Robotics

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including a self-powered “bug” that can skim across water; a sweat-powered wearable that has the potential to make continuous, personalized health monitoring as effortless as wearing a Band-Aid; and a novel foot-pedal operated system and device to control movement of an object in three-dimensional space.

Test Your Knowledge of Machine Vision

Machine vision is the technology, software, hardware, integrated systems, actions, methods, and expertise used to provide imaging-based automatic inspection and analysis. How much do you know about machine vision? Find out with this quiz.

Robots with Artificial Muscles that Can Walk and Jump

Inspired by living creatures, they jump across different terrains in an agile and energy-efficient manner. Read on to learn more.

Hexagonal Electrohydraulic Modules Shape-Shift into Versatile Robots

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) have developed hexagon-shaped robotic components, called modules, that can be snapped together...

Building Tiny Batteries to Power Cell-Sized Robots

A tiny battery could enable the deployment of cell-sized, autonomous robots for drug delivery within in the human body, as well as other applications.

Cobot Enables Production Leap with Automated Stacking

Mi Rancho has been delighting customers with authentic and fresh tortillas, chips, and salsas since its establishment in 1939. Originally founded as a grocery store in Oakland, CA, the business has evolved into a food provider for large nation-wide retail partners. To enable continued growth, Mi Rancho recently partnered with Formic to introduce robotic automation to their food processing and packaging production operations. Read on to learn more.

Innovating Non-Destructive Test Systems Using Advanced Automation

Designing non-destructive test (NDT) systems for aerospace clients can feel like engineering with blindfolds on. Even when the parts under test aren’t confidential, they can change rapidly as companies optimize their designs. But how do you create precision inspection systems without knowing what they’ll inspect in the field? Read on to find out.

RTK and Sensor Fusion for Autonomous Vehicle Navigation & Guidance

This is an exciting time in robotics and vehicle automation, and sensors of all kinds provide critical data to drive this technology forward. But the sensor stack for AVs and ADAS is incomplete without a reliable source of absolute positioning. Read on to learn more.

Origami Inspires Shape-Shifting ‘Transformer Bots’

Inspired by the paper-folding art of origami, North Carolina State University engineers have discovered a way to make a single plastic cubed structure transform into more than 1,000 configurations using only three active motors. Read on to learn more.

Videos of the Month

See the videos of the month, including one on a new 3D printing technique that uses a nozzle that can change its size and shape during the printing process; one on advancing technologies for circular and material-efficient construction; one on how 3D printing can create geometrically complex structures needed to mimic nature; and one on converting a 1997 Chevy P30 delivery van into a fully electric vehicle.

A New System for Shape and Contact Detection of Continuum Robots

The sensing and control principles used in this framework could lead to new tactile sensors that can be attached to any existing robotics system, offering new sensing and control paradigms for safe human-robot interaction without altering the robot’s original design. Read on to learn more.

CAD Model Offers Robots Precise Pick-and-Place Solutions

A new paper explores pick-and-place solutions with more precision. In precise pick-and-place, also known as kitting, the robot transforms an unstructured arrangement of objects into an organized arrangement. The approach, dubbed SimPLE (Simulation to Pick Localize and placE), learns to pick, regrasp and place objects using the object’s computer-aided design model. Read on to learn more.

DNA-Based Controller to Operate Swarm Molecular Robots

Researchers have successfully developed a DNA-based molecular controller that autonomously directs the assembly and disassembly of molecular robots. This pioneering technology marks a significant step toward advanced autonomous molecular systems with potential applications in medicine and nanotechnology.

An Algorithm for Making Robots Safer Around Humans

A new algorithm may make robots safer by making them more aware of human inattentiveness. In simulations, it improved safety by about a maximum of 80 percent and efficiency by about a maximum of 38 percent compared to existing methods. Read on to learn more about it.

New Products

See the new products, including Delta Motion's EtherCAT communication module, which adds to its flagship RMC200 Motion Controller family; Teledyne FLIR IIS' Dragonfly S 5MP, the first camera in the new Dragonfly S series to enter full production; Akribis Systems' SGR Series rod motor positioning module; and more.

Synthetic Mini Motor with Enormous Power

Researchers have developed an artificial motor at the supramolecular level that can develop impressive power. The wind-up motor is a tiny ribbon made of special molecules. When energy is applied, the...

Artificial Muscles Propel a Robotic Leg to Walk and Jump

Inventors and researchers have been developing robots for almost 70 years. To date, all the machines they have built have had one thing in common: they are powered by motors. Even...

Using Mushrooms to Control Robots

By harnessing mycelia’s innate electrical signals, the researchers discovered a new way of controlling “biohybrid” robots that can potentially react to their environment better than their purely synthetic counterparts.

My Opinion: Swarms are Fascinating and Important

My opinion: There is much to learn that is useful, practical, and important by studying swarms.

A Shape-Shifting Metamaterial Inspired by Push Puppets

UCLA researchers have developed a new type of metamaterial, a material engineered to possess properties with applications for soft robotics, reconfigurable architectures, and space engineering.

Swimming Microrobots Deliver Cancer-fighting Drugs to Metastatic Lung Tumors

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed microscopic robots, known as microrobots, capable of swimming through the lungs to deliver...

Autonomous Aerial Robots Prioritize Rooms in Multiroom Exploration

An estimated 100 earthquakes worldwide cause damage each year. This damage includes collapsed buildings, downed electrical lines and more. For first responders, assessing...

A New Model Offers Robots Precise Pick-and-Place Solutions

Pick-and-place machines are a type of automated equipment used to place objects into structured, organized locations. These machines are used for a variety of applications — from...

Generative AI Systems Can Produce Robot-Training Simulations

URDFormer takes images of real environments from the internet and quickly creates physically realistic simulation environments where robots can train.

Test Your Knowledge About AI Adoption in Engineering

With advancements like large language models, we are seeing increased integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into engineering processes. Design engineers of advanced machines and systems such as robots, medical devices, automotive components, and manufacturing lines, are already using AI to streamline design and production processes. How much do you know about AI adoption in engineering? Test your knowledge with this quiz.