Robotics

Controlling a Robot Without Programming

Programming a robot for small series production activities with great diversity involves many trajectories, which is time-consuming.

Tentacle Robot Can Grasp Fragile Objects

Researchers designed a new type of soft robotic gripper that uses a collection of thin tentacles to entangle and ensnare objects.

Solar-Powered Smart Robots Walk Autonomously

A team has installed electronic “brains” on solar-powered robots that are 100 to 250 micrometers in size so that they can walk autonomously.

Teaching Robots the Craft of Manipulating Materials

The new system learns directly from visual inputs to let a robot with a two-fingered gripper see, simulate, and shape doughy objects.

Chipset-Specific IPDs Simplify Development of Next-Gen Wireless Medical IoT Applications

The design goal is to provide exceptional RF signal range and stability, while also reducing power consumption, in a miniaturized package.

Robot Overcomes Uncertainty to Retrieve Buried Objects

A new robotic system fuses visual information and radio-frequency signals to efficiently find hidden items buried under a pile of objects.

Shape-Shifting Materials Offer Infinite Possibilities

Researchers have developed a shape-shifting material that can take and hold any possible shape.

The Skillful Skydiving of Wingless Springtails

Early in the pandemic, Víctor Ortega-Jiménez was exploring creeks near his home and observing springtails. The organisms are the most abundant non-insect hexapods on earth, and...

Gripper Robot Can Grasp Objects from Very Fine to Large

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) announced that it has developed a gripper capable of all gripping movements, inspired by elephant trunks. It mimics how elephants...

Tentacle Robot Can Gently Grasp Fragile Objects

If you’ve ever played the claw game at an arcade, you know how hard it is to grab and hold onto objects using robotic grippers. Imagine how much more nerve-wracking that game would be if,...

The Burrowing Mole Crab Robot

The unassuming Pacific mole crab, Emerita analoga, is about to make some waves. UC Berkeley researchers have debuted a unique robot inspired by this burrowing crustacean that may someday help evaluate the soil...

Reliable Power for Long-Term Lunar Surface Operations

To open the Moon to continuous multi-year human and robotic operation, Astrobotic is developing LunaGrid™ — a commercial power system for the surface of the Moon.

2022 Create the Future Design Contest Grand Prize Winner

The platform was developed to democratize programmable matter; to make prototyping, innovation, and research with soft robotics incredibly quick and easy; and to enable researchers, designers, and makers of all backgrounds to unleash their creativity and bring their ideas to life.

2022 Create the Future Design Contest: Medical Category Winner — The Novel Squid Glaucoma microShunt

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness, affecting 80 million patients globally including 3 million patients in the U.S.

3D Printing Materials with Tunable Mechanical Properties

The researchers created these sensing structures using just one material and a single run on a 3D printer.

How is AI Transforming Manufacturing?

Artificial intelligence (AI) adoption is gradually increasing across industries. How much do you know about AI in manufacturing? Take this quiz to find out.

Robots Walk Autonomously Via Microscopic Brains

Engineers have installed tiny electronic “brains” on solar-powered robots so that the machines can walk autonomously, sans external control.

Space to Sea: An Underwater Robot Takes a Deep Dive

Aquanaut, built on lessons from NASA’s robot astronaut, will cut costs for ocean industries.

Glow-in-the-Dark Algae May Be Ideal for Soft Robots

Engineers developed soft devices containing algae that glow when under mechanical stress —perfect for building soft robots.

New Products

Read about the new products for October 2022, including rotary encoders, precision gearboxes, a brushless servo motor, and more.

Pressure Sensors for Improved Dexterity in Robots

Made from 3D graphene foam, the sensors use a piezoresistive approach, meaning when the material is put under pressure it dynamically changes its electric resistance, easily detecting and adapting to the range of pressure required, from light to heavy.

When Cobots Make a Manufacturing Difference

Robots have been widely used in industry for many years, but cobots, or collaborative robots, are a more recent arrival to the market.

Getting a Grip with ‘Necrobotic’ Spiders

An open-access study in Advanced Science outlines the process by which Preston and lead author Faye Yap harnessed a spider’s physiology in a first step toward a novel area of research they call “necrobotics.”

A Manta Ray-Inspired Bio-Syncretic Robot

Biomimetics is one of the most important robotic research methods which can improve the kinematic performance of robots by imitating the structure and behavior of natural organisms.

Products of Tomorrow

To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that innovation.

Smart Microrobots Walk Autonomously

A collaborative effort has installed electronic “brains” on solar-powered robots that are 100 to 250 micrometers in size — smaller than an ant’s head — so that they can walk autonomously without...

Teaching Package-Handling Robots to Navigate Using Visual Cues

We humans are adept at using audio and visual cues for communication while carrying out collaborative tasks. Now researchers are aiming to implement gestural interaction in a networked system of robots.