Robotics News – Latest Headlines

Natural scale caterpillar soft robot is powered and controlled with light

Researchers using the liquid crystal elastomer technology, demonstrated a bioinspired micro-robot capable of mimicking caterpillar gaits in natural scale. The 15-millimeter long soft robot harvests energy from green light and is controlled by spatially modulated laser beam.

Aug 18th, 2016

Biohybrid robots built from living tissue start to take shape (w/video)

By combining robotics with tissue engineering, researchers are starting to build robots powered by living muscle tissue or cells. These devices can be stimulated electrically or with light to make the cells contract to bend their skeletons, causing the robot to swim or crawl.

Aug 10th, 2016

Robot companions are coming into our homes - so how human should they be?

Some see robots as a hypothetical future replacement for human carers. But a question roboticists are asking is: how human should these future robot companions be?

Aug 9th, 2016

Dot-drawing with drones (w/video)

Flying robots could someday help artists create outdoor murals.

Aug 4th, 2016

First wave-propelled robot swims, crawls and climbs using a single, small motor (w/video)

The 3D-printed robot can move forward or backward in a wave-like motion, moving much like a worm would in a perpendicular wave.

Aug 1st, 2016

Hey robot, shimmy like a centipede

New robotic devices mimic creature's surprising unstable advantage.

Jul 22nd, 2016

Artificial muscle for soft robotics: low voltage, high hopes

Researchers have developed a dielectric elastomer with a broad range of motion that requires relatively low voltage and no rigid components.This type of actuator could be used in everything from wearable devices to soft grippers, laparoscopic surgical tools, entirely soft robots or artificial muscles in more complex robotics.

Jul 21st, 2016

Researchers build a crawling robot from sea slug parts and a 3-D printed body

Researchers have combined tissues from a sea slug with flexible 3-D printed components to build 'biohybrid' robots to manage different tasks than an animal or purely manmade robot could.

Jul 19th, 2016

Engineers to use cyborg insects as biorobotic sensing machines

A team of engineers is looking to capitalize on the sense of smell in locusts to create new biorobotic sensing systems that could be used in homeland security applications.

Jun 28th, 2016

'Squishy' motors and wheels give soft robots a new ride

Engineers, in a breakthrough, create a soft motor that could power versatile soft robots.

Jun 28th, 2016

Robotic motion planning in real-time (w/video)

Engineers and computer scientists develop a new computer processor specially designed for robotic motion planning.

Jun 20th, 2016

Flight of the RoboBee

One of the more unexpected robotics applications in recent years comes from the RoboBees project, which aims to create autonomous robotic insects capable of sustained, independent flight.

Jun 7th, 2016

Using static electricity, RoboBees cling to surfaces (w/video)

New method extends energy life of insect-inspired flying microrobots.

May 19th, 2016

Robots get creative to cut through clutter

Clutter is a special challenge for robots, but new software is helping robots cope, whether they're beating a path across the Moon or grabbing a milk jug from the back of the refrigerator.

May 18th, 2016

Animal training techniques teach robots new tricks

Researchers are using ideas from animal training to help non-expert users teach robots how to do desired tasks.

May 16th, 2016

Robot's in-hand eye maps surroundings, determines hand's location

Researchers have shown that a camera attached to the robot's hand can rapidly create a 3-D model of its environment and also locate the hand within that 3-D world.

May 16th, 2016