https://techxplore.com/rss-feed/robotics-news/ en-us The latest news on robotics, robots, robotics sciences and technology science. 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 runners, traveled three times as far per charge than existing robots and could pave the way for improved battery life in legged robots. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-robot-dog-marathon-battery.html Robotics Wed, 23 Sep 2026 16:00:16 EDT news709395301 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 more energy-efficient than flying. Unlike a mosquito that must constantly expend energy to stay aloft, a flea only works out when it jumps. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-tiny-robot-precisely-height.html Robotics Wed, 23 Sep 2026 15:20:08 EDT news709394701 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 detached robotic hand so it can crawl across different surfaces, balance and interact with its environment. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-robotic-keys.html Robotics Wed, 23 Sep 2026 13:30:01 EDT news709387524 A simple pattern of black-and-white stripes could cause an autonomous vehicle or robot to misjudge how far away an obstacle is, potentially triggering an unexpected maneuver or even a collision, according to new University of Florida research. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-simple-visual-patterns-ai-powered.html Robotics Wed, 23 Sep 2026 10:00:04 EDT news709372295 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 settings, however, robots should be able to safely navigate cluttered and dynamic environments. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-humanoid-robots-narrow-gaps-obstacles.html Robotics Wed, 23 Sep 2026 06:20:01 EDT news709302867 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, a leader in developing microscopic robots and a corresponding author on the study. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-microrobots-environment.html Robotics Wed, 23 Sep 2026 05:00:12 EDT news709293086 Roboticists at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and the University of Michigan have shown that elastic rods can be bent and twisted to repeatedly snap between shapes, releasing built-up energy that enables small robots to hop, flip and swim. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-snapping-rods-frog-robot-outrun.html Robotics Mon, 21 Sep 2026 15:40:09 EDT news709223821 A flying robot with just one moving part may sound simple. Controlling one precisely is anything but. Most conventional drones rely on several rotors to control how they rise, turn and move. A robot with only one actuator has far fewer ways to correct itself when it drifts off course, encounters a disturbance or reaches the physical limits of what its motor can achieve. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-maple-seed-robot-flies-accurately.html Robotics Fri, 18 Sep 2026 11:00:08 EDT news708946441 With the rapid rise of artificial intelligence in daily life, software coding has become increasingly automated, with powerful AI systems known as coding agents able to write and revise computer programs almost autonomously. But what happens when an AI agent must contend not just with digital command lines, but with the physical world of robotics? https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-source-benchmark-ai-agents-robots.html Robotics Fri, 18 Sep 2026 10:40:13 EDT news708946262 Rats and mice can scurry through dark, tight spaces with ease—in caves, underground burrows, buildings or sewers. Their superpower is their whiskers. Now, tiny autonomous drones could soon navigate through darkness, dust and smoke using artificial whiskers inspired by these animals. Their small size limits the use of large or heavy sensors for navigation. That's why researchers at Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) have developed a lightweight whisker-based tactile sensor that enables drones to navigate and explore their surroundings through gentle touch. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-bio-whiskers-enable-tiny-drones.html Robotics Fri, 18 Sep 2026 08:40:04 EDT news708939423 A robot meant to inspect a coastline, a flooded street or a wetland can't count on one kind of ground. It might need to crawl over a hard surface, climb a bank, scale a curb or a step, then slide into open water, often within the same few feet. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-robot-shifts-weight.html Robotics Thu, 17 Sep 2026 13:00:25 EDT news708868077 Researchers at Durham University have developed a new drone navigation system that enables autonomous aircraft to fly faster, more smoothly and more safely through crowded and obstacle-filled environments. This leads to new possibilities for applications such as search and rescue, infrastructure inspection and environmental monitoring. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-flexible-flight-corridors-drones-cluttered.html Robotics Wed, 16 Sep 2026 16:10:01 EDT news708791541 As a child, you likely saw a few Disney movies depicting inanimate objects, such as clocks, cups and toys, as interactive companions to humans—an act of pure magic, seemingly. But scientists at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) are now doing something similar: transforming stationary items into self-aware tools that perceive and respond to human motion to complete a task. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-software-reimagines-everyday-aware-devices.html Software Mon, 14 Sep 2026 12:00:07 EDT news708604981 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 perform only a limited set of movements. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-humanoid-robot-sprint-ai-human.html Robotics Thu, 10 Sep 2026 08:00:10 EDT news708178412 Humanoid robots, robotic systems with limbs and body structures that resemble those of humans, could tackle various manual tasks in homes, workspaces and other settings. Yet teaching these robots to reliably perform different humanlike movements is typically challenging and time-consuming. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-ai-vr-video-language-humanoid.html Robotics Wed, 09 Sep 2026 10:40:13 EDT news708165653 A research group comprising Associate Professor Yoshihiro Nakata and Taisei Mogi from the Graduate School of Informatics and Engineering at The University of Electro-Communications (UEC), Japan, and Mari Saito of Sony Corporation has developed MOFU (MOrphing Fluffy Unit), a mobile robot capable of whole-body expansion and contraction. The group investigated how whole-body expansion-contraction affects perceived animacy, or the extent to which the robot is perceived as lifelike. In addition to expansion-contraction and locomotion, MOFU was designed with features including quiet operation and a soft, fluffy exterior. The study was published in PLOS ONE. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-body-expansion-robot-alive.html Robotics Tue, 08 Sep 2026 15:00:12 EDT news708096841 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 drone is monitoring a rainforest, its cluttered surroundings and its own gripper arm become too tricky for its camera-based vision. Until now. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-bird-drone-rest.html Robotics Mon, 31 Aug 2026 17:20:03 EDT news707414642 You might naturally expect a wide, open path to be faster and easier to navigate than a narrow one, just as birds fly freely through the open sky, cars move quickly on empty roads, and a wide hallway seems easier when trying to exit a building. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-worms-narrow-paths-faster-wide.html Robotics Mon, 31 Aug 2026 12:00:02 EDT news707395801 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. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-legged-robot-dog-movements-tight.html Robotics Mon, 31 Aug 2026 09:20:09 EDT news706953395 3D printers that once could only produce rigid objects can now create products as soft and stretchable as rubber. A team of Korean researchers used AI to identify the optimal "recipe" for a material that can be printed into complex shapes while stretching to more than six times its original length. The material is expected to expand the range of applications for 3D printing, from robotic hands to form-fitting wearable devices and custom medical devices. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-soft-3d-robotic-gently-eggs.html Robotics Mon, 31 Aug 2026 09:00:08 EDT news707385292 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 a new mechanism for self-resetting jumping behavior in soft robotics. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-powered-soft-robots.html Robotics Fri, 28 Aug 2026 10:00:02 EDT news707128436 For robots to be successfully deployed in real-world environments, humans should trust them enough to cooperate with them. Some roboticists have been trying to determine whether users perceive robots that exhibit socially expressive behaviors, such as gestures, eye contact and nodding, as more trustworthy. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-humanoid-robot-social-backfire.html Consumer & Gadgets Fri, 28 Aug 2026 08:00:03 EDT news707109064 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 skill that could be transferred to robots looking to do more productive things than just find breadcrumbs in your kitchen. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-legged-robot-insect.html Robotics Thu, 27 Aug 2026 09:20:04 EDT news707038833 Legged robots, robotic systems with legs that typically resemble those of animals or humans, could be advantageous for completing tasks in home environments or populated, dynamic spaces. These robots may look like humans or animals, yet they often cannot reliably replicate complex whole-body movements in a short time. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-cartwheels-backflips-motion-imitation-framework.html Robotics Thu, 27 Aug 2026 09:00:03 EDT news706874570 "Swarms" of cyborg cockroaches with cameras and miniature medical injectors could deliver supervised emergency care to people trapped in collapsed buildings, caves or other places too dangerous for rescuers to reach. The "Paraborgs" developed by University of Queensland biorobotics researchers, working with biomedical engineers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), move cyborg insects of the future beyond searching for survivors to actively assisting them. The research is published in the journal Advanced Science. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-giant-cyborg-cockroaches-people-rescuers.html Robotics Wed, 26 Aug 2026 12:20:05 EDT news706964223 Propeller-powered underwater vehicles have long helped scientists explore and monitor aquatic environments. But they're limited by their own mechanics: Spinning blades can snag on vegetation, stir up sediment and startle the wildlife they're often sent to study, making them poorly suited to shallow creeks, dense weeds or close encounters with fish. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-scafi-robot-fish-machine-feet.html Robotics Wed, 26 Aug 2026 09:00:03 EDT news706952581 A Chinese humanoid robot set a new 100-meter sprint record of 8.86 seconds in Beijing on Tuesday, beating its robot competitors—and the fastest recorded human time. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-humanoid-robot-meter-sprint-beijing.html Robotics Tue, 25 Aug 2026 12:42:42 EDT news706880541 Chinese humanoid robots broke records set by humans, including beating Usain Bolt's 100-meter sprint world record, on the opening day of the Olympics-like World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Saturday. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-chinese-humanoid-robots-human-100m.html Robotics Sun, 23 Aug 2026 05:25:36 EDT news706681514 Cyborg insects combine the mobility of living organisms with miniature electronic devices, offering potential applications in search-and-rescue operations, infrastructure inspection and exploration of environments that are difficult for conventional robots. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-ai-powered-terrain-recognition-cyborg.html Robotics Fri, 21 Aug 2026 11:40:08 EDT news706530182 To operate reliably in dynamic real-world settings, robots should be able to acquire new skills quickly without undergoing extensive additional training. Most existing robotic systems, however, primarily perform well on the tasks that they were trained to complete. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-robots-skills-video-seconds.html Robotics Thu, 20 Aug 2026 07:20:01 EDT news706354113