robotics

After a record-breaking 9,000-mile journey across the ocean, a small autonomous robot recently arrived in Australia having collected and transmitted a wealth of scientific data that could lead to a better understanding of the world's seas.

On November 17, 2011, a Silicon Valley startup called Liquid Robotics launched four of its Wave Glider robots from San Francisco, two of which were heading toward Australia and the other two on their way to Japan. The hope was that the Wave Gliders, which are designed to travel across the globe without fuel or outside propulsion, would set the Guinness World … Read more

You gotta hand it to the marketers who come up with robot acronyms. Can it get any better than Extreme Access System for Entry (EASE)?

Sounds innocuous enough, right? Until this little critter tries to float into your room to spy on you. It's one of two bots unveiled by CyPhy Works, headed by iRobot co-founder Helen Greiner.

EASE and PARC (that's Persistent Aerial Reconnaissance & Communication), a communications relay, are compact flying machines that can fly between 3 feet and 1,000 feet while remaining tethered to their human controllers via microfilaments. … Read more

There are few formalities more terrifying than the prospect of having to shake hands with a potentially miscalibrated robot. If it misinterprets the size of your hand, it could end up crushing a few phalanges and create an embarrassing scene for both machine and master.

Boston-based MIT spin-off Robot Rebuilt is working on a solution by creating a more sensitive, perhaps even more gentle robot hand.

Eduardo Torres-Jara first began working on a robot named Obrero that is capable of sensitive manipulation at MIT, and now he's in the process of striking out on his own with a successor bot named Tactico that's even more in touch with its (tactile) feelings.… Read more

Have you missed the weekly Crave podcast? We sure have. We are, therefore, very happy to tell you it's making a comeback with CNET producer Stephen Beacham! Catch the madness and mayhem below.

- Feeling jumpy? Bounce down a trampoline sidewalk

- Trotify puts Monty Python horse coconuts on your bike

- Chuck Taylors collide in nerdy shoe collection

- Geek out over Legend of Zelda playing cards

- DOE, NASA testing fission reactor for spaceflight

- Interchangeable clothing uses magnets to switch up the style

- $2.4 million air-conditioned limo submarine perfect for 007 … Read more

We've seen how flying quadrotors can form spectacular displays in the sky, but what if they could roll along the ground too?

Engineers at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Robotics Lab have been developing a power-efficient machine that can move on land and air. It also happens to be extremely Crave-worthy. … Read more

I was once served tea by Honda's Asimo, arguably the most advanced humanoid robot in the world.

Watching the machine sidle up to my table and serve the tea with the elegance of a veteran waiter, and then bow to me before retreating, was nothing short of astonishing.

The experience reinforced my belief that no matter how many times you see robots in photos or videos, nothing can match a real-life experience.

Asimo can be hard to meet, but with a lavishly illustrated new educational app from IEEE Spectrum, you can get interactive with him and 125 other bots -- from Rethink Robotics' Baxter assembly bot to Waseda University's keyboard-playing Wabot 2, and learn all about them. It's the next best thing to seeing robots up close. … Read more

Remember the cuddly Furby? Imagine it's grown a killer case (literally) of artificial intelligence and decides your house and your family are far better than its own, and decides to murder you for it.

OK, so researchers think that such a scenario is a "flakey concern" and wildly far-fetched. Still, the U.K.'s University of Cambridge is setting up a new center to analyze the dangers posed by artificial intelligence and increasingly non-human interactive machines.

Founded by distinguished philosophy professor Huw Price, cosmology and astrophysics professor Martin Reess and Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, the project will … Read more

Japan is again trying to field some more robots to work at the heavily damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, but this walker from Toshiba froze during a press demo.

Tetrapod is a quadruped designed to withstand high levels of radiation, but it couldn't seem to take the glare of cameras.

The wireless remote-controlled machine recalls Boston Dynamics' BigDog robots, with legs than can tackle uneven terrain. It can carry up to 44 pounds of equipment and has an onboard camera and dosimeter.

It's designed to survey the plant's highly radioactive buildings and debris, and can apparently withstand a 100 millisievert environment for a year. … Read more

Your Roomba can do double duty as an air-quality tester and even a cat transporter, so why not a fragrance factory too?

Robot Add-ons has a nifty little accessory for your favorite robot hockey puck: RoomAroma is a stick-on fragrance that sweetens the air in your home while Roomba cleans up.

It's quite an innovative way to improve your air without bothering to plug in air fresheners, and it attaches to Roomba in a snap. It's no wonder the two guys behind Robot Add-ons are from iRobot. … Read more