Robotics, Automation & Control

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including a spoofing device, a deployable electrode, and a snake robot.

Direct Drive Motors: Delivering Reliability, Precision, and Performance

Direct drive motors have a long-standing history as a technology that has continually evolved and improved. This article introduces the technology behind direct drive motors, explores their advantages, and discusses example applications.

How to Select the Right Cobot for Your Application

Capitalizing on the benefits cobots, of course, requires choosing the right cobot for the job. This article discusses five key considerations for selecting a cobot for your manufacturing application.

New Products

See the new products, including digital servo drives, the PM2 pinion series from Neugart, valve controller modules, electric cylinders, and more.

Biomimetic “Myriapod” Robot Relies on Dynamic Instability to Navigate

Researchers have invented a new kind of walking robot that takes advantage of dynamic instability to navigate. By changing the flexibility of the couplings, the robot can be made to turn without the need for complex computational control systems.

A Gripper That Grasps by Reflex

Looking to give robots a more nimble, human-like touch, MIT engineers have now developed a gripper that grasps by reflex. Rather than start from scratch after a failed attempt, the robot adapts in the moment.

Four-Legged Robotic System Walks a Balance Beam

Researchers in Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute have designed a system that makes an off-the-shelf quadruped robot nimble enough to walk a narrow balance beam — a feat that is likely the first of its kind.

An Underwater Robot for Ocean Cleanup

One of the strategies to combat the mounds of waste found in oceans — especially around coral reefs — is to employ robots to master the cleanup. However, existing underwater robots are mostly bulky with rigid bodies, unable to explore and sample in complex and unstructured environments, and are noisy due to electrical motors or hydraulic pumps.

Improved Grasping with an Energy-Efficient Robotic Hand

Grasping objects is a problem that is easy for a human, but challenging for a robot. Researchers designed a soft, 3D-printed robotic hand that cannot independently move its fingers but can still carry out a range of complex movements.

A Cobot Spot Welder Promises Ergonomic Safety and Productivity Gains

Pro Spot International was founded in 1984 by Ron Olsson, shortly after coming to America from Sweden. Almost 40 years later, Pro Spot is one of the leading companies in automotive repair tools.

The Rise of Autonomous Mobile Robots

Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) for warehouse and industrial operations are surging, and this growth is expected to increase for the foreseeable future. Test your knowledge about AMRs in this quiz.

New Bioinspired Robot Flies, Walks, and More

A newly created real-life Transformer can reconfigure its body to achieve eight distinct types of motion and can autonomously assess the environment it faces to choose the most effective...

Unleashing the Power of Intelligent Drone Swarms

It’s a long-held notion, proven in fact, that robots are the perfect instrument to free humans from jobs that are dull, dirty, and dangerous — the “3 Ds” in industry speak — with...

A Step Toward Safe and Reliable Autopilots

In the film “Top Gun: Maverick,” Maverick, played by Tom Cruise, is charged with training young pilots to complete a seemingly impossible mission — to fly their jets deep into a rocky canyon,...

AI in MedTech

AI can enhance healthcare delivery, improve patient outcomes, and enable personalized treatments.

Taking Industrial Robot Automation to New Heights

Combining an industrial robot, computerized vision system, AI, and machine learning, Skyline Robotics has succeeded in automating window washing for the world’s skyscrapers.

Automating Warehouse Inventory Monitoring with Drones

Gather AI is using drones to automate inventory monitoring processes for warehouse operators to decrease the cost of inventory, improve productivity and boost revenue.

Tensegrity Robots to the Rescue

Squishy Robotics’ tensegrity sensor robots gather data at the scenes of fires, crashes, explosions, and other disasters to help first responders determine their approach to a disaster scene.

3D-Printed Mars Habitat Simulated on Earth

CHAPEA is a series of analog missions that will simulate year-long stays on the surface of Mars. Insights from these missions will help NASA make informed decisions to design and plan for a successful human mission to Mars.

Robotic Exploration of Caves on Mars

University of Arizona engineers have developed a system that allows autonomous vehicles to scout out underground habitats for astronauts. Their robust platform could allow robotic explorers to operate underground or even submerged in liquid environments.

Physics-Aware Neural Networks Improve Camera-Based Machines

Researchers from UCLA and the United States Army Research Laboratory have laid out a new approach for enhancing artificial intelligence-powered computer vision technologies by...

'Artificial Memory' Can Help Robots Find Missing Objects

Engineers at the University of Waterloo have discovered a new way to program robots to help people with dementia locate objects they need but have lost.

3D-Printed Talking Robot Heads Could Improve Audio Tech

The Augmented Listening Laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is using 3D-printed, humanoid robots for research to improve acoustics.

AI Can Run 10,000 Microbial Experiments per Day

The artificial intelligence platform — BacterAI — mapped the metabolism of two microbes associated with oral health — with no baseline information to start with.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including foldable robots, quantum internet, and sensor-free valve control.

Chemically Driven Wheels “Morph” Into Gears

A catalytic reaction causes a two-dimensional, chemically coated sheet to spontaneously morph into a three-dimensional gear.