Where Innovation Meets Imagination
This summer’s weather extremes were stark reminders that climate change is not only real, it’s here.
Less visible to most of us than smoke-filled skies, water-logged roads, and life-threatening heat – but just as important – is the dramatic and ongoing decline of global bee populations.
Many crops rely on commercially managed honeybees, wild native bees, and other pollinators to reproduce. [Read more…] about Robotics engineers work to ‘bee’ part of climate change solution
Researchers propose a novel approach that utilizes deep learning to generate three-dimensional holograms from colored two-dimensional images – faster than a “state-of-the-art graphics processing unit”
Holograms have long held the promise of offering immersive three-dimensional (3D) experiences, but the challenges involved in generating them have limited their widespread use.
Capitalizing on the recent developments in deep learning, researchers from Chiba University now propose what they say is “a game-changing approach” that utilizes neural networks to transform ordinary two-dimensional color images into 3D holograms.
The researchers say their proposed approach can simplify 3D hologram generation and can find applications in numerous fields, including healthcare and entertainment. [Read more…] about Scientists create new technique to generate holograms faster than any GPU
Rising kidney transplant demands underscore a pressing global health concern. While 3D-printed organs promise a potential solution, challenges in printing speed and accuracy persist. In this Q&A interview, Vidmantas Šakalys of Vital 3D provides valuable insights and hints at a “transformative solution on the horizon”.
The increasing demand for organ transplants paints a dire picture of the global health industry. According to the Global Observatory of Donation and Transplantation, 2021 witnessed an overwhelming 144,301 organ transplants, marking an 11.3 percent surge from 2020 with this number gradually increasing each year. Alarmingly, out of this figure, approximately two-thirds were kidney transplants.
In the United States alone, out of almost 90,000 US citizens on the wait list for a kidney transplant in a given year, only around 25,000 receive one, with 17 individuals losing their battle against time every day, succumbing to the consequences of extended waiting periods. [Read more…] about Can 3D printed organs alleviate shortages of kidneys for transplants?
With prices ranging from $16,000 to $150,000, the cost of robotic hands has stunted progress in manipulation research.
Even as machine learning and artificial intelligence enable robots to acquire more skills and accomplish more tasks, the lack of suitable, reliable and affordable hardware has limited the transfer of these gains out of simulation and into the real world.
For example, robotic hands that can mimic a human’s more closely than the more affordable grippers currently used in labs can operate the same tools as people and accomplish more tasks. [Read more…] about Carnegie Mellon researchers demo robotic hand costing less than $2,000
Small mobile robots carrying sensors could perform tasks like catching gas leaks or tracking warehouse inventory. But moving robots demands a lot of energy, and batteries, the typical power source, limit lifetime and raise environmental concerns.
Researchers have explored various alternatives: affixing sensors to insects, keeping charging mats nearby, or powering the robots with lasers. Each has drawbacks. Insects roam. Chargers limit range. Lasers can burn people’s eyes.
Researchers at the University of Washington have now created MilliMobile, a tiny, self-driving robot powered only by surrounding light or radio waves. [Read more…] about Washington university scientists build tiny, self-driving robot powered only by light and radio waves
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) researchers have partnered with the City of Worcester to develop a lizard-like soft robot that can creep into walls, ductwork, and pipes to perform inspections and three-dimensional mapping tasks that could be dangerous or impossible for humans.
Funded by a $50,000 National Science Foundation grant, the team – Cagdas Onal, Paul Mathisen, Yunus Telliel, and Berk Calli – collaborated with students and city officials to design the slender and deformable robot, which can get into tight spaces much less invasively than current methods allow.
The team built the prototype robot – an “origami” design made of plastic, 3D-printed, and laser-machined parts, custom circuit boards, a miniature computer, sensors, a few metal parts and motors – and tested it in locations across the city that included City Hall and the Worcester Senior Center. [Read more…] about Worcester Polytechnic invents robot lizard to ‘sneak into small spaces’
Researchers at Purdue University are advancing the world of robotics and autonomy with their patent-pending method that improves on traditional machine vision and perception.
Zubin Jacob, the Elmore Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and research scientist Fanglin Bao have developed HADAR, or heat-assisted detection and ranging.
Their research was featured on the cover of the July 26 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Nature. A video about HADAR is available on YouTube. Nature also has released a podcast episode that includes an interview with Jacob. [Read more…] about Purdue thermal imaging innovation allows AI to ‘see through pitch darkness like broad daylight’
Plymouth State University (PSU) students in their “Spring 2023 Industrial Robotics” course began work on a multi-semester project to bring new life to a pair of robots belonging to Casella Waste Systems, which has used six of these robots to ward off wildlife at their Bethlehem, New Hampshire landfill for roughly the past four years.
The project will continue during the next school year, providing a hands-on learning experience in a partnership that will benefit students, Casella, and ultimately regional wildlife.
The partnership between Plymouth State University’s first-in-the-state Robotics bachelor’s degree program and Casella was created in the hopes of bringing many of these robots, which use obsolete systems and have fallen into general disrepair, back into peak working order. [Read more…] about Plymouth university students design and build ‘scarecrow’ robots to protect wildlife
Researchers create new simulation tool for robots to manipulate complex fluids in a step towards helping robots more effortlessly assist with daily tasks that deal with liquids
Imagine you’re enjoying a picnic by a riverbank on a windy day. (Why you chose to do this on a windy day was your own poor decision).
A gust of wind accidentally catches your paper napkin and lands on the water’s surface, quickly drifting away from you. You grab a nearby stick and carefully agitate the water to retrieve it, creating a series of small waves.
These waves eventually push the napkin back towards the shore, so you grab it. In this scenario, the water acts as a medium for transmitting forces, enabling you to manipulate the position of the napkin without direct contact. [Read more…] about MIT scientists find new way to help robots handle fluids
Columbia university engineers design a robot hand (video below) that is the first device of its kind to join advanced sense of touch with motor-learning algorithms – it doesn’t rely on vision to manipulate objects
Think about what you do with your hands when you’re home at night pushing buttons on your TV’s remote control, or at a restaurant using all kinds of cutlery and glassware.
These skills are all based on touch, while you’re watching a TV program or choosing something from the menu. Our hands and fingers are incredibly skilled mechanisms, and highly sensitive to boot.
Robotics researchers have long been trying to create “true” dexterity in robot hands, but the goal has been frustratingly elusive. Robot grippers and suction cups can pick and place items, but more dexterous tasks such as assembly, insertion, reorientation, packaging and so on have remained in the realm of human manipulation. [Read more…] about Columbia scientists build ‘highly dexterous robot hand that can operate in the dark – just like humans’
