Robotics, features and articles | Educational Science

Mar 31, 2006

Tough All-Terrain Military Robot Unveiled

Researchers unveiled today a unique unmanned military vehicle prototype that combines mobility, payload-carrying capacity, and ruggedness to aid troops in combat. The Crusher is a 6.5-ton vehicle made of high-strength aluminum tubes and titanium nodes protected by a steel skid plate that can absorb shocks from impacts with rocks and...

Sep 30, 2007

Three-Legged Robot Has a Swinging Walk

A unique three-legged robot called STriDER is under development at Virginia Tech University. It's name stands for (Self-excited Tripedal Dynamic Experimental Robot. This cunning four-foot tall stick-figure bot has a totally unique way of walking. One researcher described it as being like a biped with a walking stick. The STriDER...

Sep 30, 2007

Forecast: Sex and Marriage with Robots by 2050

Humans could marry robots within the century. And consummate those vows. My forecast is that around 2050, the state of Massachusetts will be the first jurisdiction to legalize marriages with robots, artificial intelligence researcher David Levy at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands told LiveScience. Levy recently completed his...

Jun 30, 2007

Smart Robot Learns to Climb Mountains

The first climber to ascend the highest mountain in the solar system might be a robot rather than a human. The humble origins of such a mechanical pioneer? A robot that stumbles around a lot before it nimbly stalks the slopes. Before any mountaineering robots ever head off to space,...

Feb 28, 2007

Robots Might Benefit from Sleep, Too

In his recent paper What Do Robots Dream Of, Dr. Adami, Professor of Applied Life Sciences at the Keck Graduate Institute, speculates that a robot might benefit from some down time just like people do. Recent work in the study of dreaming indicates that more than just subconscious entertainment is...

Jan 31, 2007

Origami Optics Promise Better Spy Cameras

The cameras in cell phones and robot spy planes could become more powerful by using optics folded like origami, researchers report. To zoom in on distant objects, professional cameras use telephoto lenses. These conventionally must be super long ?to bend and focus light. Since cell phones are small, they can...

Jan 31, 2007

Incredible Robots Walk, Roll, Climb and Cooperate

They’re not quite Transformers, but new robots created by researchers at the University of Southern California are definitely more than meets the eye. Called “superbots,” they are made up of identical modular units that plug into each other to create robots that can walk on four legs like an animal...

Dec 31, 2006

Robots of the Future: Soft and Flexible

Unlike C-3PO's hard, metallic body or the Terminator's living tissue over a metal endoskeleton, robots of the future may be entirely soft-bodied. A new research initiative is aiming to make robots mushier and more like animals in order to improve their flexibility and usefulness in areas ranging from medicine to...

Dec 31, 2006

Nosy Robots Smell Like Moths

Is it possible for a robot to follow a scent? Massimo Vergassola and his colleagues at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, France think so. They have derived a new algorithm using a method they call infotaxis that is similar to the strategy employed by moths. The simplest approach to locating...

Jun 30, 2008

Robot Caddy Packs Clubs, Stays Quiet

The Shadow Caddy robot is a remarkably simple technological answer to the problem of hauling your golf bag for eighteen (seemingly endless) holes. The new golf robot is operated using a transmitter; once you start it up, the robot will follow you as long as you have the transmitter clipped...

Apr 30, 2008

New Robot Walks Like You

A new robot that walks like humans is one of the most advanced of its kind. Attempts to get robots moving like people typically result in very stilted gaits and limited range of motion. Human walking is really very similar to falling forward in a controlled fashion, researchers at TU...

Mar 31, 2008

Robot So Like You

MIT's Nexi robot expresses emotions the same way you do - with your highly mobile face. Nexi's head and face were designed by Xitome Design with MIT. The expressive robotics started with a neck mechanism sporting 4 degrees of freedom (DoF) at the base, plus pan-tilt-yaw of the head itself....

Mar 31, 2008

U.S. Baby Meets 'Robot' Dad in Iraq

Army Staff Sgt. Erik Lloyd, who is stationed in Iraq, used a remote-controlled telepresence robot to see and interact with his family and seven day-old son in Texas. The (rather good-looking) camo-enhanced device has a live video uplink and responds to remote control. This technology has been around for quite...

Sep 30, 2009

New Robot Delivers Snacks

Rrobotics researchers at Carnegie Mellon University get hungry at work just like you do. Unlike you, however, they can create robot minions to bring them food. Their latest creation is Snackbot, an autonomous mobile robot whose mission is to bring tasty treats. Snackbot is a mobile robot, about the size...

Aug 31, 2009

Can Robots Make Ethical Decisions?

Robots and computers are often designed to act autonomously, that is, without human intervention. Is it possible for an autonomous machine to make moral judgments that are in line with human judgment? This question has given rise to the issue of machine ethics and morality. As a practical matter, can...