Strategic use of data is vital for progress in science, commerce, and even politics, but at the same time, citizens are demanding more responsible, respectful use of personal data. Internet users have never felt more helpless about how their data are being used: Surveys show that the vast majority of U.S. adults feel that they have little to no control over the data that the government and private companies collect about them. In response to these concerns, new privacy laws […]

Kate Darling is an expert on human robot interaction, robot ethics, intellectual property, and all sorts of other things at the MIT Media Lab. She’s written several excellent articles for us in the past, and we’re delighted to be able to share this excerpt from her new book, which comes out today. Entitled The New Breed: What Our History with Animals Reveals about Our Future with Robots, Kate’s book is an exploration of how animals can help us understand our […]

Multi-robot systems have recently been used to tackle a variety of real-world problems, for instance, helping human users to monitor environments and access secluded locations. In order to navigate unknown and dynamic environments most efficiently, these robotic systems should be guided by path planners, which can identify collision-free trajectories for individual robots in a team. Source: Phys Org – Robotics

The design and functionality of a DC motor controller depend on the characteristics of the motor and the electronic system it powers. Using the example of a brushed DC motor controller, we’ll consider its operating principles and circuit design. Source: Robotics Tomorrow

Someday, scientists believe, tiny DNA-based robots and other nanodevices will deliver medicine inside our bodies, detect the presence of deadly pathogens, and help manufacture increasingly smaller electronics. Researchers took a big step toward that future by developing a new tool that can design much more complex DNA robots and nanodevices than were ever possible before in a fraction of the time. Source: Science Daily – Robotics

Spoken dialogue is the most natural way for people to interact with complex autonomous agents such as robots. Future Army operational environments will require technology that allows artificial intelligent agents to understand and carry out commands and interact with them as teammates. Source: Phys Org – Robotics

Watch this MIT startup’s robot unload a trailer blazingly fast. The secret? Keep people in the picture. Source: Robotics Tomorrow