robot

It was once described as a "glorified crane," but was so much more than that.

Tireless cargo handler, astronaut platform, and critical inspection tool, the Canadarm was an essential component of NASA's space shuttle fleet from 1981 to 2011.

This past week, it became a permanent exhibit at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa.

"This exhibit commemorates an important part of our history in space," Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore said at a ceremony to unveil the exhibit. "The Canadarm is a symbol of our country's ingenuity and expertise in space robotics. It has positioned Canada as a leader in space." … Read more

After more than a decade of work, Harvard University researchers have finally gotten the so-called "RoboBee" to take flight.

According to the scientists, the robot -- which is half the size of a paperclip and weighs less than a tenth of gram -- was able to hover for a few moments and then flew on a "preset route through the air."

"This is what I have been trying to do for literally the last 12 years," Robert J. Wood, principal investigator of the National Science Foundation-supported RoboBee project, said in a statement. "It's really only because of this lab's recent breakthroughs in manufacturing, materials, and design that we have even been able to try this. And it just worked, spectacularly well."… Read more

Mimicking the human grasp is no easy feat. Robotic hands tend to be clunky and expensive.

But now, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is showing off a robotic hand that's dexterous enough to pick up keys and tough enough to survive being hit with a baseball bat.

The video below shows a prototype from DARPA's Autonomous Robotic Manipulation project. Instead of trying to reproduce the human hand in robot form, the prototype focuses on function. It has three fingers that are able to pick up small objects such as keys and credit cards, and it can even grasp objects with tweezers. … Read more

Robotic prostheses may have a way to go before they work exactly like human limbs, but researchers are making great strides. A team out of Georgia Tech is working on new technology that could give these robotic limbs something akin to a sense of touch.

Thanks to tactile-sensing material that covers the entire prosthesis and software that integrates the gathered data, this robotic arm can maneuver through clutter and distinguish between hard and soft objects as it grips, pushes, and pulls more intuitively.

"Up until now, the dominant strategies for robot manipulation have discouraged contact between the robot's … Read more

When I first learned that Cartoon Network's Adult Swim released a sequel to Robot Unicorn Attack (RUA) a few days ago on iOS, I could barely contain my excitement.

As one of the first apps I ever downloaded onto my device, it holds a special place in my heart. I forked over $2.99 for it, and ever since then, I was able to travel to a world with so much wonder and color, my eyes cried rainbows after 10 minutes of gameplay.

And while it's hard to improve a game that already features jumping dolphins and severed … Read more

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A Belgian artist has invented a memory foam chair that expands when heated up. Plus, we take a look at a $1,500 solar-powered scooter and try on the Predator Helmet. All that and more on this week's super-futuristic episode of Crave. … Read more

Using what they are calling "mechanical agitation," researchers out of the Georgia Institute of Technology say they've developed arrays that can sense touch with the same level of sensitivity as the human fingertip, which could result in better bots and prosthetics.

The transparent and flexible arrays use about 8,000 taxels, which are touch-sensitive transistors that can generate piezoelectric signals independently -- meaning they emit electricity when mechanically agitated. As the researchers report this week in the journal Science, each of those thousands of transistors comprises a bundle of some 1,500 zinc oxide nanowires, which connect … Read more

The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots kicked off its protest against self-powered military machines earlier this week.

CNET caught up with the campaign organizers to hear why they want killer 'bots banned -- play the video above to hear their reasoning and to witness the kinds of death-dealing devices the organization is trying to stop.

One thing I wanted to know is why the campaign is so averse to autonomous robots. As Noel Sharkey, expert roboticist and professor, told me, however, this movement is only about putting the brakes on autonomous killing machines. … Read more

While it might look like a giant robotic pet, scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have actually created the "FlipperBot" to generate new data on how organisms move.

The robot mimics the movements of sea turtle hatchlings struggling to reach the ocean. These little creatures need to rely on dexterity and flexibility in their wrists to get around without moving a lot of the surrounding sand.

"We are looking at different ways that robots can move about on sand," Daniel Goldman, an associate professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, said in a statement. "We wanted to make a systematic study of what makes flippers useful or effective. We've learned that the flow of the materials plays a large role in the strategy that can be used by either animals or robots."… Read more