Robotics news

Robotics

Robots pour cocktails and run marathons, but still can't multitask

They can mix cocktails, run marathons and fold laundry. But humanoid robots are still a long way from doing lots of different jobs on command, whatever the marketing says.

Robotics

Upsampling method sharpens AI vision with up to 16 times less GPU memory

From facial recognition on smartphones to humanoid robots, computer vision technology, which serves as the eyes of artificial intelligence (AI), is widely used in daily life. A joint research team from KAIST and international ...

Robotics

Elephant trunk skin reveals design that could reshape soft robotics

An elephant's trunk is both strong and capable of extremely fine motor movements. With this muscular, boneless structure, an elephant can carry heavy logs—or deftly peel a banana. Lucia Beccai and colleagues studied the skin ...

Robotics

Simple color cue helps people master prosthetic devices faster

Controlling a robotic arm, a prosthetic hand or a rehabilitation device is harder than it looks. Picking up an egg, for example, requires just the right amount of force: too little and it falls, too much and it breaks.

Robotics

Four-legged detection robots for safe firefighting operations

A detection robot developed under the leadership of TU Graz can "sniff out" hazardous substances and support high-risk fire service operations as a remote-controlled advance guard. A recent study shows how fire services can ...

Robotics

Sonar–camera system sees through murky waters

For remotely operated underwater vehicles, cloudy and turbulent waters are often a no-go. When vehicles settle on the seafloor or dig through a sand bed, they can kick up clouds of sediment that make it tough for onboard ...

Robotics

Drone rescue highlights US Navy's autonomous push

The use of a sea drone to rescue two U.S. Army aviators apparently shot down by Iran underscores the growing importance of such vessels in Washington's naval operations, analysts said Wednesday.

Consumer & Gadgets

Can Pepper the robot be a good playmate?

What's it like to play a physical game with or against a robot that both looks and behaves like a person? That's what NTNU researchers wanted to find out when they conducted a controlled laboratory experiment with Pepper, ...

Robotics

Handy robot can crawl and pick up objects from multiple angles

Like something out of the Addams Family, scientists have created a detachable robotic hand that can crawl and grab objects. The design enables tasks such as retrieving objects beyond normal reach and performing multi-object ...

Robotics

A geometric twist boosts the power of robotic textiles

By rethinking how thin metal threads are woven into a flexible textile, EPFL researchers have created a lightweight fabric capable of lifting over 400 times its own weight. The work advances the development of wearables that ...

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

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

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 ...