Robotics News
Deep learning optimizes sensor placement for soft robots
MIT built a deep learning neural network to aid the design of soft robots, such as these iterations of a robotic elephant. | Photo Credit: MIT There are some tasks traditional robots – the rigid and metallic kind – simply aren’t cut out for. Soft-bodied robots, on the...
Exyn drones achieve Level 4 autonomy
Exyn Technologies’ drone is autonomously piloted and can go where other drones cannot. | Image credit: Exyn Technologies Exyn Technologies announced it has achieved level 4A autonomy, on the aerial autonomy scale of 1 to 5. This capability enables the deployment of...
SICK, Universal Robots partner on cobot safety
SICK and Universal Robots (UR) announced a new safety solution for the safeguarding of accessible cobot applications for the URe Series of cobots. When combined, the sBot safety system and URCap from SICK increase productivity with immediate automated restart and...
How Ingenuity Helicopter performs state estimation and localization
NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter unlocked its rotor blades on Mars. | Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU I’ve been captivated by the NASA Ingenuity Helicopter in the past month. I was curious to know more about the helicopter’s localization and state estimation technology – what...
Drone helps disinfect Churchill Downs before Kentucky Derby
The race was on – safely – for more than 50,000 spectators Saturday at the 147th Kentucky Derby in part thanks to Pittsburgh-based AERAS. The company used its patented charged-electrostatic drone technology to sanitize Churchill Downs against COVID-19. This in part...
Robot orders for non-automotive industries surge in Q1
Robot orders in Q1 2021 were up 20% over the same period in 2020, according to the Association for Advancing Automation (A3). There were substantial increases in purchases coming from non-automotive industries, including metals (up 86%), life...
Quadruped learns to adapt its legs to changing terrain
This quadruped, called Dyret, automatically adapts its morphology to different conditions in unstructured outdoor environments. The four-legged robot Dyret can adjust the length of its legs to adapt the body to the surface. Along the way, it learns what works best....
Yaskawa launches new PL190 and PL320 palletizing robots
Yaskawa announces the availability of two new 4-axis palletizing robots that extend the range of payloads for the Yaskawa PL (palletizing) product line. The Yaskawa PL190 has a 190 kg payload capacity and the Yaskawa PL320 has a 320 kg payload capacity. All of the...
Deep learning, vision help exoskeleton adapt to its surroundings
Researchers fitted exoskeleton users with cameras and are optimizing computer software to process the video feed to recognize stairs, doors and other surroundings. | Photo Credit: University of Waterloo Robotics researchers are developing exoskeletons and prosthetic...
Scaling teleoperation of next-gen material handling equipment
An operator remotely driving a forklift using technology from Phantom Auto. | Photo Credit: Phantom Auto As the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred warehouse and logistics operators all over the world to implement social distancing policies, the work-from-home trend is...
Desmasa launches new mobile manipulator
The new mobile collaborative robot from Desmasa enables placement of a cobot arm anywhere within a facility | Photo credit: Desmasa Spanish automation integrator Desmasa launched a mobile manipulator platform that it described as a “mobile collaborative robot” (MCR)....
Designing a quadruped controlled & powered by pneumatics
This quadruped relies on a series of valves that open and close in a specific sequence to walk. | Credit: UCSD Engineers at the University of California San Diego have created a four-legged soft robot that doesn’t need any electronics to work. The quadruped only needs...