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Categories: Engineering: Robotics Research, Mathematics: General
Published New soft robots poised to be more agile, controlled


One of the virtues of untethered soft robots is their ability to mechanically adapt to their surroundings and tasks. Now they are poised to become even more agile and controlled.
Published Squid tissues and chemistry combine for versatile hydrogels


The natural abilities of squid tissues and the creativity of chemists combine to take hydrogel research in new directions.
Published 'Smart' walking stick could help visually impaired with groceries, finding a seat


For people who are blind or visually impaired, finding the right products in a crowded grocery store can be difficult without help. A team of computer scientists is trying to change that.
Published How to push, wiggle, or drill an object through sand


Researchers developed a faster and simpler way to model the forces needed to push, wiggle, and drill an object through soft, granular material in real-time. The methods could help engineers drive a rover over Martian soil, anchor a ship in rough seas, and walk a robot through sand and mud.
Published Microelectronics give researchers a remote control for biological robots


First, they walked. Then, they saw the light. Now, miniature biological robots have gained a new trick: remote control. The hybrid 'eBiobots' are the first to combine soft materials, living muscle and microelectronics, said researchers.
Published COVID calculations spur solution to old problem in computer science


A mathematician was keen to forecast the evolution of the COVID epidemic. Instead, he ended up solving a problem which had troubled computer scientists for decades.
Published A precision arm for miniature robots


Until now, microscopic robotic systems have had to make do without arms. Now researchers have developed an ultrasonically actuated glass needle that can be attached to a robotic arm. This lets them pump and mix minuscule amounts of liquid and trap particles.
Published Feathered robotic wing paves way for flapping drones


Birds fly more efficiently by folding their wings during the upstroke, according to a recent study. The results could mean that wing-folding is the next step in increasing the propulsive and aerodynamic efficiency of flapping drones.
Published Modelling the collective movement of bacteria


A new paper presents a mathematical model for the motion of bacteria that includes cell division and death, the basic ingredients of the cell cycle.
Published Words prove their worth as teaching tools for robots


What is the best way to teach a robot? Sometimes it may simply be to speak to it clearly. Researchers found that human-language descriptions of tools can accelerate the learning of a simulated robotic arm lifting and using a variety of tools.
Published The physical intelligence of ant and robot collectives


Researchers took inspiration from ants to design a team of relatively simple robots that can work collectively to perform complex tasks using only a few basic parameters.
Published Should we tax robots?


A small tax on robots, as well as on trade generally, will help reduce income inequality in the U.S., according to economists.
Published New software based on Artificial Intelligence helps to interpret complex data


Experimental data is often not only highly dimensional, but also noisy and full of artefacts. This makes it difficult to interpret the data. Now a team has designed software that uses self-learning neural networks to compress the data in a smart way and reconstruct a low-noise version in the next step. This enables it to recognize correlations that would otherwise not be discernible. The software has now been successfully used in photon diagnostics at the FLASH free electron laser at DESY. But it is suitable for very different applications in science.
Published New winged robot can land like a bird


Researchers have developed a method that allows a flapping-wing robot to land autonomously on a horizontal perch using a claw-like mechanism. The innovation could significantly expand the scope of robot-assisted tasks.
Published Designing better battery electrolytes


Scientists give the lay of the land in the quest for electrolytes that could enable revolutionary battery chemistries.
Published Researchers develop wireless, ultrathin 'Skin VR' to provide a vivid, 'personalized' touch experience in the virtual world


Enhancing the virtual experience with the touch sensation has become a hot topic, but today's haptic devices remain typically bulky and tangled with wires. Researchers have now developed an advanced wireless haptic interface system, called WeTac, worn on the hand, which has soft, ultrathin soft features, and collects personalized tactile sensation data to provide a vivid touch experience in the metaverse.
Published New robot does 'the worm' when temperature changes


A new gelatinous robot that crawls, powered by nothing more than temperature change and clever design, brings 'a kind of intelligence' to the field of soft robotics.
Published Molecular shape-shifting


Structures made out of building blocks can shift their shape and autonomously self-organize to a new configuration. The physicists revealed this mechanism which may be used to actively manipulate molecular organization. A seed of the novel desired configuration is sufficient to trigger reorganization. This principle can be applied on to biological building blocks which are constantly recycled to form new structures in living systems.
Published Model shows how intelligent-like behavior can emerge from non-living agents


A new model describes how biological or technical systems form complex structures equipped with signal-processing capabilities that allow the systems to respond to stimulus and perform functional tasks without external guidance.
Published Bolstering the safety of self-driving cars with a deep learning-based object detection system


Self-driving cars need to implement efficient, effective, and accurate detection systems to provide a safe and reliable experience to its users. To this end, an international research team has now developed an end-to-end neural network that, in conjunction with the Internet-of-Things technology, detects object with high accuracy (> 96%) in both 2D and 3D. The new method outperforms the current state-of-the-art methods and the way to new 2D and 3D detection systems for autonomous vehicles.