News tagged with robotic mechanisms

Robotic jellyfish could one day patrol oceans, clean oil spills, and detect pollutants (w/ Video)

(Phys.org) -- Virginia Tech College of Engineering researchers are working on a multi-university, nationwide project for the U.S. Navy that one day will put life-like autonomous robot jellyfish in waters around ...

Technology / Engineering

created May 29, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Origami-inspired design method merges engineering, art

Researchers have shown how to create morphing robotic mechanisms and shape-shifting sculptures from a single sheet of paper in a method reminiscent of origami, the Japanese art of paper folding.

Technology / Engineering

created May 21, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Iowa State students take a lighter, more autonomous 'lunabot' to NASA competition

Jared Peterson, working away in the Caterpillar Mechatronics Laboratory in Iowa State University's Hoover Hall, recently held up a small electric motor.

Electronics / Robotics

created May 21, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Robots learn to pick up oddly shaped objects

(Phys.org) -- When Cornell engineers developed a new type of robot hand that could pick up oddly shaped objects it presented a challenge: It was easy for a human operator to choose the best place to take h ...

Electronics / Robotics

created May 09, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Oscillating gel acts like artificial skin, giving robots potential ability to 'feel'

Sooner than later, robots may have the ability to "feel." In a paper published online March 26 in Advanced Functional Materials, a team of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the Massachusetts Instit ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Mar 29, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Snakes improve search-and-rescue robots

Designing an all-terrain robot for search-and-rescue missions is an arduous task for scientists. The machine must be flexible enough to move over uneven surfaces, yet not so big that it's restricted from tight ...

Electronics / Robotics

created Jan 19, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Honda shows smarter robot, helps in nuclear crisis (Update, w/ video)

Honda's human-shaped robot can now run faster, balance itself on uneven surfaces, hop on one foot and pour a drink. Some of its technology may even be used to help out with clean-up operations at the stricken ...

Electronics / Robotics

created Nov 08, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (11) | comments 9

Mechanical engineer creates robot Venus Flytrap

(PhysOrg.com) -- Mohsen Shahinpoor, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Maine has created a robot version of the infamous bug eating Venus Flytrap, using a material he invented himself ...

Electronics / Robotics

created Oct 27, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (14) | comments 1 | with audio podcast report

Giant robotic worm mimics C. elegans nematode (w/ video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- A University of Leeds researcher has drawn inspiration from biology to build a giant robotic worm that can wiggle its way around obstacles.

Electronics / Robotics

created Jul 06, 2011 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (2) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Cooperative robots that learn = less work for human handlers (w/ video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Learning a language can be difficult for some, but for babies it seems quite easy. With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), linguist Jeffrey Heinz and mechanical engineer Bert ...

Electronics / Robotics

created Jun 28, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Robots Playing Shuffleboard (w/ video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Intense robot battles have, for the most part, been confined to the silver screen. Occasionally a robot comes by to trounce us at chess, but robot on robot competition has been fairly limited. ...

Electronics / Robotics

created Jun 08, 2011 | popularity 2 / 5 (1) | comments 2 | with audio podcast weblog

GoQBot: Caterpillars inspire new movements in soft robots (w/ video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have been examining the diverse behaviours of caterpillars to find solutions for the new generation of search and rescue soft robots.

Electronics / Robotics

created Apr 27, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Robot to throw out first pitch at Phillies game

(AP) -- PhillieBot for Cy Young? It's unlikely.

Electronics / Robotics

created Apr 20, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 2

Cockroach inspires robotic hand to get a grip

No one thinks twice about picking up a cup of coffee, but this task has vexed robots for three decades. A new type of mechanical hand developed by researchers at Harvard and Yale promises to solve this problem. ...

Electronics / Robotics

created Jan 10, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Balloon filled with ground coffee makes ideal robotic gripper (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- The human hand is an amazing machine that can pick up, move and place objects easily, but for a robot, this "gripping" mechanism is a vexing challenge. Opting for simple elegance, researchers ...

Technology / Engineering

created Oct 25, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (26) | comments 7 | with audio podcast