Robotics
Flexible Yet Sturdy Robot Is Designed To “Grow” Like A Plant
In today’s factories and warehouses, it’s not uncommon to see robots whizzing about, shuttling items or tools from one station to another. For the most part, robots navigate pretty easily across open layouts. But they have a much harder time winding through narrow spaces to carry out tasks such as reaching for a product at …
Soft Robots Of The Future May Depend On New Materials That Conduct Electricity, Sense Damage And Self-Heal
Robots used to be restricted to heavy lifting or fine detail work in factories. Now Boston Dynamics’ nimble four-legged robot, Spot, is available for companies to lease to carry out various real-world jobs, a sign of just how common interactions between humans and machines have become in recent years. And while Spot is versatile and …
Killer Robots Already Exist, And They’ve Been Here A Very Long Time
Humans will always make the final decision on whether armed robots can shoot, according to a statement by the US Department of Defense. Their clarification comes amid fears about a new advanced targeting system, known as ATLAS, that will use artificial intelligence in combat vehicles to target and execute threats. While the public may feel …
Are We Ready For A Future Filled With Robots?
We are in the era of automation. Each year, robots are becoming more and more visible in our cities. At this point, it isn’t that difficult to think of a future where we will be in a full-blown cohabitation set-up with robots. The question is, are cities prepared for a robot-filled future? What can we do …
This Light-Based Nervous System Helps Robots ‘Feel’
Last night, way past midnight, I stumbled onto my porch blindly grasping for my keys after a hellish day of international travel. Lights were low, I was half-asleep, yet my hand grabbed the keychain, found the lock, and opened the door. If you’re rolling your eyes—yeah, it’s not exactly an epic feat for a human. …
How These Shapeshifting “Roboats” Are Going To Change Watercourses
MIT’s fleet of robotic boats has been updated with new capabilities to “shapeshift,” by autonomously disconnecting and reassembling into a variety of configurations, to form floating structures in Amsterdam’s many canals. The autonomous boats — rectangular hulls equipped with sensors, thrusters, microcontrollers, GPS modules, cameras, and other hardware — are being developed as part of the …
MIT Researchers Develops A Slimy Worm Robot For Less Invasive Surgeries
MIT engineers have developed a magnetically steerable, thread-like robot that can actively glide through narrow, winding pathways, such as the labrynthine vasculature of the brain. In the future, this robotic thread may be paired with existing endovascular technologies, enabling doctors to remotely guide the robot through a patient’s brain vessels to quickly treat blockages and …
Should Robots Be Built To Feel Pain?
What is the role of pain in our lives? Pain, we can all agree, is unpleasant, both physically and emotionally. Pain acts as an alarm when faced with danger. Pain can be excruciating, tragic, the forerunner of death. In short, when we feel pain, we feel more alive than ever. Now that robots play an …
The Future Of Robotics Is Soft And Squishy
Whenever we think of robots, we think of hunks of metal. Robots definitely changed the way we do things in fields such as manufacturing and even healthcare. However, recent developments in robotics show that soft, rubbery robots will let us take the next big leap. Why go soft? While metallic robots are reliable in doing …
Why Upgrading Your Brain Could Make You Less Human
Within the lifetimes of most children alive today, bioenhancement is likely to become a basic feature of human society. Personalised pharmaceuticals will enable us to modify our bodies and minds in powerful and precise ways, with far fewer side-effects than modern drugs. New brain-machine interfaces will improve our memory and cognition, extend our senses, and …