Robotics researchers from the University of Maryland have created a 3D printed soft robotic hand. One of the biggest problems with robotic hands so far is that they lack the dexterity required to perform some tasks. The researchers have created a soft robotic hand that is agile enough to play the Nintendo video game Super Mario Bros. and win.
Researchers from Oregon State University have created a bipedal robot called Cassie. Recently, Cassie traveled five kilometers, completing the entire journey in just over 53 minutes, making history in the process. Cassie was developed with direction from robotics Professor Jonathan Hurst with a 16 month, $1 million grant from the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the US Department of Defense.
BeachBot inventors Edwin Bos and Martijn Lukaart of TechTics got fed up with the worrying number of cigarette butts on Scheveningen Beach in Holland. The solution? Create a robot that looks like a moon rover and give it arms to pick up those nasty butts. The result is BeachBot or BB, an adorable contraption with balloon tires and a green attitude.
Alphabet has started up a new robotics company, Intrinsic, with Google's parent firm looking to make smarter industrial 'bots. The announcement comes shortly after Alphabet sold Boston Dynamics - known for its attention-grabbing human and animal inspired robots - to Hyundai, but it seems Intrinsic will focus on a very different area of the field.
Engineers from the University of California Riverside have revealed a new creation that is designed to control the movements of soft robots. The engineers revealed an air-powered computer memory system that overcomes one of the biggest obstacles to advancing soft robotics. That major obstacle is the mismatch between pneumatics and electronics.
Work is being performed all around the world to give robots more human-like abilities. One of the key human-like abilities that researchers want robots to have is the ability to react in real-time to environmental changes. Humans, for instance, can remain stable and upright when the surface they are walking on suddenly and unexpectedly changes.
There are many activities most of us take for granted that we perform every day in our daily lives. Tasks such as getting dressed are easy for most people, but for those with various disabilities, getting dressed can be a major challenge. Researchers around the world are working to develop robots that can assist people with the activities of daily living, such as getting dressed and eating.
Researchers from the Singapore University of Technology and Design have combined two different approaches to create an integrated workflow to develop novel automated processes for designing and fabricating custom soft robots. The method the team developed can be applied to other kinds of soft robots allowing mechanical properties to be tailored in an easy and accessible manner. Soft robots are a major area of study all around the world because the soft robots are particularly good at working in environments with humans and are more flexible.
Robotics researchers are constantly working to improve robots for all manner of tasks. One of the most focused areas of research is creating small robots with high levels of agility, enabling them to navigate complex environments with ease. Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley have used a principle behind some of the specialized sticky footpads seen on insects allowing them to adhere to surfaces to create an insect-scale robot using electrostatic adhesion.
Hyundai has welcomed Boston Dynamics into the fold, though while the robot dogs may be able to keep up with superband BTS' dance moves it's all still a little creepy. The South Korean automaker inked a deal with SoftBank to take majority ownership of Boston Dynamics earlier this year, and given Hyundai's existing promo deals with the band it was only a matter of time before a mashup.
If it's summer where you live, you're likely spending many hours outdoors. A cold beer is a refreshing companion on a hot summer day, but there's a downside: having to lug around a heavy cooler full of cans. Here to solve that first-world problem is B.O.T, an autonomous cooler from beer company Heineken that can follow you around just about anywhere you go.
SoftBank's Pepper robot has ceased production and is unlikely to return, insiders say, a premature retirement for the anthropomorphized robo-humanoid. Revealed back in 2014, Pepper was billed as "emotion-sensing" thanks to expression and voice analysis, a technique which SoftBank said would make the robot more welcome in retail environments.