The Kilobots are coming. Computer scientists and engineers have developed and licensed technology that will make it easy to test collective algorithms on hundreds, or even thousands, of tiny robots.
More Info: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111122112020.htm
Robotics researchers have developed an ingenious technical solution that gives robots a human face. By using a projector to beam the 3D image of a face onto the back of a plastic mask, and a computer to control voice and facial expressions, the researchers have succeeded in creating Mask-bot, a startlingly human-like plastic head.
More Info: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111107161758.htm
A flying robot as small as a dinner plate that can zoom to hard-to-reach places and a fleet of eco-friendly robotic farm-hands are just two of the exciting projects a robotics team in Australia is working on.
More Info: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111102093053.htm
A researcher in The Netherlands has developed a smart eye-surgery robot that allows eye surgeons to operate with increased ease and greater precision on the retina and the vitreous humor of the eye. The system also extends the effective period during which ophthalmologists can carry out these intricate procedures.
More Info: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111027082753.htm
Researchers in the UK have a goal to build over 30 more KASPAR robots to help children with autism.
More Info: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111011074632.htm
Internauts will be able to connect to 17 telescopes on four continents to share observation time. A world network of robotic telescopes is to be developed as part of a European citizen science project that has just kicked off in Spain. The network, to which any citizen will be able to connect and share observation time, will offer free open access via the Internet.
More Info: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111011074641.htm
A six-legged, 25 gram robot has been fitted with flapping wings in order to gain an insight into the evolution of early birds and insects.
More Info: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111017214917.htm
When engineers outfitted a six-legged robotic bug with wings in an effort to improve its mobility, they unexpectedly shed some light on the evolution of flight. The wings nearly doubled the running speed of the 25-gram robot, but was that good enough for takeoff?
More Info: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111017214919.htm
Infants spend their first few months learning to find their way around and manipulating objects, and they are very flexible about it: Cups can come in different shapes and sizes, but they all have handles. So do pitchers, so we pick them up the same way. Now researchers are teaching robots to manipulate objects and find their way around in new environments.
More Info: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110903143032.htm
Robot trading agents, which already dominate the foreign exchange markets, have now been definitively shown to beat human traders at the same game.
More Info: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110727083654.htm