A group of students is using bubbles and robots to clear the world's rivers
Ocean plastic is a persistent problem that endangers wildlife and humans. Around eight to 12 million tons of plastic end up in the sea each year, inspiring projects like The Ocean Cleanup’s trash collecting system and this floating plastic island. However, removing plastic from the ocean is Read More...
Versatility of elephant trunks is inspiring the next generation of robotics
Elephant trunks are truly remarkable. They can grasp a single blade of grass and also carry nearly 600 pounds. This versatility is what prompted robotics researchers to take a deeper look at how elephant trunks work and how their natural design could be mimicked to create the next generation of Read More...
New technique may soon enable human-like sensation in prosthetics
Replicating the familiar sense of human touch is one of the most pressing challenges facing roboticists who are working on improving bionic limps. That problem may soon be solved, however, thanks to a team of researchers that has recently developed a new tactile sensing method that could augment Read More...
Can this robotic fish save the seas?
From food to fashion, consumers, especially millennials and Gen Z-ers, are leaning towards companies that practice green methods of manufacturing their products and transparency, which is a great thing—but it also leads to lots of greenwashing. How can we confirm that companies follow through Read More...
WomBot is helping scientists explore wombat burrows in Australia
Wombat burrows in Australia can be 10 to 100 feet long and 11.5 feet deep. This makes it quite challenging for scientists to gain a full understanding of how a deadly disease affecting wombats spreads through these complex tunnels. To overcome this hurdle, robotics researchers at La Trobe Read More...
This robot uses chemical-free efficiency to remove thousands of weeds
Robotic innovations are becoming increasingly integrated with agriculture to make our growing systems efficient and sustainable. Recently, a startup called Carbon Robotics unveiled a new autonomous machine that uses computer vision and high-powered lasers to comb through fields and remove up to Read More...
This dragonfly-inspired robot could help monitor environmental disasters
Scientists from Duke University have engineered a completely electronics-free soft robot that can fly across bodies of water to perform long-range environmental monitoring such as detecting oil spills and assessing the level of acidity in water. Dubbed DraBot, the robot is modeled after a Read More...
This robot could help our efforts of planting 1 trillion trees
From helping us sort waste to monitoring endangered species, robots have been increasingly supporting our efforts to safeguard a better future for our environment. Now, some of them are looking to help us combat climate change by accelerating our reforestation efforts. An Estonian company, called Read More...
Self-navigating aquatic robot removes garbage from local waterways
In addition to improving the aesthetic feel of a city, removing litter from local waterways can prevent plastic waste and other types of debris from ending up in the ocean, where waste is a lot more difficult to retrieve. With that in mind, Hong Kong-based startup Open Ocean Engineering has Read More...
A paralyzed man just fed himself using thought-controlled robotic hands
It’s been decades since Robert “Buz” Chmielewski could properly move his arms. A surfing accident robbed him of this ability as a teenager, causing him to be paralyzed from the neck down. But now, over 30 years since the accident, Chmielewski was able to cut food and serve himself thanks to a Read More...