Robotics Trends

Archive Listing



    1. Cockroaches Offer Inspiration for Running Robots

    Academics and Research | Dec 29, 2009

    Oregon State University researchers are working to apply basic biological and mechanical principles that allow certain animals to run effortlessly over rough terrain to running robots.

    2. OceanServer Delivers Iver2 AUV to Naval Surface Warfare Center

    Security & Defense Robotics | Dec 28, 2009

    Developer of low cost, single man-portable autonomous underwater vehicles delivers two Iver2 platforms to US Navy’s Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Indian Head Division for sensor research and evaluation.

    3. Silicon Labs Microcontrollers Deliver Industry’s Lowest Active and Sleep Current

    Design and Development | Dec 24, 2009
    MCUs integrate a efficient dc-to-dc converter designed to operate down to 0.9 V, enabling low-cost battery operation, which supports smaller form factors, reduces system cost and provides an innovative way to extend battery life.…

    4. Viewbits Introduces 12 Megapixel, 25 Frames per Second, Machine Vision Camera

    Industrial Automation | Dec 21, 2009

    Compact Iyeron CMOS monochrome camera with camera link captures full frame 4096 x 3072 resolution images at usable rates that compete strongly with linescan cameras.

    5. Carnegie Mellon Engineers Develop Machine That Visually Inspects and Sorts Strawberry Plants

    Service Robotics | Dec 20, 2009

    CMU researchers combine machine vision and intelligence to develop agricultural solution that formerly could only be accomplished manually.

    6. STMicroelectronics Combines Linear and Angular Motion Sensing in a Single Device

    Design and Development | Dec 19, 2009

    By integrating a 3-axis digital accelerometer with a 2-axis analog gyroscope in a single module, the new device improves performance, boosts reliability, reduces size and shrinks cost, for multiple applications in remote controllers, personal navigation systems and other portable devices.

    7. GE Aviation and AAI Perform First Trajectory-Based Flight on Unmanned Aircraft System

    Service Robotics | Dec 19, 2009

    Using a GE commercial certified flight management system, AAI’s Shadow unmanned aircraft performs first demonstration flight of UAS operating in the US national airspace.

    8. Slam Dunk for Future Smart Robots

    Design and Development | Dec 18, 2009

    Four universities working under the European Union’s Rawseeds project have developed set of free benchmarking tools that allow roboticists to effectively compare different Simultaneous Localization and Mapping approaches and algorithms against each other for the first time.

    9. UB Professor Studies the Flight of Hummingbirds To Develop Self-Propelled Surveillance Devices

    Academics and Research | Dec 18, 2009

    To better understand how a three-dimensional vortex forms, University at Buffalo researchers are conducting experiments using lasers and rectangular flapping “wings” in a water tank.

    10. TORC Provides Unmanned Industry With Integration-Ready Robotic Ground Vehicle

    Design and Development | Dec 17, 2009

    The ByWire XGV experimental ground vehicle platform, a JAUS interoperable, drive-by-wire controlled ground vehicle platform that utilizes the Ford Escape Hybrid as the base vehicle, provides jump start for autonomous research and development.

    11. CyPhy Works Wins NIST Technology Innovation Program Award

    Security & Defense Robotics | Dec 16, 2009

    CyPhy Works is awarded $2.4M by the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology, under the Technology Innovation Program, to develop technologies for small, hovering, Unmanned Air Vehicles to be used for the inspection and monitoring of large-scale civil infrastructure elements such as bridges and dams.

    12. Virginia Tech Team to Build Battlefield Robots for 2010 Competition

    Academics and Research | Dec 16, 2009

    The roving, walking robotic soldiers of the “Terminator” films are becoming less sci-fi and more certain future every day. Now, a team of robotics researchers from the Virginia Tech College of Engineering will build a team of fully autonomous cooperative battle-ready robots as part of a 2010 international war games challenge that could spur real-life battle bots.

    13. DENSO Robotics Introduces New EtherNet/IP Connectivity

    Industrial Automation | Dec 15, 2009

    DENSO’s EtherNet/IP connectivity option for RC7 robot controller allows for single cable connectivity to programmable logic controllers, thereby reducing setup time and hardware costs.

    14. Insitu Demonstrates One Launch and Recovery System

    Security & Defense Robotics | Dec 15, 2009

    Developer of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) vehicle releases common launch and recovery system suitable for Insitu’s ScanEagle, Integrator and NightEagle platforms.

    15. >SAS< Automation, Introduces New Adjustable Bag Gripper

    Industrial Automation | Dec 11, 2009

    New bag gripper is easily and quickly adjustable, and supports bag weights up to 111 lbs.

    16. iRobot Launches New Initiative to ‘SPARK’ STEM Education in the Classroom

    Academics and Research | Dec 09, 2009

    iRobot’s new education initiative – the Starter Programs for the Advancement of Robotics Knowledge (SPARK) – centers on a comprehensive library of robotics educational resources designed to increase interest in the subjects of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in K-12 students. Live demos are also included in the program.

    17. Scarlet Knight Underwater Robotic Glider Crosses the Atlantic

    Service Robotics | Dec 09, 2009

    Launched in New Jersey in April 27, 2009, and after 7,389km and eight months (221 days) at sea, Rutgers University’s Scarlet Knight reaches Spain on December 09, 2009 becoming the first underwater robot to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

    18. Touch Bionics Unveils World’s First Bionic Finger

    Service Robotics | Dec 09, 2009

    Developer of i-LIMB Hand releases ProDigits, powered bionic fingers that can be operated using two control strategies that will be custom-designed and fabricated by clinicians to suit each individual’s specific needs.

    19. National Instruments and DENSO Robotics Collaboration Supports New Applications

    Industrial Automation | Dec 08, 2009

    ImagingLab Robotics Library for DENSO communicates directly with DENSO controllers to command and control DENSO robotic arms through LabVIEW software.

    20. Researchers Demonstrate a Better Way for Computers to ‘See’

    Academics and Research | Dec 07, 2009

    Taking inspiration from genetic screening techniques, researchers from MIT and Harvard have harnessed the processing power of dozens of high-performance NVIDIA graphics cards and PlayStation 3s gaming devices to create a high-throughput screening process that teases out the best parameters for visual object recognition tasks.

    21. ON Semiconductor Launches Miniature Integrated Driver ICs

    Design and Development | Dec 07, 2009

    ON Semiconductor’s new AMIS-30532 and AMIS-30542 ICs eliminate the need for many external components and feature ultra-miniature NQFP packaging, making them suitable for direct mounting on high current stepper motors and reliable enough for demanding applications such as those in the industrial and automotive arenas.

    22. Microchip Technology Releases Tools for Motor Control

    Design and Development | Dec 07, 2009

    The dsPICDEM MCHV toolset for the development of high-voltage, closed-loop motor control applications, and the dsPICDEM MCSM Development Board for creating unipolar and bipolar stepper motor applications, are both designed to ease the development process and reduce development time

    23. SPARKy Device Helps Amputees Return to Normal Lives

    Academics and Research | Dec 07, 2009

    Arizona State University researchers employ regenerative kinetics in the design of an new prosthetic ankle named after ASU’s mascot – SPARKy.

    24. Next-Generation of Global Hawk Unmanned Aircraft Takes Flight

    Security & Defense Robotics | Dec 06, 2009

    World’s first fully autonomous high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft system, the Global Hawk will carry the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) active electronically scanned array radar making well suited for designed for persistent ISR.

    25. MAKO Surgical Launches New Knee Resurfacing Application

    Service Robotics | Dec 04, 2009

    MAKO Surgical, developer of the RIO robotic-arm interactive orthopedic system for minimally invasive orthopedic knee procedures, has added an application for lateral unicompartmental knee resurfacing, bringing the number of robotic knee applications to three.

    26. Four NASA Robots Using RTI Publish-Subscribe Middleware

    Design and Development | Dec 04, 2009

    NASA’s human-robotic systems communicate using Real-Time Innovations’ publish-subscribe middleware based on the Object Management Group’s Data Distribution Service for Real-time Systems (DDS) standard.

    27. KUKA is Revolutionizing Robotics With a Sensitive Touch

    Industrial Automation | Dec 04, 2009

    KUKA and the German Aerospace Center co-develop a small, lightweight robot, in use in piolet projects since March 2009, was designed to operate in close association with human co-workers.

    28. Cornell Search-and-Rescue Robots to Compete Internationally

    Academics and Research | Dec 02, 2009

    Segway based search-and-rescue robots from Cornell are semifinalists in the first Multi-Autonomous Ground-robotic International Challenge (MAGIC), co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Australian Defense Science and Technology Organization.