Humanoid robots are here, but they're a little awkward. Do we really need them?
Building a robot that's both human-like and useful is a decades-old engineering dream inspired by popular science fiction.
Nov 6, 2023
0
219
Robotics
Robotics
Combining soft artificial muscles with a rigid, magnetic exoskeleton to create building blocks for versatile robots
Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) have developed hexagon-shaped robotic components, called modules, that can be snapped together LEGO-style into high-speed robots that can be rearranged ...
Sep 18, 2024
0
218
Robotics
Researchers develop first-ever wooden robotic gripper that is driven by moisture, temperature and lighting
Most robotic grippers are made using either soft plastics—to pick up objects without damaging them—that melt at high temperatures, or metals which are stiff and costly. A team of researchers from the National University of ...
Jun 28, 2023
0
217
Robotics
Building a self-sustainable robot from e-scrap using renewable energy
Electrical and electronic scrap (e-scrap) is now one of the fastest growing types of waste. E-scrap includes a wide array of old electronic devices that includes large household appliances such as refrigerators or air-conditioning ...
Robotics
Multifunctional metallic backbones for origami robotics
Origami robots can be formed by tightly integrating multiple functions of actuation, sensing and communication. But the task is challenging as conventional materials including plastics and paper used for such robotic designs ...
Engineering
300-year-old piston design reinvented with soft flexible materials
Since their invention in the late 1700s when French-born British physicist Denis Papin, the inventor of the pressure cooker, proposed the piston principle, pistons have been used to harness the power of fluids to perform ...
Jun 6, 2019
1
216
Robotics
This 'squidbot' jets around and takes pics of coral and fish
Engineers at the University of California San Diego have built a squid-like robot that can swim untethered, propelling itself by generating jets of water. The robot carries its own power source inside its body. It can also ...
Oct 7, 2020
0
216
Robotics
A method to enable robotic paper folding based on deep learning and physics simulations
To tackle different real-world tasks, robots should be able to handle and manipulate a variety of objects and materials, including paper. While roboticists have successfully improved the ability of humanoid robots or robotic ...
Robotics
Subterranean investigations: Researchers explore the shallow underground world with a burrowing soft robot
We've seen robots take to the air, dive beneath the waves and perform all sorts of maneuvers on land. Now, researchers at UC Santa Barbara and Georgia Institute of Technology are exploring a new frontier: The ground beneath ...
Jun 16, 2021
0
216
Robotics
Low-voltage, power-dense artificial muscles that improve the performance of flying microrobots
When it comes to robots, bigger isn't always better. Someday, a swarm of insect-sized robots might pollinate a field of crops or search for survivors amid the rubble of a collapsed building.
Dec 16, 2021
0
249
