Robotics news
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 ...
3 hours ago
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Robotics
Adaptive motion system helps robots achieve human-like dexterity with minimal data
Despite rapid robotic automation advancements, most systems struggle to adapt their pre-trained movements to dynamic environments with objects of varying stiffness or weight. To tackle this challenge, researchers from Japan ...
Jan 13, 2026
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Humanoid robots or human connection? What Elon Musk's Optimus reveals about our AI ambitions
When Elon Musk talks about robotics, he rarely hides the ambition behind the dream.
Jan 12, 2026
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Did that lamp just fold the laundry? Alumni rethink home robotics
When Aaron Tan began his Ph.D. in mechanical and industrial engineering at the University of Toronto in 2019, leading a robotics startup in Silicon Valley was the furthest thing from his mind.
Jan 10, 2026
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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.
Jan 8, 2026
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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 ...
Jan 8, 2026
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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 ...
Jan 7, 2026
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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 ...
Jan 6, 2026
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Robotics
New robotic skin lets humanoid robots sense pain and react instantly
If you accidentally put your hand on a hot object, you'll naturally pull it away fast, before you have to think about it. This happens thanks to sensory nerves in your skin that send a lightning-fast signal to your spinal ...
Robotics
From individuals to crews, AI brings teamwork into construction productivity analysis
Researchers at National Taiwan University have developed an AI system that recognizes construction activities at both the individual and crew levels using ordinary site videos. The approach reveals how teamwork shapes productivity ...
Dec 30, 2025
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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 ...
Dec 29, 2025
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Robotics
Researchers create world's smallest programmable, autonomous robots
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Michigan have created the world's smallest fully programmable, autonomous robots: microscopic swimming machines that can independently sense and respond to their ...
Dec 25, 2025
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Robotics
Machine learning helps robots see clearly in total darkness using infrared
From disaster zones to underground tunnels, robots are increasingly being sent where humans cannot safely go. But many of these environments lack natural or artificial light, making it difficult for robotic systems, which ...
Dec 23, 2025
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Robotics
Technology that helps robots read human intentions could lead to safer, smarter, more trustworthy machines
Robots are becoming part of our everyday lives, from health care to home assistance. But for humans to truly trust and collaborate with them, robots need more than technical skill—they need to understand us.
Dec 23, 2025
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Robotics
Ultra-low power, fully biodegradable artificial synapse offers record-breaking memory
In Nature Communications, a research team affiliated with UNIST present a fully biodegradable, robust, and energy-efficient artificial synapse that holds great promise for sustainable neuromorphic technologies. Made entirely ...
Dec 19, 2025
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Business
At a Silicon Valley summit, robots fold laundry—and investors open their wallets
Robots from around the world converged on Silicon Valley to provide a glimpse of a potential future.
Dec 18, 2025
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Robotics
Robotic arm successfully learns 1,000 manipulation tasks in one day
Over the past decades, roboticists have introduced a wide range of systems that can effectively tackle some real-world problems. Most of these robots, however, often perform poorly on tasks that they were not trained on, ...
Robotics
'Robot, make me a chair': AI-driven system designs, builds multicomponent objects from user prompts
Computer-aided design (CAD) systems are tried-and-true tools used to design many of the physical objects we use each day. But CAD software requires extensive expertise to master, and many tools incorporate such a high level ...
Dec 16, 2025
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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 ...
Dec 16, 2025
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Robotics
AI-powered robotic hands learn dexterity by mimicking human movements and anatomy
Step inside the Soft Robotics Lab at ETH Zurich, and you find yourself in a space that is part children's nursery, part high-tech workshop and part cabinet of curiosities. The lab benches are strewn with foam blocks, stuffed ...
Dec 16, 2025
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Robotics
Sub-millimeter-sized robots can sense, 'think' and act on their own
Robots small enough to travel autonomously through the human body to repair damaged sites may seem the stuff of science fiction dreams. But this vision of surgery on a microscale is a step closer to reality, with news that ...
Robotics
Beyond mimicry: Fiber-type artificial muscles outperform biological muscles
Biological muscles act as flexible actuators, generating force naturally and with an impressive range of motion. Unsurprisingly, scientists and engineers have been striving to build artificial muscles that mimic these abilities. ...
Robotics
Humanoid robots take center stage at Silicon Valley summit, but skepticism remains
Robots have long been seen as a bad bet for Silicon Valley investors—too complicated, capital-intensive and "boring, honestly," says venture capitalist Modar Alaoui.
Dec 12, 2025
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Robotics
Tumbleweed aerodynamics inspire hybrid robots for harsh terrains
A new study published in Nature Communications details a hybrid robot that combines the wind-driven mobility of tumbleweeds with active quadcopter control, offering a new paradigm for energy-efficient terrestrial exploration.
