Articles tagged with Robotics
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a pill-shaped device that can collect samples from the small intestine using a tiny extendable brush. The device is designed to be magnetically controlled, allowing it to move through extracted intestines and sweep useful samples from the intestinal surface. The technology has the p...
A new path-tracing method simulates event camera data from virtual 3D scenes efficiently, reducing computational costs for applications like autonomous driving and robotics. The method uses physically-based path tracing and adaptive temporal search to precisely determine event timings, enabling more efficient training-data generation.
Studies comparing robotic and conventional joint replacement surgeries found no differences in implant survival, revision risk, or surgical complications. However, robotic surgery was associated with a lower risk of hip revisions. Further research is needed to compare patient functional outcomes and evaluate the technology's effectiven...
A study on on-orbit autonomous assembly of deployable modules reveals the importance of real-time deformation control and motion control during assembly. Numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of a proposed control strategy, reducing geometric errors to below 0.013 mm.
ALBATROSS, a nature-inspired robotic platform, uses passive autorotation and sail technology to navigate remote waters, reducing the need for separate parachute or landing mechanisms. The platform's simplicity and reduced components enable lower-cost and more scalable sensing platforms for environmental monitoring and other applications.
A new paper-thin robot powered by muscle cells can swim through a watery maze, offering a way to design small, efficient biohybrid robots. The robot uses a layer of live muscle cells that twitch in response to light, allowing it to control its direction and speed.
KAIST researchers created a single soft material that combines sensing and actuation, holding its deformed shape for over 10 minutes after light is turned off. The material detects charged objects and is actuated by UV light, with potential for reducing components and wiring in soft robots.
Researchers highlight the importance of human moderation and algorithmic misinformation tagging in online patient support communities and online research. Mobile apps and patient simulator robots also play a crucial role in digitizing health records and training rural clinicians for rare emergencies.
DirectHop, a 1-gram robot, can perform multiple hops in sequence and jump high enough to clear a standard stair step with single centimeter accuracy. The robot uses a tiny electric motor and three folding legs to launch itself to a specified jump height, and can twitch to right itself after landing for another jump.
A quadruped robot, RAIBO2, completed a 42.195 km marathon without battery swap, capturing 4 hours and 19 minutes of real-world running data. The research team developed design principles for long-distance operation, focusing on system-level efficiency and reliability.
A startup collaboration between Silly Surfacing and the University of Pittsburgh's IDEA Lab has led to the development of a pothole-filling robot, utilizing 3D scanning, mapping, and computer vision to repair road damage. The system uses a time-of-flight camera and can fill a pothole at full scale.
Researchers at UCLA and University of Michigan have developed a mechanism that enables small robots to hop and swim using low-power twisting. The twisting of bent elastic rods produces a snapping motion that enables the robot to move efficiently on challenging surfaces, such as slippery cloth and grass-covered ground.
The EMERGE project establishes a philosophical, mathematical and technological framework for collaborative awareness in artificial systems. Researchers found that people can understand an artificial system as aware without assuming subjective experience, and that increasing awareness can improve performance.
The WorMa robot uses a pump to shift water between its head and tail to adapt to changing terrain, successfully crossing a course with flat ground, a step, a slope, and open water. The robot's ability to redistribute mass allows it to traverse various environments without redesigning its mechanism.
A new robotic system utilizes twisting elastic rods to produce powerful, repeatable motions, enabling small robots to hop, flip, and swim across challenging terrain. The snapping mechanism stores and releases built-up energy, allowing a small, low-power motor to trigger rapid movements.
New research reveals the rise of AI-generated deepfake physician scams and the potential of robotics in bedside nursing care. While robots can perform repetitive tasks, human involvement is still necessary due to the complexity and flexibility of real-life clinical settings. Additionally, deepfakes are used to exploit online users for ...
Researchers at Harvard and Georgia Tech have developed RLE-Bench, a benchmark that tests AI coding agents' ability to engineer physical robots. The benchmark contains 48 tasks that test the agent's ability to perform engineering work required to build and operate robotic systems, including control and perception algorithms, designing r...
Researchers from SUTD developed a control method that enables a one-motor flying robot to anticipate its next movements and track complex paths more accurately. The approach, described in a study, outperformed a benchmark controller in reducing positional errors by up to 39.5% on certain trajectories.
The robotic lab can autonomously assemble and fine-tune optics experiments, reducing manual setup time from days or months to minutes. This could enable scientists to focus on theoretical work and accelerate innovation in fields like quantum technologies and renewable energy.
Researchers at MIT created a new computing platform that mimics the firing behavior of a neuron, enabling brain-inspired computing with low power and high efficiency. The device uses reconfigurable motion to remember and process information, similar to how neurons behave in the brain.
Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a flexible foetoscope with magnets to navigate and seal blood vessels in the placenta, reducing the risk of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. The new robotic platform combines panoramic imaging and magnetic navigation for improved precision and control.
The National Science Foundation has awarded $2 million to Worcester Polytechnic Institute to support scholarships and mentoring for low-income undergraduate and graduate students in STEM fields. The funding will contribute to increasing the size of the U.S. workforce in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Scientists systematically map the Biginelli reaction to uncover a previously unknown branch that produces complex bicyclic structures and molecules with unusual supramolecular behavior
The initiative explores how AI-assisted ultrasound can support nephrologists in acquiring images, discussing interpretation, and exploring new technological capabilities. Targeting AI & Nephrology aims to build bridges between AI research, technological innovation, and real-world clinical practice.
Rocky Scopelliti argues that AI systems' growing self-awareness and moral dispositions require immediate practical ethical concerns to be addressed. He suggests protocols for AI systems, especially those trained to care, to understand context and make moral judgments.
MIT researchers developed a new technique to help generative AI models meet strict safety requirements without sacrificing output quality. The 'HardFlow' algorithm reformulates hard-constrained sampling as a trajectory-optimization problem, enabling subtle corrections while enforcing hard constraints.
Researchers developed an AI-guided laser technique to carve micro-pyramids for robots to sense soft surfaces gently. The technique enables the creation of flexible conductive skins with high sensitivity and linearity, outperforming conventional designs.
The consortium aims to improve inspection and maintenance tasks using robotics, focusing on corrosion detection and surface maintenance in extreme environments. SwRI will manage the project, leveraging its expertise in manufacturing robotics, mechanical engineering and oil and gas services to deliver pioneering robotic solutions.
The SMASH Team, led by Professor Ping LUO, won the silver medal in robot table tennis at the World Humanoid Robot Games. The team's autonomous humanoid table tennis system, SMASH, is the world's first to use onboard sensing to achieve consecutive strikes and rallies with human players.
The HKU Robocon team, consisting of 40 students, won the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union's Asia-Pacific Robot Contest 2026, defeating teams from 15 countries. The team's exceptional collaboration, innovative engineering, and operator training contributed to their victory.
A new framework jointly optimizes UAV trajectories and FANET topology to maximize data transmission, outperforming existing methods in field experiments and simulations. The approach enables more efficient and reliable multi-UAV missions for environmental monitoring and other applications.
Duke University has received a $24 million award to develop foundational science for engineering systems to counter unmanned aerial attacks. The center, led by Miroslav Pajic, brings together experts in wireless systems, cybersecurity, and AI to develop tools and automated procedures for detecting, thwarting, and controlling enemy drones.
A scoping review found that only 77 studies validating 52 medical AI products reported demographic data, highlighting the need for more transparent reporting to confirm safe and unbiased performance. The review also showed that performance reporting for demographic subgroups is inadequate, posing a risk to patient care and outcomes.
A new method, called CW-Net, translates the reasoning process of an autonomous vehicle's AI system into understandable concepts that explain its behavior. CW-Net explains the decisions of machine learning-based planners using concepts like
A new AI method called OMPO (Occupancy-Matching Policy Optimization) has been developed to help robots learn from past experiences without being trapped by changing conditions. OMPO uses a combination of historical data and recent interactions to stabilize reinforcement learning and adapt to policy and physical changes.
Researchers aim to create generative cameras that can reconstruct detailed images from sparse measurements using generative AI, reducing bandwidth, computing requirements and energy consumption.
Binghamton University professor Stephanie Tulk Jesso is developing cognitive behavioral architecture to enable robots to understand human needs and improve healthcare outcomes. Her research focuses on co-designing AI systems with nurses to reduce errors and enhance patient care.
A new AI framework, AdvWT, uses realistic fading, cracks, and corrosion to test vulnerabilities in AI vision systems. It achieves near-perfect attack success rates on lightweight CNNs and transformer-based models, and can also be used to restore naturally damaged traffic signs.
The robots use torsion to store elastic energy and release it all at once, causing them to jump and repeat the process as long as they are exposed to infrared light. Design changes can control the movement, such as jumping forward or leaping vertically.
Researchers develop adaptive multi-expert framework for dynamic 3D reconstruction, combining strengths of multiple motion representations to improve reconstruction quality. The framework leverages complementary experts to handle heterogeneous dynamics, enabling more accurate reconstruction of complex scenes.
Researchers at MIT developed bifur-circuits, a new type of shape-changing smart device that can be reconfigured to form different shapes and maintain electrical connections. These interactive building blocks can be used to create adaptable smart devices, such as assistive furniture and reconfigurable robotic grippers.
Researchers trained AI on stick insect walking cycle to find optimal walking strategy, resulting in a six-legged robot that can navigate treacherous terrain and adapt to missing limbs. The approach allows for cheaper and faster robot production, enabling potential disaster response applications.
Scripps Research will establish an open-access autonomous chemistry laboratory with a $19.5 million NSF award, advancing AI-driven discovery and education in chemistry. The lab will utilize AI and automation to streamline chemical reaction discovery and optimization, making it more efficient and accessible to a broader community.
A team of engineers has unveiled ScaFi, a robot that swims like a fish, with a flexible tail made of fiberglass rods and a rigid front section. The robot's design allows it to scale up or down, making it suitable for studying shallow creeks to open water, while preserving fish-like gait and motion.
Researchers mapped a five-stage roadmap for magnetic soft robots to advance minimally invasive medicine, including untethered and tethered designs for various applications. The review highlights the importance of standardized testing, biocompatibility validation, and clinical validation to bring these promising robots from laboratory p...
Engineers at Texas A&M University, NASA, and Purdue University create algorithms for managing spacecraft traffic around Gateway, a lunar spaceport. The system balances fuel efficiency and operational demands to reduce the risk of collisions during space missions.
A new smartphone app called Mobilio uses AI, machine learning, and personalized audio cues to provide turn-by-turn directions, path guidance, and obstacle avoidance for people with blindness or low vision. The app completed outdoor navigation tasks 13% faster and reduced obstacle contact by 41% compared to Google Maps and a white cane.
The RACER-Knee trial found that robotic-assisted knee replacement surgery resulted in similar patient outcomes as traditional surgery, including recovery, mobility, and pain levels. Despite increased precision, the technology did not translate to improved patient outcomes within the first year after surgery.
A new navigation system for cyborg insects combines AI-based real-time terrain recognition with the cockroach's natural climbing ability, enabling faster and more efficient navigation. This approach allows the insects to traverse obstacles, climb walls, and cross holes with reduced detours and steering stimulation.
A new training interface, World-Space Interface, mimics the movements of an excavator's arm and bucket, eliminating the need for mental maps to operate the machine. The system consists of a mechanical arm and a virtual simulator, allowing operators to physically control the excavator in a cab or remotely.
The University of Hong Kong has pioneered 'RoboDojo', a unified benchmarking platform evaluating robotic manipulation across simulated and physical environments. The platform's initial findings reveal a significant performance gap between current robotic systems and human capabilities.
Research from the University of Birmingham and other institutions found that interacting with AI-powered customer service robots can reinforce or alter a consumer's self-perception. The study explores how mirroring and mimicry can lead to a 'robotoid humanness' where consumers become more like robots, raising ethical concerns.
Researchers developed a deep reinforcement learning approach to predict network latency trends, enabling telesurgical systems to anticipate and adapt to changing communication conditions. The model achieved high accuracy in predicting direction and value of future latency changes, providing valuable information for latency mitigation.
SUNY Poly is part of a $19.9M NSF initiative to develop an AI-powered research platform for accelerating materials discovery. The platform will integrate automated synthesis equipment, robotics, and digital twin technology to simulate and remotely conduct experiments.
A simple interaction rule inspired by honeybee colonies enables robot swarms to reach a clear consensus quickly, even when some information is faulty or manipulated. This rule, called cross-inhibition, introduces a brief moment of indecision, allowing the swarm to form a clear majority.
A new robotic system demonstrates superior accuracy and geometric fidelity compared to traditional methods, preserving more surrounding bone and reducing unnecessary removal. The technology has potential to make tooth autotransplantation more predictable and less dependent on operator experience.
A novel robot, BioflexBot, successfully mimics fundamental hand motions and exceeds human performance in precision and range of mobility. The BioflexBot can grasp complex objects, reach long distances, and deliver objects in confined spaces.
A new study developed a 3D printable liquid crystal elastomer that switches molecular alignment to produce opposite motions on demand from a single material. This breakthrough enables the creation of programmable shape-changing materials for various applications, including soft robotics and wearable technologies.
Researchers monitored seven experienced urologists during live robot-assisted procedures, tracking physiological signs of stress. They found four signals reliably tracked surgeon-reported stress: brain activity, muscle tension, heart rate, and natural heart variability.
Researchers developed a disturbance observer to compensate for external disturbances, allowing the robot to reject disturbances while maintaining stable flight. The approach reduced the X-axis position error by 53.1% and improved overall stability.