Robotics, Automation & Control

Achieving Flexibility, Reliability, and Safety with Autonomous Mobile Robots

With 40 years of experience to its name, Sunview Patio Doors Ltd. has solved one of the industry’s top challenges: meeting customers’ increased demands for faster and better services, while providing an option for product customization.

Unveiling the Future of Robotic Sanding and Polishing with Material Abrasion Technology

This article examines advancements in Flexiv’s material abrasion technology, specifically focusing on sanding and polishing applications and the utility of force control technology.

Autonomous Mobile Robots Take a Direct Route to Optimization With AI

While advanced vision systems give AMRs the power of “sight,” so to speak, AI allows them to identify objects and optimizes how they navigate on a factory floor.

Squishy, Metal-Free Magnets Power Robots and Guide Medical Implants

“Soft robots,” medical devices and implants, and next-generation drug delivery methods could soon be guided with magnetism — thanks to a metal-free magnetic gel...

Researchers Explore the Phenomenon of Holonomy

BB-8 of Star Wars fame is known for its adorable beeps, dome-shaped head, and spherical body. But fighting alongside the Resistance is just one of its many talents. As this spherical robot...

A Self-Driving Needle Steers Through Living Lung Tissue

The lungs are one of the most difficult organs for physicians to navigate. They have a dense network of blood vessels, bronchi, and other critical anatomical structures that makes...

Roboticists Develop Robots for Resilient Extraterrestrial Habitats

Justin Werfel, Senior Research Fellow in Robotics at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), is leading a team tasked with developing...

5Ws of the Light Sail

A light sail developed by Cornell’s Space Systems Design Studio (SSDS) could one day propel small spacecraft through interstellar realms.

New on the Market

See what's new on the market, including igus' two- and four-hole fixed flange bearings; FixtureBuilder 3D fixture-modelling software from Renishaw; XENON Corporation's X-1100/2x Pulsed Light Research System; Rad Source NDT's NDT 1000 X-ray Inspection System; and more.

Generative AI Models Solve Multistep Robot Manipulation Problems

MIT researchers developed a machine-learning technique called Diffusion-CCSP. Diffusion models learn to generate new data samples that resemble samples in a training dataset by iteratively refining their output.

Scurrying Centipedes Inspire Many-Legged Robots

Intrigued to see if many limbs could be helpful for locomotion in this world, a team at the Georgia Institute of Technology is using a centipede's style of movement to its advantage. They developed a new theory of multilegged locomotion and created many-legged robotic models.

Circumferential Scissor Spring Enhances Precision in Hand Controllers

Innovators at NASA’s Johnson Space Center have designed a circumferential scissor spring mechanism, that when incorporated into a hand controller, improves the restorative force to a control stick’s neutral position. The design also provides for operation on a more linear portion of the spring’s force deflection curve, yielding better feedback to the user.

A Soft Robotic Hand Uses AI to Improve Hand Dexterity

A first-of-its-kind robotic glove is lending a “hand” and providing hope to piano players who have suffered a disabling stroke. Developed by researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, the soft robotic hand exoskeleton uses artificial intelligence to improve hand dexterity.

AI Co-Pilot Enhances Human Precision for Safer Aviation

Meet Air-Guardian: A system developed by researchers at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). As modern pilots grapple with an onslaught of information from multiple monitors, especially during critical moments, Air-Guardian acts as a proactive co-pilot; a partnership between human and machine, rooted in understanding attention.

Light-Harnessing Sensors Give Hope to Limited-Mobility Patients

A research team has successfully overcome the limitations of soft strain sensors by integrating computer vision technology into optical sensors. The team developed a sensor technology known as computer vision-based optical strain (CVOS) during its study. Unlike conventional sensors reliant on electrical signals, CVOS sensors employ computer vision and optical sensors to analyze microscale optical patterns, extracting data regarding changes.

A Thermoelectric Cooler to Restore Sensation in Amputees

This advancement, one of the first of its kind, enables a useful new capability for a variety of applications, including improved prostheses, haptics for new modalities in augmented reality (AR), and thermally modulated therapeutics for applications such as pain management. The technology also has a variety of potential industrial and research applications.

The Rising Presence of Women in Engineering

In the U.S., women make up 14 percent of the engineering workforce. The number of female engineers across the globe is on the rise but compared to male engineers it is still much lower.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including: a new wireless smart textile technology that can boost hand mobility of stroke patients, a metal-free magnetic gel, and a new fuel cell that harvests energy from microbes living in dirt.

My Opinion: We Need Humans in the Loop

With all the chatter these days about AI, it’s important to really understand what it is and how to use it. A project at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is exploring how operators and an AI automated control system interact.

Are Shapeshifting “Soft Machines” In Our Future?

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have furthered a new type of soft material that can change shape in response to light, a discovery that could advance “soft...

Scientists Design a Two-Legged Robot Powered by Muscle Tissue

Compared to robots, human bodies are more flexible, capable of fine movements, and can efficiently convert energy into movement. Drawing inspiration from human gait, researchers...

RISING STAR AWARDS 2025 SPONSORS

Home How to Enter Terms & Conditions Meet the Judges Hall of Stars Sponsors   We are deeply grateful to our sponsors for their invaluable support of this year’s Rising Star Awards...

RISING STAR AWARDS: PAST WINNERS

Home How to Enter Terms & Conditions Meet the Judges Hall of Stars Sponsors   Meet the trailblazing women engineers who made history as winners of last year’s Rising Star Awards, chosen...

RISING STAR AWARDS 2025 JUDGES

Home How to Enter Terms & Conditions Meet the Judges Hall of Stars Sponsors   Thank you to our esteemed panel of judges, comprising leaders from engineering and technology fields, who bring...

RISING STAR AWARD RULES

Home How to Enter Terms & Conditions Meet the Judges Hall of Stars Sponsors   The Women in Engineering: Rising Star Awards program celebrates and recognizes women engineers who are enhancing the...

RISING STAR AWARDS NOMINATION

Home How to Enter Terms & Conditions Meet the Judges Hall of Stars Sponsors   Nominations for the 2025 Rising Star Awards have closed. All entries are being evaluated by a panel of judges...