Robotics

After it was first cast out to sea less than a year ago from San Francisco’s bay, the PacX Wave Glider, also known as Papa Mau, finally reached the end of its epic journey after it reached Queensland, Australia setting a new world record for the longest distance traveled by an autonomous vehicle. PacX swam over [...]

A group of researchers at Universities of Sheffield and Sussex have embarked in a highly ambitious project, in a quest to  accurately develop computer models of a honey bee brain. Findings during actual development and testing itself might help answer some of the most puzzling questions in neuroscience, in a bid to understand how animal cognition [...]

This might sound hilarious, but the Department of Homeland Security takes no humor when US waters are concerned. Collaborating with Boston Engineering Corporation’s Advanced Systems Group, the DHS science division have created a tuna inspired robot designed for versatile maneuvrability in harsh conditions, like tumultuous waters and crammed ship tanks. Called the BIOSwimmer, the tuna robot can swim inside the interior [...]

Rethink Robotics has been in the attention of the industry for a few years now since it was first founded by Rodney Brooks, possibly the most celebrated roboticist in the world, as the company promised from the get-go that they’re aiming to completely revolutionize the manufacturing industry. Bold claims, but giving the reputation of the [...]

After UAVs inspired by hawks, robotic stability control spun from leaping lizards, wall climbing derived from geckos or the swimming artificial jellyfish made from rat cells,  in yet another remarkable feat of robotics which draws inspiration from nature scientists at Harvard University  have created a robot which mixes the blending capabilities of a squid with the locomotion [...]

A team led by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Harvard University have built this remarkable display of modern bioengineering – a completely engineered jellyfish that blends both living and non-living parts, masterfully fitted together. Called the medusoid, this cyborg jellyfish was created using silicone and muscle cells from a rat’s heart, [...]

But, not in China, where researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese University of Hong Kong developed this versatile, fabric-climbing robot. Using a pair of gripper wheels to create and cling to a fold in the cloth, the robot creates a resulting wrinkle onto which it can roll easily; an omnidirectional tail [...]

One of the most sophisticated parts of a robot is its navigation system, why requires precise sensing and processing of the information, if an anthropomorphic robot is to walk around a house safely or a rover trek through the rocky wastelands of Mars, for instance. Billions have been dedicated to this field, and naturally technological [...]

In another sci-fi accomplishment, Swiss scientists have demonstrated how a partially paralyzed person can control a robot using only thought power, a step which promises to one day allow immobile people to interact with their surroundings through so-called avatars. Similar projects have already taken place in the US or Germany, but they involved either able-bodied [...]

It seems 3-D printing is growing into a phenomenon, and rightfully so. We’ve seen jaw bones perfectly reconstructed and used as medical implants, and even nanoscale objects masterfully made by 3-D printers, and if you’ve yet to witness the potential, wait until you hear about the latest project spun off MIT. Scientists there have initiated [...]