Engineers are building a prototype of a robotic factory that will create water, oxygen, and fuel on the surface of Mars .article-detail figure.rt { clear:none; } .article-detail .listicle li h3, .article-detail .listicle li .listicle-item-hed { color: #990000!important; font-family: “Theinhardt-Medium”,sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1em; margin: 4px 0 15px; } Illustration: Marek Denko/NoEmotion The Martians: This artist’s rendering shows excavating robots that may one day operate on Mars, long before humans ever set foot on the planet.  The year is 2038. […]

New IEEE site features 200 robots from 19 countries with hundreds of photos, videos, and interactives to get people excited about robotics and STEM We’re launching today a new massive guide to all things robotic, with over 820 photos, 680 videos, and 40 interactives. It’s a fun site designed for robot enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds. You should go check it out right now. Seriously, stop reading this and go to robots.ieee.org. ⏳ ⏳ ⏳ Hey you’re back! Found some cool robots? Clicked […]

Analysis of computational propaganda in the 2016 U.S. presidential election reveals the reach of bots .mobileShow { display: none;} /* Smartphone Portrait and Landscape */ @media only screen and (min-device-width : 320px) and (max-device-width : 480px){ .mobileShow { display: inline;}} .mobileHide { display: inline;} /* Smartphone Portrait and Landscape */ @media only screen and (min-device-width : 320px) and (max-device-width : 480px){ .mobileHide { display: none;}} a.zoom .magnifier { margin: -490px 6px 0 0 !important; Illustration: Jude Buffum In the summer […]

This Blockly-based robot unicorn can move around, nod its head, and light up its horn There are a number of robots designed to help kids learn the basics of coding, but this is the first we’ve seen that comes equipped with a purple mane and a light-up horn.

Couldn’t make it to IROS? Check out some pics of what you missed in Madrid IROS is over, and we have a huge pile of shiny new robotics research to bring you over the next few weeks. Before we start in on that, here’s a gallery of some pictures from the IROS keynotes and expo floor, featuring robots we know and love along with some brand new robots that we’ve never seen before. Enjoy!

This voice-controlled robot could walk, talk, and smoke, and it captivated crowds a.Link2RobotsSite { text-decoration: none; } Photo: Bettmann/Getty Images “Ladies and gentlemen, I’ll be very glad to tell my story. I am a smart fellow as I have a very fine brain of 48 electrical relays.” This is how Elektro the robot introduced itself to crowds at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Standing 2.1 meters tall and weighing 118 kilograms, Elektro performed 26 different tricks, including walking, talking, counting, […]

Amazon’s chief roboticist discusses the latest advances in the field and how his team is using machine learning to make its robots smarter Starting with its acquisition of Kiva Systems for $775 million back in 2012, Amazon has been steadily investing in a robotic future. From delivery drones to a rumored home robot to a robotics picking challenge, Amazon definitely wants useful, practical robots to happen. We’re not always sure that they’re going about it the right way, but we are […]

Deep learning could help robotic rovers figure out their location on the moon and Mars A Mars rover roaming the red planet cannot whip out a smartphone to check its location based on GPS. Instead, the robotic explorer must take panoramic pictures of the surrounding landscape so that a human back on Earth can painstakingly compare the ground images with Mars satellite maps taken from above by orbiting spacecraft.

The robotics industry is rapidly evolving and expanding—who will be the next robot unicorns? This is a guest post. The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not represent positions of IEEE Spectrum or the IEEE. Earlier this month I was in Denmark speaking at the R-18 robotics fair. Denmark is quite remarkable as, despite its size, it had two exits of robotics startups over US $100 million: Universal Robots and MiR, both acquired by U.S. […]

In the intensive care unit, artificial intelligence can keep watch at a patient’s bedside Illustration: MCKIBILLO In a hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU), the sickest patients receive round-the-clock care as they lie in beds with their bodies connected to a bevy of surrounding machines. This advanced medical equipment is designed to keep an ailing person alive. Intravenous fluids drip into the bloodstream, while mechanical ventilators push air into the lungs. Sensors attached to the body track heart rate, blood pressure, and […]