Mobility / Navigation

U.S. Army findings suggest human-made legged platforms should be as efficient as wheeled and tracked platforms.

A Ford Ranger and Range Rover Evoque, retrofitted with Oxbotica’s autonomy software and a full suite of sensors, was recently deployed in a U.K. quarry.

NASA is eager to share the technical details of its accomplishments, unlike the typical commercial robotics venture trying to outpace its competitors.

The DARPA Subterranean Challenge enters the homestretch as the final 8 teams are announced for the last competition event.

The robot uses a camera to see how rough the terrain is, and it uses sensors in the legs to feel how hard the walking surface is.

SLAMcore added dense 2.5D mapping capabilities to its latest software release. Robots require maps of their surroundings and the objects within it to navigate effectively – these maps can include point clouds, 2D flat maps, 2.5D dense maps (with heights), 3D maps and semantic maps that identify objects. One of the main challenges of robot…

The Robot Operating System (ROS) has played a fundamental role in the development of robots as solutions to real-world challenges in many different sectors. From warehouses and logistics, to agriculture and healthcare, ROS-based designs are delivering real value. Since its birth at Willow Garage in 2007, this flexible framework has helped thousands of robotics developers.…

Contemporary robots can move quickly. “The motors are fast, and they’re powerful,” says Sabrina Neuman. Yet in complex situations, like interactions with people, robots often don’t move quickly. “The hang up is what’s going on in the robot’s head,” she adds. Perceiving stimuli and calculating a response takes a “boatload of computation,” which limits reaction…

Boston Dynamics detailed how its Atlas and Spot robots learned to dance, including its use of choreographers and model predictive control.

WeRide, a leading autonomous vehicle company in China, has strengthened its partnership with bus maker Yutong Group, receiving $200 million in Series B1 funding.

In the final Robot Report Podcast for 2020, learn about Boston Dynamics’ plans for its legged robots after its acquisition by Hyundai Motor, as well as the DARPA Subterranean Challenge.

Canadian machine vision firm Immervision has been working on providing low-light capabilities to aerial drones and a wider field of view for autonomous vehicle lidar.

Velodyne Lidar said its new Velarray M1600 is a compact, solid-state lidar sensor designed to provide advanced perception for the growing autonomous mobile robot and last-mile delivery markets.

PickNik shares eight key areas that can affect the overall difficulty of building robust autonomous navigation.

Pär-Olof Johannesson, CEO of TerraNet AB, offers his perspective on how the U.S. presidential election will affect the development of autonomous and electric vehicles worldwide, as well as relations with China.

The Toyota Unlimited Mobility Challenge will soon announce the winner of the $1 million first prize, and we caught up with the two U.S.-based teams among the five finalists working on EvoWalk and Quix wearable devices.

The Cave Circuit, the third stage of the DARPA Subterranean Challenge, was completely virtual, enabling teams to test their software and simulated hardware configurations in difficult environments.

University of California researchers are developing an autonomous mobile robot to sample leaves and measure their water potential.

Wisk said its partnership with NASA is the first of its kind and is intended to address key challenges and create a framework for autonomous passenger flight.

Ouster and CronAI are combining their award-winning lidar sensor and platform for processing image data at the edge, respectively, for 3D perception for early customers.

Boston Dynamics said its Spot 2.1 release includes enhancements designed for ease of use and stronger integration with sensors and enterprise data systems.

Pony.ai will be working with China FAW Group on design and manufacturing of its robotaxis and autonomous trucks. The company completed Series C fundraising of $267 million.