Robotics

Webinars: Energy

Watch Live at 11 am ET: The 2020 Create the Future Contest Awards

For the first time, the winners of the Create the Future Design Contest will be announced live! Join us for this special one-hour presentation as we honor our 2020 Grand Prize...

Briefs: Motion Control

Octopus-Inspired Soft Robotic Arm

The Tentacle Bot can grip, move, and manipulate a wide range of objects.

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

3D-Printed Sweating Robot Muscle

This form of thermal management can help enable untethered, high-powered robots to operate for long periods of time without overheating.

Briefs: AR/AI

“Alexa, Go to The Kitchen and Fetch Me a Snack”

MIT engineers are envisioning robots more like home helpers.

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control

Transforming Rover Explores the Toughest Terrain

NASA’s DuAxel, a pair of two-wheeled rovers each called Axel, can split in half with each half connected only by a tether that unspools as the lead axle approaches a hazard.

Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control

A Squid-Like Robot Swims, Untethered

A robot being tested at the University of California San Diego takes after an aquatic invertebrate that has a jet-like way moving through the water: The Squid.

Blog: Energy

How to Charge an Underwater Robot? A Mobile Docking Station

Researcher Nina Mahmoudian is finding a new way for underwater robots to recharge and upload their data, and then go back out to continue exploring, without the need for human intervention.

On-Demand Webinars: Robotics, Automation & Control

How to Identify Good Collaborative Robot Projects

Statistics show that collaborative automation is the fastest growing segment in the industry – and for good reason. Cobots are safe, easy to use, and quick to deploy. To get...

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control

Soft Robots Deliver Medical Treatments

Researchers created a way to send tiny, soft robots into humans. Doctors would use magnetic fields to steer the soft robot inside the body, bringing medications or treatments to places that need...

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Optical Neural Network Recognizes Objects Instantly

This technology can work with multiple wavelengths of light simultaneously.

NASA Spinoff: Aerospace

Autonomous Drone Navigation System Ends Reliance on GPS

NASA's UAS traffic management expertise leads to advances in drone navigation.

Briefs: Wearables

Integrated Microchips for Electronic Skin

Fully integrated flexible electronics made of magnetic sensors and organic circuits open the path towards the development of electronic skin.

Briefs: RF & Microwave Electronics

Testing Swarming Drones

This system has a capacity of more than 1,500 times the volume of a typical testing facility.

Briefs: Unmanned Systems

Technology Advances Learning Capabilities of Drone Swarms

The learning approach allows swarms of unmanned vehicles to optimally accomplish their mission while minimizing performance uncertainty.

Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Simple Robot Vision Tools Support Complex Applications

New collaborative robot-based vision systems are changing how manufacturers can inspect their parts.

Briefs: Aerospace

Nanocardboard Aircraft with No Moving Parts

Tiny aircraft that weigh as much as a fruit fly could serve as Martian atmospheric probes.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Wavy Surfaces for Better Light Control

This method could impact optical technologies such as smartphone cameras, biosensors, or autonomous vision for robots and self-driving cars.

Briefs: Aerospace

Drones Change Shape Mid-Flight

This capability will optimize performance of the vehicle through different phases of flight.

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Soft, Self-Actuated Pump for Mechatronic Devices

A soft hydrogel, driven by an oscillatory chemical reaction, produces an autonomous integrated pump for microfluidic applications.

Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Open Controllers Simplify Automation Systems

By consolidating tasks traditionally performed by multiple devices into a single, high-performing controller, manufacturers can improve operations.

Products: Sensors/Data Acquisition

New Products: October 2020 Motion Design

Accelerometers, actuators, hexapods, and more.

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Origami-Inspired Miniature Manipulator

This mini robot improves precision and control of teleoperated surgical procedures.

INSIDER: Medical

Medical Robotic Hand? Rubbery Semiconductor Makes It Possible

Researchers at the University of Houston report that they have designed and produced a smart electronic skin and a medical robotic hand capable of assessing vital diagnostic...

INSIDER: Electronics & Computers

Controller Helps Robots Avoid Collisions

MIT startup Realtime Robotics invented a solution that gives robots the ability to quickly adjust their path to avoid objects as they move to a target. The Realtime controller can be connected to...