A new breed of micro-robots has been demonstrated to be capable of constructing complex 3D printed tissue architecture by gently guiding diverse cell-encapsulating building blocks, known as hydrogels, to their proper places in multi-layered and heterogeneous tissue structures.
What do a bat, a jellyfish and a humpback whale have in common? For one thing, these animals use their natural propulsors, such as wings, bells and flukes, to move through their environment, be it air or water. Last week a group of researchers published a study in Nature Communications that indicates that these and many other animals from distantly related groups seem to have attended the same school of propulsion. And one of the subjects they studied there was all about being flexible.
We featured a previous post on one of the most emotionally literate robots in the world Nao, who was developed by Aldebaran Robotics and is currently being used by the ALIZ-E project scheduled to end this year. This cute robot has been tested at aged care facilities and proved helpful for such tasks as monitoring and reducing people’s anxiety levels by engaging with them emotionally.
Now, another European project is testing Nao in a slightly different role – that of a tutor. Needless to say, EMOTE, a three-year research project launched in 2012, also picked up Nao for his ability to empathise.
Watch these termite-inspired robots in action
Termites are some of nature’s most magnificent architects that can easily build complex mounds that exceed their own size by several orders of magnitude – occasionally reaching up to nine meters in height. Paradoxically enough, each of these tiny insects does not have even a remote idea of what kind of structure it is building, nor does it receive orders from any termite authority. In fact, the termites’ architectural prowess makes no sense except in the context of swarm intelligence.
Baxter was released in 2012 by Rethink Robotics as one of the first affordable collaborative robots
Past are the days when working alongside manufacturing robots was rightly considered an obvious health risk. Collaborative robotics, one of the biggest trends in the modern robotic industry, is rapidly revolutionizing the way we view manufacturing robots. While larger heavy-duty machines continue working in isolated safety cages, a whole new generation of collaborative robots is more than ever ready to share workspace with humans. Simple programming, reasonable price, precision and safety are probably the biggest advantages this kind of robots can boast of.
Sandia Lab’s Gemini-Scout
Credit: Randy Montoya
The December DARPA trials saw possibly the biggest congregation of state-of-the-art humanoid robots ever. The DARPA Robotics Challenge was launched in 2012, after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown vividly demonstrated how unpractical our most advanced humanoid robots were for disaster response. Since then, things have improved considerably: robots have learned to climb ladders, open doors, turn valves and even drive vehicles. But are they ready to survive a full-scale rescue mission? Continue reading
