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Giving robots a faster grasp
If you’re at a desk with a pen or pencil handy, try this move: Grab the pen by one end with your thumb and index finger, and push the other end against the desk. Slide your fingers down the pen, then...
View ArticleDeep learning with point clouds
If you’ve ever seen a self-driving car in the wild, you might wonder about that spinning cylinder on top of it. It’s a “lidar sensor,” and it’s what allows the car to navigate the world. By sending out...
View ArticlePushy robots learn the fundamentals of object manipulation
MIT researchers have compiled a dataset that captures the detailed behavior of a robotic system physically pushing hundreds of different objects. Using the dataset — the largest and most diverse of its...
View ArticleSystem prevents speedy drones from crashing in unfamiliar areas
Autonomous drones are cautious when navigating the unknown. They creep forward, frequently mapping unfamiliar areas before proceeding lest they crash into undetected objects. But this slowdown isn’t...
View ArticleHelping autonomous vehicles see around corners
To improve the safety of autonomous systems, MIT engineers have developed a system that can sense tiny changes in shadows on the ground to determine if there’s a moving object coming around the corner....
View ArticleSelf-transforming robot blocks jump, spin, flip, and identify each other
Swarms of simple, interacting robots have the potential to unlock stealthy abilities for accomplishing complex tasks. Getting these robots to achieve a true hive-like mind of coordination, though, has...
View ArticleTwo-legged robot mimics human balance while running and jumping
Rescuing victims from a burning building, a chemical spill, or any disaster that is inaccessible to human responders could one day be a mission for resilient, adaptable robots. Imagine, for instance,...
View ArticleTechnique helps robots find the front door
In the not too distant future, robots may be dispatched as last-mile delivery vehicles to drop your takeout order, package, or meal-kit subscription at your doorstep — if they can find the...
View ArticleBetter autonomous “reasoning” at tricky intersections
MIT and Toyota researchers have designed a new model to help autonomous vehicles determine when it’s safe to merge into traffic at intersections with obstructed views.Navigating intersections can be...
View ArticleAutonomous system improves environmental sampling at sea
An autonomous robotic system invented by researchers at MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) efficiently sniffs out the most scientifically interesting — but hard-to-find — sampling...
View ArticleFlexible yet sturdy robot is designed to “grow” like a plant
In today’s factories and warehouses, it’s not uncommon to see robots whizzing about, shuttling items or tools from one station to another. For the most part, robots navigate pretty easily across open...
View ArticlePredicting people's driving personalities
Self-driving cars are coming. But for all their fancy sensors and intricate data-crunching abilities, even the most cutting-edge cars lack something that (almost) every 16-year-old with a learner’s...
View ArticleHow to design and control robots with stretchy, flexible bodies
MIT researchers have invented a way to efficiently optimize the control and design of soft robots for target tasks, which has traditionally been a monumental undertaking in computation.Soft robots have...
View ArticlePaul McEuen delivers inaugural Dresselhaus Lecture on cell-sized robots
Functional, intelligent robots the size of a single cell are within reach, said Cornell University Professor Paul McEuen at the inaugural Mildred S. Dresselhaus Lecture at MIT on Nov. 13.“To build a...
View ArticleIntelligent Towing Tank propels human-robot-computer research
In its first year of operation, the Intelligent Towing Tank (ITT) conducted about 100,000 total experiments, essentially completing the equivalent of a PhD student’s five years’ worth of experiments in...
View ArticleBoston-area girls discover a passion for coding
“My goal is to make computing 'normal' for girls,” says Sabina Chen from Lincoln Laboratory's Advanced Capabilities and Systems Group, who led a workshop that taught middle school girls how to program...
View ArticleBringing artificial intelligence and MIT to middle school classrooms
In the age of Alexa, YouTube recommendations, and Spotify playlists, artificial intelligence has become a way of life, improving marketing and advertising, e-commerce, and more. But what are the...
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Engineers design bionic “heart” for testing prosthetic valves, other cardiac...
As the geriatric population is expected to balloon in the coming decade, so too will rates of heart disease in the United States. The demand for prosthetic heart valves and other cardiac devices — a...
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“Sensorized” skin helps soft robots find their bearings
For the first time, MIT researchers have enabled a soft robotic arm to understand its configuration in 3D space, by leveraging only motion and position data from its own “sensorized” skin.Soft robots...
View ArticleTo self-drive in the snow, look under the road
Car companies have been feverishly working to improve the technologies behind self-driving cars. But so far even the most high-tech vehicles still fail when it comes to safely navigating in rain and...
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