Since at least the time of inquiring minds like Plato, philosophers and scientists have puzzled over the question "What's so funny?" The Greeks attributed the source of humor to feeling superior at the expense of others. German psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud believed humor was a way to release pent-up energy. U.S. comedian Robin Williams tapped his anger at the absurd to make people laugh.
A paper published in the April 2022 issue of IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters outlines the AMBER team's method and represents the first instance of combining hybrid zero dynamics (HZD)—a mathematical framework for generating stable locomotion—with a musculoskeletal model to control a robotic assistive device for walking.
A horse, a zebra and artificial intelligence helped a team of Carnegie Mellon University researchers teach a robot to recognize water and pour it into a glass.
There are up to 66 million tons of waste in our oceans today, and the overwhelming majority of it is found on the ocean floor. However, with the exception of a few potentially dangerous operations using human divers, most endeavors to tackle seabed waste have focused on addressing litter floating on the surface. Researchers from the EU-funded SeaClear project are developing an AI-based solution for cleaning up the ocean floor without putting human lives at risk.
A team of UCLA engineers and their colleagues have developed a new design strategy and 3D printing technique to build robots in one single step.
As robots make their way into a variety of real-world environments, roboticists are trying to ensure that they can efficiently complete a growing number of tasks. For robots that are designed to assist humans in their homes, this includes household chores, such as cleaning, tidying up and cooking.
Fireflies that light up dusky backyards on warm summer evenings use their luminescence for communication—to attract a mate, ward off predators or lure prey.
Uncrewed aircraft responding to fire and medical emergencies will be used to save lives—if digitalized air-traffic control can help them navigate safely in the skies over Europe.
A robot operating with a popular Internet-based artificial intelligence system consistently gravitates to men over women, white people over people of color, and jumps to conclusions about peoples' jobs after a glance at their face.
Autonomous robots have come a long way since the fastidious Roomba. In recent years, artificially intelligent systems have been deployed in self-driving cars, last-mile food delivery, restaurant service, patient screening, hospital cleaning, meal prep, building security, and warehouse packing.