Bots & Brains

A new kind of artificial seed to sense environmental parameters without impacting on the health of environment is the invention coming from the IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology) in Genova, Italy. The soft robot, named Acer i-Seed, is inspired by natural Acer seeds and can monitor the temperature of the soil by becoming luminescent. It is made of a biocompatible and compostable material, and it has been realized with 3D printing technologies. A drone can be used to spread them out in large areas and study the terrain at a distance.

ETH Zurich researchers deployed an autonomous excavator, called HEAP, to build a six metre-high and sixty-five-metre-long dry-stone wall. The wall is embedded in a digitally planned and autonomously excavated landscape and park.

At the University of Washington, a team of researchers has developed a robotic arm capable of performing a set of 11 actions, enabling it to pick up a wide variety of foods with a fork. This technology represents a significant step in the field of assistive robotics, particularly in addressing the challenges of feeding individuals who cannot eat independently.

Researchers at Brown University have developed a software system that enables robots to understand and execute instructions given in plain English. This development marks a notable advance in the field of human-robot interaction.

IVECO S-Way truck equipped with the PlusDrive enhanced driver-assist solution based on its open autonomy platform, has started operating on public roads in Germany. This milestone follows a testing and validation process including closed-course testing, validation of previously collected public road data and in-depth training for the test drivers on the advanced safety features of the truck.

Researchers from ETH Zurich have created a 3D printed robotic hand that includes bones, ligaments, and tendons. The project focuses on a new 3D printing technology that utilizes slow-curing polymers. This approach overcomes the constraints of traditional fast-curing plastics, enabling the production of more resilient and flexible robotic components.

NVIDIA has announced the launch of the NVIDIA HGX H200, a new addition to its AI computing platform. The H200, which is based on the NVIDIA Hopper architecture, is equipped with the NVIDIA H200 Tensor Core GPU. This new chip is designed to handle large amounts of data for generative AI and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads.

This past weekend, the skies of New York City witnessed a glimpse into the future of urban air mobility, as Joby Aviation and Volocopter demonstrated their electric air taxis. These demonstration flights were part of a press event on Sunday, where Mayor Eric Adams announced the electrification of two Manhattan heliports: Downtown Manhattan Heliport and East 34th Street.

The University of Massachusetts Lowell is conducting research to understand the impact of AI-powered robots on consumer purchasing behaviors. Associate Professor Mark Yi-Cheon Yim from the Manning School of Business is spearheading a project to determine if robots, such as the Sony aibo, can establish a level of interaction that influences buying decisions.

Researchers led by mechanical engineering professor Nader Motee at Lehigh University are addressing the challenges of ambiguity in robot perception to enhance autonomous decision-making. The project, funded by a $680,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), aims to develop an innovative multi-stage, perception-based control paradigm that promises to make autonomous systems both safer and more efficient.