Researchers at the University of South Carolina (USC) Viterbi School of Engineering have designed a robot able to outperform humans in identifying a wide range of natural materials simply by sensing their textures. Named BioTac, the sensing technology could enable robots to ‘feel’ the objects they are interacting with, and it could eventually enable advancements… »

Aside making enemies out of robots, science fiction also depicts them as our helpers. While most of the robots in use today are used to help us in manufacture, explore or entertain us, various research groups around the world are developing algorithms and models of robots which can be safely used along humans by performing… »

Nearly two years after it has been revealed to the public during a ceremony in St. Louis, Boeing recently revealed that their high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) named Phantom Eye managed to complete its first take off and landing. Although its performance is still far from the goals set by Boeing, it does… »

So far, there have been research groups and companies who demonstrated how their robots can function in sync. However, influence from various parameters and events in real world applications do affect robots. A group of researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, MA, developed an approach able to partially handle these problems by… »

There are various teams around the world who focused on development of robots able to recognize and respond to human gestures – abilities which make them suitable for their daily use around us.  Researchers from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Institute for Infocomm Research in Singapore adapted a cognitive memory model named… »

Researchers in Cornell’s Personal Robotics Lab have developed a new algorithm which enables a robot to rely on its artificial intelligence to look at a group of objects instead recognizing single objects placed in front of its sensors. The algorithm enables the robot to  survey its surroundings, identify all the objects, figure out where they… »

Collaboration between researchers from Brown University, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Providence VA Medical Center, as well as researchers from Stanford University who recently joined the project, resulted with the BrainGate project – a project where restorative neurotechnology is connected with externally powered communication systems, environmental control systems, and assistive devices by persons unable to use… »

Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. recently unveiled two versions of a new robotic vacuum cleaner named Cocorobo (a play of words that combines “heart” and “robot” in Japanese). While they are expected to be more expensive than iRobot’s popular vacuuming robot Roomba, the Cocorobo vacuuming robots do come with additional features that might become popular… »