Tag: robotics

New Microbot Scuttle like a Crab: Biomimicry

Pooja Kashyap

Engineers at Northwestern University have developed nano-scale robots that scuttle like small peekytoe crab. The tiny crab-bots measure around half-millimeter wide. Like the decapod crustaceans, the bot can bend, twist, crawl, walk, turn and even jump. Not only the nano crab like devices, engineers have also created same sized robotic inchworms, crickets and beetles. Researchers envision that their technology will explore practical tasks inside tightly confined spaces.

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SQuRO, Quadruped Robotic Rat: Biomimicry

Pooja Kashyap

Nature has always inspired robotics engineers to design bots with the same agility and efficiency. And this is also one of the reasons why researchers look up to biomimicry to solve human design challenges. When it comes to navigate tight and congested arenas wouldn’t rodents be the best options to design a device? Researchers at Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) thought the same. According to Qing Shi, a Professor at BIT, legged robots have limitations when operating in narrow spaces. Micro quadruped robots too can face performance issues due to…

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Magnetic Tentacle Robot for Autonomous Endoscopy: Soft Catheters

Pooja Kashyap

Magnetic tentacle robot, strange it may sound but researchers at STORM Lab at the University of Leeds have come up with a tiny canular form of robot that can explore the smallest bronchial tubes in the lungs. The nano tubiform bot measures around 2 millimetres in diameter. That happens to be two times the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen. The tentacle robot will be guided from the outside with the help of (external) magnets.

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Chameleon Inspired Next-Generation Artificial Camouflage: Biomimicry

Pooja Kashyap

To depict natural camouflage characteristics via artificial camouflage at device level has remained a challenge since decades. However, researchers at Seoul National University have developed an artificial camouflage that can adapt and blend with its surroundings. A defense strategy as seen in the case of chameleon that changes its appearance to avoid predators.

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Interview: Dr. Song Chaoyang, Assistant Professor at Southern University of Science and Technology China

Pooja Kashyap

Dr. Song Chaoyang is an Assistant Professor, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) China. His Bionic Design + Learning Lab conducts research in Bionic Design, Robot Learning and Design Science. His team’s vision is to create advanced robotic systems that are sustainable and intelligent.

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Interview: Dr Dylan Drotman, Robotics Engineer at University of California San Diego

Pooja Kashyap

It’s our honor to have Dr Dylan Drotman from University of California San Diego with us today. Dr Drotman’s research interests focus on the design, modeling, fabrication, and actuation of physically soft robots that are powered by air or water. He obtained his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at University of California San Diego. He has also been a Guest Lecturer in Experimental Robotics, Soft Robotics and Computer Aided Design & Analysis.

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Super Strong Artificial Muscles: Interactive Soft Robotics

Pooja Kashyap

An Italian team of researchers lead by Prof. Marco Fontana, in collaboration with the departments of Industrial Engineering of the Universities of Trento and Bologna, have created an Electrostatic Bellow Muscle (EBM) to fabricate efficient small-scale robots. The innovative robotic muscle has potential of powering itself for a long period of time beyond its preliminary charge.

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