The word “robot” was coined by the Czech writer Karel Čapek in a 1920 play called Rossum’s Universal Robots, and is derived from the Czech robota, meaning “drudgery” or “servitude”.

Jan 15, 2025 · “This new robot platform is a major result from our group and leads to many exciting directions. For example, incorporating sensors, batteries, and computing capabilities on this robot will be a central focus in the next three to five years,” Chen says.

Jan 16, 2025 · An AI that helps humanoid robots mirror a person’s movement could allow robots to walk, dance and fight in more convincingly human ways. The most agile and fluid robotic movements, such as ...

Jan 28, 2025 · “I have 2-year-old twin daughters, and I see them manipulating objects, carrying 10 different toys at a time, navigating across cluttered rooms with ease, and quickly adapting to new environments. Robot perception cannot yet match what a toddler can do,” Carlone says. “But we have new tools in the arsenal. And the future is bright.”

Apr 9, 2025 · A flexible robot can help emergency responders search through rubble . SPROUT, developed by Lincoln Laboratory and University of Notre Dame researchers, is a vine robot capable of navigating under collapsed structures. April 2, 2025. Read full story →

Mar 7, 2025 · Physically nudging the robot is the most direct way to specifying user intent without losing any of the information,” says Wang. Sampling for success. To ensure these interactions don’t cause the robot to choose an invalid action, such as colliding with other objects, the researchers use a specific sampling procedure.

May 6, 2024 · A robot that moves around by balancing on a ball could prove a better assistant for wheelchair users than humanoid robots that walk on two legs

Mar 7, 2024 · Before a robot can grab dishes off a shelf to set the table, it must ensure its gripper and arm won’t crash into anything and potentially shatter the fine china. As part of its motion planning process, a robot typically runs “safety check” …

Nov 20, 2024 · A pigeon-inspired robot has solved the mystery of how birds fly without the vertical tail fins that human-designed aircraft rely on. Its makers say the prototype could eventually lead to passenger ...

Jan 24, 2024 · The iCub 3 robot is a 52-kilogram, 125- centimetre-tall robot with 54 points of articulation across its aluminium alloy and plastic body. Its head contains two cameras where a human’s eyes would ...