• Robotic platform helps soldiers carry heavy gear

    Israel Aerospace Industries unveils robotic platform designed for ground forces; the platform, carrying up to 200kg of gear, follows the lead soldier from a distance; the soldiers control the platform by using simple commands, including “stop,” “fetch,” and “heel”

  • Humanoid robots to help people in hazardous environments

    Current calculations required for robots’ handling objects and avoiding collisions are based on movements in the XYZ coordinates, and are sensitive to any minor deformations in the environment, such as a flexible object that would cause the calculations to be invalid; researchers offer a new way to govern robots’ movement

  • Mitchell Zakin revived the chemistry discipline at DARPA

    Mitch Zakin —who says, “I joined DARPA because it is unfettered by conventional wisdom” — will leave the agency in 2010; he has been working on developing “the infochemistry project,” which combines the powers of chemistry and information technology

  • Home robots may be hackers' next target

    Home surveillance robots could be turned against their users, researchers say; few people have home robots now, but reliance on them grows for stay-at-home elderly and the sick

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  • TALON robots for Australian forces

    Qinetiq awarded AUS$23 million to supply 2,800 TALON robots and replacement parts to support Australian defense forces deployed on operations

  • Four-legged robot to help soldiers carry equipment

    MIT researchers develop a four-legged robot that stand, squat, crawl, trot, run (its current top speed is 7 mph), and even bound; it can carry a 154 kg load

  • Unmanned ground vehicles patrol city streets

    Designing air or sea unmanned vehicles is relatively straightforward because at sea, and in the air, there are hardly any obstacles; designing an unmanned ground vehicle, however, is much tougher; the U.S. Army, after decades of trying, has succeeded in building one

  • UCSD agile robots catch the eye at national robotics conference

    UCSD researchers demonstrate Switchblade, a hopping robot with a sense of balance; the robot can detect when it is about to fall over, and figure out how to shift its weight appropriately so it does not

  • Competition for U.S. Marines' supply robocopter down to two

    The U.S. Marines are looking for unmanned supply helicopters that can deliver ten tons of supplies across distances of 150 miles in 24 hours; they also have to be able to hover at high altitudes (say, up in the Hindu Kush mountains)

  • Powered robot suits demonstrated in Tokyo

    Japanese company develops a powered exoskeletal suit intended for heavy labor, rescue support at disaster sites, and use by the disabled or elderly

  • Robots perform fire-fighting duties in London

    The robots, built by defense contractor QinetiQ, have been in use for a year; London’s fire brigade has been impressed by the robots’ performance

  • Robo-wheels to help search-and-rescue teams

    There is new help coming to search-and-rescue teams, especially those specializing in rescuing victims of avalanches: robots with wheels — each wheel with six vanes on its side that are linked to both the wheel and a central hub; the design allows the best possible traction in tough conditions and prevents the wheel from sinking or slipping

  • Rat-like rescue robot uses whiskers to feel its way through rubble

    Researchers developed rat-like robot which can crawl through — and under — rubble in search for victims trapped under collapsed buildings; robot uses long plastic whiskers at the side of its head to detect objects and radio back to a control center

  • DARPA looking for Genesis-style AI lifeforms

    DARPA has issued a solicitation for ideas about self-organizing Tetris AIs and smart-vat superlife on cards; the research organization appears to be seeking nothing less than the creation of artificial intelligent lifeforms

  • A fish called WANDA

    Aussie researchers develop a robotic fish that can swim toward objects of interest to investigate; the Wireless Aquatic Navigator for Detection and Analysis (WANDA) is propelled by a flexible joint tail fin that is activated through artificial muscles made from a conducting polymer