Tag: robotics
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Inexpensive Robotic Power Line Inspection Device Developed
An engineer at University of California in San Diego created a prototype device that propels itself along utility lines and can locate problems that need repair. The device, called SkySweeper and built by graduate student Nick Morozovsky, will be presented at the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 3 to 8 November, in Tokyo.…
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Thin Illuminating Touch-Sensitive Electronic Film Developed
Engineers and materials scientists at University of California in Berkeley created an interactive electronic film with a network of pressure sensors built into flexible plastic. The findings from the lab of Berkeley engineering professor Ali Javey, with colleagues from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, appear online in yesterday’s advance issue of the journal Nature Materials (paid…
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U.K. University to Build Advanced Manufacturing Facility
University of Sheffield in the U.K. says it secured funding for an advanced manufacturing lab to study the needs of the aerospace industry and other high-value manufacturing industries. The £43 million ($US 66.3 million) lab, part of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), is supported by Boeing — which has its name on the official…
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Non-Invasive Device Controls Robotics Devices with Thoughts
Engineers at University of Minnesota in Minneapolis developed a head cap with electrodes that captures and interprets thoughts to direct autonomous devices. The team led by biomedical engineering professor Bin He demonstrated the system with a remote-controlled flying device and published its findings yesterday in the Journal of Neural Engineering. The cap worn by the…
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FDA Approves Robotic Device for Stroke Rehabilitation
Oregon Health and Science University in Portland reports that the Food and Drug Administration approved for marketing in the U.S. a robotics device that helps stroke patients move limbs and improve muscle function during their rehabilitation. The device was developed by Paul Cordo, a biomedical engineering professor at Oregon Health and AMES Technology, a spin-off…
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Airborne Wind Energy Systems Company Acquired by Google
Makani Power Inc., a company in Alameda, California developing airborne wind energy systems that fly in the air like kites, was acquired by Google, according to the company’s Web site. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The company says its wind energy system operates like a wind turbine, but is flown from 250…
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Tiny, Winged Manueverable Robotic Insects Created, Tested
Engineers at Harvard University in Massachusetts developed robotic insects with flapping wings, using a microfabrication process that makes it possible to produce these devices in large numbers. The team from Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, led by engineering professor Robert Wood, published its findings in this…
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Low Cost Soft-Touch Robotic Sensor Circuits Commercialized
Computer scientists at Harvard University developed and are taking to market circuits for robotic devices and potentially other electronic products that can sense the slightest application of pressure. The team led by Ph.D. candidate Leif Jentoft and postdoctoral fellow Yaroslav Tenzer in Harvard’s Biorobotics Laboratory started a company to commercialize the technology, and are licensing…
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Software Testing Technique Devised for Surgical Robots
Computer scientsts at Carnegie Mellon University and Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) adapted new techniques for uncovering software bugs to the demanding requirements of robotic surgery. Carnegie Mellon’s André Platzer and APL’s Yanni Kouskoulas and colleagues will describe their work later this week at the Hybrid Systems: Computation and Control conference in Philadelphia.…
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Robotics Cloud Software Platform Being Demonstrated
Computer scientists and engineers at five European universities and the Dutch electronics company Phillips designed and are implementing an Internet-based robotics software repository to relieve individual robots of heavy processing tasks. Workshops on cloud robotics, featuring hands-on practice with the RoboEarth system, are being offered next week at the euRobotics Forum in Lyon, France. RoboEarth…