• Military use of robots increases

    The U.S. military goal is to have approximately 30 percent of the army be robotic forces by somewhere around 2020; it is well on its way

  • Robot sub recharger

    Autonomous underwater vehicles perform more and more missions for both scientific research and security; charging their batteries, though, has always been a problem; a new patent application offers a solution

  • Robot car competition winner on display

    Stanley, a robotic, driver-less car developed by Stanford University and Volkswagen, won the DARPA Grand Challenge in the Mojave Desert in the fall of 2005; it is now on display — appropriately, at the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose

  • Pipe inspecting robot

    Robot able to climb vertically in gas, water, and oil pipes, detecting leaks and monitoring conditions as it moves along

  • GM, Carnegie Mellon collaborate on autonomous driving

    General Motors and Carnegie Mellon University have collaborated on an autonomous vehicle which was entered in DARPA 2007 Urban Challenge competition; the now commit to expanding their collaboration with the aim of accelerating the emerging field of autonomous driving

  • Unmanned Ground Systems Summit: Early Bird Special

    Unmanned systems perform more and more missions that used to be performed by humans; the Pentagon plans to spend about $4 billion on robots by 2010; IDGA holds ground robots summit in D.C. this August

  • iRobot to commercialize endurance record-holding undersea robot

    iRobot licenses endurance record-holder Seaglider from the University of Washington; Seaglider can operate at sea for months at a time in challenging conditions

  • School of Robofish forms basis for underwater robot teams

    Most ocean robots require periodic communication with scientist or satellite intermediaries to share information, but new robots can work cooperatively communicating only with each other

  • Qinetiq in $400 million TALON robot contract

    There are more than 2,000 TALON robots deployed around the world, mostly in Iraq and Afghanistan; they have been used in more than 80,000 counter-IED missions to date; DoD wants more of this useful system

  • Grasshopper robot breaks high-jump record

    Researchers develop small - very small: it is 5 centimeters tall and weighs just 7 grams — hopping robot; swarms of such hopping robots could spread out to explore disaster areas, or even the surfaces of other planets

  • DARPA celebrates 50 year anniversary

    DARPA was created in 1958 following the Soviet surprise launch of Sputnik; President Dwight Eisenhower defined the new agency’s mission in three words: “prevent technological surprises”; according to current DARPA director Tony Tether, over the years DARPA has modified its mission by adding to “prevent technological surprises” an important component: “create them”

  • Flying saucers, tiny helicopters compete in British war game

    The U.K. Ministry of defense held its first Grand Challenge technology competition last week; six finalists receive $600,000 each to develop their concepts into machines; finalists will meet for mock battle in August

  • Developing miniature robots to increase situational awareness

    The military wants to increase the situational awareness of of its officers and soldiers, and an alliance of industry and academia is set up to develop advanced robotic equipment for use in urban environments and complex terrain, such as mountains and caves

  • UAVs, UGVs operate and communicate with each other

    BAE Systems show how several unmanned air and ground vehicles operate simultaneously while communicating with each other and with their controllers

  • Robots in search-and-rescure competition

    A robot competition takes place in Germany this week; the robots compete with each other in how well they traverse, autonomously and without any input from handlers, through a maze resembling the aftermath of a natural disaster; robots sniff out toy dolls that either emit CO2, give off heat, make noise, or move