While there are examples of apparently ornamental cogs in the animal kingdom – such as on the shell of the cog wheel turtle or the back of the wheel bug – gears with a functional role have been elusive or rendered defunct by evolution. Scientists at the University of Cambridge have been able to reveal… »
Researchers at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL), a collaborative research partnership of the University of the West of England and the University of Bristol, have developed a novel way to charge mobile phones by using urine as the power source which generates electricity. The system generates enough power to enable SMS messaging, web browsing and… »
Researchers at the University of Bristol developed computer vision algorithms that enable creation of real-time 3D visual maps which enable Samsung‘s humanoid robot named Roboray to move around more efficiently. Rapid 3D visual mapping is essential for faster operation of humanoid robots because it provides them with ability to robustly track and recover from rapid… »
Researchers at the University of Bristol have tested six variations of prototype mobile devices that can change shape on-demand. In addition to display and touch resolution, the researchers introduced the term ‘shape resolution’ and its ten features, to describe the resolution of an interactive device. The next time you discus about gadgetry with your friends,… »
A couple of years ago I stumbled onto news about EcoBot – a robot able to operate within an enclosed environment by using food, water and air found around it. However, the idea of robots which consume unrefined biomass in order to operate didn’t allure me from the ethical point of view and that news… »
Inspired by extraordinary camouflaging abilities of organisms such as squid and zebrafish, a group of researchers from the University of Bristol have created artificial muscles that can change their state and appearance at the push of a button, and demonstrated two different transforming mechanisms that could lead to new clothes with camouflaging tricks analogous to… »
There are numerous examples in nature where ‘active touch’ plays a primary role in how an animal finds its way around and how it behaves. Inspired by the Etruscan shrew, one of the world’s tiniest mammals, researchers at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL) developed Shrewbot – the newest generation of a robots that use sophisticated… »
Millions of people with knee injuries could benefit from a new type of stem cell bandage treatment if clinical trials prove successful. The world’s first clinical trial for the treatment of patients with torn meniscal cartilage has received approval from the MHRA (UK regulatory agency). The current treatment for the majority of tears is the… »
