Aside being used by military and in search and rescue missions, UAVs can be used to gather data from archaeological sites. Currently used methods in archaeological mapping usually require years to map the sites, but a Semi-autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (SUAVe) developed by a group of researchers from Vanderbilt University can be used to complete… »
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) funded a Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) program which examines birds’ perceptual and maneuvering abilities when flying at high speeds through complex environments, such as forests or urban settings in order to improve performance of small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in those settings. Aside increasing their agility, these small UAVs… »
Inspired by batoid fishes, such as stingrays and manta rays, researchers from University of Virginia (U.Va.) and their colleagues from 3 other universities are developing an autonomous underwater vehicle that emulates the seemingly effortless but powerful swimming motions of rays. The vehicle has potential commercial and military applications, and could be used for undersea exploration… »
Inspired by the swarming patterns of animals in nature, an aerospace engineering PhD student from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia, is using biomimicry to develop an algorithm which simulates novel and chaotic flight formations of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The results could be used in order to improve their performance in marine… »
Inspired by lizards, which have the ability to turn right side up and land on their feet when they fall, the researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, developed a robot able to mimic that ability. Named RightingBot, the lizard-inspired robot mimics lizards which swing their large tails one way to rotate their body the… »
Georgia Tech’s Center for Music Technology developed a robot whose role is to be a musical companion. Named Shimi, the robotic musical companion is able to recommend songs, dance to the beat, and even create new, unique musical compositions. Instead being just a docking station, the robot increases interactivity and various features which can be… »
According to new results from researchers at the University of Hertfordshire, robots can develop basic language skills through interaction with a human. The research is a part of iTalk project, where previously described iCub robot is used as a platform which listens to humans in a similar way like human babies of about 6 to… »
Most flying robots aren’t built to recover from shocks after a collision, but a group of researchers from EPFL decided to construct a robot which is suitable for navigation in cluttered indoor environment. Named AirBurr, the flying robot acts like some flying insects and takes advantage of collisions in order to find its way around… »
