Robotics
How Robots Are Helping People With Paralysis Walk Again
Previously the stuff seen in movies, helping people with paralysis walk through robots is becoming real. In the past, using robots as limbs may seem like the stuff you only see in sci-fi. However, recent innovations in the field of robotics are helping dozens of people with paralysis walk once more today. Let’s see some …
How Many Jobs Do Robots Really Replace?
In many parts of the U.S., robots have been replacing workers over the last few decades. But to what extent, really? Some technologists have forecast that automation will lead to a future without work, while other observers have been more skeptical about such scenarios. Now a study co-authored by an MIT professor puts firm numbers …
Coronavirus May Mean Automation Is Coming Sooner Than We Thought
We’re in the midst of a public health emergency, and life as we know it has ground to a halt. The places we usually go are closed, the events we were looking forward to are canceled, and some of us have lost our jobs or fear losing them soon. But although it may not seem …
AI Can Help With The COVID-19 Crisis – But The Right Human Input Is Key
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to help us tackle the pressing issues raised by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is not the technology itself, though, that will make the difference but rather the knowledge and creativity of the humans who use it. Indeed, the COVID-19 crisis will likely expose some of the key shortfalls of …
Stanford Engineers Create Shape-Changing, Free-roaming Soft Robot
Advances in soft robotics could someday allow robots to work alongside humans, helping them lift heavy objects or carrying them out of danger. As a step toward that future, Stanford University researchers have developed a new kind of soft robot that, by borrowing features from traditional robotics, is safe while still retaining the ability to …
From Virus-Slaying Air Purifiers To Delivery Robots, How University Inventions Are Fighting COVID-19
With the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) sweeping across continents and affecting many millions, health authorities, policy-makers and scientists, innovators around the world are racing to invent ways to contain the further spread of the virus. It is our unwavering belief that universities are – and should always be – contributing to this collective fight against this …
Showing Robots How To Do Your Chores
Making progress on that vision, MIT researchers have designed a system that lets these types of robots learn complicated tasks that would otherwise stymie them with too many confusing rules. One such task is setting a dinner table under certain conditions. At its core, the researchers’ “Planning with Uncertain Specifications” (PUnS) system gives robots the …
ABB Robotics & Discrete Automation Outlines Strategy For Profitable growth
ABB’s Robotics & Discrete Automation (RA) business presented its strategy to drive profitable growth at an event for the financial community held at its Solutions Center in Friedberg, Germany. The business is well positioned to outgrow the market with the broadest portfolio of offerings, innovation strength, global footprint and deep domain expertise, supporting its customers’ …
“Sensorized” Skin Helps Soft Robots Find Their Bearings
For the first time, MIT researchers have enabled a soft robotic arm to understand its configuration in 3D space, by leveraging only motion and position data from its own “sensorized” skin. Soft robots constructed from highly compliant materials, similar to those found in living organisms, are being championed as safer, and more adaptable, resilient, and …
The Robot That Can Grip Without Touching
ETH Pioneer Fellow Marcel Schuck is developing a robotic gripper that can manipulate small and fragile objects without touching them. The technology is based on sound waves. The small installation that Marcel Schuck has assembled on his workbench is reminiscent of a school physics lesson: an arrangement, comprising two semi-spheres and resembling a pair of …