Robotics, AI and SmartTech News – Latest Headlines

Think fast, robot

Algorithm that harnesses data from a new sensor could make autonomous robots more nimble.

May 29, 2014 Read more

Robot warriors pose ethical dilemna

With the increasing use of drones in military operations, it is perhaps only a matter of time before robots replace soldiers. Whether fully automated war is on the immediate horizon, one researcher says it's not too early to start examining the ethical issues that robot armies raise.

May 26, 2014 Read more

Researchers demonstrate that brain controlled flight is possible

Pilots of the future could be able to control their aircraft by merely thinking commands. Scientists have now demonstrated the feasibility of flying via brain control - with astonishing accuracy.

May 26, 2014 Read more

Nature inspires drones of the future

Researchers have been taking tips from nature to build the next generation of flying robots.

May 23, 2014 Read more

Roombots - robots transform into furniture (w/video)

EPFL scientists from the Biorobotics Laboratory (BIOROB) have developed small robotic modules that can change their shape to create reconfigurable furniture.

May 21, 2014 Read more

Biomechanics behind amazing ant strength could lead to advancements in robotic engineering

A recent study into the biomechanics of the necks of ants - a common insect that can amazingly lift objects many times heavier than its own body - might unlock one of nature?s little mysteries and, quite possibly, open the door to advancements in robotic engineering.

May 20, 2014 Read more

Factories of the future: assembly-line machines do their own 'thinking'

By designing assembly-line machines so they can perform on command - not unlike robots that can follow verbal instructions - factories can meet the rapidly changing needs of consumers and industrial customers, while developing high-quality products at lower costs.

May 20, 2014 Read more

Robot suit helps paraplegic patients (w/video)

For most paraplegic patients, being able to walk again remains a dream. The HAL robot suit can help them regain a certain degree of mobility and activity.

May 19, 2014 Read more

Octopus arm movements could aid bio-inspired robot design

Researchers have discovered how octopuses avoid getting tangled up in themselves. The scientists hope their findings will lead to new classes of robots and control systems.

May 19, 2014 Read more

With imprecise chips to the artificial brain

Constructions that use not only digital but also analog compact and imprecise circuits are more suitable for building artificial nervous systems, rather than arrangements with only digital or precise but power-demanding analog electronic circuits.

May 16, 2014 Read more

A new World Wide Web strictly for robots

To date, each robot constructed needs to be programmed, or go through its own learning process from scratch. New robots are like newborn babies who need the humans creating them to teach them everything, or learn gradually themselves. However, this could all change. Thanks to ROBOEARTH, robots will soon be able to share knowledge with their peers almost instantly instead of 'living' in a bubble.

May 13, 2014 Read more

Building a robot to mimic plants

Many of us probably picture robots as roughly human-shaped or perhaps as little more than mobile computers. But one EU-funded project is taking inspiration from the smart, efficient strategies of plants in order to develop a new generation of robots and ICT technologies, such as sensing or distributed adaptive intelligence.

May 13, 2014 Read more

Revolutionizing Prosthetics program delivers on goal of providing advanced prosthetic upper limb

DARPA launched the Revolutionizing Prosthetics program with a radical goal: gain U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for an advanced electromechanical prosthetic upper limb with near-natural control that enhances independence and improves quality of life for amputees. Today, less than eight years after the effort was launched, that dream is a reality; the FDA approved the DEKA Arm System.

May 13, 2014 Read more

Ultra-fast bionic arm can catch objects on the fly (w/video)

Robot developed by EPFL researchers is capable of reacting on the spot and grasping objects with complex shapes and trajectories in less than five-hundredths of a second.

May 12, 2014 Read more

Robots on the slopes (w/video)

Simulated ski run challenges mechanical engineering students to produce a wide array of robots.

May 12, 2014 Read more

Teaching robots right from wrong

Researchers launch multi-year project to develop robots that can make moral decisions.

May 9, 2014 Read more

The touchy-feely robot coming soon

To date, no robotics scientist has been able to create ultra-flexible tactile skin. Either the sensor has been too big or the electronics not sufficiently flexible. Now, however, researchers believe they have found a way of incorporating electronics and sensors on bendable silicon-based surfaces that will be 50 micrometers thick.

May 6, 2014 Read more

Nokia launches $100 million Connected Car Fund

The fund will invest in promising auto tech and local services companies in collaboration with HERE, a Nokia company, to grow the ecosystem around HERE's mapping and location products and services.

May 6, 2014 Read more