Robotics Research News

December 25, 2024

Top Headlines

AI-Driven Approach Reveals Hidden Hazards of Chemical Mixtures in Rivers

Dec. 20, 2024 — Artificial intelligence can provide critical insights into how complex mixtures of chemicals in rivers affect aquatic life -- paving the way for better environmental ...

Swarms of 'Ant-Like' Robots Lift Heavy Objects and Hurl Themselves Over Obstacles

Dec. 18, 2024 — Scientists have developed swarms of tiny magnetic robots that work together like ants to achieve Herculean feats, including traversing and picking up objects many times their size. The findings ...

Tiny Robots, Big Impact: Revolutionizing Infertility Treatment With Magnetic Microrobots

Dec. 17, 2024 — Infertility affects an estimated 186 million people worldwide, with fallopian tube obstruction contributing to 11%-67% of female infertility cases. Researchers have developed an innovative solution ...

Breakthrough in Zinc-Based Rechargeable Batteries: A Safer, Sustainable Alternative

Dec. 11, 2024 — Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries power everything from electric vehicles to wearable devices. But new research suggests that a more sustainable and cost-effective alternative may lie in zinc-based ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:38pm EST

Diversity and Inclusion Accelerate the Pace of Innovation in Robotics

Dec. 12, 2024 — Diverse and inclusive teams are not merely a moral imperative but also a catalyst for scientific excellence in robotics, scientists point out in a study. The team has outlined how a scientific ...

Minuscule Robots for Targeted Drug Delivery

Dec. 11, 2024 — An interdisciplinary team has created tiny bubble-like microrobots that can deliver therapeutics right where they are needed and then be absorbed by the ...

10,000 Times Faster Than Traditional Methods: New Computational Framework Automatically Discovers Experimental Designs in Microscopy

Dec. 10, 2024 — For human researchers, it takes many years of work to discover new super-resolution microscopy techniques. The number of possible optical ...

Empowering Older Adults With Home-Care Robots

Dec. 10, 2024 — The rapidly increasing aging population will lead to a shortage of care providers in the future. While robotic technologies are a potential alternative, their widespread use is limited by poor ...

Magnetically Controlled Kirigami Surfaces Move Objects: No Grasping Needed

Dec. 6, 2024 — Researchers have developed a novel device that couples magnetic fields and kirigami design principles to remotely control the movement of a flexible dimpled surface, allowing it to manipulate objects ...

New Shape-Changing Polymer Developed

Dec. 6, 2024 — A team of scientists has created a new shape-changing polymer that could transform how future soft materials are ...

Researchers Innovate Scalable Robotic Fibers With Light-Emitting, Self-Healing and Magnetic Properties

Dec. 6, 2024 — A team of interdisciplinary scientists has developed flexible fibers with self-healing, light-emitting and magnetic properties. The Scalable ...

Bird-Inspired Drone Can Jump for Take-Off

Dec. 6, 2024 — Researchers have built a drone that can walk, hop, and jump into flight with the aid of birdlike legs, greatly expanding the range of potential environments accessible to unmanned aerial ...

Helping Robots Make Good Decisions in Real Time

Dec. 4, 2024 — An innovative algorithm called Spectral Expansion Tree Search helps autonomous robotic systems make optimal choices on the ...

Manta Rays Inspire Fast Swimming Soft Robot Yet

Dec. 4, 2024 — A team of researchers has beaten its own record for the fastest swimming soft robot, drawing inspiration from manta rays to improve their ability to control the robot's movement in the ...

How a Middle Schooler Found a New Compound in a Piece of Goose Poop

Dec. 2, 2024 — A group of young students became bonafide biomedical scientists before they even started high school. Through a partnership with a nearby university, the middle schoolers collected and analyzed ...

Smallest Walking Robot Makes Microscale Measurements

Dec. 2, 2024 — Researchers have created the smallest walking robot yet. Its mission: to be tiny enough to interact with waves of visible light and still move independently, so that it can maneuver to specific ...

Innovative Robot Navigation Inspired by Brain Function Boosts Efficiency and Accuracy

Dec. 2, 2024 — A research team has taken inspiration from the brains of insects and animals for more energy-efficient robotic ...

Innovative Nanostructures Pave the Way for Advanced Robotics -- And Mini Dinosaurs

Nov. 28, 2024 — Using 'DNA origami' scientists have built innovative nanostructures that pave the way for advanced robotics that can deliver targeted drugs -- plus they made a tiny map of Australia and ...

Nanorobot Hand Made of DNA Grabs Viruses for Diagnostics and Blocks Cell Entry

Nov. 27, 2024 — A tiny, four-fingered 'hand' folded from a single piece of DNA can pick up the virus that causes COVID-19 for highly sensitive rapid detection and can even block viral particles from ...

Synchronized Movement Between Robots and Humans Builds Trust, Study Finds

Nov. 20, 2024 — Trust between humans and robots is improved when the movement between both is harmonized, researchers have ...

Effortless Robot Movements

Nov. 18, 2024 — Humans and animals move with remarkable economy without consciously thinking about it by utilizing the natural oscillation patterns of their bodies. A new tool can now utilize this knowledge for the ...

AI Headphones Create a 'Sound Bubble,' Quieting All Sounds More Than a Few Feet Away

Nov. 14, 2024 — Researchers have created a headphone prototype that allows listeners to hear people speaking within a bubble with a programmable radius of 3 to 6 feet. Voices and sounds outside the bubble are ...

Robotic Shorts Support People When Walking

Nov. 14, 2024 — Researchers have developed robotic trousers that enable people to walk more easily while expending measurably less energy. The aim is to keep frail individuals and in particular the elderly mobile ...

Wave-Predicting Robots Could Cut Green Energy Costs

Nov. 14, 2024 — Underwater robots that can predict waves in real-time could reduce the cost of producing offshore renewable energy, a study ...

Sensitive Ceramics for Soft Robotics

Nov. 14, 2024 — Robots that can sense touch and perceive temperature differences? An unexpected material might just make this a reality. Researchers are developing soft and intelligent sensor materials based on ...

Robot Identifies Plants by 'Touching' Their Leaves

Nov. 13, 2024 — Researchers have developed a robot that identifies different plant species at various stages of growth by 'touching' their leaves with an electrode. The robot can measure properties such as ...

Giving Robots Superhuman Vision Using Radio Signals

Nov. 12, 2024 — Researchers have developed PanoRadar, a new tool to give robots superhuman vision by transforming simple radio waves into detailed, 3D views of the ...

Robot That Watched Surgery Videos Performs With Skill of Human Doctor, Researchers Report

Nov. 11, 2024 — A robot, trained for the first time by watching videos of seasoned surgeons, executed the same surgical procedures as skillfully as the human doctors, say ...

Robot Learns How to Clean a Washbasin

Nov. 7, 2024 — Scientists have created a robot that can learn tasks like cleaning a washbasin just by watching humans. A special sponge with sensors is used to show the robot how to clean. Using an advanced machine ...

Plastic Device Aids Robot-Assisted Heart Surgery

Nov. 7, 2024 — A team has developed a plastic surgical field expansion plate that can help surgeons during robot-assisted heart ...

AI-Driven Mobile Robots Team Up to Tackle Chemical Synthesis

Nov. 6, 2024 — Researchers have developed AI-driven mobile robots that can carry out chemical synthesis research with extraordinary efficiency. Researchers show how mobile robots that use AI logic to make decisions ...

New Methods for Whale Tracking and Rendezvous Using Autonomous Robots

Oct. 31, 2024 — Today, a research team has proposed a new reinforcement learning framework with autonomous drones to find sperm whales and predict where they will ...

Wearable Ultrasound Tech for Muscle Monitoring Opens New Possibilities in Healthcare and Human-Machine Interfaces

Oct. 31, 2024 — Researchers have developed a compact, wearable ultrasound device that monitors muscle activity. Attachable to the skin with an adhesive and powered by a small battery, the device wirelessly captures ...

How Virtual Cows Could Help Us Improve Human-Robot Interactions

Oct. 31, 2024 — A video game in which participants herded virtual cattle has furthered our understanding of how humans make decisions on movement and navigation, and it could help us not only interact more ...