Robots Created with 3D Printer

Robotic assistants are expected to become increasingly marketable as caregivers; however, the external hard structure of current caregiving robots prevents them from establishing a safe human-robot interaction....

Dog Training Methods Teach Robots to Learn New Tricks

With a training technique commonly used to teach dogs to sit and stay, computer scientists showed a robot how to teach itself several new tricks including stacking blocks. With the...

Computer Simulation Accurately Models Moving Cars

Specialists in fluid dynamics at Rice University and Waseda University in Tokyo have developed their computer simulation methods to the point where it’s possible to accurately model...

Jumping Robot Leaps to Record Heights

A mechanical jumper developed by University of California Santa Barbara engineering professor Elliot Hawkes and collaborators is capable of achieving the tallest height — roughly 100 feet (30...

Lessons from How Dragonflies Right Themselves While They're Falling

With their stretched bodies, immense wingspan and iridescent coloring, dragonflies are a unique sight. But their originality doesn’t end with their looks: As one of...

Finding Welding Relief with Low-Cost Automation

How a German manufacturer of screening machines discovered a low-cost solution for a collaborative robot that assists in the welding process.

Kirigami Robotic Grippers Are Delicate Enough to Lift Egg Yolks

Engineering researchers from North Carolina State University have demonstrated a new type of flexible, robotic grippers that are able to lift delicate egg yolks without...

Embracing Agile Product Development

We've made some impressive strides from both a societal and industry perspective in the face of this unrelenting pandemic. And while the Aerospace and Defense (A&D) industry has been hit...

Create the Future Design Contest: Success Story — Shaping the Future with 3D Printing

Behrokh Khoshnevis has always known that 3D printing would make its biggest impact on big structures. While most advances in additive manufacturing...

Machine Intelligence to Build Soft Machines

Soft machines — a subcategory of robotics that uses deformable materials instead of rigid links — are an emerging technology commonly used in wearable robotics and biomimetics (e.g.,...

Microdrones With Light-Driven Nanomotors

Physicists at the University of Würzburg have propelled micrometer-sized drones significantly smaller than red blood cells, exerting precise control, using only light.

Fast Low-Cost Sensor Prototyping for Wearable Technology

Engineers at UC Berkeley have developed a new technique for making sensors for wearable technology that enables medical researchers to prototype-test new designs much faster and at...

Piezoelectric Polymers

A Penn State-led team of interdisciplinary researchers have developed a polymer with robust piezoelectric effectiveness, resulting in 60% more efficient electricity generation than previous iterations.

Tool Calculates Materials’ Stress and Strain Based on Photos

The advance could accelerate engineers’ design process by eliminating the need to solve complex equations.

Artificial Heart Studied with a Biohybrid Fish

The first fully autonomous biohybrid fish from human stem-cell-derived cardiac muscle cells has been developed by Harvard University researchers in collaboration with colleagues from Emory...

Designing from the Outside In vs the Inside Out

You can design something special when you begin with a blank piece of paper on a wall. Editor Ed Brown shares a lesson learned from his early days as an engineer.

Flying Robots, the Size of Insects, Have Flapping Wings

This new advance could pave the way for smaller, lighter, and more effective micro flying robots for environmental monitoring, search and rescue, and deployment in hazardous...

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is Based on da Vinci Aerial Screw Design

In the fifteenth century, artist and engineer Leonardo da Vinci envisioned a craft that flew using a single helix-shaped propeller — the aerial screw — viewed by many...

Internal Combustion vs. Electric Vehicles: Do the Same Design Rules Apply?

A reader asks: Is the design approach for electric vehicles similar to a vehicle with an internal combustion engine?

Here's an Idea: Going for the Gold with Aerodynamic Luge Sleds

A new approach to designing luge sleds could help shave off those extra 1/1000 of a second that can be the difference between silver and gold at the Olympics.

Bipedal Robot Achieves Better Body Balance

A new robot developed by Caltech researchers LEO carves out a new type of locomotion somewhere between walking and flying.

Extending Quadcopter Flight Time — By Adding Wings

It might be tiny, but Peter Ryseck’s Mini QBIT offers hobbyists some serious fun — and could help foster new innovations in the field of unmanned aviation.

Sweat-Activated Vents Open Up New Ideas for Clothing

Duke scientists have created a fabric that releases heat once you start sweating.