Reprogramming that robot involves hand-labeling thousands of images that show it how to grasp these new mugs, then training the system all over again. But a new technique developed by MIT researchers would require only a handful of human demonstrations to reprogram the robot. This machine-learning method enables a robot to pick up and place … Read more
Journal Reference: M. Akter, J. J. Keya, K. Kayano, A. M. R. Kabir, D. Inoue, H. Hess, K. Sada, A. Kuzuya, H. Asanuma, A. Kakugo. Cooperative cargo transportation by a swarm of molecular machines. Science Robotics, 2022; 7 (65) DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.abm0677 Swarm robotics is a new discipline, inspired by the cooperative behavior of living organisms, … Read more
Journal Reference: Antonio Paolillo, Fabrizio Colella, Nicola Nosengo, Fabrizio Schiano, William Stewart, Davide Zambrano, Isabelle Chappuis, Rafael Lalive, Dario Floreano. How to compete with robots by assessing job automation risks and resilient alternatives. Science Robotics, 2022; 7 (65) DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.abg5561 In a study just published in Science Robotics, a team of roboticists from EPFL and … Read more
Le robot Asimo d’Honda, à Tokyo, en juillet 2013. YOSHIKAZU TSUNO / AFP Asimo a pris sa retraite. Le très populaire robot humanoïde imaginé et conçu, en 2000, par Honda a mis fin, jeudi 31 mars, à vingt années d’interventions publiques au Miraikan. Le Musée national des sciences émergentes et de l’innovation, à Tokyo, lui a offert … Read more
Journal Reference: Ruobing Qian, Kevin C. Zhou, Jingkai Zhang, Christian Viehland, Al-Hafeez Dhalla, Joseph A. Izatt. Video-rate high-precision time-frequency multiplexed 3D coherent ranging. Nature Communications, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29177-9 One of the imaging technologies that many robotics companies are integrating into their sensor packages is Light Detection and Ranging, or LiDAR for short. Currently … Read more
Journal Reference: Jack Binysh, Thomas R. Wilks, Anton Souslov. Active elastocapillarity in soft solids with negative surface tension. Science Advances, 2022; 8 (10) DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abk3079 Authors of the study believe their breakthrough modelling on ‘active matter’ could mark a turning point in the design of robots. With further development of the concept, it may be … Read more
TL;DR: It’s difficult and expensive to repair satellites in space. So NASA is building semi-autonomous robots to service them in orbit. They also want to build stuff in orbit from scratch. When artificial satellites are sent up to space, usually it’s a one way mission. Their lifespan is defined by the amount of fuel they … Read more
Journal Reference: Huanbo Sun, Katherine J. Kuchenbecker, Georg Martius. A soft thumb-sized vision-based sensor with accurate all-round force perception. Nature Machine Intelligence, 2022; 4 (2): 135 DOI: 10.1038/s42256-021-00439-3 The thumb-shaped sensor is made of a soft shell built around a lightweight stiff skeleton. This skeleton holds up the structure much like bones stabilize the soft … Read more
Journal Reference: Tae-Ho Kim, Chao Bao, Ziniu Chen, Woo Soo Kim. 3D printed leech-inspired origami dry electrodes for electrophysiology sensing robots. npj Flexible Electronics, 2022; 6 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41528-022-00139-x Based on the intricacies of origami — and inspired by the movements of nature’s leeches — his research is advancing how robots could carry out basic … Read more
Journal Reference: Yu Kuwajima, Yumeta Seki, Yuhei Yamada, Satoshi Awaki, Shota Kamiyauchi, Ardi Wiranata, Yuto Okuno, Hiroki Shigemune, Shingo Maeda. Electrochemical Dual Transducer for Fluidic Self-Sensing Actuation. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2022; 14 (2): 3496 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c21076 This is where “soft” robots have the upper hand. Made of materials called “elastomers” (materials with high … Read more