Robotics Research News

June 15, 2024

Top Headlines

Researchers Use Large Language Models to Help Robots Navigate

June 14, 2024 — A technique can plan a trajectory for a robot using only language-based inputs. While it can't outperform vision-based approaches, it could be useful in settings that lack visual data to use for ...

Self-Assembling and Disassembling Swarm Molecular Robots Via DNA Molecular Controller

June 14, 2024 — Researchers have succeeded in developing a DNA-based molecular controller. Crucially, this controller enables the autonomous assembly and disassembly of molecular robots, as opposed to manually ...

Mobile Monitoring for an Airborne Carcinogen in Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley'

June 12, 2024 — Louisiana's southeastern corridor is sometimes known colloquially as 'Cancer Alley' for its high cancer incidence rates connected to industrial air pollution. Most of the region's air pollution-related health risks are attributed to ethylene oxide, ...

Robot Radiotherapy Could Improve Treatments for Eye Disease

June 12, 2024 — Researchers have successfully used a new robot system to improve treatment for debilitating eye ...

Latest Headlines

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Towards a New Era in Flexible Piezoelectric Sensors for Both Humans and Robots

June 12, 2024 — Flexible piezoelectric sensors are essential to monitor the motions of both humans and humanoid robots. However, existing designs are either are ...

AI-Powered Simulation Training Improves Human Performance in Robotic Exoskeletons

June 12, 2024 — Researchers have demonstrated a new method that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and computer simulations to train robotic exoskeletons to ...

Researchers Create Realistic Virtual Rodent

June 11, 2024 — To help probe the mystery of how brains control movement, scientists have created a virtual rat with an artificial brain that can move around just like a real rodent. The researchers found that ...

3D-Printed Mini-Actuators Can Move Small Soft Robots, Lock Them Into New Shapes

June 11, 2024 — Researchers have demonstrated miniature soft hydraulic actuators that can be used to control the deformation and motion of soft robots that are less ...

Trash-Sorting Robot Mimics Complex Human Sense of Touch

June 11, 2024 — Researchers are breaking through the difficulties of robotic recognition of various common, yet complex, items. Their layered sensor is equipped with material detection at the surface and pressure ...

Four-Legged, Dog-Like Robot 'Sniffs' Hazardous Gases in Inaccessible Environments

June 10, 2024 — Nightmare material or truly man's best friend? A team of researchers equipped a dog-like quadruped robot with a mechanized arm that takes air samples ...

Researchers Create Skin-Inspired Sensory Robots to Provide Medical Treatment

June 10, 2024 — Scientists have created innovative soft robots equipped with electronic skins and artificial muscles, allowing them to sense their surroundings and ...

Liquid Metal-Based Electronic Logic Device That Mimics Intelligent Prey-Capture Mechanism of Venus Flytrap

June 6, 2024 — A research team has developed a liquid metal-based electronic logic device that mimics the intelligent prey-capture mechanism of Venus flytraps. ...

Better Farming Through Nanotechnology

June 6, 2024 — Advanced technologies enable the controlled release of medicine to specific cells in the body. Scientists argue these same technologies must be applied to agriculture if growers are to meet ...

Enhancing Nanofibrous Acoustic Energy Harvesters With Artificial Intelligence

June 3, 2024 — Scientists have employed artificial intelligence techniques to improve the design and production of nanofibers used in wearable nanofiber acoustic ...

A Technique for More Effective Multipurpose Robots

June 3, 2024 — MIT researchers developed a technique to combine robotics training data across domains, modalities, and tasks using generative AI models. They create a combined strategy from several different ...

Designing Environments That Are Robot-Inclusive

May 31, 2024 — To overcome issues associated with real-life testing, researchers successfully demonstrated the use of digital twin technology within robot simulation software in assessing a robot's suitability ...

AI-Controlled Stations Can Charge Electric Cars at a Personal Price

May 31, 2024 — As more and more people drive electric cars, congestion and queues can occur when many people need to charge at the same time. A new study shows how AI-controlled charging stations, through smart ...

Public Have No Difficulty Getting to Grips With an Extra Thumb, Study Finds

May 29, 2024 — Researchers have shown that members of the public have little trouble in learning very quickly how to use a third thumb -- a controllable, prosthetic extra thumb -- to pick up and manipulate objects. ...

'Invisible Tweezers' Use Robotics and Acoustic Energy to Achieve What Human Hands Cannot

May 24, 2024 — Undergoing surgery is seldom a pleasant experience, and it can sometimes be highly invasive. Surgical procedures have evolved steadily over the centuries, growing with the knowledge of anatomy and ...

Team Enhances Stereotactic Neurosurgery Precision Using MRI-Guided Multi-Stage Robotic Positioner

May 23, 2024 — A research team developed an interactive multi-stage robotic positioner specifically designed for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided stereotactic ...

Researchers Design New Metal-Free Porous Framework Materials

May 22, 2024 — Researchers have used computational design methods to develop non-metal organic porous framework materials, with potential applications in areas such as catalysis, water capture or hydrogen ...

3D Printing Robot Creates Extreme Shock-Absorbing Shape, With Help of AI

May 21, 2024 — See how an autonomous robot created a shock-absorbing shape no human ever could -- and what it means for designing safer helmets, packaging, car bumpers, and ...

Robot-Phobia Could Exacerbate Hotel, Restaurant Labor Shortage

May 20, 2024 — Using more robots to close labor gaps in the hospitality industry may backfire and cause more human workers to quit, according to a new study. The study, involving more than 620 lodging and food ...

Physicists Propose Path to Faster, More Flexible Robots

May 17, 2024 — Physicists revealed a microscopic phenomenon that could greatly improve the performance of soft devices, such as agile flexible robots or microscopic capsules for drug ...

To Optimize Guide-Dog Robots, First Listen to the Visually Impaired

May 16, 2024 — What features does a robotic guide dog need? Ask the blind, say researchers. A new study identifies how to develop robot guide dogs with insights from guide dog users and ...

Jet-Propelled Sea Creatures Could Improve Ocean Robotics

May 15, 2024 — Scientists have discovered that colonies of gelatinous sea animals swim through the ocean in giant corkscrew shapes using coordinated jet propulsion, an unusual kind of locomotion that could inspire ...

Robotic 'SuperLimbs' Could Help Moonwalkers Recover from Falls

May 15, 2024 — SuperLimbs, a system of wearable robotic limbs, can physically support an astronaut and lift them back on their feet after a fall, helping them conserve energy for other essential ...

Animal Brain Inspired AI Game Changer for Autonomous Robots

May 15, 2024 — A team of researchers has developed a drone that flies autonomously using neuromorphic image processing and control based on the workings of animal brains. Animal brains use less data and energy ...

Robots' and Prosthetic Hands' Sense of Touch Could Be as Fast as Humans

May 15, 2024 — Research could pave the way for a prosthetic hand and robot to be able to feel touch like a human hand. The technology could also be used to help restore lost functionality to patients after a ...

Researchers Use Artificial Intelligence to Boost Image Quality of Metalens Camera

May 15, 2024 — Researchers have leveraged deep learning techniques to enhance the image quality of a metalens camera. The new approach uses artificial intelligence to turn low-quality images into high-quality ones, ...

Cats Purrfectly Demonstrate What It Takes to Trust Robots

May 13, 2024 — Would you trust a robot to look after your cat? New research suggests it takes more than a carefully designed robot to care for your cat, the environment in which they operate is also vital, as well ...

A Better Way to Control Shape-Shifting Soft Robots

May 9, 2024 — A new machine-learning technique can train and control a reconfigurable soft robot that can dynamically change its shape to complete a task. The researchers also built a simulator that can evaluate ...

Robotic System Feeds People With Severe Mobility Limitations

May 9, 2024 — Researchers have developed a robotic feeding system that uses computer vision, machine learning and multimodal sensing to safely feed people with severe mobility limitations, including those with ...

Generative AI That Imitates Human Motion

May 9, 2024 — Walking and running is notoriously difficult to recreate in robots. Now, a group of researchers has overcome some of these challenges by creating an innovative method that employs central pattern ...