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Articles tagged with: ‘robots‘

Bionics, Robotics, Tech »

PARITy drivetrain govern the flight of minuscule aerial robots

harvard-university-parity-drivetrain-1

Engineers at Harvard University have created a millionth-scale automobile differential to govern the flight of minuscule aerial robots. Their new approach is the first to passively balance the aerodynamic forces encountered by these miniature flying devices, letting their wings flap asymmetrically in response to gusts of wind, wing damage,… »

Robotics »

Social robot OLIVIA developed to be used as a receptionist

robot-olivia-robocup-2010

Researchers at A*STAR’s Social Robotics Programme (ASORO), integration of research capabilities of the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), the Data Storage Institute (DSI) and the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), are developing social robot OLIVIA – an experimental platform for social robot study. The folks from ASORO envision OLIVIA… »

Robotics »

Robots that develop emotions in interaction with humans

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The first prototype robots capable of developing emotions as they interact with their human caregivers and expressing a whole range of emotions have been finalized by researchers. Led by Dr. Lola Cañamero at the University of Hertfordshire, and in collaboration with a consortium of universities and robotic companies across Europe,… »

Robotics »

Programming through demonstration – robot flipping pancakes

pancake-flipping-robot

If you haven’t learned to flip pancakes yet, here is a robot that will put you to shame. Acquiring new motor skills involves various forms of learning. The efficiency of the process lies in the interconnections between imitation and self-improvement strategies. A team of researchers from the Italian Institute of… »

Bionics, Robotics, Tech »

Biomimicry of honeybee eye could improve robotic vision

honey-bee

The capabilities and behavior of bees have inspired scientists in various fields as swarm movement and cooperation. Neurobiologists from Bielefeld University, Germany, have been researching the computational mechanisms that allow the nervous system to extract behaviorally relevant information from the retinal input and to use this information in behavioral control.
In… »

Robotics, Tech »

Origami inspired shape-shifting robots from MIT

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By combining origami and electrical engineering, researchers at MIT and Harvard are developing a transformable robot. The researchers have developed algorithms that, given a three-dimensional shape, can determine how to reproduce it by folding a sheet of semi-rigid material with a distinctive pattern of flexible creases. To test out their… »

Bionics, Robotics, Tech »

Gut movements in caterpillars have impact on robotic design

manduca-sexta-caterpillar

Weird movements in the abdomens of freely crawling caterpillars are making headlines in the fields of biology and engineering. The findings from a multidisciplinary team of researchers, including Jake Socha, Virginia Tech assistant professor of engineering science and mechanics, Michael Simon of Tufts University’s Department of Biology, and Barry Trimmer,… »

Robotics »

Team B-Human won the RoboCup 2010 Standard Platform League

b-human-robocup-2010

The RoboCup is a fascinating combination of innovative research and one of the world’s most popular team sports – soccer. Standard Platform League is a league in which all teams use the same robot platform (Aldebaran’s Nao humanoid robot we described in the last year’s article about RoboCup 2009) so… »

Robotics »

DARwIn-LC robot presented at RoboCup 2010

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As we announced on our Twitter account, we’re going cover this year’s RoboCup. As we said in our article about Robocup 2009, this event has a goal to develop a team of fully autonomous humanoid robot soccer players that could beat the human world soccer champions by 2050. On 24… »

Robotics »

Thermally actuated microrobot with omnidirectional walking

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The past few years have given rise to a growing number of microrobots, miniaturized mobile machines designed to perform specific tasks. Researchers at the University of Washington and Stanford University have developed an insect-like robot with hundreds of tiny legs. The robot is able to carry loads more than seven… »