Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory have developed a virtual-reality system to allow remote operation of complex robotic machinery through the use of an Oculus Rift headset, according to a report from MIT. The platform functions around a VR control room that allows the operator to control the robot by taking the…
WATCH: Harvard researchers develop origami robot controlled by magnetic field
An origami-inspired folding robot developed by Harvard researchers uses an external magnetic field for power, giving it potential for application in medical, industrial or consumer robots. Originally reported in Science Robotics and created by a team at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the arm consists…
Robots could soon use new form of actuator: Genesis Robotics CEO explains
In a recent interview, Lisa Eitel of The Robot Report chatted with Mike Hilton, CEO of startup Genesis Robotics. This spinoff of Genesis Advanced Technology focuses on R&D in robotics, oil and gas, medical, human performance, and clean-energy industries. The company recently announced an actuator that’s particularly suitable for powering the joints in SCARA robot…
Synthetic muscle step forward for soft robotics
A research team from Columbia Engineering’s Creative Machines lab developed a synthetic muscle that has a strain density 15 times larger than natural muscle and can lift 1,000 times its own weight that could propel soft robotics creation forward. According to the study “Soft Material for Soft Actuators” published in Nature Communications, the material solves…
Mind melding robots merge to work together
These mind-melding robots can work autonomously, merge to operate as one and even self-heal by replacing malfunctioning pieces. Researchers at Université libre de Bruxelles developed this series of small robots that are controlled by a single brain and mergeable nervous system. In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers explained how the system consists of a…
Study: artificial ‘skin’ could improve robot sensing
Researchers have found a material that can mimic human skin and improve robots’ sensing capabilities. Usually rigid semiconductor materials that create robots’ circuits limit the machines’ movement or sensing, either because they are not flexible or don’t permit electrons to flow efficiently. But the rubber electronics and sensors tested by a University of Houston team…