Using a transparent elastomer, Iowa State University scientists have created tiny tentacles that robots can wrap around delicate objects to handle them safely. The spiraling microrobotic tentacles are described in a research paper published in the journal Scientific Reports. Demonstrating how one of the tentacles encircled an ant’s thorax, softly trapping the insect, lead researcher […]
In what its UC Santa Barbara developers say is a significant step toward brain-like computing; a memristor-based circuit of about 100 artificial synapses has performed a typical human task: image classification. In the researchers’ demonstration, the circuit implementing the rudimentary artificial neural network was able to successfully classify three letters (“z”, “v” and “n”) by […]
Using non-invasive techniques, an international team of researchers have demonstrated direct brain-to-brain communication between two human subjects located 5,000 miles apart. Their experiment, detailed in the journal PLOS ONE, involved reading the brain activity of the first subject, transmitting that information over the Internet, and then “inserting” the information into the brain of the second […]
Spinal cord injuries that result in paraplegia may one day be treatable using a technique that bypasses the damaged neural pathways that connect the brain to the spinal locomotor center. The researchers, from the National Institute for Physiological Sciences in Japan, have demonstrated how the computer-controlled bypass circuit allowed a subject to use hand movements […]
Swiss robotics researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne say the design of their cat-like robot is based on meticulous observations of the feline leg, giving the robot all the speed and stability that real cats have. Writing about their work in the International Journal of Robotics Research, the researchers suggest that “cheetah-cub robots” like […]
In what they say is the first step toward restoring the autonomy of paralysis sufferers, University of Minnesota researchers have demonstrated complex maneuvering by a drone controlled only by the user’s thoughts. The work is documented in the latest issue of the Journal of Neural Engineering. “Our study shows that for the first time, humans […]
Researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have set a new continuous flight record with an electric drone powered by a fuel cell running from liquid hydrogen in cryogenic storage. The Ion Tiger unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flew for 48 hours on April 16-18, shattering their previous record of 26 hours set in 2009 […]
Inspired by the biology of a fly, with submillimeter-scale anatomy and two wafer-thin wings that flap 120 times per second, this tiny robotic insect that’s half the size of a paperclip represents the cutting edge of micro-manufacturing. The first controlled flight of the insect-sized robot is the culmination of more than a decade’s work, led […]
Giving robots a sense of touch has traditionally been an expensive and complex exercise with results that were often less than useful. Now, however, a newly developed tactile sensor using off-the-shelf cell phone components could dramatically change how robots interact with the world around them. The developers of the new TakkTile sensor at the Harvard […]
From the Trojan Horse to D-Day, deception has frequently played a vital role in wartime. Now, with an eye on the future and the increasing military use of drones and other robotic devices, the Navy is funding the development of robots that use the deceptive behavioral patterns of animals to mislead and disinform the enemy. […]
