A doctoral student from EPFL’s Laboratory of Robotics Systems has developed a concept for modular industrial robots, based on the technology of parallel robots, whose precision is expressed in nanometers. Its developer named it Legolas, due to association to the precise elf of the same name from The Lord of the Rings, and due to… »

Instead being treated as useless mistakes, failed demonstrations can provide great insights into better learning, claim scientists from EPFL’s Learning Algorithms and Systems Laboratory (LASA). Their unusual point of view has led to the development of novel algorithms which enable machines to learn more rapidly and outperform humans by starting from failed or inaccurate demonstrations…. »

Altruism, the sacrificing of individual gains for the greater good, appears at first glance to go against the notion of “survival of the fittest”. But altruistic gene expression is found in nature and is passed on from one generation to the next. An evolutionary robotics experiment at EPFL and UNIL supports Hamilton’s rule of altruism… »

Imagine a computer equipped with shock-proof memory that’s 100,000 times faster and consumes less power than current hard disks. Professor Mathias Kläui from EPFL and PSI is working on a new kind of “Racetrack” memory, a high-volume, ultra-rapid non-volatile read-write magnetic memory that was invented at IBM and may soon make mentioned features possible. Although… »

Micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) are becoming more popular as a basis for the next generation of optical materials. Lemoptix, a spin-off of EPFL, working together with the Maher Kayal Laboratory, completed their development of their miniature projector at the beginning of September. Its developers claim it should be on the market by the end of… »