Robotics

Stretchable skin-like robots that can be rolled up and put in your pocket have been developed by a team using a new way of embedding artificial muscles and electrical adhesion into soft...

Artificial muscles will power the soft robots and wearable devices of the future. But more needs to be understood about the underlying mechanics of these powerful structures in order to design...

EPFL scientists are developing new approaches for improved control of robotic hands — in particular for amputees — that combines individual finger control and...

Researchers have created a miniature robot that can crawl with inchworm-like motion. The underlying technology could one day transform smart wearables.

Researchers have developed highly programmable actuators that, similar to the human hand, combine soft and hard materials to perform complex movements. These materials have great potential for...

An electronic glove can be worn over a prosthetic hand to provide humanlike softness, warmth, appearance and sensory perception, such as the ability to sense pressure,...

Researchers have created a new type of tiny 3D printed robot that moves by harnessing vibration from piezoelectric actuators, ultrasound sources, or even tiny speakers. Swarms of these...

An energy harvester attached to the wearer’s knee can generate 1.6 μW of power while the wearer walks without any increase in effort. The energy is enough to power small electronics like health...

A new multitasking exoskeleton can be used for any of an entire arm’s eight movements that originate from the shoulder, elbow, or wrist joints. Detachable parts allow the therapist to focus on a single...

Scientists have developed software that enables industrial robots to form and adjust the trajectories of the movements of their tools while maintaining accuracy in real time. The software uses...

By adding electronics and computation technology to a simple cane that has been around since ancient times, Columbia Engineering researchers have created a robotic device that provides "light-touch"...

Researchers are working on a new form of treatment — microrobots that can deliver drugs to specific spots inside the body while being monitored and controlled from outside the body. The...

Engineers have shown it is technically possible to guide a tiny robotic capsule inside the colon to take micro-ultrasound images. Known as a Sonopill, the device could one day...

A team of researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, in collaboration with the University of Minnesota, has made a breakthrough in the field of noninvasive robotic device...

Robots and prosthetic devices may soon have a sense of touch equivalent to, or better than, the human skin with the Asynchronous Coded Electronic Skin (ACES), an artificial nervous system....

Many medical devices — from robotic surgery to autonomous delivery robots in hospitals, to dialysis equipment — use motion control products to operate. Allied Motion’s long and successful experience as a...

As more medical companies seek robots for increasingly complex tasks such as robotic-assisted surgeries, systems developers tasked with building these robots see an...

In use for nearly 20 years, robotic surgery utilizing the da Vinci Surgical System has become a standard technique by hospitals in the United States and Europe when performing...

A team of polymer chemists and engineers from Carnegie Mellon University have developed a new methodology that can be used to create a class of stretchable polymer...

Using a noninvasive brain-computer interface (BCI), researchers have developed the first-ever successful mind-controlled robotic arm exhibiting the ability to continuously track and follow a...

Optical Distance Sensor

A highly accurate optical distance sensor is available from Werth Messtechnik, Giessen, Germany. The Werth Chromatic Focus Point sensor can measure...

A visit to the dentist typically involves time-consuming and sometimes unpleasant scraping with mechanical tools to remove plaque from teeth. What if, instead, a dentist could deploy a small...

Ovarian cancer is usually diagnosed only after it has reached an advanced stage, with many tumors spread throughout the abdomen. Most patients undergo surgery to remove as many of...

Researchers have developed a non-invasive strategy that combines functional electrostimulation, a body weight support system, and a brain-machine interface for the rehabilitation of people...

Battelle has for years successfully demonstrated brain-computer interface (BCI) projects — just look at NeuroLife®, which has enabled a quadriplegic man to move his...

A microrobot can take up to 8 hours to make. With the help of a 3D printer, University of Toronto engineers got the process down to 20 minutes

A reader asks: "With medical robots, what's in it for surgeons?"