robotics tagged posts

With a training technique commonly used to teach dogs to sit and stay, Johns Hopkins University computer scientists showed a robot how to teach itself several new tricks, including stacking blocks. With the method, the robot, named Spot, was able to learn in days what typically takes a month.

By using positive reinforcement, an approach familiar to anyone who’s used treats to change a dog’s behavior, the team dramatically improved the robot’s skills and did it quickly enough to make training robots for real-world work a more feasible enterprise. The findings are newly published in a paper called, “Good Robot!”

“The question here was how ...

UMD engineers demonstrate their approach by printing the smallest-known 3D microfluidic circuit element. Engineers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have created the first 3D-printed fluid circuit element so tiny that 10 could rest on the width of a human hair. The diode ensures fluids move in only a single direction – a critical feature for products like implantable devices that release therapies directly into the body.

The...

A soft robotic device powered by popcorn, constructed by researchers in Cornell’s Collective Embodied Intelligence Lab.
Credit: Image courtesy of Cornell University

Cornell University researchers have discovered how to power simple robots with a novel substance that, when heated, can expand more than 10X in size, change its viscosity by a factor of 10 and transition from regular to highly irregular granules with surprising force.

“Popcorn-Driven Robotic Actuators,” a recent paper co-authored by Steven Ceron, mechanical engineering doctoral student, and Kirstin H. Petersen, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, examines how popcorn’s unique qualities can power inexpensive robotic devices that grip, expand or change rigidity.

“The goal of our lab is to try to make very...

The network, composed of a series of polymer layers, works using light that travels through it. Each layer is 8 centimeters square. Credit: UCLA Samueli / Ozcan Research Group

The 3D-printed artificial neural network can be used in medicine, robotics and security. Electrical and computer engineers have created a physical artificial neural network that can analyze large volumes of data and identify objects at the actual speed of light. The device was created using a 3D printer.

Numerous devices in everyday life today use computerized cameras to identify objects – think of automated teller machines that can “read” handwritten dollar amounts when you deposit a check, or internet search engines that can quickly match photos to other similar images in their databases...