Researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) broke the endurance record for small electric Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) by developing a vehicle powered by liquid hydrogen fuel and a fuel cell. This flight shatters their previous record of 26 hours and 2 minutes set in 2009 using the same vehicle, but with gaseous hydrogen… »
As most researchers who work with computer vision know, it can be troublesome to discover objects in its surroundings. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute introduced properties such as object’s location, size, shape and even whether it can be lifted in order to enable a robot to continually discover and refine its understanding of… »
Researchers at the University of Maryland have developed and demonstrated a new flying robot which flaps its wings completely independently of each other. Dubbed Robo Raven, the robot can be programmed to perform any desired motion, enabling the bird to perform aerobatic maneuvers. This is the first time a robotic bird with these capabilities has… »
Collaboration in an interdisciplinary team of researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Northwestern University and Temple University led to development of a robot inspired by sea turtle hatchlings. Named FlipperBot, the robot is being developed for better understanding of principles that govern movement using flippers – thus leading to more efficient robots that… »
After devising systems inspired by penguins, herring gulls and elephant trunk, engineers at Festo devised a new system suitable for their Bionic Learning Network project. Inspired by dragonflies, they developed BionicOpter – an ultra-light system packed with everything needed to mimic the way dragonflies maneuver in all directions, glide without having to beat their wings… »
A group of researchers at the Virginia Tech College of Engineering, who previously developed a small robotic jellyfish Robojelly, developed its larger version and named it Cyro – a name derived from “cyanea” and “robot”. The cyanea part of the name originates from cyanea capillata (Lion’s mane jellyfish) – the largest known species of jellyfish… »
In Europe, strokes are the most common cause of physical disability among the elderly. Researchers in six European countries are currently developing a robotic system designed to help stroke patients re-train their bodies. Gathered in the CORBYS project, the researchers have a goal to create a system that can help stroke patients with training, motivation… »
A student at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich developed an algorithm which enables two quadrotors to balance an inverted pendulum and juggle it among each other. In order to achieve this stunt, the researchers had to set theoretical models of the process, and engineer the complete system of balancing, throwing, catching, and… »
