Motion Control

Stable AI-Controlled Systems for Safe Autonomous Motion

Neural networks have made a seismic impact on how engineers design controllers for robots, catalyzing more adaptive and efficient machines. Still, these brain-like machine-learning...

Portable Engine Can Power Artificial Muscles in Assistive Devices

Researchers have developed a lightweight fluidic engine to power muscle-mimicking soft robots for use in assistive devices. What sets the new engine apart is its ability to...

Method Rapidly Verifies That a Robot Will Avoid Collisions

Before a robot can grab dishes off a shelf to set the table, it must ensure its gripper and arm won’t crash into anything and potentially shatter the fine china. As part of its...

5Ws of the Neuromorphic AI Drone

A team of researchers at Delft University of Technology has developed a drone that flies autonomously using neuromorphic image processing and control based on the workings of animal brains.

Videos of the Month

See the videos of the month, including one on NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft; one on the Dragonfly rotorcraft and how it was tested multiple times by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in wind tunnel facilities; one on a team from Los Alamos National Laboratory going to the Haughton Impact Crater on Devon Island, Canada — a frigid environment similar to Mars; and one on engineers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s Naval Center for Space Technology recently completing robotic payload component level testing.

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

Researchers from North Carolina State University have demonstrated miniature soft hydraulic actuators that can be used to control the deformation and motion of...

Scientists Create Soft Robots Mimicking Human Skin to Provide Medical Treatment

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

Molecular Crystal Motors Move Like Microbes When Exposed to Light

At first glance, Rabih O. Al-Kaysi’s molecular motors look like the microscopic worms you’d see in a drop of pond water. But these wriggling ribbons are not alive;...

Recreating ‘Star Trek’ Virtual Environments

A system for generating interactive 3D environments, Holodeck generates a virtually limitless range of indoor environments, using AI to interpret users’ requests.

Modular Design Strategies Reinforce Electric Actuator Selection over Hydraulics

When electromechanical actuator designers began integrating electronics inside their housings, it gave a control and efficiency advantage that opened the door to applications that had long been the sole domain of hydraulics cylinders. Those same electronics, coupled with recent experience applying electric actuators in new applications, now enable a modular design strategy that makes customizing electric actuators easier, further enhancing their advantages over hydraulics.

New Products

See the new products, including Kollmorgen's latest update to its AKD2G Servo Drive, Teledyne FLIR IIS's Bumblebee® X series, Emerson's Movicon.NExT™ HMI/SCADA, Pleora Technologies' expanded eBUS Edge GigE Vision software transmitter solution, Bodine Electric Company's 12 new AC inverter-duty hypoid hollow shaft gearmotors, Linear Servo Motor from Moticont, and more.

Deep Learning Models Enable Robotic Motion

MIT engineers are aiming to give robots a bit of common sense when faced with situations that push them off their trained path. They’ve developed a method that connects robot motion data with the “common sense knowledge” of large language models, or LLMs.

Mapping Gravity with Motion Control

As it turns out, motion control can not only help map the world — it might even make it a safer place. Read on to learn how and why.

Using Machine Learning to Teach New Tricks to ANYMal Robot

ANYmal has for some time had no problem coping with the stony terrain of Swiss hiking trails. Now researchers at ETH Zurich have taught this quadrupedal robot some new skills: it is proving rather adept at parkour. ANYmal is also proficient at dealing with the tricky terrain commonly found on building sites or in disaster areas. Read on to learn more.

Generative AI that Imitates Human Motion

An international group of researchers has created a new approach to imitating human motion through combining central pattern generators (CPGs) and deep reinforcement learning (DRL). The method not...

Teaching Robots to Move by Sketching Trajectories

Getting robots to perform even a simple task requires tons of behind-the-scenes work. Part of the challenge is planning and executing movements, everything from turning wheels to lifting a...

Jet-Propelled Sea Creatures Could Improve Ocean Robotics

Scientists at the University of Oregon have discovered that colonies of gelatinous sea animals swim through the ocean in giant corkscrew shapes using coordinated jet propulsion, an...

Giving Household Robots Common Sense

Whereas prior works have focused on leveraging LLMs directly for planning in symbolic spaces, this work uses LLMs to guide the search of task structures and constraints implicit in multi-step physical demonstrations.

Humanoid Robots: The Next-Generation Robotic Workforce

While the adoption of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and collaborative robots (cobots) has increased in logistics and manufacturing industries, mobile manipulation robots (MMRs) — or...

Tech Focus: Leveraging Generative AI for Industrial Environment

Del Costy, President and Managing Director at Siemens Digital Industries (Plano, TX), unveiled how the company is making automation easy with their first generative AI-powered...

Product Focus: New Order Fulfillment Solution Helps Reduce Intralogistics Footprint

Intralogistics solutions provider Kardex (Zurich, Switzerland) demonstrated one of the fastest order fulfillment solution per square foot on the market at...

Product Focus: Small, Fast, and Element-Resistant Industrial Robots

Comau (Southfield, MI) debuted its new S-Family of small yet powerful robots at Automate 2024. The first two high-speed robots, with payloads of 13 kg and up to 18 kg, are...

Product Focus: Modular Large Robots for High Payload Assembly

ABB Robotics (Auburn Hills, MI) is continuing the expansion of its modular large robot portfolio with the introduction of the new IRB 7710 and IRB 7720 that made their debut at...

Product Focus: Redefining Material Handling with AI-Driven Pallet Detection

At Automate 2024, Denmark-based Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR) showcased its latest MiR1200 Pallet Jack — an AI-powered autonomous mobile robot (AMR) solution...

Technology Focus: Turning Robot Operations Data into Actionable Insights

InOrbit.AI (Mountain View, CA), a provider of robot operations (RobOps) solutions, introduced InOrbit RobOps Copilot™ at Automate 2024. This innovative technology...

Jeff Burnstein on the Transformative Impact of AI and Automation

Automate, the flagship educational conference and tradeshow for robotics and automation professionals, has returned to Chicago for the first time in five years. The event...

Product Focus: Innovative Low-Profile AMR for Flexible Manufacturing

AFORMIC (Duncan, SC) is showcasing its latest cutting-edge autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for flexible manufacturing and warehousing during the Automate Show. The...

Product Focus: One Kilowatt Wireless Charging for Mobile Robots

WiBotic (Seattle, WA) is demonstrating its new 1kW (1000 Watt) wireless charging system at the Automate Show. WiBotic’s new platform will provide a larger class of mobile...

Tech Focus: A New Generation of Mechanical Axes

Festo (Islandia, NY) introduced its newest generation of Cartesian-handling-system mechanical axes at Automate 2024. The ELGD-TB, tooth belt, and ELGD-BS, ball screw, axes feature an...