Robotics

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.

How Much Do You Know About Humanoid Robots?

How much do you know about humanoid robots?

Making Low-Cost Automation Accessible

Roose’s Chocolate World, based in Belgium, is using an automated solution, “ChocoMatic,” that doesn’t break the bank.

Electronic Skin Anticipates and Perceives Touch from Different Directions for the First Time

Scientists develop a new approach for miniaturization of soft ultra-compact and highly integrated sensor units for directional tactile sensitivity in e-skin systems.

What’s the Future of Lunar Exploration?

Many countries are aiming to reach the Moon in 2024 and 2025. How much do you know about these upcoming Moon missions? Take this quiz to find out.

Executive Roundtable: Collaborative Robots

Will the adoption of cobots by SMEs accelerate in near future? What are the key challenges cobots need to overcome before they become ubiquitous?

Products of Tomorrow

This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow.

Advanced Humanoid Robotic Hand Technologies

The R2 hand and forearm assembly is designed in a modular fashion, enabling rapid replacement of components and sub-assemblies.

Teaching Drones How to Navigate Real-World Weather

For drones to autonomously perform necessary but quotidian tasks, they must be able to adapt to wind conditions in real time.

Firefly-Inspired Robotic Lightning Bugs Take Flight

The ability to emit light also brings these microscale robots, which weigh barely more than a paper clip, one step closer to flying on their own outside the lab.

Designing a Human-Robot Collaboration System

Scientists analyzed the stability of the collaborative system based on speed and accuracy, as well as the conditions required for successfully performing tasks from geometric, force, and posture viewpoints.

Tiny Limbs and Long Bodies: Coordinating Lizard Locomotion

Using biological experiments, robot models, and a geometric theory of locomotion, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology investigated how and why intermediate lizard...