Motion Control/​Automation

Ant Insights Lead to Robot Navigation Breakthrough

Have you ever wondered how insects are able to go so far beyond their home and still find their way home? The answer to this question is not only relevant to biology but also to making the...

Stable AI-Controlled Systems for Safe Autonomous Motion

Neural networks have made a seismic impact on how engineers design controllers for robots, catalyzing more adaptive and efficient machines. Still, these brain-like machine-learning...

Portable Engine Can Power Artificial Muscles in Assistive Devices

Researchers have developed a lightweight fluidic engine to power muscle-mimicking soft robots for use in assistive devices. What sets the new engine apart is its ability to...

Soft Robots + Artificial Muscles = Worm-Like Crawling and Biceps-Like Lifting

To demonstrate their new device, an actuator, the researchers used it to create a cylindrical, worm-like soft robot and an artificial bicep. In experiments, it navigated tight curves and was able to lift a 500-gram weight 5,000 times in a row.

Advances and Innovations in Assistive Robotics

Exploring advances and innovations in assistive robotics.

Surgical Precision: Robotics in the Operating Room

Exploring how robotics are enhancing precision and minimizing invasiveness of surgical procedures.

Increasing Agricultural Yields, Efficiency, and Sustainability with AI

Professor Chris Reberg-Horton and his colleagues at North Carolina State University’s Plant Sciences Initiative are taking hundreds of thousands of plant photos and, with the university’s newly acquired Grace Hopper 200 supercomputer, are using them to create the world's largest agricultural image repository.

People, Not Design Features, Make a Robot Social

Researchers who develop social robots — ones that people interact with — focus too much on design features and not enough on sociological factors, like human-to-human interactions, the...

New Dual-Armed Telerobotic System for Hazardous Waste Clean-Up

Because they can go where humans can’t, robots are especially suited for safely working with hazardous nuclear waste. But first, those robots need to become like the humans...

Method Rapidly Verifies That a Robot Will Avoid Collisions

Before a robot can grab dishes off a shelf to set the table, it must ensure its gripper and arm won’t crash into anything and potentially shatter the fine china. As part of its...

AI + Computer Simulations = Enhanced Robotic Exoskeletons

Researchers have demonstrated a new method that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and computer simulations to train robotic exoskeletons to autonomously help users save energy while walking, running, and climbing stairs.

5Ws of the Neuromorphic AI Drone

A team of researchers at Delft University of Technology has developed a drone that flies autonomously using neuromorphic image processing and control based on the workings of animal brains.

Beyond Earth: The Future of In-Space Servicing

It no longer requires the imagination of Arthur C. Clarke to see where the space industry is headed. We need only to look at every other system of vehicles, appreciate the falling technical roadblocks, and observe the regulations and resources environment. It is with confidence that we ask not, “if?” but, “when?” We invite you to consider, “what’s next?” because almost anything becomes possible with the right foundations in place.

In-Space Manufacturing of Self-Replicating Machines

How do we get to a future of self-replicating, Von Neumann space probes? What are some of the steps required to convert the Asteroid Belt into a partial Dyson Sphere? The answer lies in ISAM or in-space servicing assembly and manufacturing, 3D printing on-orbit, and fully automated, ‘lights-out’ production on-Earth.

The Rise of the Celestial Assembly Line

The concept of space factories holds immense potential to revolutionize space exploration and benefit humanity on Earth. By leveraging advancements in 3D printing, robotics, and automation, these celestial assembly lines will pave the way for a more sustainable and cost-effective space economy.

Videos of the Month

See the videos of the month, including one on NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft; one on the Dragonfly rotorcraft and how it was tested multiple times by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in wind tunnel facilities; one on a team from Los Alamos National Laboratory going to the Haughton Impact Crater on Devon Island, Canada — a frigid environment similar to Mars; and one on engineers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s Naval Center for Space Technology recently completing robotic payload component level testing.

3D-Printed Mini-Actuators Can Move Small Soft Robots, Lock Them Into New Shapes

Researchers from North Carolina State University have demonstrated miniature soft hydraulic actuators that can be used to control the deformation and motion of...

Scientists Create Soft Robots Mimicking Human Skin to Provide Medical Treatment

Scientists have created innovative soft robots equipped with electronic skins and artificial muscles, allowing them to sense their surroundings and adapt their...

Molecular Crystal Motors Move Like Microbes When Exposed to Light

At first glance, Rabih O. Al-Kaysi’s molecular motors look like the microscopic worms you’d see in a drop of pond water. But these wriggling ribbons are not alive;...

Recreating ‘Star Trek’ Virtual Environments

A system for generating interactive 3D environments, Holodeck generates a virtually limitless range of indoor environments, using AI to interpret users’ requests.

A Soft Robot that Crawls like a Caterpillar

Researchers merged origami and modern materials science to create a soft robot that bends and twists through mazes with ease.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including a new DC-DC power converter developed by engineers at the Kobe University, a haptic device capable of reproducing the softness of various materials developed by EPFL researchers, and three-dimensional embroidery techniques from engineers from NC State University.

New on the Market

See what's new on the market, including OnLogic's new Tacton Series of rugged panel PCs and industrial touchscreen displays; binder's M12 series of surface-mount devices; SINAMICS DriveSim Basic's new software solution; L. S. Starrett's latest Video System in its KMR Series: the new KMR-MX 200; and more.

Modular Design Strategies Reinforce Electric Actuator Selection over Hydraulics

When electromechanical actuator designers began integrating electronics inside their housings, it gave a control and efficiency advantage that opened the door to applications that had long been the sole domain of hydraulics cylinders. Those same electronics, coupled with recent experience applying electric actuators in new applications, now enable a modular design strategy that makes customizing electric actuators easier, further enhancing their advantages over hydraulics.

New Products

See the new products, including Kollmorgen's latest update to its AKD2G Servo Drive, Teledyne FLIR IIS's Bumblebee® X series, Emerson's Movicon.NExT™ HMI/SCADA, Pleora Technologies' expanded eBUS Edge GigE Vision software transmitter solution, Bodine Electric Company's 12 new AC inverter-duty hypoid hollow shaft gearmotors, Linear Servo Motor from Moticont, and more.

Octopus-Inspired Suction Mechanism for Robots

A new robotic suction cup which can grasp rough, curved, and heavy stone, has been developed by scientists at the University of Bristol. The team, based at Bristol Robotics Laboratory, studied the structures of octopus biological suckers, which have superb adaptive suction abilities enabling them to anchor to rock.

Deep Learning Models Enable Robotic Motion

MIT engineers are aiming to give robots a bit of common sense when faced with situations that push them off their trained path. They’ve developed a method that connects robot motion data with the “common sense knowledge” of large language models, or LLMs.