Robotics

A new robot has been developed at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which can learn to use new tools by itself. It achieves this by touching and moving the tool first and observe how it’s parts move in relation to each other. One of the biggest challenges in robotics has always been to make them capable of dealing with unfamiliar environments and objects. This robot […] Read More

Industrial pipe systems are inaccessible and narrow. The pipes can be vertical and have junctions. Just as challenging, leakage points in the water system must be located, the condition of oil and gas pipelines must be checked and ventilation systems need to be cleaned.In the main, today’s robots are not that clever. They cannot climb or navigate in vertical pipes – and very few have […] Read More

PITTSBURGH, General Motors Corp. and Carnegie Mellon University today announced a new Collaborative Research Lab (CRL) and a renewed commitment to work jointly on technologies that will accelerate the emerging field of autonomous driving – a family of electronics and software technologies that could influence the way drivers and their vehicles interact in the future. The GM-Carnegie Mellon Autonomous Driving Collaborative Research Lab is being […] Read More

Company Receives $3.3 Million Award to Develop Cutting-Edge Robots that Help Soldiers Gain Access to Denied or Hostile Areas BEDFORD, Mass.(BUSINESS WIRE)iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ: IRBT) today announced the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Army Research Office have awarded the company a new multi-year, multi-million dollar R&D project to develop Chemical Robots (ChemBots). The goal of this program is to develop a […] Read More

Could “hop and roll” be the best way to explore new worlds? NREC researchers are designing spherical robots that combine hopping and rolling to move around in rugged environments. The Robotic All-Terrain Surveyors (RATS) could be used in interplanetary science missions (like exploring low-gravity planets such as Mars) or terrestrial missions in rough terrain (like scouting and acting as communications relays). RATS roll and hop […] Read More

Duke computer science professor and colleagues’ creations dance on something smaller than a pin’s head. Microscopic robots crafted to maneuver separately without any obvious guidance are now assembling into self-organized structures after years of continuing research led by a Duke University computer scientist.”It’s marvelous to be able to do assembly and control at this fine a resolution with such very, very tiny things,” said Bruce […] Read More

The space shuttle’s 45-foot robotic arm may look simple and automatic as it gracefully lifts a multi-ton satellite from the cargo bay and lets it drift off into space…Far from it…Controlling the spindly arm is a delicate process of manipulating multi-axis joysticks with both hands simultaneously — a feat that makes rubbing your stomach while patting your head seem like, well, child’s play.. For years, […] Read More

Redmond, WA – May 28, 2008 – CoroWare Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of CoroWare, Inc. (CROE.OB) today announced that it will be holding a course and hands-on lab on Microsoft Robotics Studio and CoroWare ClassPack July 8-9 at the Microsoft Partner Solutions Center in Redmond, Washington.. Sara Morgan, author of Programming Microsoft Robotics Studio and Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Award winner for her work […] Read More

Researcher Daan Hobbelen of TU Delft has developed a new, highly-advanced walking robot: Flame. This type of research, for which Hobbelen will receive his PhD on Friday 30 May, is important as it provides insight into how people walk. This can in turn help people with walking difficulties through improved diagnoses, training and rehabilitation equipment.. If you try to teach a robot to walk, you […] Read More

Mechanical locomotion principles from jumping insects applied to microrobots. Researchers from the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems at EPFL are unveiling a novel, grasshopper-inspired jumping robot at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation today in Pasadena, California.The robot weighs a miniscule 7 grams, and can jump 1.4 meters, or more than 27 times its body size — ten times farther for its size and […] Read More