Robotics news

Robotic clam digs in mudflats

Electronics / Robotics

Nov 22, 2009 | 5 / 5 (3) | 0

To design a lightweight anchor that can dig itself in to hold small underwater submersibles, Anette (Peko) Hosoi of MIT borrowed techniques from one of nature's best diggers -- the razor clam.

New study to evaluate robots as exercise trainers (w/ Video)

Electronics / Robotics

Nov 19, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

Maja Mataric', who directs the University of Southern California Center for Robotics and Embedded Systems, will lead an effort to evaluate robots as exercise coaches for adults of all ages, with a particular focus on the ...

iPhone Software That Controls Robot Movements (w/ Video)

Electronics / Robotics

Nov 18, 2009 | 5 / 5 (6) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- At the graduate school of media design at Keio University in Tokyo, a project called "Walky" is under developed. Researchers have developed specifically designed software for the iPhone that ...

New robot skier takes to the slopes (w/ Video)

Electronics / Robotics

Oct 23, 2009 | 3.5 / 5 (6) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new robot skier has been invented that can be fitted with off-the-shelf skis. This is not the first skiing robot, since Japanese scientists have produced their own (see PhysOrg.com article here), but is bigger and heavie ...

Robotic Hand That Senses Touch (w/ Video)

Electronics / Robotics

Oct 21, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (26) | 10

(PhysOrg.com) -- Developed by researchers at Lund University in Sweden and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Italy, the Smart Hand project has given patient, Robin af Ekenstam (see video) the sense of touch in ...

iRobot Unveils Morphing Blob Robot (w/ Video)

Electronics / Robotics

Oct 15, 2009 | 4.4 / 5 (25) | 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- iRobot's latest robot is unique on many levels. The doughy blob moves by inflating and deflating - a new technique its developers call "jamming." As the researchers explain in the video below, ...

South Korea's little firefighting robots (w/ Video)

Electronics / Robotics

Oct 08, 2009 | 4.4 / 5 (7) | 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Two South Korean firms have developed mini firefighting robots to help human firefighters safely plan their course of action before entering a blazing building.

Household robots do not protect users' security and privacy, researchers say

Electronics / Robotics

Oct 08, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (2) | 1

People are increasingly using household robots for chores, communication, entertainment and companionship. But safety and privacy risks of information-gathering objects that move around our homes are not yet adequately addressed, ...

Probing Question: Where are all the cool robots?

Electronics / Robotics

Oct 01, 2009 | 4.4 / 5 (7) | 6

(PhysOrg.com) -- For the better part of a century, they’ve promised us robots. From Elektro, the 7-foot metal man of the 1939 World’s Fair, to Rosie the robot maid on "The Jetsons" to the android lieutenant ...

From nature, robots

Electronics / Robotics

Sep 25, 2009 | 5 / 5 (4) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- To a robot designer like Sangbae Kim, the animal kingdom is full of inspiration. "I always look at animals and ask why they are the way they are," says Kim, an assistant professor of mechanical ...

Robot Floor Tiles Move Beneath Your Feet

Electronics / Robotics

Sep 22, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (10) | 8

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a stroke of odd creativity, Japanese researchers have created robotic blocks that automatically detect where you're walking and position themselves in front of you before you take your ...

Taiwan lab develops panda robot

Electronics / Robotics

Sep 17, 2009 | 3.8 / 5 (4) | 0

The world's first panda robot is taking shape at a cutting-edge lab in Taiwan where an ambitious group of scientists hope to add new dimensions to the island's reputation as a high-tech power.

Robots Reveal Insights into Evolution

Electronics / Robotics

Sep 16, 2009 | 4.4 / 5 (13) | 22

(PhysOrg.com) -- In an ironic twist to our understanding of life, robots may offer a greater degree of realism for studying some of the intricacies of natural selection and evolution than real organisms offer. ...

The robot children

Electronics / Robotics

Sep 15, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (4) | 0

The brains of the snake robots are still no more advanced than that of a one-year-old, but scientists at SINTEF (Norway) want to bring them up to the level of a teenager. At least.

iCub, the Toddler Robot (w/ Videos, Pictures)

Electronics / Robotics

Sep 09, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (13) | 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- A little humanoid robot called iCub is learning how to think for itself, bringing the world of science fiction to reality. The major goal of the "RobotCub" project is to study how humans learn ...

Fla. boaters urged to look out for missing robot

Electronics / Robotics

Sep 05, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

(AP) -- Scientists on Florida's Gulf Coast are trying to find an underwater robot that has mysteriously vanished.

Le Petit Prince -- the Cute Little Gardener Meant for Mars (w/ Video)

Electronics / Robotics

Sep 03, 2009 | 4 / 5 (4) | 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- "Le Petit Prince" is a cute one-eyed robot greenhouse designed for use on Mars, and is among the top eight finalists announced last week in the 2009 Electrolux Design Lab competition. The ...

Toy Robot to Solve Sudoku (w/ Video)

Electronics / Robotics

Sep 03, 2009 | 4.6 / 5 (5) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- A Swedish programmer, Hans Andersson, has used a Lego Mindstorms NXT kit to develop a robot to solve Sudoku puzzles.