Robotics news

Robotics

People, not design features, make a robot social

It takes a village to nurture social robots. Researchers who develop social robots—ones that people interact with—focus too much on design features and not enough on sociological factors, like human-to-human interactions, ...

Robotics

A dexterous four-legged robot that can walk and handle objects simultaneously

Four-legged robots, also known as quadrupedal robots, have advantageous characteristics, including the ability to rapidly walk on challenging terrains and keep a low center of gravity. Some four-legged robots can also manipulate ...

Robotics

Octopus inspires new suction mechanism for robots

A new robotic suction cup that can grasp rough, curved and heavy stone, has been developed by scientists at the University of Bristol. The team, based at Bristol Robotics Laboratory, studied the structures of octopus biological ...

Robotics

A rimless wheel robot that can reliably overcome steps

Robots with wheels could potentially navigate a variety of indoor and outdoor environments, traveling for longer distances and with fewer risks of losing balance. While some wheeled robots have achieved very promising results ...

Robotics

How 3D printers can give robots a soft touch

Soft skin coverings and touch sensors have emerged as a promising feature for robots that are both safer and more intuitive for human interaction, but they are expensive and difficult to make. A recent study demonstrates ...

Robotics

New robot swims and jumps like a Chinese rice grasshopper

Biologist, materials scientist and bionics specialist Professor Stanislav N. Gorb and his team at Kiel University's Institute of Zoology are known for analyzing the spectacular abilities of animals and translating them into ...

Robotics

Engineering household robots to have a little common sense

From wiping up spills to serving up food, robots are being taught to carry out increasingly complicated household tasks. Many such home-bot trainees are learning through imitation; they are programmed to copy the motions ...

Robotics

Future robots to stay one step ahead of bushfires

Bushfires can move at astonishing speeds. The land, amount of vegetation, and the weather all have a big impact on how a fire spreads. Staying one step ahead is no easy task, but our bushfire researchers are working on it.

Robotics

Using drone swarms to fight forest fires

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) are using multiple swarms of drones to tackle natural disasters like forest fires. Forest fires are becoming increasingly catastrophic across the world, accelerated by ...

Robotics

Research could advance soft robotics manufacturing and design

Soft robots use pliant materials such as elastomers to interact safely with the human body and other challenging, delicate objects and environments. A team of Rice University researchers has developed an analytical model ...