Topic

A Soft Robot Can Carry Loads Through the Air

Researchers have created a light-powered soft robot that can carry loads through the air along established tracks, similar to cable cars or aerial trams. The soft robot operates autonomously, can climb slopes at angles of up to 80°, and can carry loads up to 12 times its weight. Read on to learn more.

Electronics-Free 3D-Printed Robots

Imagine a robot that can walk, without electronics, and only with the addition of a cartridge of compressed gas, right off the 3D printer. It can also be printed in one go, from one material. That is exactly what roboticists have achieved in robots developed by the Bioinspired Robotics Laboratory at the University of California San Diego. Read on to learn more.

Advanced Simulation Enables Better Robot-Object Interactions

A human clearing junk out of an attic can often guess the contents of a box simply by picking it up and giving it a shake, without the need to see what’s inside. Researchers from MIT, Amazon Robotics, and the University of British Columbia have taught robots to do something similar. Read on to learn more.

An AI System Empowers Robots with Human-Like Perception

Researchers from Duke University have developed a novel framework named WildFusion that fuses vision, vibration, and touch to enable robots to “sense” complex outdoor environments much like humans do. Read on to learn more.

Automated Pallet Inspection Separates the Good from the Bad

To make pallet inspecting easier and more efficient, COOP automated the process with industrial robots from KUKA Robotics and an advanced pallet inspection system powered by artificial intelligence (AI) from KUKA System Partner IVISYS called PALLETAI. Read on to learn more.

Drywall Finishing Robots Accelerate Construction Schedules

San Francisco startup Canvas has developed a robotic system handling one of the most labor-intensive trades in construction: drywall finishing. Leveraging robotic arms from Universal Robots, Canvas has built a machine that reduces the usual five to seven days of spraying and sanding the drywall to just around two days for both Level 4 and Level 5 finishes. Read on to learn more.

Retrofit in Industrial Production: Digitization of Existing Systems

Retrofitting offers a technically and economically sensible way to adapt existing production facilities to the requirements of modern manufacturing processes. The use of image processing, measurement technology, and deep learning in existing machines and systems can be decisive in this context. Read on to learn more.

Why Accurate SoC and SoH Estimation Is Critical for Battery Longevity and Business Success

The modern world runs on battery power. The world’s most critical industries are widely adopting battery-powered systems to achieve decarbonization goals, energy independence, and mobility. Still, like any technology, battery performance and business success depend on how well they’re managed. Read on to learn what this means.

New Products

See the new products, including Shin-Etsu Silicones of America's SDP-6560 A/B liquid-dispensed gap filling, a non-adhesive curing silicone thermal interface material; Navitas Semiconductor's new portfolio of Gen-3 ‘Fast’ (G3F) 650 V SiC MOSFETs; Freudenberg Sealing Technologies' optimized sealing material for e-mobility applications; and more.

Smoothing Over Rough Edges in Batteries

Battery performance suffers over time, like when a phone needs to be charged more frequently after years of use. A thin film that forms on the metal anode when the battery is charging and discharging plays a part in that issue. This film has benefits, but its roughness gradually wears the battery down. Researchers have discovered a temporary version of this film that appears at rapid discharge speeds and dissolves back into the battery when the process finishes. Read on to learn more.

How Battery Simulation Is Taking High-Performance EV Development to New Heights

What was once a specialized capability is now becoming a cornerstone of modern EV development. Simulation delivers speed, accuracy, and flexibility — qualities that are essential to staying competitive in advanced electrification. Read on to learn more.

Diagnosing a Dud May Lead to a Better Battery

A team of chemists led by Feng Lin and Louis Madsen found a way to see into battery interfaces, which are tight, tricky spots buried deep inside the cell. Read on to learn what this means.

How Can We Optimize Solid-State Batteries? Try Asking AI

Researchers at Tohoku University developed a data-driven AI framework that points out potential solid-state electrolyte candidates that could be “the one” to create an ideal sustainable energy solution. Read on to learn more.

Spray Drying Tech Used in Instant Coffee Applied to High-Capacity Battery Production

The Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) and the Korea Institute of Materials Science have jointly developed spray drying technology-based high-performance dry electrode manufacturing technology for the realization of high-capacity secondary batteries. Read on to learn more.

Laying the Building Blocks for the EV Smart Grid

This article introduces the fundamental concepts behind EV load management, which allows fleet operators to fit more EV chargers on the utility service that they currently have. Read on to learn more.

From Mine to Battery: The Growing Importance of Graphite Purity and Provenance

Collaborating across sectors and keeping up with developments in analysis tools will be crucial as the transition to a more sustainable energy landscape occurs in the future. Read on to learn more.

2026 Toyota BZ: Improved, but Still Not a WheeeeeEV

The Toyota bZ is growing into a real EV. Following complaints-a-plenty from buyers of the bZ4x, the clunky name given to previous versions, Toyota has improved everything from the design...

Audio Updates You Can’t Even Hear

While autonomous driving, electric powertrains and the evolving role of AI in automotive get most of the attention (deservedly, sure), technological advancements aimed at the audio experience in...

Natural Gas Infrastructure Is Scaling Fast for HD Fleets

A significant shift is transforming the heavy-duty transportation sector: the rapid advancement of natural gas and renewable natural gas (RNG).

Lyten Says 3D Graphene Could Disrupt Racing, Automotive and Space

Lyten is best-known as the developer of next-gen lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery technology. But new work on 3D Graphene means Lyten is branching out into motorsports with...

Driving the New Nissan Leaf Prototype

The first two-generations of the Leaf were about as exciting to drive as watching a slug inch its way across a sidewalk. Scratch that — at least a slug leaves a sparkly trail behind it. The Leaf,...

Toyota’s Multi-Pathway Future on Full Display

Toyota’s 2025 Headquarters Confidential (HQC) event in Plano, Texas, was, as in past years, a broad glimpse into what the Toyota and Lexus brands are planning for North America in the...

48V Is Coming, and Not Just for EVs

In every corner of the automotive power engineering world, there are discussions and debates over the merits of 48V power networks vs. legacy 12V power networks. The dialogue started over 20 years ago,...

Industry Vet: Rapid Change Required to Catch up to Chinese EV Maker

Terry Woychowski, CEO of engineering consultancy Caresoft Global, had a stark, sobering message for a meeting in Auburn Hills of the Society for Automotive Analysts in...

ZF Meets Changing EV Market with Suite of Improved Components

ZF Group announced this week that it has developed a flexible and modular EV powertrain solution called EV Select that it says meets or exceeds current production technology for...

Factory Robots See Slight Drop in Growth, but Still Have Momentum

Despite a slight drop in the installations of factory robots in 2024, the push to automate automotive and other manufacturing was carrying momentum into fiscal 2025 and...

SAE J3400/2 Update Brings Quicker NACS Charging

As SAE standard J3400 (also known as NACS) is being adopted by automakers and deployed on the latest EVs, the standard itself is still evolving. That latest evolution is SAE J3400/2. That...