Researchers from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) have developed a novel automated process for designing and fabricating tailored soft robots. This could be achieved by merging two different approaches into an integrated workflow.
Many insects and spiders get their uncanny ability to scurry up walls and walk upside down on ceilings with the help of specialized sticky footpads that allow them to adhere to surfaces in places where no human would dare to go.
It is generally agreed that sperms "swim" by beating or rotating their soft tails. However, a research team led by scientists from City University of Hong Kong has discovered that ray sperms move by rotating both the tail and the head.
Robertson Construction has deployed facial recognition technology on its prestigious National Robotarium project in Edinburgh to support contactless site entry for the workforce.
Scientists from the University of South Australia drew inspiration from a 300-million-year-old flying machine—the dragonfly—to illustrate why future flapping-wing drones will perhaps look like the insect in wings, shape, and gearing.
Living tissue is known to heal itself even after several injuries. However, it has been highly difficult to impart similar abilities to artificial systems like robots.
A flexible underwater robot with the ability to propel itself through the water quite similar to the Aurelia aurita jellyfish—nature’s most efficient swimmer—has been developed by researchers from the University of Southampton and the University of Edinburgh.
Schools of fish exhibit complex, synchronized behaviors that help them find food, migrate and evade predators. No one fish or team of fish coordinates these movements nor do fish communicate with each other about what to do next. Rather, these collective behaviors emerge from so-called implicit coordination -- individual fish making decisions based on what they see their neighbors doing.
Scientists from Italy and Japan have been using chaos and nonlinear physics to develop insect-like gaits for small robots, which are complete with a locomotion controller to offer a brain-machine interface.
Taking a cue from nature, UNSW Sydney engineers have developed a novel soft fabric robotic gripper that acts similar to an elephant’s trunk to grip, pick up, and release objects without damaging them.