Tag Archives: robots

Artificial skin that can sense potentially harmful forces could help robots detect danger, in a similar way to how pain helps people avoid hazards. In humans, painful sensations come from a complex interplay between peripheral nerve signals and the brain’s interpretation of them. Electrical spikes sent by pain sensors in …

The deformation of the base of the TRACEPaw foot gives information about what is being stepped on Jørgen Anker Olsen Robots could negotiate awkward terrain surefootedly thanks to squidgy paws containing cameras. Tejal Barnwal at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Jørgen Anker Olsen at the Norwegian University of Science …

Springer Nature / BrunLab@Princeton University Inflatable squishy tubes could be used to build soft robots that move when air is pushed through them. Robotic hands made from metal frequently end up crushing delicate objects like fruit when trying to pick them up, so researchers often experiment with making them out …

Kilobots communicate by flashing red, green and blue lights MC Miguel A swarm of small, wiggling robots that communicate by flashing lights at each other can make collective decisions. This is similar to the process bees use to reach consensus on where to build their nest. “We believe that in …

Humans and robots often work alongside each other to assemble products agefotostock/Alamy People tend to cut corners and allow trusted colleagues to pick up the slack when working as a team, in a phenomenon known as social loafing. Now researchers have found that the same thing happens when humans work …

A 110-year-old patent has inspired a new robotic hand that can securely grip objects of any shape without the need for complex motorised joints. The inspiration for the device dates back to 1913, when a now-expired US patent was granted on an invention for “obtaining intimate contact with, engaging, or …

Remotely operated one-armed boxing robots, inspired by the 2011 movie Real Steel, can respond to a person’s movements in as little as one hundredth of a second. “Taking inspiration from the film and incentivised by the entertainment value, we decided to see if we can realise the concept of real …

Robots could use living invertebrates as grippers to help them pick up awkward objects or grasp things underwater. “We don’t mean it as a replacement for robotics, but as a kind of new direction or new way to do both biology and robotics,” says Josephine Galipon at Tohoku University in …

A microfluidic logic gate made from ethyl cellulose Laboratory of intelligent systems at EPFL Medical robots controlled by edible computer chips could deliver drugs inside the body, say researchers. Similar robots could also be used to deliver drugs or vital nutrients to at-risk animals and then naturally biodegrade. Soft robots …

Beer fermentation vats Shutterstock/Digieva Tiny robots packed with yeast speed up the fermentation of beer and eliminate the need to filter it before bottling. Using living yeast to convert sugar to alcohol is a key part of making beer, but it can be time consuming, and the yeast can spoil and …