There's a smart home robot coming to your household in the future called Samsung Bot Handy. This is one of Samsung's collection of robot companions called "Bot" and the latest made to work in your home. If you've been following Samsung's robot lineup for the last few years, you've seen several "Bot" devices.
A major challenge when it comes to using robots to explore other planets is keeping them operating when there's no way to repair them from Earth. Researchers at the GRASP Lab at the University of Pennsylvania have conducted what they call very preliminary work on robots made from ice that can repair themselves. The team, including Devin Carroll and Mark Yim, note they have only begun exploring the possibility of making robots from ice.
A quadriplegic man named Robert Chmielewski was recently able to feed himself by manipulating a pair of advanced prosthetic arms using signals from his brain. Researchers say the accomplishment marks a step towards restoring function and independence for those impacted by illness or injury, resulting in partial or total loss of the use of all four limbs and torso. To control the prosthetics, the man had undergone a ten-hour brain surgery two years ago.
The days of a clunky robot lumbering slowly on stiff legs, its head tethered to a bundle of cables, are officially behind us. Boston Dynamics has published its latest robot demonstration video, this one showing multiple robots independently dancing -- quite well -- to the song 'Do You Love Me' by The Contours.
LG is perhaps best known for its TVs, home appliances, and some smartphones but it has also started a business of developing robots to automate some business tasks. Those range from guiding travelers going through airports to carrying luggage in hotels. Next year, LG is eyeing a new niche market in a COVID-19-infested world, using tall cylindrical robots to kill harmful substances in high-touch, high-traffic places, particularly hospitality, retail, and even educational establishments.
Kicking off as a Massachusetts Institute of Technology spinoff way back in 1992, Boston Dynamics founded by Marc Raibert, professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, has come a long way ever since. Google bought the company in 2013 as a part of its X research and development wing. Then later sold it to Softbank in 2017 for an undisclosed amount.
Although robots and robotics have become hot topics in recent years, the actual robots that make it to the news aren't exactly like the robots of Hollywood. Flying drones, delivery bots, concierge bots, and even waiter bots all share in the same basic nature but are quite far removed from the robots of imagination and fiction. Boston Dynamics is probably both famous and infamous for robots that almost induce nightmares and the company is reportedly being sold off to a car maker where its future robotics ventures remain unknown.
A rural Japanese town called Takikawa on the island of Hokkaido has been dealing with nuisance bears roaming neighborhoods within the city. The town installed a pair of Monster Wolf robots after bears were increasingly roaming in the town back in September. According to town officials, since the pair of robotic wolves had been installed, no bear encounters have been reported.
Engineers from UNSW Sydney were inspired by nature to develop a soft fabric robotic gripper that behaves like an elephant's trunk. The gripper can grasp, pick up, and release objects without breaking them. Researchers believe the technology can be widely applied in many sectors where fragile objects are picked up.
One of the most efficient ways for robots to move around the environment is wheels on relatively smooth terrain. However, wheels aren't the most efficient way of traveling when it comes to getting over certain types of obstacles. Legs, for instance, can help a robot to climb obstacles like stairs. Scientists at Texas A&M University have teamed up with DARPA to create robots for military applications able to determine with or without human intervention whether wheels or legs are more suitable to travel across the terrain.
iRobot's automatically-emptying Roombas are meant to be a time-saver, but at least one model could be a headache the company has warned owners today. The company is contacting those with one model of its robot vacuum cleaners to alert them that the Clean Base docking station could "present a hazard" in certain situations.
Walmart will not continue using robots for certain tasks, a new report claims, instead opting to stick with human workers. The robots were tasked with tracking inventory on store shelves, an effort in automation that partially removed the human element. The company had around 500 robots in use, but has reportedly found a better human-powered way to keep its shelves stocked.