as MIT engineers have found, even a single layer of muscle cells can power through water if designed right. In a paper published Sept. 28 in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, ...
Sep 29, 2026
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Robotics
Venus flytrap-inspired 'robot hand' material senses objects and grasps them under light
A Venus flytrap closes its leaves to trap prey when it senses a stimulus. Taking inspiration from this plant, KAIST researchers have combined the roles of skin that senses approaching objects and muscle that grasps them in ...
Sep 29, 2026
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Robotics
Soft exosuit makes it easier to stand up
Getting up from a chair is something most of us don't think about. The movement is almost second nature: Our legs and hips work together in a precise sequence. But performing this task can be difficult for older people, often ...
Sep 28, 2026
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Robotics
Could soil process information without a brain? New engineering perspective makes the case
Researchers in the Bio-Inspired Robotics Laboratory at Cambridge are exploring how soil behaves as an intelligent system. By studying its structure, chemistry and biological network of microbes and fungi, they aim to inspire ...
Sep 28, 2026
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Robotics
Humanoid robots navigate narrow gaps and obstacles with whole-body AI control
Humanoid robots, robotic systems with a human-like body structure, could assist people in homes, offices, health care facilities, public spaces and various other environments. Before they can be reliably deployed in these ...
Robotics
New robotic hand can walk, press keys and move objects on its own
For many of us, the last—and only—time we've seen a walking hand was Thing in "The Addams Family" movies or TV series. Now there's another. Engineers from the Soft Robotics Lab at ETH Zurich have adapted an off-the-shelf ...
Robotics
Tiny robot can precisely control its jump height
As our skies increasingly crowd with buzzing, hovering, flitting drones, spare a thought for the humble hopping robot. Hopping, a popular form of locomotion in the insect and amphibian worlds, is nearly two orders of magnitude ...
Sep 23, 2026
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Robotics
Robot dog runs a marathon on a single battery charge
A four-legged robot that can complete a marathon on a single battery charge has been demonstrated by a team from KAIST. The robot, which completed the Sangju Marathon in South Korea in 4 hours and 19 minutes alongside human ...
Sep 23, 2026
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Robotics
For the first time, microrobots coordinate to change their environment
Cornell University physics researchers have made robots that can, for the first time, sense the temperature of their surroundings and react together to change it. "Little things can have a large impact," said Itai Cohen, ...
Sep 23, 2026
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