robots
Teaching robots to adjust their grip the way humans do
Pick up that can. Now say you had to put it down on its side rather than its base, how would you go about doing it? Very easily and without thinking about it, no doubt. But simple manipulations like t
Superintelligent AI explains Softbank’s push to raise a $100BN Vision Fund
Anyone who's seen Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son give a keynote speech will know he rarely sticks to the standard industry conference playbook. And his turn on the stage at Mobile World Congress this morn
Cassie the ostrich bot does the bipedal robot chicken walk
Bipedal robots are one of the most intensely researched areas of mechanical engineering, and while it's a notoriously difficult problem, there's no shortage of material from which to draw inspiration.
Rethink Robotics makes its workplace bots easier to train and redeploy
Robots are invaluable tools in the workplace, but they often still require a specialist to train in anything more than elementary tasks. Rethink Robotics is helping improve that situation with a power
Bat Bot is the biomimetic flying soft robot we deserve
If you've ever seen a bat in flight, you know how impressive their aerial acrobatics can be — so impressive that we have yet to successfully imitate it the way we have with locomotion or even bird f
Cafe X opens in San Francisco, bringing robots to the coffee shop
The world’s first coffee shop opened in Constantinople in 1555. Four hundred and some years later, Cafe X is putting a twist on that old barista model. Opening in San Francisco today, the star
Hanson Robotics built a Professor Einstein toy to teach kids science with a familiar face
Hanson Robotics is making its first foray into the consumer electronics market with an educational toy called Professor Einstein. The device is a pint-sized, shuffling Albert Einstein that uses natura
Researchers teach a flying robot to perch like a bird
If you’ve ever flown an RC plane or even a quadcopter you’ll know the exciting experience of trying to land the thing and ending up in a pond or a tree. That’s fine when you pay a fe
Robots, jobs and the human fear of change
When it comes to technology’s impact on the economy, there continues to be concern that robots and other advances will lead to unemployment. But what does history really tell us about the impact of
Welcome to the future of work
With advances in information technology, robotics, and artificial intelligence developing at a rapid rate, workforce dislocations are happening now and are here to stay. As existing trends accelerate
Crunch Report | Tesla and SolarCity-powered Island
Tesla and SolarCity power an island in American Samoa, after skipping last year Apple holds its Black Friday sale, robots will be helping with shopping at Westfield malls in San Francisco, Michigan do
Oh, the humanoid! Don’t worry, this blimp-bodied robot can’t crash
Generally one thinks of robots as powerful, rigid things packed with motors and actuators. But they don't have to be like that, and in fact it may be freeing for engineers to work outside those constr
Come see Boston Dynamics and its robots stomp on the Disrupt London stage
If artificial intelligence will inevitably be a central part of how we will interact with machines and services in the future, then learning more about who is developing these new AI systems ̵
How combined human and computer intelligence will redefine jobs
The man versus machine dichotomy has been a staple of pop culture for decades. From 2001: A Space Odyssey to Blade Runner to Terminator to The Matrix and beyond, film makers have envisioned what the w
Piccolissimo joins the ranks of ultra-tiny flying robots
Big robots like Spot may be great for carrying things or trotting out onto stages, but just as much sophisticated engineering goes into creating tiny ones as well — and this little flyer from the Un
Swarms of tiny, cute robots will one day bring you your phone, like this
Robots are taking over factories and warehouses, but their next stop might be your desktop or kitchen counter. These tiny "Zooids" work together at high speed to act as tools, display information or m
Disney builds a jolly, one-legged hopping robot
Researchers at Disney Research in Pittsburgh have built a single-legged hopping robot that can currently bounce around 19 times without falling over. The project by Zachary Batts, Joohyung Kim, and Ka
Industrial robots will replace manufacturing jobs — and that’s a good thing
There is no denying that the U.S. and Canada have been losing jobs to offshore competition for almost half a century. From 2000-2010 alone, 5.6 million jobs disappeared. Interestingly, though, only 13
This ‘ballbot’ is like a real-life BB-8
It isn't quite as lovable as the spherical droid from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but this robot from Carnegie Mellon University has the benefit of being more than a special effect (however cool). A
Will the coming robot nanny era turn us into technophiles?
In as little time as a decade, affordable robots that can bottle-feed babies, change diapers and put a child to sleep might be here. The human-machine bond that a new generation of kids grows up with