During the winter, the Arctic doesn’t see a sunrise for months on end. Although completely immersed in darkness, life in the ocean goes on. Diurnal animals like humans would be disoriented by the lack of daylight, having been accustomed to regular cycles of day and night. But to scientists’ surprise, it seems that even the […]
Robot trash cans have survived a New York City field test
Throwing out trash can be an icky, and sometimes even confusing, experience. To better understand how humans interact with robots, Cornell University researchers recently created and released two trash and recycling bots to do some dirty work in a Manhattan plaza. And for most of the people who interacted with the adorable barrel bots, the […]
Giving drones inflatable suits could help them survive crash landings
When entering into disaster scenarios, robots still have a major downside—their inability to recover when they inevitably crash into things. Scientists, however, have taken a page out of biology’s playbook, as they often do, to create a drone that can bounce back when met with various obstacles. Think of a bird landing on a tree […]
The Terranaut is a new mine-hunting bot designed for beaches
On April 19, Nauticus Robotics announced that its work on the Terranaut, an amphibious machine designed to defeat explosive mines for the Defense Innovation Unit, had cleared its initial phase and was progressing to further development. The machine builds on Nauticus’ previous work with aquatic uncrewed vehicles. It fits into a holistic picture of untethered, […]
A new robotic seed can wriggle into soil to harvest climate data
Soil is one of the most crucial, if not underrated, elements of daily life—it’s essential for growing the food and resources we rely on, combats drought, protects against flooding, and can sequester carbon dioxide for years to come. But, the dirt beneath our feet is constantly under threat due to rising temperatures and biodiversity loss […]
The smart home gadgets of CES 2022: Doorbells, light bulbs, and robots
Every facet of every thing that you do is getting “smarter.” Every year, the Consumer Electronics Show is full of smart home gadgets designed to make the basics tenets of everyday life at home a little more convenient through technology. Some of these concepts are well-known, like smart light bulbs and doorbells. Others, like “robot […]
Gentle strength for robots
In interacting with humans, robots must first and foremost be safe. If a household robot, for example, encounters a human, it should not continue its movements regardless, but rather give way in case of doubt. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart are now presenting a motion system — a so-called […]