Telesurgery architecture designed for the U.S. Army. Source: Energid Telerobotics — the area of robotics focused on controlling robots from a distance — will play an increasingly important role in society in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Telerobotics lets a remote human operator program, control, and monitor one or more robots. This means a […]

TyBot in the Central Susquehanna Valley Transportation River Bridge project. Source: Advanced Construction Robotics Inc. According to McKinsey, the construction industry is one of the largest sectors of the global economy. About $10 trillion is spent every year on construction-related goods and services. However, productivity in the U.S. construction industry has barely changed since 1945. […]

Ava Robotics’ new UV disinfection robot. | Credit: Ava Robotics Ava Robotics, the iRobot spinout known for its telepresence robots, is expanding its product portfolio with the introduction of an ultraviolet (UV) disinfection robot for corporate offices, warehouses, and other work spaces. The new robot is an evolution of a research project Ava Robotics conducted […]

This third-generation UVD robot can help COVID-19 disinfection. | Credit: UVD Robots COVID-19 has accelerated demand for robotics in supply chain and healthcare applications. Robotics suppliers switched from citing labor shortages to the need for social distancing as a rationale for adopting automation.

Self-driving cars and trucks, as well as sensors, artificial intelligence, and other enabling technologies, rode off with the biggest investments in robotics and automation in 2020. Even though the COVID-19 pandemic affected automotive demand and manufacturing, vehicle startups continued to draw more funding than industrial automation, aerial drones, or healthcare systems.

2020 has been a year unlike any other. If the COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t enough, several other world-shifting events dominated headlines, including wildfires, an impeachment trial, a racial justice movement, and an unprecedented U.S. election. While most people are understandably eager to turn the page and hit the ground running in 2021, it’s important to recap […]

Roboat II, MIT’s latest autonomous boat, is 2 meters long and capable of carrying passengers. | Credit: MIT The feverish race to produce the shiniest, safest, speediest self-driving car has spilled over into our wheelchairs, scooters, and even golf carts. Recently, there’s been movement from land to sea, as marine autonomy stands to change the […]

Concept of the adaptable Wheel-and-Leg Transformable Robot being developed by Texas A&M researchers. | Credit: Courtesy of Dr. Kiju Lee A team of researchers is creating mobile robots for military applications that can determine, with or without human intervention, whether wheels or legs are more suitable to travel across terrains. The Defense Advanced Research Projects […]

After nearly a decade of research and development, soft wearable robots are leaving the laboratory and are being deployed across a range of exciting application areas, according to Conor Walsh, a professor at Harvard University. The members of his multidisciplinary team used their backgrounds in robotics, functional apparel design, and movement science to develop assistive […]

Realtime Robotics is helping robots solve the motion planning problem by giving them collision avoidance capabilities. Here, a robot avoids a researcher’s waving hand. | Credit: Realtime Robotics Realtime’s key enabling technology is a unique circuit design that, when combined with proprietary software, has the effect of a plug-in motor cortex for robots. In addition […]