Motion Control/Automation

Robotics, Automation & Control

Stay updated on the fast-changing advancements in robotics, automation, and control. Access the technical briefs and applications that are trending in AI, robotic operating systems, and machine learning.

Stories

INSIDER: Unmanned Systems

Lunar Flashlight to Search for Water on the Moon

When thirsty residents of a permanent community on the Moon take a swig of fresh water brought in from the lunar south pole, they’ll be enjoying the benefits of a 30-pound spacecraft known...

Special Reports: Aerospace

Unmanned Systems - March 2022

Powering better battlefield drones...autonomous quadcopters that fly aerobatic maneuvers...a breakthrough in compact UAV satellite communications technology. Read about these and other advances in air, ground, and...

Facility Focus: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Facility Focus: University of Michigan College of Engineering

Michigan engineers and collaborators are improving smart infrastructure, autonomous transportation, weather prediction, nuclear non-proliferation, and more.

Application Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Visualizing Value at the Speed of Light

See how hyperspectral imaging adds value to food inspection systems.

INSIDER: Aerospace

Flying Robots, the Size of Insects, Have Flapping Wings

This new advance could pave the way for smaller, lighter, and more effective micro flying robots for environmental monitoring, search and rescue, and deployment in hazardous...

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control

Artificial Intelligence Guides Drones to Navigate Oceans

Engineers at Caltech, ETH Zurich, and Harvard are developing artificial intelligence (AI) that will allow autonomous drones to use ocean currents to aid their navigation, rather than...

INSIDER: Unmanned Systems

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is Based on da Vinci Aerial Screw Design

In the fifteenth century, artist and engineer Leonardo da Vinci envisioned a craft that flew using a single helix-shaped propeller — the aerial screw — viewed by many as...

Blog: Energy

How to Make a Phase Change Material: Magnets and Rubber

The two components offer predictable responses that support new robots and new energy-absorbing materials.

INSIDER: Test & Measurement

New Photonic Effect Could Speed Drug Development

Twisted nanoscale semiconductors manipulate light in a new way. This effect could be harnessed to accelerate the discovery and development of life-saving medicines as well as photonic...

Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Earthly Twin Offers Test Bed for NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover

OPTIMISM, the full-scale engineering model of Perseverance, is helping NASA assess the risk of potential driving hazards on Mars.

Products: Sensors/Data Acquisition

New Products

Test servo drives, robot monitors, AC motors, and more

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Giving Bug-Like Bots a Boost

A new fabrication technique helps improve the performance of flying micro-robots.

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Micro-Robots Propelled by Air Bubbles and Ultrasound

A remotely controlled microswimmer could navigate the human body and aid in drug delivery.

Briefs: Motion Control

Mobile Molecular Robots Swim in Water

Synthesized micro-robots can convert their mechanical motion into a means of self-propulsion in water.

Briefs: AR/AI

Incorporating Computer Vision and Uncertainty into AI for Robotic Prosthetics

The software can be integrated with existing hardware to aid people using robotic prosthetics or exoskeletons.

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Software Gives Robots Human Touch

A software makes industrial robots nimbler and almost as sensitive as human hands.

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Bipedal Robot Achieves Better Body Balance

A new robot developed by Caltech researchers LEO carves out a new type of locomotion somewhere between walking and flying.

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control

Extending Quadcopter Flight Time — By Adding Wings

It might be tiny, but Peter Ryseck’s Mini QBIT offers hobbyists some serious fun — and could help foster new innovations in the field of unmanned aviation.

INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Stanford Engineers Create Perching Bird-Like Robot

Like snowflakes, no two branches are alike. They can differ in size, shape, and texture; some might be wet or moss-covered or bursting with offshoots. And yet birds can land on just about...