Nidec, the Japanese electric motor maker, announced that it acquired PAMA, an Italian machine tool manufacturer.
OKI launches Ultrafine diameter cable for industrial robots
The ORP-30F cable is designed for use in the moving parts of industrial robots and machine tools.
Researchers developing self-propelled robots for U.S. Army
Army-funded researchers discovered how to make materials capable of self-propulsion, allowing materials to move without motors or hands. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst discovered how to make materials that snap and reset themselves, only relying upon energy flow from their environment. This research could enable future military robots to move from their own energy. “This…
Soft robot inspired by sea creatures can walk, roll, and transport cargo
Northwestern University researchers have developed lifelike soft materials that could be used as microscopic delivery systems for production of fuels and drugs, environmental cleanup, or transformative medical procedures.
Metamaterials could lead to transforming robots, say U.S. Army, MIT researchers
The U.S. Army and MIT are exploring how metamaterials can help form modular robotic building blocks for transforming robots that can be reconfigured into different shapes and functions.
mini-RCM manipulator developed at Wyss Institute to provide surgical precision
Researchers from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and Sony Corp. have developed an origami-inspired manipulator, the mini-RCM, which could make robotic surgery more portable.
Robotic textiles developed at Wyss Institute could enable mechanotherapies
A new smart fabric that can be inflated and deflated by temperature-dependent liquid-vapor phase changes could enable a new range of mechanotherapeutic and industrial applications.
Xenobots use repurposed frog cells for living robots
University of Vermont scientists have reassembled frog cells into xenobots, a programmable organism or organic robot that can move.
ABB launches IRB 1100 industrial robot for harsh environments
ABB is introducing a new harsh environment version of its IRB 1100 robot and OmniCore controller, designed with enhanced protection against water and dust. The entire body of the new IRB 1100 has an IP67 rating, with all electrical components sealed against contaminants. This makes it resistant to water and provides the robot with protection…
RoboBee becomes more resilient with soft muscles
Harvard University researchers have found a way to make soft actuators powerful enough to enable a RoboBee to fly and collide.
Robotic assembly with swarms and blocks could build aircraft, space habitats
Robotic assembly of large structures, made possible with swarms of relatively simple robots and construction materials organized like building blocks, could change how aircraft and buildings are constructed, said MIT researchers.
Electrothermal actuators propel small robot like an inchworm
Researchers at the University of Toronto have created a small robot that can crawl like an inchworm. Electrothermal actuators could one day transform industries from aviation to smart wearables.
CMU develops self-healing material for soft robotics
Advances in the fields of soft robotics, wearable technologies, and human/machine interfaces require a new class of stretchable materials that can change shape adaptively while relying only on portable electronics for power. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed such a material that exhibits a unique combination of high electrical and thermal conductivity with actuation…
‘Soft tactile logic’ decentralizes processing with liquid metal at NC State
Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a soft technology inspired by octopuses that can sense, compute, and respond without centralized processing.
Robotic thread from MIT could worm its way into brain blood vessels
Magnetically controlled robotic thread could deliver clot-reducing therapies in response to stroke or other brain blockages, said MIT researchers.
Jellyfish unharmed by new soft robotic underwater gripper
A new ultra-soft underwater gripper developed at Harvard’s Wyss Institute safely catches and releases jellyfish without damage.
Artificial muscles from KAIST are small enough to power robotic butterflies
A team at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has developed an ultra-thin actuators for soft robotics, which they demonstrated in kinetic art.
5 materials to evaluate for designing, building robust robots
From soft polymers to the hardest steel, robotics designers should know their materials options that best suit the intended uses of their machines.
Roach-inspired robot shares insect’s speed, toughness
A new insect-sized robot from UC Berkeley can scurry across the floor nearly as fast as a roach, and it’s also difficult to crush. It could be useful for search-and-rescue missions, say researchers.
Wearable device could improve communication between humans, robots
Researchers at in Houston, Boulder, and Nanjing, China, have developed a soft nanomembrane that could help people with wearable devices operate them more smoothly.
Soft robots controlled by magnets, light in new research
North Carolina State University and Elon University researchers have found that light and magnets can be used to control a soft robot and even reconfigure it.
Microrobots activated by laser pulses could deliver medicine to tumors
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have demonstrated a robotic platform for delivering drugs in the human body.