Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

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Top 10 robotic insects: Can robotic bees save all plant life on Earth?

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As someone who eats honey on toast almost every day, I’ve been quite interested over the past few years by stories about the supposed collapse of the global bee population.

Bees not only produce honey, they are, of course, nature’s great pollinators. Although not the only pollinators around, they’re the only ones who produce honey, as far as I know.

So, I thought I’d delve into this topic a little bit, in light of various academic institutions and companies developing tiny flying robots or drones that could potentially do the job of natural pollinators. [Read more…] about Top 10 robotic insects: Can robotic bees save all plant life on Earth?

European Space Agency to test animal brain autonomy for future space missions

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Opteran works with Airbus to show how nature can revolutionize space robotics

Opteran, which describes itself as ‘the natural intelligence company”, says that Airbus Defence and Space, with support from European Space Agency (ESA) and the UK Space Agency, will test the Opteran Mind, its general purpose neuromorphic software, in Airbus space rovers.

Opteran believes nature offers a more efficient, robust solution for autonomy in space robotics which will enable new mission capabilities for future Mars missions and other space exploration projects.

Based on over a decade of research into animal and insect vision, navigation and decision-making, Opteran is conducting tests with Airbus at its Mars Yard to enable rovers to understand depth perception in the toughest off-world environments.

[Read more…] about European Space Agency to test animal brain autonomy for future space missions

Ritsumeikan University develops ‘soft microfingers’ for robots

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Ritsumeikan University researchers develop a soft robotic microfinger that enables interaction with insects through tactile sensing

Human-robot interactions not only allow robots to interact with humans but also with the environment. Microrobots, for instance, can interact with insects and measure the force exerted by them during flight or walking.

However, this interaction is not direct, with the microrobots measuring insect behavior primarily. Now, researchers from Japan have developed a soft micro-robotic finger that allows humans to directly interact with insects. This could enable human-environment interaction at previously inaccessible scales.

Humans have always been fascinated by scales different than theirs, from giant objects such as stars, planets and galaxies, to the world of the tiny: insects, bacteria, viruses and other microscopic objects. While the microscope allows us to view and observe the microscopic world, it is still difficult to interact with it directly. [Read more…] about Ritsumeikan University develops ‘soft microfingers’ for robots