Robotics, AI and SmartTech News – Latest Headlines

My car drives, parks and charges itself for me

Wouldn't it be nice if you could just drop off the car in front of the station and let it do the rest? Soon it will be possible, thanks to V-CHARGE, an EU ICT research project.

August 12, 2014 Read more

Next generation robotic legs for when the going gets rough (w/video)

Horses and other animals inspire new designs for smarter, faster, more agile robotic legs.

August 11, 2014 Read more

AI, robotics, and the future of jobs

This report is the latest in a sustained effort throughout 2014 by the Pew Research Center's Internet Project to mark the 25th anniversary of the creation of the World Wide Web by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. The report covers experts' views about advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, and their impact on jobs and employment.

August 9, 2014 Read more

Robot folds itself up and walks away

A team of engineers used little more than paper and Shrinky dinks - the classic children's toy that shrinks when heated - to build a robot that assembles itself into a complex shape in four minutes flat, and crawls away without any human intervention.

August 7, 2014 Read more

Hitchhiking robot thumbs its way across Canada

A talking robot assembled from household odds and ends is hitchhiking thousands of kilometers across Canada this summer as part of a social experiment to see if those of its kind can trust humans.

August 2, 2014 Read more

Driverless cars - issues arising for insurance companies

Lloyd's of London, the insurance underwriter, has recently produced a report about how autonomous car technology will affect the insurance industry. According to the report, insurance companies will have to create new methodologies on how they measure risk and charge motor insurance premiums.

July 26, 2014 Read more

Electronic nose could aid in robotic rescue missions

Researchers developed a device that allows multiple robotic platforms to follow the path of certain odors. A technology which could aid the search and rescue of people in case of natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes or floods.

July 23, 2014 Read more

Origami wheel robot (w/video)

Robotics researchers propose an origami-wheel design that is capable of varying its own transmission ratio between motor torque and ground reaction force, effectively creating a passive, continuously variable transmission.

July 21, 2014 Read more

Wrist-mounted device augments the human hand with two robotic fingers (w/video)

Twisting a screwdriver, removing a bottle cap, and peeling a banana are just a few simple tasks that are tricky to pull off single-handedly. Now a new wrist-mounted robot can provide a helping hand - or rather, fingers.

July 18, 2014 Read more

Artificial intelligence - Quick to recognize

Neural networks that function like the human visual cortex may help realize faster, more reliable pattern recognition.

July 16, 2014 Read more

Squishy robots (w/video)

Phase-changing material could allow even low-cost robots to switch between hard and soft states.

July 14, 2014 Read more

Drone lighting

Autonomous vehicles could automatically assume the right positions for photographic lighting.

July 11, 2014 Read more

Your next Angry Birds opponent could be a robot (w/video)

With the help of a smart tablet and Angry Birds, children can now do something typically reserved for engineers and computer scientists: program a robot to learn new skills. The Georgia Institute of Technology project is designed to serve as a rehabilitation tool and to help kids with disabilities.

July 10, 2014 Read more

Power consumption of robot joints could be 40% less, according to a laboratory study

Researchers have studied how it is possible to save energy in the propulsion of flexible joints without losing precision.

July 3, 2014 Read more

Meet Ladybird, a solar-powered farm robot unveiled in Australia

The 'Ladybird' was designed and built specifically for the vegetable industry with the aim of creating a ground robot with supporting intelligent software and the capability to conduct autonomous farm surveillance, mapping, classification, and detection for a variety of different vegetables.

July 1, 2014 Read more

Muscle-powered bio-bots walk on command (w/video)

A new generation of miniature biological robots is flexing its muscle. Engineers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign demonstrated a class of walking 'bio-bots' powered by muscle cells and controlled with electrical pulses, giving researchers unprecedented command over their function

June 30, 2014 Read more

Winners named in global underwater robot event

Student teams controlling underwater robots from the United States, Canada and Russia were the winners Saturday in a global competition at the only federal freshwater marine sanctuary in the United States.

June 29, 2014 Read more

DARPA announces new challenges, teams, and research goals for the Robotics Challenge finale

From June 5-6, 2015, California will be the stage for the DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals. Teams from around the world will meet at Fairplex in Pomona to compete for the $2 million prize to be awarded to the team that best demonstrates human-supervised robot technology for disaster response.

June 28, 2014 Read more