Showing 20 articles starting at article 1
Categories: Engineering: Robotics Research
Published Engineers design tiny batteries for powering cell-sized robots
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A zinc-air microbattery could enable the deployment of cell-sized, autonomous robots for drug delivery within in the human body, as well as other applications such as locating leaks in gas pipelines.
Published Robot planning tool accounts for human carelessness
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new algorithm may make robots safer by making them more aware of human inattentiveness. In computerized simulations of packaging and assembly lines where humans and robots work together, the algorithm developed to account for human carelessness improved safety by about a maximum of 80% and efficiency by about a maximum of 38% compared to existing methods.
Published Intelligent soft robotic clothing for automatic thermal adaptation in extreme heat
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source As global warming intensifies, people increasingly suffer from extreme heat. For those working in a high-temperature environment indoors or outdoors, keeping thermally comfortable becomes particularly crucial. A team has now developed thermally-insulated and breathable soft robotic clothing that can automatically adapt to changing ambient temperatures, thereby helping to ensure worker safety in hot environments.
Published Delivery robots' green credentials make them more attractive to consumers
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The smaller carbon footprint, or wheel print, of automatic delivery robots can encourage consumers to use them when ordering food, according to a new study. The suitcase-sized, self-driving electric vehicles are much greener than many traditional food delivery methods because they have low, or even zero, carbon emissions. In this study, participants who had more environmental awareness and knowledge about carbon emissions were more likely to choose the robots as a delivery method. The green influence went away though when people perceived the robots as a high-risk choice -- meaning they worried that their food would be late, cold or otherwise spoiled before it arrived.
Published New method for orchestrating successful collaboration among robots
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research shows that programming robots to create their own teams and voluntarily wait for their teammates results in faster task completion, with the potential to improve manufacturing, agriculture and warehouse automation.
Published Engineers make tunable, shape-changing metamaterial inspired by vintage toys
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Common push puppet toys in the shapes of animals and popular figures can move or collapse with the push of a button at the bottom of the toys' base. Now, a team of engineers has created a new class of tunable dynamic material that mimics the inner workings of push puppets, with applications for soft robotics, reconfigurable architectures and space engineering.
Published Artificial compound eye to revolutionize robotic vision at lower cost but higher sensitivity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A research team has recently developed a novel artificial compound eye system that is not only more cost-effective, but demonstrates a sensitivity at least twice that of existing market products in small areas. The system promises to revolutionize robotic vision, enhance robots' abilities in navigation, perception and decision-making, while promoting commercial application and further development in human-robot collaboration.
Published 'Amphibious' sensors make new, waterproof technologies possible
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have demonstrated a technique for creating sensors that can function both in air and underwater. The approach paves the way for 'amphibious' sensors with applications ranging from wildlife monitoring to biomedical applications.
Published Towards smart cities: Predicting soil liquefaction risk using artificial intelligence
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Soil liquefaction that results in infrastructure damage has long been a point of contention for urban planners and engineers. Accurately predicting the soil liquefaction risk of a region could help overcome this challenge. Accordingly, researchers applied artificial intelligence to generate soil liquefaction risk maps, superseding already published risk maps.
Published Shape-shifting 'transformer bots' inspired by origami
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Inspired by the paper-folding art of origami, engineers have discovered a way to make a single plastic cubed structure transform into more than 1,000 configurations using only three active motors.
Published Robotics: Self-powered 'bugs' can skim across water to detect environmental data
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed a self-powered 'bug' that can skim across the water, and they hope it will revolutionize aquatic robotics.
Published New understanding of fly behavior has potential application in robotics, public safety
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have identified an automatic behavior in flies that helps them assess wind conditions -- its presence and direction -- before deploying a strategy to follow a scent to its source. The fact that they can do this is surprising -- can you tell if there's a gentle breeze if you stick your head out of a moving car? Flies aren't just reacting to an odor with a preprogrammed response: they are responding in context-appropriate manner. This knowledge potentially could be applied to train more sophisticated algorithms for scent-detecting drones to find the source of chemical leaks.
Published Next-gen cooling system to help data centers become more energy efficient
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Artificial intelligence (AI) is hot right now. Also hot: the data centers that power the technology. And keeping those centers cool requires a tremendous amount of energy. The problem is only going to grow as high-powered AI-based computers and devices become commonplace. That's why researchers are devising a new type of cooling system that promises to dramatically reduce energy demands.
Published It's got praying mantis eyes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The praying mantis is one of the few insects with compound eyes and the ability to perceive 3D space. Engineers are replicating their visual systems to make machines see better.
Published Foam fluidics showcase lab's creative approach to circuit design
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Engineers have shown that something as simple as the flow of air through open-cell foam can be used to perform digital computation, analog sensing and combined digital-analog control in soft textile-based wearable systems.
Published How pollution may remain in water after oil spill cleanups
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The way oil drops break up at the water's surface means some oil may not get cleaned up after a spill.
Published Ant insights lead to robot navigation breakthrough
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Have you ever wondered how insects are able to go so far beyond their home and still find their way? The answer to this question is not only relevant to biology but also to making the AI for tiny, autonomous robots. Drone-researchers felt inspired by biological findings on how ants visually recognize their environment and combine it with counting their steps in order to get safely back home. They have used these insights to create an insect-inspired autonomous navigation strategy for tiny, lightweight robots. It allows such robots to come back home after long trajectories, while requiring extremely little computation and memory (0.65 kiloByte per 100 m). In the future, tiny autonomous robots could find a wide range of uses, from monitoring stock in warehouses to finding gas leaks in industrial sites.
Published A chemical claw machine bends and stretches when exposed to vapors
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have developed a tiny 'claw machine' that is able to pick up and drop a marble-sized ball in response to exposure to chemical vapors. The findings point to a technique that can enable soft actuators--the parts of a machine that make it move--to perform multiple tasks without the need for additional costly materials. While existing soft actuators can be 'one-trick ponies' restricted to one type of movement, this novel composite film contorts itself in different ways depending on the vapor that it is exposed to.
Published Learning dance moves could help humanoid robots work better with humans
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Engineers have trained a humanoid robot to perform a variety of expressive movements, from simple dance routines to gestures like waving, high-fiving and hugging, all while maintaining a steady gait on diverse terrains. This work marks a step towards building robots that perform more complex and human-like motions.
Published A new twist on artificial 'muscles' for safer, softer robots
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Engineers have developed a new soft, flexible device that makes robots move by expanding and contracting -- just like a human muscle. To demonstrate their new device, called an actuator, the researchers used it to create a cylindrical, worm-like soft robot and an artificial bicep. In experiments, the cylindrical soft robot navigated the tight, hairpin curves of a narrow pipe-like environment, and the bicep was able to lift a 500-gram weight 5,000 times in a row without failing.