This AI Platform Turns Air and Ground Robots Into One Connected...
Military forces are adding drones and uncrewed ground vehicles faster than ever, but deploying more robots creates a new problem: someone still has to...
This Flying Robot Lands on Water and Starts Sailing
Monitoring remote stretches of water presents an awkward logistics problem. Boats can remain at sea for long periods but may take considerable time to...
Bees Just Taught Robot Swarms How to Make Better Decisions
Robot swarms could eventually search disaster zones, monitor hazardous areas or coordinate autonomous missions without requiring a human operator to control every machine. But...
This Robot Gives Electronic Warfare a “Hit and Run” Upgrade
Electronic warfare creates a tactical dilemma. Jamming hostile communications can protect troops and disrupt enemy operations, but transmitting interference can also reveal the location...
Ukraine Wants Humanoid Robots Fighting Russian Forces Within Six Months
Drones have already removed soldiers from some of the most exposed battlefield tasks, but many dangerous jobs still require people on the ground. Moving...
A Tiny Robot With Springy Legs Could Scout Where Wheels Struggle
Making a small robot move quickly across unpredictable terrain presents a basic engineering problem. Tiny machines cannot carry large motors or heavy power systems,...
Tiny Drones Are Learning a Navigation Trick From Rodents
Making drones smaller creates an awkward navigation problem. Cameras become unreliable in darkness, smoke and dust, while LiDAR sensors and the processors needed to...
One Software Platform Could Control Drones and Ground Robots Together
As organizations deploy more robots, a new problem emerges: each machine can come with its own controls, software and mission-planning tools. An operator working...
AI Gives This Six-Legged Robot an Insect-Inspired Way to Walk
Legged robots can cross terrain that stops wheeled machines, but coordinating several legs over unpredictable ground is difficult. Many robots rely on predefined gaits,...
This Tiny Robot Can Keep Jumping as Long as the Light...
Small robots designed to cross rough terrain face a basic mechanical challenge: jumping usually requires a mechanism to store energy, release it and then...
This Robot Hunts for Drones So Soldiers Don’t Have To
Detecting small drones often requires sensors to be positioned close enough to likely flight paths to pick up their signals. On a battlefield, however,...
This Autonomous Hybrid Vehicle Could Take Soldiers Out of Supply Missions
Keeping frontline forces supplied is one of the most dangerous tasks on the battlefield. Delivering ammunition, food, fuel and medical equipment often requires convoys...
Cyborg Cockroaches Are Getting Smarter at Navigating Difficult Terrain
Small robots could be valuable for exploring collapsed buildings, damaged infrastructure and other spaces that are too confined or dangerous for people. But building...
A New Underwater Robot Is Built to Hunt for Threats on...
Inspecting the underside of a ship is a difficult but important security task. Hulls can conceal structural damage, foreign objects or potentially dangerous devices...
Butterfly-Inspired Tech Could Give Tiny Robots Some Serious Muscle
Building robots at microscopic scales creates an unusual engineering problem: even the simplest movements become difficult to produce. Conventional motors, gears and hydraulic systems...
This One-Wheel Robot Could Replace Routine Security Patrols
Protecting large industrial sites, airports, campuses and critical infrastructure often requires continuous patrols over wide areas. Autonomous security robots are increasingly being used to...
This Color-Shifting Material Could Transform Robotic Precision
Vision has improved dramatically in modern robots, but touch remains one of the most difficult human senses to reproduce. Detecting exactly how much pressure...
Why Build a Different Warhead for Every Weapon?
Modern militaries are fielding an increasingly diverse range of unmanned systems, from interceptor missiles and one-way attack drones to robotic ground vehicles. While these...
This Spider-Inspired Robot Boat Can Find and Rescue People in the...
Every minute counts during water rescue operations. Whether responding to a person swept away by strong currents or someone struggling after a boating accident,...
Half Vehicle, Half Robot: Meet the New “Centaur” Machine
Robots designed for industrial inspection or emergency response often face a tradeoff. Wheeled platforms can move quickly and efficiently over long distances but struggle...
New Sensor Technology Helps Underwater Robots Detect and Recover From Damage
Underwater environments are notoriously demanding for electronic systems. Sensors used by divers and underwater robots must withstand pressure, moisture and constant mechanical stress while...
Scientists Built a Tiny Diving Suit for Cyborg Cockroaches
Collapsed buildings, flooded tunnels, and debris-filled drainage systems are among the most difficult environments for search-and-rescue teams to access after natural disasters. Small ground...
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This Reusable Drone Is Designed to Give Enemy Air Defenses a...
Modern air-defense systems face a growing challenge as unmanned aircraft become cheaper, more numerous and capable of performing different missions. Defenders must distinguish genuine...
