https://techxplore.com/robotics-news/ en-us The latest news on robotics, robots, robotics sciences and technology science. The hottest drink of the summer may be the SEAS-colada. Here's what you need to make it: gin, pineapple juice, coconut milk and a dielectric elastomer actuator-based soft peristaltic pump. Unfortunately, the last component can only be found in the lab of Robert Wood, the Harry Lewis and Marlyn McGrath Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-powers-soft-robots-cocktails-door.html Robotics Thu, 13 Jul 2023 10:43:20 EDT news608463796 On the moon, there are raw materials that humanity could one day mine and use. Various space agencies, such as the European Space Agency (ESA), are already planning missions to better explore Earth's satellite and find minerals. This calls for appropriate exploration vehicles. Swiss researchers led by ETH Zurich are now pursuing the idea of sending not just one solitary rover on an exploration tour, but rather an entire team of vehicles and flying devices that complement each other. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-planetary-analog-environments-explored-team.html Robotics Thu, 13 Jul 2023 10:24:01 EDT news608462637 Companion robots enhanced with artificial intelligence may one day help alleviate the loneliness epidemic, suggests a new report from researchers at Auckland, Duke, and Cornell Universities. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-ai-powered-robot-companions-combat-human.html Robotics Thu, 13 Jul 2023 04:34:59 EDT news608441690 Researchers have combined research with real and robotic insects to better understand how they sense forces in their limbs while walking, providing new insights into the biomechanics and neural dynamics of insects and informing new applications for large legged robots. They presented their findings at the SEB Centenary Conference 2023. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-big-robot-bugs-reveal-force-sensing.html Robotics Thu, 06 Jul 2023 09:30:01 EDT news607853048 In a new study, researchers from Université libre de Bruxelles demonstrate the potential of blockchain technology, known from cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, to secure the coordination of robot swarms. In experiments conducted with both real and simulated robots, they show how blockchain technology enables a robot swarm to neutralize harmful robots without human intervention, thus enabling the deployment of autonomous and safe robot swarms. Their work is published in the journal Science Robotics. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-robot-swarms-neutralize-byzantine-robots.html Robotics Fri, 30 Jun 2023 10:14:47 EDT news607338880 Stroke is the most important cause of disability for adults in the EU, which affects approximately 1.1 million inhabitants each year. After a stroke, patients commonly need rehabilitation to relearn to walk, talk, or perform daily tasks. Research has shown that besides physical and occupational therapy, music therapy can help stroke patients to recover language and motor function. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-soft-robo-glove-patients-relearn-play.html Robotics Thu, 29 Jun 2023 00:10:01 EDT news607179908 Most robotic grippers are made using either soft plastics—to pick up objects without damaging them—that melt at high temperatures, or metals which are stiff and costly. A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS), together with their collaborators from the Northeast Forest University, have created a wooden robotic gripper that could be used in a very hot environment and yet maintain a tender touch. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-first-ever-wooden-robotic-gripper-driven.html Robotics Wed, 28 Jun 2023 10:51:03 EDT news607168261 A newly created real-life Transformer is capable of reconfiguring its body to achieve eight distinct types of motion and can autonomously assess the environment it faces to choose the most effective combination of motions to maneuver. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-bioinspired-robot-flies.html Robotics Tue, 27 Jun 2023 13:10:30 EDT news607090196 Engineers at Westlake University, China, have created a synthetic tube of liquid crystal elastomers with a unique range of motion. In their paper, "Bioinspired helical-artificial fibrous muscle structured tubular soft actuators," published in Science Advances, the engineering team reveals the unique manufacturing technique used to achieve a remarkably versatile tubular structure. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-liquid-crystal-elastomers-elephant-trunks.html Robotics Tue, 27 Jun 2023 09:45:32 EDT news607077904 Picture a network of interconnected, autonomous robots working together in a coordinated dance to navigate the pitch-black surroundings of the ocean while carrying out scientific surveys or search-and-rescue missions. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-emulating-krill-robotic-platform-ocean.html Robotics Mon, 26 Jun 2023 17:28:02 EDT news607019242 An unknown admirer of felines once remarked, "Cats and computers both have one thing in common—they both rule the Internet." https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-deepmind-unveils-self-training-robocat.html Robotics Mon, 26 Jun 2023 16:10:01 EDT news607014372 A trio of roboticists at CREATE Lab, EPFL, in Switzerland, has designed, built and tested a robot that can pick raspberries. In their project, reported in the journal Communications Engineering, Kai Junge, Catarina Pires and Josie Hughes designed and tested their robot based on a new idea to reduce the cost of designing fruit-picking robots. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-fake-raspberries-robots-real.html Robotics Mon, 26 Jun 2023 09:50:22 EDT news606991808 Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, have already proved to be highly promising for tackling numerous real-world problems, for instance allowing users to take aerial images, monitor remote or natural environments, deliver parcels, or assisting agents during search and rescue missions and military operations. While these systems are already being used by many companies and individuals worldwide, they can have significant limitations, such as a high-power consumption and limited operation times. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-energy-consumption-flapping-wing-flying-robots.html Robotics Mon, 26 Jun 2023 09:23:12 EDT news606990184 Researchers at three Japanese universities exploring the potential benefits of collaborations between robots and living creatures found bugs in their project. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-bugs-robotic-arms.html Robotics Wed, 21 Jun 2023 16:42:46 EDT news606584552 Pangolins are fascinating creatures. This animal looks like a walking pine cone, as it is the only mammal completely covered with hard scales. The scales are made of keratin, just like our hair and nails. The scales overlap and are directly connected to the underlying soft skin layer. This special arrangement allows the animals to curl up into a ball in case of danger. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-scientists-magnetically-soft-medical-robot.html Robotics Tue, 20 Jun 2023 11:00:08 EDT news606391972 New work from Carnegie Mellon University has enabled robots to learn household chores by watching videos of people performing everyday tasks in their homes. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-ability-robots-videos.html Robotics Tue, 20 Jun 2023 08:59:40 EDT news606470368 Research in the field of robotics has been booming over the past decade with a view to tackle challenges of real value to industry and the public domain. With new robotic systems appearing every other day, developing reliable tools that can be used to evaluate their performance and test algorithms underpinning their functioning is salient. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-open-source-benchmark-skills-robots.html Software Mon, 19 Jun 2023 10:00:01 EDT news606128108 AI-powered robots have become increasingly sophisticated and are gradually being introduced in a wide range of real-world settings, including malls, airports, hospitals and other public spaces. In the future, these robots could also assist humans with house chores, office errands and other tedious or time-consuming tasks. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-multisensory-simulation-platform-home-robots.html Robotics Fri, 16 Jun 2023 10:10:01 EDT news606128079 Traditionally, soft robots have been made using synthetic polymers, rubbers, and plastics. Such materials provide soft robots with long operational lives and stable structures, but may pose risks to the environment if lost or damaged during use. Researchers seek to minimize this risk by creating new ways to build naturally decomposable robots. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-team-seaweed-based-biodegradable-actuators.html Robotics Thu, 15 Jun 2023 16:25:03 EDT news606065101 Connecting artificial intelligence systems to the real world through robots and designing them using principles from evolution is the most likely way AI will gain human-like cognition, according to research from the University of Sheffield. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-ai-gain-human-like-cognition-real.html Robotics Mon, 12 Jun 2023 13:04:03 EDT news605793841 In the film "Top Gun: Maverick," Maverick, played by Tom Cruise, is charged with training young pilots to complete a seemingly impossible mission—to fly their jets deep into a rocky canyon, staying so low to the ground they cannot be detected by radar, then rapidly climb out of the canyon at an extreme angle, avoiding the rock walls. Spoiler alert: With Maverick's help, these human pilots accomplish their mission. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-ai-based-approach-autonomous-robots.html Robotics Mon, 12 Jun 2023 11:27:29 EDT news605788020 By combining inspiration from the digital world of polygon meshing and the biological world of swarm behavior, the Mori3 robot can morph from 2D triangles into almost any 3D object. The EPFL research, which has been published in Nature Machine Intelligence, shows the promise of modular robotics for space travel. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-mori3-polygon-shape-shifting-robot-space.html Robotics Mon, 12 Jun 2023 11:00:03 EDT news605784007 A team of material scientists and electronic engineers at MIT, has developed a way to create magnetic soft robots by combining fiber-based fabrication systems with mechanical and magnetic programming methods to provide locomotion under unidirectional magnetic fields. In their paper published in the journal Advanced Materials, the group describes how they overcame problems faced by others attempting to create magnetically controlled soft robots and outline the design of the robots they created. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-magnetic-soft-robots-fiber-based-unidirectional.html Robotics Fri, 09 Jun 2023 11:17:57 EDT news605528270 In recent years, roboticists have created a growing number of autonomous systems based on different structures and designs. Among these are modular robots, which are composed of different elements or "modules" that can be reconfigured to carry out specific tasks more effectively. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-team-modular-robot-based-origami-folded.html Robotics Fri, 09 Jun 2023 09:30:01 EDT news605455621 Different people tend to have unique needs and preferences—particularly when it comes to cleaning or tidying up. Home robots, especially robots designed to help humans with house chores, should ideally be able to complete tasks in ways that account for these individual preferences. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-robots-tidy-based-user-large.html Robotics Thu, 08 Jun 2023 09:47:36 EDT news605436451 Poems, essays and even books—is there anything the open AI platform ChatGPT can't handle? These new AI developments have inspired researchers at TU Delft and the Swiss technical university EPFL to dig a little deeper: For instance, can ChatGPT also design a robot? And is this a good thing for the design process, or are there risks? The researchers published their findings in Nature Machine Intelligence. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-chatgpt-robot.html Robotics Wed, 07 Jun 2023 11:36:03 EDT news605356561 A simple sponge has improved how robots grasp, scientists from the University of Bristol have found.    https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-sponge-robotic-arms-grasp-delicate.html Robotics Tue, 06 Jun 2023 19:00:01 EDT news605263519 A research collaboration between Cornell and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems has found an efficient way to expand the collective behavior of swarming microrobots: Mixing different sizes of the micron-scale 'bots enables them to self-organize into diverse patterns that can be manipulated when a magnetic field is applied. The technique even allows the swarm to "cage" passive objects and then expel them. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-swarming-microrobots-self-organize-diverse-patterns.html Robotics Mon, 05 Jun 2023 17:08:57 EDT news605203705 Many existing robotics systems draw inspiration from nature, artificially reproducing biological processes, natural structures or animal behaviors to achieve specific goals. This is because animals and plants are innately equipped with abilities that help them to survive in their respective environments, and that could thus also improve the performance of robots outside of laboratory settings. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-plant-inspired-robotic-arms-real-world-environments.html Robotics Mon, 05 Jun 2023 09:54:42 EDT news605177649 Researchers have trained a robotic 'chef' to watch and learn from cooking videos, and recreate the dish itself. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-robot-chef-recreate-recipes-food.html Robotics Mon, 05 Jun 2023 06:47:11 EDT news605166308