robot

"We're gonna need a bigger jellyfish." I imagine that's what the Navy and researchers at Virginia Tech were thinking when they started development on Cyro, a robot jellyfish that is 5 foot 7 inches across and weighs a hefty 170 pounds.

The Navy has been into robot jellyfish before, but none have been on this scale for sheer size. This big boy is a much larger version of an earlier robot called the Robojelly, which was only about as large as a hand.… Read more

Saudi Arabia wants to spend over $100 billion to build vast solar arrays and reduce its dependency on oil to generate electricity. But desert sandstorms pose a major challenge to keeping solar panels clean and efficient.

Japanese startup Miraikikai is developing a solution to getting rid of this pesky dust and grit: a cleaning robot that doesn't need water.

The firm has produced the Wall Walker wall and ceiling robot, and recently unveiled a prototype solar panel cleaner built with researchers at Kagawa University.

It weighs about 24 pounds -- light enough to be carried by one person -- and measures about 22 inches across. … Read more

It's hard not to get freakishly excited when science fiction becomes scientific fact -- especially when the origins of that science are rooted in Star Wars.

Think back, young Jedis, to the scene where a fresh-off-Tatooine Luke Skywalker is honing his light saber skills under the tutelage of Obi-Wan Kenobi. A round, floating robot called a remote helps Luke practice his Force-finding mojo. Now, NASA is running experiments with miniature satellites, or nanosatellites, that were inspired by that fictional robot.

Roughly the size of a soccer ball, these robots that fly freely in space are called Spheres (which is … Read more

Turning to robots for speech and physical therapy may not be everyone's idea of high-quality, personalized health care. But for stroke patients -- particularly those in rural, isolated areas -- therapists can be difficult and expensive to come by, and rehabilitation can be elusive.

So a speech language pathologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is studying the interactions of stroke patients with the uBot-5, a child-size humanoid robot with arms and a computer screen through which therapists can interact with people. And for at least one stroke patient, the bot appears to be doing a stand-up job.… Read more

We first met Salamandra robotica back in 2007 when it was helping researchers study vertebrate locomotion. Like a real salamander, the manmade critter has evolved over time and we now have Salamandra robotica II, the next generation of the creepy-crawly-swimmy thing.

The original robot looked like a bunch of blocks stacked together. The new one looks like it could star in a sci-fi movie called "Robo-salamanders on a Spaceship." (Hey, isn't that already in production on the SyFy channel?) The robot didn't just get an upgrade in the looks department, it also can swim twice as fast, has foldable limbs, and sports more powerful micro-controllers that simulate muscles.… Read more

Oreo wants you to devote some mental space to cookies again, and has taken to social media with an effective campaign for your neurons.

Its Cookie vs Creme ads have featured a Rube Goldberg-style contraptions to separate the two Oreo elements.

The ads are set to vintage NES music by Anamanaguchi, a heady digital stew that sounds like a sonic Oreo made of YMO and Polysics. But I digress.

The coolest video in the series stars Carnegie Mellon University's HERB robot butler. Under development for seven years, HERB has multi-joined arms and a camera on its head. … Read more

The last time we checked in on Boston Dynamics, its "robot bison" was busy demonstrating what it could do out in the field. And we were impressed.

Today we get to see a different kind of robot animal in action. I'll give you a hint on the type: fetch!

Awww... who's a good boy? The robot on display in the video is BigDog, a DARPA-funded all-terrain cyber-canine meant for military use. It can tackle slopes up to 35 degrees, rubble, snow, mud, and water, and can carry a 340-pound load. Boston Dynamics writes of the monster dog's latest trick: … Read more

Some tasks are better left up to computers, like playing "Jeopardy," calculating pi, and mixing cocktails. Wait ... mixing cocktails? If you don't think a computer can whip up a compelling cocktail, then you haven't met Bartendro.

A creation of the awesomely named company Party Robotics, Bartendro is a robot mixologist crafted from peristaltic pumps, Raspberry Pi, custom electronic dispenser boards, and food-grade tubing. It may simultaneously be the least-necessary and most-desirable robot in the world.

… Read more

Is a robot about to excise your prostate? Well stop right there, mister. Here's some litigation that might interest you.

In a surreal twist to the ads you often see for legal help with accidents, arrests, or debt, law firms in Louisiana and Alabama are fishing for victims of what they call "bad robot surgery."

The ad below from Becnel Law Firm, LLC and Riley & Jackson looks like something that would play in the background of a sci-fi film, but it's serious. The campaign Web site Badrobotsurgery.com says, "Robotic surgery can severely injure the bowel, bladder, and blood vessels. Some of these injuries can even occur without the surgeon knowing it, which can lead to severe complications if left untreated." … Read more