Smooth gaits and graceful movements seen in nature could help robots navigate terrain without falling over. Johns Hopkins University researchers studied videos of cockroaches running to help their insect-like bot find its way. Sean W. Gart is the lead researcher on two papers produced with work done in the Terradynamics Lab. They filmed cockroaches with […]
Video: Boston Dynamics’ Spot Can Open Doors Now
It’s a bit clumsy, but the door is technically open. Boston Dynamics’ four-legged robot SpotMini swings a door open and holds it for a friend in the newest YouTube clip from the videogenic robot lab. The video brings together three elements of the doglike robots’ development: the manipulator arm, Spot’s 3D vision system, and the […]
Video of the Day: 1,218 Drones Fly in Olympics Performance
The opening ceremony at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang included a record-setting performance by machines to kick off the competition between people. Intel launched 1,218 drones in a choreographed dance displayed during the ceremony. One computer coordinated the entire light show, which was not performed live at the opening ceremony but was pre-recorded in early […]
SES Appoints New Executives
Steve Collar has been promoted to CEO Designate of satellite operator SES as part of an executive handover from the current CFO and CEO. Andrew Browne has also been appointed to a new position as next CFO of SES, stepping up from CFO of O3b Networks and formerly CFO of SES between 2010 and 2013. […]
Video of the Day: Palm-Sized Home Drone
Out of the mass of drone startups comes this elegant little prototype from Cleo Robotics. It uses a centralized ducted fan to fly, and is designed to be easy to hold and fit in a pocket. More detail can be found at IEEE.
Video of the Day: Spider Robot is a Tiny Cargo Carrier
Harvard University researchers have built a spider robot that can carry items twice its body weight and can be used to transport small sensors. “The HAMR platform evolved from our exploration of millimeter-scale fabrication and actuation strategies,” said Robert J. Wood,a professor of engineering and applied sciences and a member of the Harvard Wyss Institute […]
Former Intel President Announces ARM-Based Chip Company
Intel has been facing some trouble lately with the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities, and new competition might come to the chipmaker from a group of former employees. Former Intel president Renée James is starting a new chip company, poised to use Intel’s rival ARM architecture. That company is called Ampere, and it’s using chips from […]
Video of the Day: Microfluidics on a Lego Brick
Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that Lego bricks were perfect for their research into microfluidics. Instead of working on a lab-on-a-chip design, they used the existing standardized form of the Lego to create a modular system of tubes and ports that can be rearranged easily. After all, that’s exactly what Legos are designed […]
Optical Solution Includes 360-Degree Thermal Infrared Lens
Photo of the Day: Nuclear Reactor for Mars Missions
On Jan. 17, NASA announced the beginning of reactor core tests on a miniaturized fission reactor. “We want a power source that can handle extreme environments,” said Lee Mason, NASA’s principal technologist for power and energy storage, in a press release. “Kilopower opens up the full surface of Mars, including the northern latitudes where water […]