Category: Robotics

Taking inspiration from the natural transition of life from water to land, the Organic Robotics Lab and the Archer Group at Cornell Engineering have made an exciting advancement in modular robotics. Their latest creations—robots modeled after worms and jellyfish—embrace a groundbreaking concept known as “embodied energy,” where the energy source is integrated into the robot’s structure. This innovative approach minimizes weight and cost, mirroring the evolutionary shift from aquatic to terrestrial life.

The technology builds upon a 2019 prototype inspired by the lionfish, which utilized a hydraulic fluid system—referred to as “robot blood”—to power devices by circulating energy. This system has been enhanced over time to increase battery capacity and power density, enabling the robots to function in more complex environments. Professor Rob Shepherd explains that the jellyfish robot’s improved capacity allows it to operate longer than its aquatic predecessors, while the worm robot, their first terrestrial model, offers greater freedom of movement without the need for a rigid structure.

Researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China, led by Nikolaos Freris, have unveiled an extraordinary advancement in robotics: the octopus-inspired SpiRobs robotic arm. Drawing inspiration from the fluidity and dexterity of natural appendages like the elephant trunk and octopus tentacles, this spiral-shaped robotic arm combines the precision of a human hand with the agility of animal limbs.

As part of a new class of soft robots, SpiRobs showcases an innovative design that blends nature’s adaptability with cutting-edge engineering. By leveraging reverse engineering techniques, the team has created a robot that can perform complex gripping maneuvers such as reeling, extending, winding, and grasping with an impressive 95 percent success rate in task execution.

In recent years, advancements in robotics have paved the way for new technologies that could revolutionize healthcare and assisted living facilities. Among these innovations are robots designed not only for medical purposes but also for providing companionship or assistance to patients.

A new breakthrough in this field comes from a team of researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, who have developed a robotic system capable of delivering massages based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) techniques. This pioneering system, detailed in a recent paper published on the arXiv preprint server, has the potential to be used in healthcare, wellness, and rehabilitation settings, offering an additional therapeutic tool for patients dealing with various types of pain or discomfort.

Polish robotics company Clone Robotics is making waves in the competitive humanoid robotics market with the launch of its first full-scale humanoid robot, Clone Alpha. This groundbreaking creation integrates synthetic organs and artificial muscles, aiming to replicate human skeletal, muscular, vascular, and nervous systems in a single robotic entity. With preorders now open for the first 279 units, Clone Alpha marks a significant milestone in the pursuit of robots that can move and function like humans.

Clone Alpha isn’t just another robot—it’s an advanced humanoid designed to replicate human anatomy as closely as possible. Built using Clone Robotics’ innovative Myofiber artificial muscle technology, the robot’s muscles are attached to the skeleton at anatomically precise points, mimicking the movements of real animals and humans alike.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and Stanford University have achieved a major milestone in robotic surgery: teaching a robotic system to perform complex surgical tasks as skillfully as human surgeons, simply by training it using videos of real surgical procedures. This development could significantly accelerate the path to fully autonomous robots in the operating room.

The study was conducted using the da Vinci Surgical System, a robotic platform that is already used in many surgeries today. This system, typically controlled remotely by a surgeon, features robotic arms that manipulate instruments for delicate tasks such as dissection, cutting, suction, and vessel sealing. Known for its precision, the da Vinci system gives surgeons enhanced control and a more detailed view of the surgical site, but the latest model can cost over $2 million, excluding accessories and training expenses.

Clone Robotics, a forward-thinking robotics startup based in Poland, has revealed a remarkable new achievement: a humanoid torso capable of intricate, human-like movements. In its demo video, the robotic torso is ghostly white—almost eerily so, with a design that could easily fit into a horror film. But beneath its unsettling appearance lies a feat of engineering that is both innovative and impressive.

While companies like Tesla have made waves with their bipedal robots that can jump, dance, and eventually assist with everyday tasks, Clone Robotics has a different vision. Their humanoid torso, while seemingly less advanced, represents a step in a much more complex and ambitious direction.

Researchers from the JSK Lab at the University of Tokyo have developed a highly advanced robotic forearm that closely mirrors the proportions, weight, muscle arrangement, and joint performance of a human arm. This innovation marks a significant leap forward in robotics, offering enhanced capabilities for future humanoid machines.

To achieve this, the team integrated two muscle motors into a single module that also functions as the forearm’s bone structure. This efficient design saves space by using shared components, and a heat dissipation method allows motor heat to be transferred through the bone. The result is a radioulnar joint that perfectly mimics human anatomy, offering precise control and fluid motion.

Apple is reportedly developing an innovative smart home device that features a robotic arm to move a display, positioning it as a central hub for smart home management. Controlled via Siri and Apple Intelligence, this device could revolutionize how users interact with their smart homes.

The upcoming device is designed to follow voice commands like “look at me,” allowing the screen to reposition itself automatically. It will also be able to adjust the camera’s focus during video calls, making interactions more personalized and seamless.

German robotics manufacturer Neura has recently released a captivating video showcasing its latest humanoid robot, the 4NE-1, performing a variety of everyday tasks with remarkable precision. In the video, the robot is seen sorting items, moving packages, chopping vegetables, and even ironing what appears to be a t-shirt or a shirt.

Though the video is composed of edited segments, 4NE-1 is shown excelling at each task. However, the extent of the editing and the specific conditions under which these tasks were performed remain undisclosed. Despite this, the video has sparked excitement about the potential of humanoid robots and curiosity about Neura’s latest innovation.

As e-commerce deliveries surge, maintaining affordable delivery costs remains a challenge. Vayu Robotics Inc., based in Palo Alto, California, addresses this issue with the release of a groundbreaking delivery robot. This robot integrates advanced artificial intelligence models with cost-effective sensors, promising to transform the delivery landscape.

Technological Breakthroughs and Vision

Anand Gopalan, CEO of Vayu Robotics, emphasized the uniqueness of their technology. “The unique set of technologies we have developed at Vayu have allowed us to solve problems that have plagued delivery robots over the past decade and finally create a solution that can actually be deployed at scale and enable the cheap transport of goods everywhere,” Gopalan stated. Vayu was co-founded by industry veterans Anand Gopalan, former CEO of Velodyne; Mahesh Krishnamurthi, who previously worked at Apple SPG and Lyft; and Nitish Srivastava, also from Apple SPG and Geoffrey Hinton’s AI lab at the University of Toronto. Geoffrey Hinton serves as an advisor to the company.

The first self-checkout system was installed in 1986 in a Kroger grocery store just outside of Atlanta. While it took several decades for the technology to proliferate across the U.S., grocery stores are now firmly headed in the direction of automation. With this trend, robotic bagging seems to be the next logical step. MIT’s CSAIL department is at the forefront of this development, showcasing their new system called RoboGrocery.

RoboGrocery combines computer vision with a soft robotic gripper to bag a wide range of grocery items. To test the system, researchers placed 10 unknown objects on a grocery conveyor belt. The products included delicate items such as grapes, bread, kale, muffins, and crackers, as well as sturdier items like soup cans, meal boxes, and ice cream containers.

A team of researchers at Bristol University has developed a highly dexterous four-fingered robotic hand with artificial tactile fingertips, named AnyRotate. This innovative robotic hand can sense and rotate objects in any direction and orientation, even when the hand is upside down—a capability never achieved before.

Achieving this level of dexterity required the extraction and utilization of rich touch information for precise motor control. The researchers believe that enhancing the dexterity of robotic hands could significantly advance automated tasks such as handling supermarket goods or sorting recycling waste. The details of their research are available on GitHub.