IEEE Spectrum: Robotics

The A-Team of Robots

University of Minnesota researchers have built robots of diverse sizes, shapes, and specialties¿now can the bots work as a team?

First Video of Boston Dynamics PETMAN Biped

PETMAN, the self-balancing bipedal robot designed by Boston Dynamics, emerges from the lab for its first prototype demonstration.

Boston Dynamics Demo Shows Robot Jumping Over Fence

This impressive mechanism could eventually make a great addition to the wildly successful unmanned ground vehicles used by the military.

The Robot Insect Race

Pentagon Cyber-Insect Flies on Command

Robotic Fish, Coming to a Pool Near You

Many robotics researchers are turning to fish for design inspiration.

Who's Proposing Ethical Guidelines for Robots?

Whether it's a debate about rules of engagement or a proposed new set of Three Laws, scientists and analysts are contemplating how we can give robots a moral compass.

AeroVironment makes Hummingbird-like robot

AeroVironment video showing progress with testing of a tiny flapping-wing "nano air vehicle" (NAV) designed to fly indoors.

Important Announcement: Flesh-eating Robot Does Not Actually Eat Flesh

In the latest panic over the robot apocalypse, when Cyclone Power Technologies and Robotic Technology Inc announced their bio-mass fueled robot, the media was in an uproar over what they took to be a human-devouring robot. The companies have had to issue a press release assuring the public that their robot is a vegetarian.

The Droid Works Receives First SBIR for 'Indoor UAV' Research

iRobot cofounder Helen Greiner's new startup, The Droid Works, has just received its first SBIR grant -- finally giving us some insight into the stealth company's plans.

New DARPA Chief Named

It's an engineer!

The Rise of Robot Warriors

Author Peter W. Singer discusses how the United States is remaking warfare using robots

US Army's Future Combat Systems Program Formally Terminated

Transitions to Army Brigade Combat Team Modernization

Video Montage: Robots from Olin College of Engineering

Undergraduate student researchers from the Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Mass have put together a video montage to show off the myriad robots the Olin labs are creating.

A Cheap and Lightweight Control Glove

The AcceleGlove captures your hand signals to control robots, translate sign language, or play video games.

Spectrum Podcast: Rutgers students launch underwater robot to cross Atlantic Ocean

Using glider AUV technology, researchers at Rutgers University hope to be the first scientists to successfully navigate an AUV across the entire Atlantic Ocean over the course of seven months. Ari Daniel Shapiro reports on the project in an excellent Spectrum podcast, explaining the technology behind the glider and what the goals of the mission are. Gliders use low-power variable buoyancy systems to glide up and down through the water column for months at a time and carry payloads of different kinds of sensors to collect oceanographic data. These are primarily water quality sensors -- salinity, temperature, optical quality, …

How Roomba moves

I am a confessed Roomba evangelist. One of the most frequent questions I get is how Roomba knows where to go -- does it build a map? Does it do rows of your carpet? Why is it spinning in circles? Since I'm friends with a few past and current Roomba engineers, I've always known that Roomba is mostly random. It does have a few behaviors -- for example, wall-following, or the spiral pattern it uses when it starts up or when it's in "dirt detect" mode -- but mostly, it wanders, as anyone who's spent time watching their Roomba with …

Festo's robot penguins

A robot penguin and its 3D Fin RayÂ® structure. Source: Festo Following up on a previous post, Festo's latest creation deserves a closer look. To start with the obvious: Why robot penguins? Penguins are amazingly efficient swimmers: According to tests by Festo's engineers, their body shape shows a flow resistance 20 to 30% lower than the hydro-dynamically most favorable known technical bodies. If penguins were to run on gas, their energy efficiency would allow them to swim 1,500 kilometers through icy Antarctic waters - on just one liter (0.26 US gallons) of fuel! Festo's …

Friday afternoon YouTube robot silliness

Happy Friday, everyone! There's really nothing insightful or informative about this post, other than some robot video amusement for your afternoon. Our first video is from the group Flight of the Conchords, who have created a song that describes life after the coming robot Armageddon. Personally I'm prepared to welcome my new robot overlords, thanks to my Old Glory Robot Insurance, but it's interesting to see the situation from the robots' side. Be sure to watch through the end for the binary solo. Our next …

RoboBusiness: Keepon dancing robot's place in autism therapy

Among the attractions at RoboBusiness last week was Keepon, a little yellow puffball robot. I had the opportunity to speak with Marek Michalowski, one of Keepon's developers, about the robot's place in autism therapy and its totally sweet dance moves. Keepon, originally developed by Hideki Kozima, is a "BeatBot." The little robot was made famous by a Wired music video showing it dancing -- and indeed, a lot of Michalowski's work has involved teaching Keepon to respond to musical beats. But believe it or not, Keepon was actually originally developed for autism therapy. It's a relatively …

Boston Dynamics to develop two-legged humanoid (and a new hopping robot in their spare time)

Boston Dynamics, makers of our beloved BigDog robot, have just announced their newest project: to build a bipedal humanoid robot called PETMAN. As part of a $26.3M Army contract, the Protection Ensemble Test Mannequin will be "the first anthropomorphic robot that moves dynamically like a real person.â¿¿
A rendering of PETMAN in its test chamber. Image courtesy Boston Dynamics. PETMAN is designed to test the suits used by soldiers to protect themselves against chemical warfare agents. It has to be capable of moving just like a soldier -- walking, running, bending, reaching, army crawling …