Robotics, AI and SmartTech News – Latest Headlines

First steps for Hector the robot stick insect (w/video)

Inspired by a stick insect, Hector has passive elastic joints and an ultralight exoskeleton. What makes it unique is that it is also equipped with a great number of sensors and it functions according to a biologically inspired decentralized reactive control concept: the Walknet.

December 16, 2014 Read more

Intelligent deep sea robotics

Researchers have developed an innovative underwater robot incorporating intelligent three-dimensional object recognition CCD technology for autonomous search and tracking operations over long durations of time in open water.

December 10, 2014 Read more

Using robots to get more food from raw materials

Can an industrial robot succeed both at removing the breast fillet from a chicken, and at the same time get more out of the raw materials? This is one of the questions to which researchers working on the CYCLE project now have the answer.

December 9, 2014 Read more

New research will help robots know their limits

A team of UK researchers is embarking on a collaborative project to ensure that the autonomous robots we build in the future will be safer, making decisions that are ethical and follow legislation on robotics.

December 8, 2014 Read more

Engineer applies robot control theory to improve prosthetic legs

A University of Texas at Dallas professor applied robot control theory to enable powered prosthetics to dynamically respond to the wearer's environment and help amputees walk.

December 4, 2014 Read more

Milestones in human-machine cooperation

Just a little over a year has passed since BBC News ranked the Robo-Mate exoskeleton at No. 2,right after the announcement of the new iPhone, and major technical progress has been made on several fronts.

December 4, 2014 Read more

An eel-lectrifying future for autonomous underwater robots

A team in Singapore has developed and built a prototype for an eel-like robotic fish to be operable remotely, small, sophisticated and intelligent enough to operate autonomously underwater. A new form of central pattern generator model is presented, by which the swimming pattern of a real Anguilliform fish is successfully applied to the robotic prototype. Mathematical model, control law design, different locomotion patterns, and locomotion planning are presented for an Anguilliform robotic fish.

November 26, 2014 Read more

Theater arts research offers insight for designers, builders of robots

Theatre Arts research provides insight into human behavior for scientists, engineers who design and build social robots.

November 21, 2014 Read more

Robots put to work on e-waste (w/video)

Researchers have programmed industrial robots to tackle the vast array of e-waste thrown out by consumers every year.

November 18, 2014 Read more

Magic tricks created using artificial intelligence for the first time

Researchers working on artificial intelligence at Queen Mary University of London have taught a computer to create magic tricks.

November 17, 2014 Read more

Artificial muscle capable of 'remembering' movements developed

Researchers have developed artificial muscles which can learn and recall specific movements, the first time that motion control and memory have been combined in a synthetic material.

November 14, 2014 Read more

Inflatable robotics helps spark idea for silver screen star (w/video)

Make-believe soft robot in Disney's newest movie has roots in real-world robotics research.

November 14, 2014 Read more

Robots to become just another household device, like a television or a microwave oven

The most important humanoid robots in the world have a date in Spain next week at Humanoids 2014.

November 14, 2014 Read more

Cats and athletes teach robots to fall (w/video)

Georgia Tech studies mid-air orientation and impact behavior in both cats and humans as it applies to reduced impact in falling robots, especially those that one day may be used for search-and-rescue missions in hazardous conditions.

November 13, 2014 Read more

Using 3D printers to print out self-learning robots

3D printers make it possible to create sophisticated robots and other objects.

November 12, 2014 Read more

Electric cars without drivers

E-Mobile will park independently in the future and will also be able to find the next charging station without a driver. Researchers are working on electric cars that can travel short distances autonomously. On the basis of cost-effective sensors, they are developing a dynamic model that perceives the environmental situation.

November 12, 2014 Read more

Cockroach cyborgs use microphones to detect, trace sounds (w/video)

Researchers have developed technology that allows cyborg cockroaches, or biobots, to pick up sounds with small microphones and seek out the source of the sound. The technology is designed to help emergency personnel find and rescue survivors in the aftermath of a disaster.

November 6, 2014 Read more

The world's most advanced bionic hand

A prosthetic hand, which provides a sense of touch acute enough to handle an egg, has been completed and is now exploited by the NEBIAS project after 10 years of research.

November 6, 2014 Read more