Robohub
Connecting the robotics community to the world
updated @ 10/20/2026 05:21:03
Powered by muscle cells, a paper-thin robot swims through watery maze
Mon, 19 Oct 2026 07:07:59 +0000
MIT engineers’ new aquabot offers a way to design small, efficient “biohybrid” robots.
Robot Talk Episode 166 – Evolving robot bodies and brains, with Rika Antonova
Fri, 16 Oct 2026 11:36:47 +0000
Claire chatted to Rika Antonova from the University of Cambridge about using artificial intelligence to develop complimentary robot hardware and algorithms. Rika Antonova is an Associate Professor at the University of Cambridge. Her research interests include co-design, automated algorithm discovery, data-efficient reinforcement learning, exploration, active learning, and robotics. After completing a research Master’s degree at […]
Neurosymbolic planning using natural language communication for cooperative autonomous vehicles
Wed, 14 Oct 2026 09:14:30 +0000
Imagine you are driving toward an intersection. A truck parked on the corner blocks your view of a car speeding toward the intersection from the right. You can’t see it, but the car next to you can. What if that neighboring vehicle could simply tell your car, “Vehicle merging from the right, about 15 meters […]
Humanoid robots can sprint and box – but the real test is doing the laundry
Mon, 12 Oct 2026 07:51:21 +0000
By Wai-keung Fung, Cardiff Metropolitan University At the recent World Humanoid Robot Games 2026 in Beijing, robots sprinted, boxed, played football and tackled tasks inspired by factories, restaurants and emergency situations. The robot Tiangong Ultra even completed the 100 metres in 8.64 seconds, quicker than Usain Bolt’s 9.58-second world record. But if we really want […]
Robot Talk Episode 165 – Robots behind the research, with Kushant Patel
Fri, 09 Oct 2026 11:52:18 +0000
Claire chatted to Kushant Patel from Brookhaven National Laboratory about robots that work in scientific facilities, such as particle accelerators. Kushant Patel builds software that helps robots and instruments perceive, map, and move through the physical world. After completing a Master’s in Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo, he spent two years at the University […]
What three days building a robot taught me
Wed, 07 Oct 2026 07:12:39 +0000
Last month, I went to York to build a robot. I came back with a robot, a tiny trophy-shaped sense of achievement, and somehow a few new friends. From 25th-27th August, I joined the UK RAS STEPS MicroMaze Robot Hackathon at the Institute for Safe Autonomy, University of York. The brief sounded simple: build a […]
Research could guide the future design of social robots
Mon, 05 Oct 2026 10:00:33 +0000
By the University of Glasgow Giving robot companions animal-like or anime-style faces and voices could maximise their emotional appeal to users, according to new research which could help guide the growing field of social robotics. Social robots can provide companionship and comfort to their owners by mimicking human or petlike behaviours. Although the robots are […]
Robot Talk Episode 164 – Accelerating robot learning, with Michelle Lu
Fri, 02 Oct 2026 11:33:00 +0000
Claire chatted to Michelle Lu from Vsim Technology about using simulation and artificial intelligence to teach robots new skills. Michelle Lu is co-founder and CEO of Vsim Technology. She was previously a Director of Simulation Technology at NVIDIA, where she and her co-founder created the world’s first end-to-end GPU-accelerated reinforcement learning (RL) framework, Isaac Gym, […]
Robotics and automation? Informal reflections on familiar terms
Wed, 30 Sep 2026 08:37:22 +0000
By Emmet Cole “Robotics and automation” is a pairing heard often around these parts. It puts the “RA” in IEEE RAS, after all. The familiar combination shows up in conference titles, funding calls, and program descriptions. But what is actually meant by the two words? Is robotics a subdomain of automation? Does the distinction matter? […]
Small, medium or large, a robotic fish maintains its swimming ability
Mon, 28 Sep 2026 11:24:15 +0000
The scalable robot ScaFi. 2026 CREATE Lab EPFL. CC BY SA-4.0. Propeller-powered underwater vehicles have long helped scientists explore and monitor aquatic environments. But they’re limited by their own mechanics: spinning blades can snag on vegetation, stir up sediment, and startle the wildlife they’re often sent to study, making them poorly suited to shallow creeks, […]
Robot Talk Episode 163 – Robots helping people, with Aaron Edsinger
Fri, 25 Sep 2026 11:54:14 +0000
Claire chatted to Aaron Edsinger from Hello Robot about their Stretch robots that can help people with mobility issues live more independently. Aaron Edsinger is CEO and Co-Founder of Hello Robot, a robotics company dedicated to developing practical, safe, and accessible robots for people. With a passion for building robots and robot companies, Aaron has […]
An open source approach to physical AI from Intrinsic
Fri, 25 Sep 2026 08:41:15 +0000
Deborah Lupton / Pop Chips / Licenced by CC-BY 4.0 Intrinsic (an AI robotics group at Google) announced that the company is making parts of its platform open source. Intrinsic Core™ is a set of ROS-compatible capabilities for building sophisticated robotic applications. The capabilities included in the open source package are as follow: Intrinsic Control. […]
What’s coming up at #IROS2026?
Thu, 24 Sep 2026 09:50:46 +0000
The 2026 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2026) will be held from 27 September – 1 October in Pittsburgh, USA. The programme includes plenary and keynote talks, workshops, tutorials, forums, competitions, and a debate. Keynote talks The keynote talks will be held from 28 – 30 September: Elena De Momi – […]
Robotics roadmaps from around the world spotlight of the month: China
Wed, 23 Sep 2026 08:20:26 +0000
China is targeting the next industrial revolution by doubling down on embodied AI and humanoid robotics, building directly on its vast manufacturing infrastructure. By Ellen H. Rumley and Allison Okamura Beyond the Robot Olympics Chinese robots have quickly entered global public consciousness in recent years, appearing as background robo-dancers in pop concerts and as humanoid […]
Mars rovers give scientists a ground-level view of the red planet – peek inside their NASA control room
Mon, 21 Sep 2026 09:38:58 +0000
Each day in the control room of the Curiosity rover is jam-packed with important scientific decisions, as a NASA project scientist describes.
Reimagining robotics for sustainability
Fri, 18 Sep 2026 08:59:50 +0000
By Celia Luterbacher Imagine a robot designed to install solar panels with much greater speed and precision than a human. The robot is made from expensive materials and powered by a heavy battery that must be recharged every few hours. If the costs of building and operating the robot outweigh the benefits of the clean […]
Watch the ICRA keynote and plenary talks
Wed, 16 Sep 2026 08:47:13 +0000
The 2026 IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (ICRA) was held in Vienna from the 1 – 5 June. The event brought together researchers and industry professionals with expertise spanning many different aspects of robotics. IEEE have made the keynote and plenary talk recordings available to watch. You can also catch the panel discussions […]
Robots in society, business and culture: August 2026
Mon, 14 Sep 2026 09:01:21 +0000
Credit: Baumis Robots (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology). By Emmet Cole In our new monthly series, we showcase a selection of robotics stories from society, business, research, and culture, as we track the field’s ongoing journey from specialized industrial machines to an increasingly visible social phenomenon. Reshoring reimagined? In early August, The Information published an article […]
Building and programming autonomous robots at the York Micromaze Hackathon
Fri, 11 Sep 2026 13:07:25 +0000
From 25–27 August, UK RAS STEPS members came together at the University of York’s Institute for Safe Autonomy for a three-day Micromaze Robot Hackathon. Working in teams, participants were challenged to design, build and program autonomous robots capable of navigating a series of increasingly complex mazes. Each team used a custom Raspberry Pi Pico W […]
Robotics roadmaps from around the world spotlight of the month: United States of America
Wed, 09 Sep 2026 11:25:43 +0000
US robotics researchers and industry are looking for a cohesive national robotics strategy that will maintain basic research and innovation while improving domestic production and adoption of robots. By Ellen H. Rumley and Allison Okamura A leader in tech innovation Robots are a crowd-pleasing example of American innovation and global technological leadership. The latest press […]
Could robots help tackle loneliness? BBC’s Ann Droid raises questions about the future of care
Mon, 07 Sep 2026 09:33:36 +0000
By Maria Jose Galvez Trigo, Cardiff University and Paul Willis, Cardiff University New BBC sitcom Ann Droid imagines a near future in which robots provide care and companionship to older people at home. The series centres on Sue, a recent widow played by Sue Johnston, her hapless son Michael and Linda, an assistive care robot […]
Exploring the Moon will require rovers that can think for themselves – an upcoming NASA mission will test whether they can
Fri, 04 Sep 2026 09:32:44 +0000
By Wanjiku Chebet Kanjumba, University of Florida NASA is planning to send three small rovers to the Moon with a single instruction: Work out among yourselves how to explore a patch of ground. The Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration mission, or CADRE, will land on the side of the Moon facing Earth as part of […]
Surviving the paper deluge: Notes from an ICRA panel on publishing, LLMs, and the future of peer review
Wed, 02 Sep 2026 07:58:49 +0000
A recent ICRA panel titled “Surviving the Paper Deluge” brought together leading robotics researchers who have grappled with the overwhelming number of robotics papers being published today. The discussion ranged from hard numbers on publication growth, through the promises and risks of large language models (LLMs), to radical proposals for reshaping peer review as we […]
When expressive humanoid robots are awkward, people become wary – new brain study
Mon, 31 Aug 2026 09:18:24 +0000
Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash. By Hasan Ayaz, Drexel University; Ewart J. de Visser, United States Air Force Academy; Frank Krueger, George Mason University, and Yigit Topoglu, United States Air Force Academy People become more suspicious of a humanoid robot that makes errors, especially when the robot is an expressive conversation partner. In our […]
First 11 vs 11 humanoid soccer game played at RoboCup 2026
Fri, 28 Aug 2026 06:25:01 +0000
Action from the 11 vs 11 humanoid match at RoboCup 2026. Photo credit: RoboCup Federation. RoboCup 2026 saw history made, as two teams of 11 humanoids took to the soccer field, the first time a full complement of robots has competed. The game saw B-Human (Bremen, Germany) take on HTWK Robots (Leipzig, Germany), with both […]
How green is your robot? And other awkward questions
Wed, 26 Aug 2026 07:36:33 +0000
Deborah Lupton / Servers in a Landscape / Licenced by CC-BY 4.0 By Emmet Cole Robots clean rivers and sort waste, monitor ecosystems, and inspect renewable-energy infrastructure. But even the greenest robot has an environmental footprint. If robotics is going to help build a more sustainable world, the robotics community has to answer some potentially […]
These tiny drones are powered by sound
Mon, 24 Aug 2026 09:53:49 +0000
The MICROBS Lab’s microfliers. 2026 EPFL/MICROBS – CC-BY-SA 4.0. By Celia Luterbacher When you blow air across the neck of a bottle, you’re not just producing a pleasant tone: you’re also demonstrating a phenomenon called Helmholtz resonance. This occurs when airflow passing across an opening causes air trapped inside a cavity (like a glass bottle) […]
#AAMAS2026 blue sky award winner: Foundation world models for agents in changing environments
Fri, 21 Aug 2026 08:23:06 +0000
Florent Delgrange won the Best Blue Sky Paper Award at AAMAS 2026 for his work Foundation World Models for Agents that Learn, Verify, and Adapt Reliably Beyond Static Environments. We caught up with him to find out more about his vision for agent learning. What is the topic of your Blue Sky Ideas paper and […]
Robotics roadmaps from around the world spotlight of the month: Japan
Wed, 19 Aug 2026 07:39:34 +0000
Robots have been a prolific theme in Japanese pop culture and media since the 1950s, which includes global icons like the Transformers, Astro Boy, and Doraemon (1). Perhaps not coincidentally, Japanese citizens have a positive outlook on robotic technologies and their use in the labor sector compared to many other nations (2); much to their […]
Intermittent swimming promotes the energy efficiency of fish-like robot movements
Mon, 17 Aug 2026 13:00:27 +0000
Image credits: Xiangxiao Liu, Francois A. Longchamp, and Louis GeverBiorobotics Laboratory, EPFL Improving energy performance can effectively extend the time a robot can operate and reduce battery load, enabling lighter, more flexible, and more durable robotic systems. Nature has evolved optimal energy-saving locomotion strategies through billions of years of natural selection, providing unparalleled blueprints for […]
What does it take for a robot to hold a conversation with a room, not just a person?
Fri, 14 Aug 2026 09:04:11 +0000
By Umar Farooq That was one of the questions at the heart of my last week (20th-24th July) at the Imperial Robotics Summer School, hosted at Imperial College, London; a week that sharpened my thinking and pushed me to look at robotics problems from angles I don’t usually get to in my day-to-day work. The […]
Robotics roadmaps from around the world
Wed, 12 Aug 2026 08:27:10 +0000
What’s a robotics roadmap, and why should we care? Machines with pre-defined capabilities will soon be old-school. Future machines are expected to learn and adapt to unpredictability and to interact with the physical world with the ableness of our own bodies. Welcome to Industry 4.0 (1). The reliance of modern societies on robots, from manufacturing […]
A ‘5-in-1’ seed-sized surgical robot
Mon, 10 Aug 2026 14:38:45 +0000
Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a tiny seed-sized robot that can navigate across soft and uneven surfaces to perform five surgical functions wirelessly, paving the way for developing robots to make surgeries and medical treatments more precise. The miniature robot, measuring just 4.4 mm in length and controlled by weak […]
AI agents create virtual playgrounds to help robots get crucial training data
Fri, 07 Aug 2026 07:17:33 +0000
A new system developed at MIT uses three agents to piece together the objects, walls, and overall look of a 3D scene. Its realistic recreations of indoor spaces help robots practice skills and try out different ways of doing tasks before they’re powered on. Image: Tim Malieckal/MIT CSAIL using assets from the researchers. By Alex […]
Robots in society, business and culture: July 2026
Thu, 06 Aug 2026 07:30:38 +0000
By Emmet Cole This new monthly series from IEEE RAS showcases a selection of robotics stories from society, business, research, and culture, as we track the field’s ongoing journey from specialized industrial machines to an increasingly visible social phenomenon. Technological isolationism or prudence? On July 28, the United States’ Federal Communications Commission blocked new foreign-made […]
Simulated zebrafish and a vision-equipped robotic fish reveal how the body shapes brain circuits
Mon, 03 Aug 2026 11:17:56 +0000
Image credit: Olivier Porchet, Biorobotics Laboratory, EPFL When a fish holds its position against a current in a river, its brain must figure out how fast to swim and how to steer to offset the water flow. Most fish use vision to register the world sliding past, detect optic flow speed and direction, and their […]
Researchers develop modular nanorobot
Fri, 31 Jul 2026 09:21:31 +0000
Illustration of the versatile nanorobot. It is 150 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. (Illustration: Marina Bräm) By Angelika Jacobs Nanorobots sound like science fiction: tiny machines for medicine, the environment, or industry. In fact, nanorobotics has become a rapidly growing field of research. It is considered a promising approach, for example, […]
Surviving the paper deluge: a one-year study in learning from demonstration
Wed, 29 Jul 2026 09:16:32 +0000
By Emmet Cole With the explosion of robotics research, staying current in fields like Learning from Demonstration (LfD) is a monumental challenge. Is AI the solution to the “paper deluge,” or is it part of the problem? Read the article preview below to learn more! Download the full paper: Surviving the Paper Deluge. Authors: Aude […]
Soft robotic heart offers new way to study disease and test life-saving devices
Tue, 28 Jul 2026 09:18:50 +0000
The soft robotic model of the human heart, developed at UNSW. Credit: UNSW/Richard Freeman. UNSW researchers have developed a soft robotic model of the human heart that can mimic disease and provide a realistic environment for testing the next generation of cardiac devices. Researchers at UNSW Sydney have developed a fully synthetic soft robotic heart […]
A mini robot to simplify dental treatment
Fri, 24 Jul 2026 09:45:56 +0000
A miniature robot developed at the University of Basel could help prepare teeth for a crown. Photo: University of Basel, Catherine Weyer. By Angelika Jacobs A routine check-up at the dentist ends with bad news: tooth decay has left a large cavity, and the tooth needs a crown. The treatment requires several follow-up appointments. During […]
Pressure-free growing robots for soft medical robotics
Thu, 23 Jul 2026 07:53:40 +0000
By Emmet Cole Researchers at the University of Leeds and collaborators from the University of California San Diego won the Best Paper Award at RoboSoft, the leading international conference focused on soft robotics research. Soft robotics is gaining attention in medical applications because compliant machines can interact more safely with delicate objects and complex anatomy. […]
Interactive world simulator for robot policy training and evaluation
Mon, 20 Jul 2026 08:39:44 +0000
Imagine you want to teach a robot to push an object on a table. The standard recipe in robot learning is to collect hundreds of expert demonstrations on a real robot, train an imitation learning policy on that data, and then evaluate the policy by running it many times on the same real robot. Both […]
Undergrads’ weed-killing robot wins top prize
Fri, 17 Jul 2026 10:15:46 +0000
Andrew James (from left), Neil Morrison, Natalia Kurz and Michael Neiss work on a prototype of their weed-killing robot ahead of The Farm Robotics Challenge, which they won on May 21. By Holly Hartigan A team of Cornell undergraduates beat 95 other teams to take the grand prize at The Farm Robotics Challenge with their […]
A flapping robot swims and flies like a diving bird
Wed, 15 Jul 2026 10:03:17 +0000
Image copyright: Raphael Zufferey. By Jennifer Chu Loons, gulls, puffins, and petrels are some of the 100 species of birds that can both fly and swim. These diving birds can plunge in water to swim after prey, and then leap back into the air to fly away. Now, inspired by these naturally aquatic aviators, engineers […]
Wristband enables wearers to control a robotic hand with their own movements
Mon, 13 Jul 2026 08:27:45 +0000
By moving their hands and fingers, users can direct a robot to play piano or shoot a basketball, or they can manipulate objects in a virtual environment.
#RoboCup2026 social media round-up
Wed, 08 Jul 2026 06:56:38 +0000
This year, RoboCup took place in Incheon, South Korea, from 2-6 July. The event saw teams take part in competitions, training sessions, and a symposium. Take a look at what the participants got up to in our round up from social media. The wait is over! 🤖🎉 RoboCup 2026 officially begins today! Join us for […]
#RoboCup2026 – humanoid league knockout stages
Mon, 06 Jul 2026 10:15:49 +0000
This weekend saw the finale of the league competitions at RoboCup 2026 in Incheon, South Korea, with the winners in the small, middle, and large humanoid divisions decided. Congratulations to the following teams, who finished in the top three positions in each size class: Small division Invic, Wuhan University, China Hamburg Bit-Bots, Universität Hamburg, Germany […]
#RoboCup2026 – humanoid league day 2
Fri, 03 Jul 2026 18:36:55 +0000
The second day’s play at RoboCup 2026 has drawn to a close with another bumper set of matches. Teams have come from far and wide to take part in the humanoid soccer competition this year, with 17 different countries represented. China is the most represented country, boasting 15 teams across the three divisions. Other countries […]
Reflections from ICRA 2026
Thu, 02 Jul 2026 15:20:41 +0000
From the 1st-5th June, the robots descended on Vienna. The 2026 IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (ICRA) brought together the top minds in robotics for one short week to showcase the latest technologies, form new collaborations, and exchange ideas. Held at the Messe Wien, a stone’s throw from the bank of the Danube, […]
#RoboCup2026 – humanoid league day 1
Thu, 02 Jul 2026 14:14:34 +0000
Image credit: RoboCup Federation. RoboCup 2026 kicked off today in Incheon, South Korea, with the league competitions running until 5 July. It’s an exciting time for RoboCup, as there have been some updates to the leagues and competition format. Most prominently, the soccer leagues will have a primary focus on humanoid robots. In a series […]
What’s coming up at #RoboCup2026?
Mon, 29 Jun 2026 08:03:25 +0000
This year, RoboCup will be held in Incheon, South Korea, from 2-6 July. The event will see teams take part in competitions, training sessions, and a symposium. It’s an exciting time for RoboCup, as there have been some updates to the leagues and competition format. Most prominently, the soccer leagues will have a primary focus […]
Robot Talk Episode 162 – The robot doctor will see you now
Fri, 26 Jun 2026 11:22:25 +0000
Since the first robot-assisted surgery was performed, over 40 years ago, major advances in robotics, computer vision and artificial intelligence have fundamentally changed medicine and healthcare. Innovative new technologies are already aiding skilled medical professionals in diagnosis, surgery, rehabilitation and beyond. But many questions remain: What ethical issues arise as medical tools become increasingly autonomous? […]
AI brings object-level vision prosthetics closer to reality
Tue, 23 Jun 2026 10:09:29 +0000
Image credit: By Jeff Dahl – Own work by uploader, Based on the public domain document: [1], CC BY-SA 3.0, Link By Stephanie Parker This research from the NeuroAI Lab of Martin Schrimpf, part of EPFL’s Schools of Computer and Communication Sciences and Life Sciences, uses AI models to predict exactly where to stimulate the […]
AURA Foresight Reaches Global XPRIZE Wildfire Finals in Alaska
Fri, 19 Jun 2026 16:42:23 +0000
One of only four teams remaining from more than 130 competitors worldwide, our team AURA Foresight is developing autonomous technology to stop wildfires before they grow out of control. AURA Foresight has been selected as a finalist in the prestigious XPRIZE Wildfire Autonomous Wildfire Response competition, emerging as one of just four teams remaining from […]
Robot Talk Episode 161 – Collaborative haptic systems, with Allison Okamura
Fri, 19 Jun 2026 12:07:34 +0000
Claire chatted to Allison Okamura from Stanford University about developing advanced robotic systems for haptic (touch) interaction. Allison Okamura is the Richard W. Weiland Professor of Engineering at Stanford University. Her academic interests include haptics, teleoperation, virtual reality, medical robotics, soft robotics, rehabilitation, and education. Allison is Director of Graduate Studies for Mechanical Engineering at […]
New research enables a robot to chart a better course
Wed, 17 Jun 2026 10:06:45 +0000
By rapidly generating a smooth path plan that cuts travel time and avoids obstacles, the open-source “MIGHTY” system could streamline disaster recovery and parcel delivery.
Entangled robotic matter with cohesive motion
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 10:06:23 +0000
By Syl Kacapyr Cornell engineers have developed a robotic collective that behaves less like a machine and more like a material that flows, reshapes and adapts to its environment without centralized control. The system, called the Cross-Link Collective, consists of dozens of small robots that have limited mobility individually, but together exhibit coordinated and sustained […]
Robot Talk Episode 160 – Robotic blacksmiths, with Edward Mehr
Fri, 12 Jun 2026 11:58:22 +0000
Claire chatted to Edward Mehr from Machina Labs about their RoboCraftsman that shapes complex metal parts for the aerospace, defence, and automotive industries. Edward Mehr is an entrepreneur and engineer specializing in advanced manufacturing, robotics, and artificial intelligence. As the Co-Founder and CEO of Machina Labs, he leads efforts to integrate AI-driven robotics into flexible, […]
Congratulations to the #AAMAS2026 best paper award winners
Mon, 08 Jun 2026 10:02:11 +0000
The AAMAS 2026 best paper awards were presented at the 25th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, which took place from 25-29 May 2025 in Paphos, Cyprus. The winners and nominees in the three categories (best paper, best student paper, best blue sky paper) are as follows: Best Paper Award Winner Developing Guidelines […]
Robot Talk Episode 159 – Robot sensing and manipulation, with Maria Koskinopoulou
Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:57:36 +0000
Claire chatted to Maria Koskinopoulou from Heriot-Watt University about autonomous robotic manipulators for surgery, industry, and beyond. Maria Koskinopoulou is an Assistant Professor in Robotics and Computer Vision at Heriot-Watt University. She co-leads the ARM²Lab – Autonomous Robotic Manipulation & Multi-Agent Systems Lab at Heriot-Watt and the National Robotarium, alongside Ignacio Carlucho. Her research interests […]
Global robotics technology roadmap
Wed, 03 Jun 2026 09:13:54 +0000
Deborah Lupton / Pop Chips / Licenced by CC-BY 4.0. Henrik I Christensen, Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at University of California San Diego, has recently released a global robotics technology roadmap. This position paper focuses on Asia, Europe, and America and outlines the current state-of-the-art in robotics, and highlights the main opportunities. The […]
RoboChem Flex: democratisation of the autonomous synthesis robot
Tue, 02 Jun 2026 10:51:48 +0000
Image credit: HIMS / Nature Synthesis. In a paper published in Nature Synthesis, researchers led by Professor Timothy Noël of the University of Amsterdam’s Van ’t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences present an advance in autonomous laboratory systems for synthesis optimisation. A versatile, modular design and the option for “human-in-the-loop” analytics, RoboChem Flex caters to […]
Robot Talk Episode 158 – Autonomous robot deliveries, with Ahti Heinla
Fri, 29 May 2026 11:55:34 +0000
Claire chatted to Ahti Heinla from Starship Technologies about their AI-powered delivery robots that operate independently on streets and pavements. Ahti Heinla is the co-founder and CEO of Starship Technologies, the world’s leading autonomous delivery company building AI-powered robots that operate fully independently in real-world environments. One of the original engineers behind Skype’s billion-dollar success, […]
Light-activated gel could impact wearables, soft robotics, and more
Thu, 28 May 2026 06:25:25 +0000
New MIT work advances the growing field of ionotronics, in which data are transferred through ions, potentially providing a bridge between electronics and biological tissue.
Handle with care: Soft robot gripper picks ripe fruit without bruising
Wed, 27 May 2026 15:44:34 +0000
Cornell researchers used stretchable fiber-optic sensors to create a soft robot gripper that can predict the ripeness of strawberries by touch. Credit: Anand Mishra. By David Nutt When assessing the ripeness of fruit, sight and smell can tell you a lot, but the best indicator is often how the fruit feels. Cornell researchers used stretchable […]
Robot Talk Episode 157 – Generating new robot designs, with Josie Hughes
Fri, 22 May 2026 12:13:39 +0000
Claire chatted to Josie Hughes from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne about using AI to develop new designs for robotic manipulators. Josie Hughes is an Assistant Professor at EPFL, where she established the CREATE Lab in 2021. She completed her PhD in the Bio-inspired Robotics Lab at the University of Cambridge, examining the role of […]
Robotics Café brings together autonomous robot practitioners
Wed, 20 May 2026 13:03:38 +0000
The recently launched Robotics Café is a weekly online seminar series to bring together researchers, students and industry practitioners working in the field of autonomous robotics. One of the key aims of the initiative is to provide a dedicated platform for students to present and disseminate their work, enabling broader visibility and impact across academia […]
Table tennis robot defeats some of world’s best players – why this has major implications for robotics
Mon, 18 May 2026 10:38:59 +0000
Ace rotates its paddle as it prepares to return the ball back to its human opponent, Yamato Kawamata, during a match in December 2025. Credit: Sony AI. By Kartikeya Walia, Nottingham Trent University A table tennis robot has outperformed elite players in recent evaluations. The robot, called Ace, marks a significant step toward artificial intelligence […]
Robot Talk Episode 156 – Rugged robots for dangerous missions, with Gavin Kenneally
Fri, 15 May 2026 11:32:19 +0000
Claire chatted to Gavin Kenneally from Ghost Robotics about robot dogs for defence, security, and public safety. Gavin Kenneally is the Co-Founder and CEO of Ghost Robotics, a company that has gained a reputation for pushing the boundaries of legged robotics technology. In his current role, Gavin spearheads a team of highly skilled engineers and […]
Developing active and flexible microrobots
Wed, 13 May 2026 09:21:04 +0000
By C Huygelen Leiden researchers Professor Daniela Kraft and Mengshi Wei have created microscopic robots that move without sensors, software, or external control. Instead, their behaviour emerges entirely from their shape and the way they interact with their environment. This class of robots opens up entirely new possibilities for biomedical applications. Close-up of the microrobot. […]
How to teach the same skill to different robots
Mon, 11 May 2026 14:18:23 +0000
The assembly line task setup. Credit: 2026 LASA EPFL CC-BY-SA. By Celia Luterbacher In today’s manufacturing environments, upgrading a robot fleet often means starting from scratch – not only replacing hardware, but also reprogramming tasks. Even when two robots are built to perform similar jobs, different joint arrangements or movement limits mean that a task […]
Robot Talk Episode 155 – Making aerial robots smarter, with Melissa Greeff
Fri, 08 May 2026 11:33:25 +0000
Claire chatted to Melissa Greeff from Queen’s University about autonomous navigation and learning for drones. Melissa Greeff is an Assistant Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Queen’s University. She leads Robora Lab and is also an Ingenuity Labs Robotics and AI Institute member. Her research interests include aerial robots, vision-based navigation, and safe learning-based […]
New understanding of insect flight points way to stable flapping-wing robots
Thu, 07 May 2026 08:41:53 +0000
By David Nutt The way bugs and birds flap their wings may look effortless, but the dynamics that keep them aloft are dizzyingly complex and difficult to quantify. Cornell researchers created a computational model that shows the effect of insects’ morphology on stabilizing their flight. The findings could lead to a new way to understand […]
Robotically assembled building blocks could make construction more efficient and sustainable
Tue, 05 May 2026 09:31:39 +0000
New research suggests constructing a simple building from interlocking subunits should be mechanically feasible and have a much smaller carbon footprint.
Robot Talk Episode 154 – Visual navigation in insects and robots, with Andrew Philippides
Fri, 01 May 2026 12:41:40 +0000
Claire chatted to Andrew Philippides from the University of Sussex about what we can learn from ants and bees to improve robot navigation. Andrew Philippides is a Professor of Biorobotics at the University of Sussex, where he co-directs the Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics and the be.AI Leverhulme Doctoral centre for Biomimetic Embodied AI. […]