Inspired by sea cucumbers, engineers have designed miniature robots that rapidly and reversibly shift between liquid and solid states. On top of being able to shape-shift, the robots are magnetic and can conduct electricity. The researchers put the robots through an obstacle course of mobility and shape-morphing tests. Their study was published January 25 in the journal Matter.
Scientists have developed a tiny mechanical probe that can measure the inherent stiffness of cells and tissues as well as the internal forces the cells generate and exert on one another. Their new "magnetic microrobot" is the first such probe to be able to quantify both properties, the researchers report, and will aid in understanding cellular processes associated with development and disease.
A research team led by Professor Hwangbo Jemin of the KAIST Department of Mechanical Engineering has developed a quadrupedal robot control technology that can walk robustly with agility even in deformable terrain such as a sandy beach.
Conventional robots based on separate joints do not always perform well in complex real-world tasks, particularly those that involve the dexterous manipulation of objects. Some roboticists have thus been trying to devise continuum robots, robotic platforms characterized by infinite degrees of freedom and no fixed number of joints.
The enhancement of human-machine interaction is expected to bring notable improvements in support for learning and access to health care.
A new gelatinous robot that crawls, powered by nothing more than temperature change and clever design, brings "a kind of intelligence" to the field of soft robotics.
EPFL researchers have developed a method that allows a flapping-wing robot to land autonomously on a horizontal perch using a claw-like mechanism. The innovation could significantly expand the scope of robot-assisted tasks.
Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) is a promising technology that can be used to improve the navigation of autonomous systems, helping them to map their surrounding environment and track other objects within it. So far, it has primarily been applied to terrestrial vehicles and mobile robots, yet it could also potentially be expanded to spacecraft.
Individual ants are relatively simple creatures and yet a colony of ants can perform really complex tasks, such as intricate construction, foraging and defense.
An unmanned semi-submersible vehicle developed at Washington State University may prove that the best way to travel in water undetected and efficiently is not on top, or below, but in-between.