Robotics, AI and SmartTech News – Latest Headlines

Hybrid fluid transmission enabling light and swift robotic arms (w/video)

Engineers routinely face tradeoffs as they design robotic limbs - weight vs. speed, ease of control vs. fluidity. A new hybrid fluid transmission promises to eliminate some of those tradeoffs, making possible robot arms that are light enough to move swiftly and gracefully, yet with precise control.

October 30, 2014 Read more

Game technology can make emergency robots easier to control

A method borrowed from video gaming can make remote-controlled emergency response robots easier to use - enabling the operator to focus more on the dangerous situations they face.

October 30, 2014 Read more

Reading robots' minds (w/video)

A new spin on virtual reality helps engineers read robots' minds.

October 29, 2014 Read more

Robot project envisions factories where more people want to work

Rather than taking jobs, robots will one day soon join people on the factory floor, as co-workers and collaborators. That's the vision of a EUR 6.5 million project: Symbiotic Human Robot Collaborative Assembly.

October 15, 2014 Read more

How to train your robot: Can we teach robots right from wrong?

While machines are becoming ever more integrated into human lives, the need to imbue them with a sense of morality becomes increasingly urgent. But can we really teach robots how to be good?

October 14, 2014 Read more

Robot sherpas to save lives in the Alps (w/video)

Scientists are working on robots that are expected to save lives in calamity situations in the Alps. The emphasis within this SHERPA project is on cooperation between human rescue workers, the ground robot with a robotic arm and flying robots.

October 10, 2014 Read more

Mind-controlled prosthetic arms that work in daily life are now a reality

For the first time, robotic prostheses controlled via implanted neuromuscular interfaces have become a clinical reality. A novel osseointegrated (bone-anchored) implant system gives patients new opportunities in their daily life and professional activities.

October 9, 2014 Read more

Quantum robotics - using quantum computing to accelerate machine learning

Quantum computing will allow for the creation of powerful computers, but also much smarter and more creative robots than conventional ones. This was the conclusion arrived at by researchers, who have confirmed that quantum tools help robots learn and respond much faster to the stimuli around them.

October 6, 2014 Read more

3D-printed robotic solutions inspired by plants (w/video)

Researchers are demonstrating revolutionary robotic techniques inspired by plants, featuring a 3D-printed 'trunk', 'leaves' that sense the environment and 'roots' that grow and change direction.

October 6, 2014 Read more

Robot researcher combines nature to nurture 'superhuman' navigation

Researchers are investigating realistic navigation for robots using computer modeling of the human eye and the brain of a rat.

October 1, 2014 Read more

Where humans, animals and robots meet

A thriving technology trend applies the concept of animal swarms or swarming to the development of complex systems that bridge the gap amongst disciplines as dissimilar as biology, robotics or networking.

September 30, 2014 Read more

Robot cheerleaders dance in synchronization while balancing on balls (w/video)

The Murata Cheerleaders are a team of small robots that uses the latest sensing and communication technologies, as well as advanced group control technology to achieve perfect stability and flawless synchronized dancing.

September 29, 2014 Read more

Scientists make droplets move on their own (w/video)

Droplets are simple spheres of fluid, not normally considered capable of doing anything on their own. But now researchers have made droplets of alcohol move through water. In the future, such moving droplets may deliver medicines, etc.

September 29, 2014 Read more

Underwater robot for port security

Football-size robot can skim discreetly along a ship's hull to seek hollow compartments concealing contraband.

September 26, 2014 Read more

Blackout? Robots to the rescue (w/video)

Researchers have developed a tabletop model of a robot team that can bring power to places that need it the most.

September 25, 2014 Read more

Robotic fabric could bring 'active clothing', wearable robots

Researchers are developing a robotic fabric that moves and contracts and is embedded with sensors, an approach that could bring 'active clothing' and a new class of soft robots.

September 25, 2014 Read more

Robots are doing it for themselves, or they will be soon

Industrialists, academics and students gathered in Edinburgh yesterday to launch a new Centre aimed at developing robots which can act independently and which they believe will revolutionise society in the next twenty years.

September 23, 2014 Read more

New RFID technology helps robots find household objects (w/video)

Researchers have created a new search algorithm that improves a robot's ability to find and navigate to tagged objects. The team has implemented their system on a PR2 robot, allowing it to travel through a home and correctly locate different types of tagged household objects, including a medication bottle, TV remote, phone and hair brush.

September 22, 2014 Read more